《My Goalkeeping System》


 Chapter 1 One Of Those Nights

    There was a mix of cheers and ps as Unique football club marched into the pitch but in the mix of those cheers and ps were booes all directed at one person.


    "What is he still doing in the squad? Isn''t it clear that he''s the one that has been selling all those matches!" One of the enraged fans shouted to make sure everyone heard him.


    "Give him a break honey, he''s trying his best it''s not like we are going to get relegated." The blonde-haired female who happened to be his wife said.


    Unique FC was sitting in the 10th position with twenty-five matches already yed and today they were going to face league leaders Supreme United.


    This was a very important match for Unique FC because winning would take them to 9th ce and give them more chances to fight for a ce in one of the European tournaments next season.


    Both teams lined up in ordance and after that, the two captains went to the referee for the coin toss which would indicate which goal area they would be attacking.


    After the coin toss, Unique FC moved to the left side of the pitch while Supreme United moved to the right side.


    The match was being yed in the home of Unique FC and that was one of the reasons why they needed to win it, but most of their fans didn''t quite believe they would be able to achieve their goal because of one person, the goalkeeper.


    Dave walked to his goal post trying to keep his morale high because the booes he was receiving from the fans were already demoralizing him.


    Unique FC yers were putting on a green jersey with orange and ck designs running down the jersey in the form of iplete stripes while Supreme United yers putting on a in red jersey with Supreme embedded in the chest of the jersey, they were being sponsored by an organization named supreme.


    Unique FC on the other hand were being sponsored by an organization called Webnovel and they had their logo and name on their jersey.


    The number one with the name Dave above the one could be seen as Dave walked to his goal post and turned to face the opposition goalpost.


    "Don''t let what they are doing get to you, Dave." His teammate with long hair said as he touched him on his shoulder. "Just try your best."


    He had the captain badge which indicated that he was the captain.


    "Ok," Dave said and took a very deep breath.


    The captain nodded and turned to face the opposition, revealing his back which disyed the number three on it with Adolf written above the number.


    Unique FC were the ones to start the game with the kick-off and immediately after the whistle was blown by the referee they did just that, putting the game in progress.


    There was a spell of possession from Unique FC as they passed the ball around in their own half, the Supreme United yers were trying hard to dispossess the Unique FC yers off the ball but they were doing a great job in keeping possession after all their neat passes and long possession spells was something that made them threats even to big teams.


    A pass was yed through to Norman Kole the Unique FC right back and without waiting for the ball to stop he yed a through cross to their talisman on the left-wing, Mateo Smith.


    Mateo caught the ball and with nice footwork got past Supreme United''s right back and yed a very nice cross into the box.


    "Mateo tries to get through and as always he gets through." Thementator said.


    Unique FC''s center-back George Neville was there to meet the ball with a great leap above the Supreme United yers, he ced the ball to the bottom left but he was met with disappointment as Supreme United''s goalkeeper made a great dive towards the ball and caught it.


    "That was a nice cross and header but Carl was equal to it." Thementatormented.


    The goalkeeper quickly got up on his feet and kicked the ball ahead to the supreme United yer in the center while Unique FC''s wing backs were still in their own half.<sub> </sub>


    Immediately the yer got the ball he ran past Adolf the only center back close to him and now he was heading for goal with no opposition except for Adolf who was hot on his trail.


    "Rnd is on the right track to score his twentieth league goal but Adolf seems to be hot on his trail."


    Dave was confused about what to do as Rnd approached his post, it was certain that if he stayed there, Rnd was going to score the goal so he decided to do something for the first time in his life.


    "What''s this? Dave is taking the role of a sweeper keeper."


    Before Rnd could enter the eighteen-yard box Dave was already upon him with a slide, this caused Rnd to release the ball with a lob, Dave managed to get a hand to it but it was still flying towards the and was going to enter.


    "The ball is flying towards the now but wait."


    Adolf who had been behind Rnd the whole time raced towards the ball and just before it could fly into the from above he ced his head in the way and nodded it over the bar.


    "Wow! What a magnificent save from the super captain Adolf Alexia."


    Rnd covered his mouth with his hand as he couldn''t believe what just happened, Dave''s hand had slowed down the ball and that had given Adolf enough time to get to it.


    All the defenders were hugging Adolf as they knew what that save meant to them but now they were going to try and keep out the air masters of Supreme United because the ball had gone out for a corner.


    "Mark every one of them," Adolf said as he got in position on thest bar.


    The referee blew the whistle and the ball came flying from the right corner, one of  Supreme United''s yers jumped high to catch the ball and nodded it high on the right side of the post but Adolf was there to nod it away.


    "Another save from the super captain." Thementator said.


    Apuse and loud cheers wereing from the fans but that wasn''t the end as the ball fell to the feet of Rnd just outside the box.


    He feigned shooting as a defender came running towards him and with a spin, he went past the defender, he dribbled past another yer, and then sent the ball to the bottom left of the post.


    "That''s a goalllllll!!!! Wonderful football from Rnd Hills he''s got that twentieth goal now!"


    Supreme United Fans were jumping up and down as Rnd raced to the corner and did a slide as his teammates came running after him.


    Dave, who had been glued to the middle of the post when the ball came flying, fell to the floor now with his hands covering his face.


    "Oh, it''s one of those nights for Dave Richards again." Thementator said.


    "I know Dave may be a bad goalie but that shot was unstoppable, Rnd is unstoppable." Another voice said.


    Indeed it was one of those terrible nights for Dave and Unique FC as a whole, this was only the beginning.


    ____ _____


    Please read Author''s note below ????

 Chapter 2 Another Big Defeat

    Despite conceding an early goal, Unique FC tried to keep theirposure and keep their minds on the right track in order to get back to the game.


    "Unique FC dominating ball possession as always." Thementator said."Jim, what do you think is wrong with Unique FC? They y good passes and y good football but¡­"


    "Their problemes from all positions in the pitch except the midfield, their defence isn''t that great but that Adolf makes up for that most of the time, their goalkeeper isn''t that great either and their strikers seem to becking in the finishing department," Jim exined.


    A pass was yed from Unique FC''s right back to the middle to their midfield Dynamo Ferran Phil.


    A Supreme United yer was alreadying for him with great speed but the midfielder was calm and immediately the yer was close to him, he kicked it up and did an overhead kick, passing the yer without making contact with him.


    "That was some neat skills from Ferran and now he''s leading the attack."


    Ferran ran through the middle and stopped when he saw that three defenders were blocking his way at the edge of the box, he yed a pass to Unique FC''s right-winger, Carlos Oman.


    Carlos ran down the right-wing with the ball, he feigned crossing to get the defender chasing him out of the way, and then turning back with the ball he delivered the cross to the middle.


    The ball was nodded away by a Supreme United yer only to fall towards Ferran who brought the ball down with his chest and immediately delivered a cross to the left-wing.


    Mateo already understood what Ferran was about to do before he did it, breaking away from the clustered Supreme United yers, he raced towards the ball and delivered a side foot volley at the bottom right of the post, the keeper had no chance of stopping that as he tried to get a hand to it.


    "That''s the equalizer from Mateo Smith!!!!." Thementator screamed. "What a volley?"


    "That was a nice cross from Ferran, he has great vision," Jim said.


    Mateo had immediately raced to the side as his teammates all chased him, he did a slide and his teammates fell on top of him, that was a really nice goal, that ball was almost out of y but he managed to convert it into a beautiful goal.


    "That''s goal number ten for Mateo this season and Ferran still leads in assists with fifteen assists." Thementator said.


    "They are really struggling to rise this season but let''s see how long they willst? Let''s see how long they can keep Supreme United quiet." Jim said.


    They weren''t going to keep Supreme United quiet for long as they had immediately entered beast mode, sure Unique FC was still leading in possession but they didn''t seem to be getting the ball through anymore.


    A mistimed pass from Unique FC''s midfielder Roger David was immediately stolen by a Supreme FC midfielder who quickly yed the pass to his teammate.


    A pass was yed to their right-back who quickly yed the pass to Rnd, seeing that he couldn''t get past, Rnd yed the pass back to the yer behind him.


    No one expected a yer to shoot from so far out but the yer did it as he delivered a threatening shot to Unique FC''s goal post, for a goalkeeper a shot from that far out wouldn''t be a threat but for Dave it was.


    He took a deep breath and raised his hands to catch the ball but he had miscalcted where the ball was going, that was a very big mistake from Dave as the ball slid on his gloves and fell into the post.


    "What the heck was that?" Thementator said, sounding shocked. "He didn''t catch that?"


    "No Steve he didn''t," Jim said.<sub> </sub>


    "Who knew a shot from that far out would go in but when you have Dave Richard between the sticks you can expect anything."


    The moods of Unique FC''s yers had turned sour again and most of them were shooting daggers at Dave.


    "A shot from that far out and you couldn''t even catch it!" Jonas Blue, Unique FC''s left-back screamed out his frustration at the goalkeeper.


    "Calm down Jonas, we shouldn''t get disorganized now all we have to do now is to keep our focus and try to get an equalizer," Adolf said.


    "That''s all we try to do, get equalizers. We never try to go for winning goals because this basket here always gives away the tiniest of goals that would have made a difference if saved." Jonas said and stormed off.


    "That goal wasn''t exactly my fault," Dave said.


    He didn''t get any reply just shooting daggers from the yers he didn''t have the strength to speak.


    Adolf talked about getting an equalizer but there wasn''t going to be an equalizer as two more goals flew into their before the halftime whistle, giving Supreme United a three goals lead at halftime and all goals had been the fault of Dave.


    The third goal had been a little tap from Rnd inside the box, any Goalkeeper would have kept that but he was off bnce and the ball had gone in.


    ? The fourth goal was really embarrassing, he had knocked a corner yed in from the left into his own post in the attempt to punch it out.


    Coming back to the second half the morale of Unique FC yers was really low and most of them had lost hope of winning even though they weren''t showing it.


    "Ok, we are back to witness the rest of the game," Steve said. "The first half was really one-sided with Supreme United scoring first and then Mateo restoring hope to Unique FC but too many errors from their goalkeeper had taken this one far away from them."


    "Yeah, really far away considering how well Supreme defends whenever they are winning," Jim added.


    The first half kicked off and Unique FC didn''t seem to be finding the rhythm to their game anymore.


    "Oh dear, it''s as if the only thing Unique FC yers are doing is trying to knock the ball away, they are not even trying to attack."


    Soon their defences began to crumble too, leading to Supreme United getting three more goals before the end of the match.


    Unique FC yers didn''t waste time storming off the pitch immediately after they heard the final whistle.


    "What a match, seven goals to one, Rnd with a hat trick," Steve said.


    "I think that brings us to the end of this coverage. It is full-time, Unique FC one, Supreme United seven." Jim concluded the broadcast.


    *****


    Please read Author''s note below ????

 Chapter 3 A Familiar Black Box

    Dave was thest person to walk out of the pitch and as he did he received loud boos from Unique FC''s fans, he had already gotten used to the fans treating him like this.


    He was approaching the entrance leading to their locker room when he heard someone call his name from the stands.


    "Dave, Dave!" Emma screamed until Dave raised his head to see her.


    Dave didn''t say a word as he stared into the eyes of his girlfriend who was always in the stands to support him during each of his matches and he ended up doing poorly.


    "You did great." She said with a warm smile.


    Dave managed to force a smile before continuing his work down the stairs. That was the way it had always been between him and Emma.


    Every single match, he performed badly but she still tells him that he did great.


    Dave was feeling really down as he found the door to their locker room, braced himself for what was about toe, and slowly opened the door.


    He entered the room to see that all of his teammates were sitting on their various benches and with the way they were looking at the door, it was clear they were expecting him.


    "What the heck were you doing out there?" Jonas was the first to jump up from his bench.


    "Calm down Jonas, there are other ways to handle this," Adolf said pulling Jonas by his arm to prevent him from doing anything he would regret.


    "I know Dave made a lot of costly mistakes but you guys." Ferran made sure to point at the three defenders. "Can''t me him for all the goals scored in the second half, you just stopped defending."


    "Because there was no point doing so if the goalkeeper was going to bottle at the tiniest of shots," Jonas said.


    "Look, Dave, I don''t mean to be disrespectful or anything but you''ve really got to improve your game or you''ll get reced when our goalkeepers on loan start returning," Carlos said.


    "There''s no point, he''s going to get reced now because, I won''t y any more matches if that guy is going to be between the sticks," Jonas said quickly storming out of the room.


    There was silence in the room as Dave just stood there staring at the rest of his teammates.


    It didn''t take long before they began to leave one by one.


    "You''re just not trying hard enough bro." Mateo held him on his shoulder and said before leaving.


    Immediately after everyone had left the coach walked into the room.


    "Dave, can I see you in my office please?" He said.


    Unique FC yers were walking out of the stadium while talking to each other and just as Mateo was about to walk to his car he was stopped by a feminine hand.


    "Oh hi, sis," Mateo said.


    "Nice volley back there," Emma said.


    "Yeah but it still wasn''t enough to do anything," Mateo said.


    "Where''s Dave?" Emma asked, looking around.


    "Dave," Mateo said looking back. "He''s still in there."


    "Why?" Emma asked.


    "I don''t know," Mateo said, raising his hand.


    "You guys were saying mean things to him again," Emma said, folding her hands.


    A swift engine sound was heard as a car quickly zoomed off from the parking lot.


    "Oh look here he goes now," Mateo said, pointing at Dave''s car which was already far gone.<sub> </sub>


    Dave drove home as fast as he could and didn''t even bother to pack his car properly as he stormed into his nice-looking and well-furnished house.


    He didn''t even turn on the lights upstairs as he made his way up the stairs in darkness and he still managed to find his room in the darkness.


    He turned on the lights and threw himself down on the bed as images of the chat between him and their coach began to y in his mind.


    "Even you know you''re not doing any better Dave." Coach Norman said. "I''m going to contact your father so that we can start looking for a recement as soon as the transfer market opens."


    Those words alone stabbed him a lot of times in his heart, it was just too painful to tell him that he was getting reced.


    Right from childhood, he was told that he looked just like his grandfather who was one of the best goalkeepers in football history.


    He was told by his parents and other people that he may have the talents of his grandfather as his father didn''t have any football talents.


    He started building himself as a goalkeeper right from childhood when he was keeping for his hometown boyhood club.


    He did great back then and they managed to win a lot of trophies but as he advanced in his football career, his skills began to decline, and before he got to the stage of bing a professional footballer his skills had totally be rusted.


    He raised his head to look at the picture of his grandfather which was sitting on his cupboard.


    He walked to the cupboard and picked the picture up, which was a picture of his grandfather with the European golden glove.


    "Were they wrong to think I could be like you or did I just get way ahead of myself?"


    He walked to the center of his room as the anger in him had finally boiled up to the max and that had caused him to angrily stomp his foot on the floor.


    His foot went directly through the wood, his leg had fallen in there and had dragged his leg inside until the rest of his body had stopped him from falling inside.


    "What the heck?" He said as he threw the picture aside and slowly pulled himself up.


    He looked down at the hole which his leg had created to see that it was quite deep, like some kind of underground basement.


    He rushed outside and returned with a wrench with which he used to pull the rest of the wooden underground door open.


    He had also picked a torch with which he shed inside the ce before jumping in.


    The ce was actually too small to be considered as a basement; there appeared to be nothing inside, so he thought until he found a medium-sized ck box lying at the other end of the room.


    "This box looks familiar." He said as he picked up the box while trying to remember where he had seen them before.


    The box was proven difficult to open but he still had the wrench with him, he stuck it between the little opening and pulled the box open to reveal a pair of silver gloves.


    He didn''t see the gloves for long as they quickly flew up emitting white light that quickly covered his view and somehow made him pass out for a few minutes.


    When he regained consciousness it seemed like a dream but the fact that he was still down here exined that it wasn''t but the gloves were nowhere to be found.


    "That can''t be possible." He said checking inside the box.


    [ Wee Dave ]


    [ You have activated the goalkeeping system ]


    A female monotone voice said in his head as the messages disyed on his screen.


    "Huh?"


    ****


    Please read Author''s note below ????

 Chapter 4 The Goalkeeping System

    Dave was conflicted by the voice in his head and the messages that just popped up in his field of vision but that wasn''t the rest of the messages.


    [ yer Profile ]


    [ Name: Dave Richard ]


    [ yer level: 1 ]


    [ 100/100 HP ]


    [ 0/100 EXP ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Goalkeeping skills: none ]


    [ 100/100 Energy ]


    [ Skill points: 0 ]


    [ Physical Status ]


    [ Strength: 15 ]


    [ Dexterity: 5 ]


    [ Endurance: 10 ]


    "What the heck is all of this?" Dave said staring at the screen.


    <It seems your goalkeeping career isn''t going that well Dave> He heard the female monotone voice say in his head again.


    "Who are you?" Dave asked.


    <My name is Catherine an AI built into your system>


    "AI?"


    <Yes artificial intelligence and I''m here to help you improve as a goalkeeper>


    Dave wanted tough out loud, how the hell did a voice in his head think it was going to improve him as a goalkeeper?


    <It may sound unbelievable but you get exp with every quest you''re given and each questpleted grants you exp for leveling up>


    "What type of quests?"


    <I am sorry but the quests are not generated by me>


    "What do you mean¡­."


    [ Daily quests received ]


    [ Run two kilometers every day]


    [ Drink two liters of water every day]


    [ Spend two hours in the gym every day]


    "What type of quests are these and why do all of them have the number two?"


    <Those are the quests necessary for your body now>


    "Do I have to do all of them?" Dave asked.


    <It''s not mandatory but if you want the exp to level up and increase your stats you will have to do them>


    Dave was about to reply to her when he started hearing footstepsing up the stairs. He dropped the box quickly, climbed out of the small underground room, closed it with the wooden door, and then covered the broken part with his rug.


    "Dave," Emma called as she slowly entered the room.


    "Emma." Dave with a surprised voice as she wasn''t the one he was expecting to see.


    "I was waiting for you outside when I saw you leave with your car," Emma said slowly walking toward him. "That''s very unlike you not to look for me after a match."


    Dave had his eyes fixed on the spot that he had covered with the rug as Emma approached it.


    "Emma no." He tried to warn her but it was already toote as she had stepped on the exact spot where the hole was.


    It wasn''t exactly toote as he grabbed her arm before she could fall into the hole. Emma was breathing heavily as she looked down at the hole and looked up at Dave.


    "Why is there a hole on your floor?" She asked.


    Dave pulled her up and led her to his bed where he exined everything up to the point where the gloves had disappeared but he didn''t tell her about the strange system and Catherine because Catherine had said something.


    <I think you should keep the new development on your body to yourself for now>


    "So you''re saying strange gloves just rose up from the box and disappeared," Emma said.


    "Yeah," Dave said.


    Emma stared at him for a while without saying anything and he knew very well what that stare meant.


    "You don''t believe me," Dave said.


    "Yeah because you sound quite unbelievable."<sub> </sub>


    Dave stared at her for a while before turning to the hole on his floor.


    "Just forget about it," Dave said with a depressed tone.


    "Heye on," Emma said, pulling closer to him. "I know you''re sad about what happened tonight."


    "I''m not sad, I''m just disappointed in myself," Dave said.


    "Hey, don''t you ever say you''re disappointed in yourself," Emma said, grabbing him by his face and pulling it closer to hers. "You just need a few more seasons to adapt to the style of professional football."


    "How many more seasons Emma, this is my second season, and I still¡­.."


    His voice got muffled before he could finish what he was saying as Emma had closed it in a way he wasn''t going to resist.


    "Stop worrying over nothing, you''ll get a hang of it and besides it''s not like you guys are in the relegation zone, you have just a few more matches and even if you lose all those matches you''ll still be safe," Emma said after pulling out from the kiss.


    "But I don''t want to lose any of those matches, I just want to help my team to see if we can try and secure a conference league spot," Dave said.


    "You can still do it," Emma said, grabbing his hands. "I know a lot of them out there don''t believe in you but I do."


    "Thanks, Em, you''re the best," Dave said with a smile.


    "Yeah," Emma said, smiling back at him. "Have you eaten?"


    "No," Dave replied.


    "Ok let me make dinner for you," Emma said getting up from the bed.


    "No Emma, don''t stress yourself, we could order pizza," Dave said.


    "No pizza, I''m making dinner myself," Emma said walking out of the room. "You should fix that hole."


    Dave ate the meal prepared by Emma and he could say it was quite appetizing, unlike thest time she cooked for him.


    "Did you take a cooking ss?" Dave asked.


    "Yes, I knew you didn''t like my foodst time no matter how much you tried to hide it."


    "Sorry babe," Dave said. "But you''ve really upped your game this time."


    "Anyone can improve, you just have to follow the right process," Emma said.


    "Right process." He repeated in his mind as he got up from his seat.


    "Where are you going, there''s water on the table?" Emma said.


    "I want to grab a juice from the fridge," Dave said.


    "If you wanted juice you could have just told me to bring it," Emma said, getting up from her seat.


    "No, it''s okay I''ll grab it by myself," Dave said.


    He walked to the fridge in the kitchen and pulled it open to reveal the variety of drinks in it.


    His eyes darted towards the orange juice but that wasn''t the reason he was here as his gaze turned to therge water bottle with abel of two liters written on it.


    "I just hope I don''t wet my bed tonight after drinking all of this." He said as he grabbed the bottled water.


    He slowly opened it, raised it above his mouth, and allowed everything to pour in.


    [ Daily questpleted ]


    [ Drink two liters of water ]


    [ +5 exp received ]


    "Dave," Emma called.


    Dave turned to see Emma standing at the side and it seemed like she had seen him gulp down all that water.


    "I thought you wanted to grab a juice." She said with a surprised expression.


    ______ _______


    The sun shone through the window and immediately it touched Dave''s face he shot his eyes open and then slowly slipped out of Emma''s hands.


    He slowly made his way down the stairs and made his way to the fridge where he grabbed thest two liters of bottled water and gulped it down at a go.


    [ Daily questpleted ]


    [ Drink two liters of water ]


    [ +5 exp received ]


    <Great now it''s time for your two kilometre run>


    "Yeah," Dave said, looking into his watch.


    *****


    Please read Author''s note below ????

 Chapter 5 Running Two Kilometres

    Dave was sweating profusely but he still kept running as the sun shone at him from above.


    "Isn''t it two kilometers yet?" He said with a panting voice as he kept running.


    <Your watch can answer that question for you>


    The goalkeeper brought his watch to his view as he kept running to see that he had only run 1.8 kilometers.


    "Only one point eight." He said as he kept running.


    <Yes and don''t stop because if you do you''ll have to start from the beginning>


    "I know you''ve told me that like ten times now," Dave said as he kept running.


    People were beginning toe out of their houses now and everywhere he passed he seemed to be getting attention but it wasn''t the good kind of attention.


    Getting attention was normal for top yers in any of Europe''s top five leagues but Dave was not on that list and the attention he was getting was for something else.


    "That useless basket." An old man said immediately after Dave ran past his house.


    "I wonder why Unique FC still ys this guy in the goalkeeping position." Two teenagers walking down the street changed their topic to him immediately after he had run past them.


    Dave didn''t seem to notice most of this but he did notice the booing he was getting from some of the people in the neighborhood but he wasn''t bothered about it as he had already gotten used to it.


    "Finally." He said as he looked at his watch which disyed the number, 1.95 with a small km beside it.


    He was approaching the pack now and just ran into it, heading for the green fields.


    [ Daily questpleted ]


    [ Run two kilometers]


    [ +10 exp received ]


    He crashed on the grass immediately after receiving that message and he was breathing heavily like seriously panting.


    [ 30/100 exp ]


    <Good running, all you need now to level up is seventy exp>


    "Will leveling up automatically turn me into a world-ss goalkeeper?" Dave asked.


    <You only get slight improvements after leveling up>


    <Maybe when you get to a higher level, you''ll be a world-ss goalkeeper>


    "So I will keep running like this every day just to get ten experience points."


    <This isn''t the only type of quest you will get and besides you still have the gym quest>


    "I don''t think I can spend two hours in the gym, I rarely spend up to an hour there," Dave said as he slid his hands behind his back.


    Just when he was about to shut his eyes and get a little rest before anything else his phone began to vibrate in his pocket.


    He quickly got up, pulled the smartphone out of his pocket, and clicked the answer button.


    "Hey, babe." He said.


    "You''re unbelievable Dave," Emma spoke through the phone and she wasn''t sounding nice in any way.


    "What?"


    "You just woke up and left without even telling me." She said,


    "Sorry, I just went for an early morning jog," Dave said.


    "Jog but you don''t usually go for jogs." She said her voice began to sound calm now. "Any way you still should have told me."


    "I know, I''ming home right now." He said as he ended the call and quickly got up from the floor.


    <Is she yourpanion?><sub> </sub>


    "Huh?"


    <What you call girlfriend or wife>


    "Yes she''s my girlfriend and wife to be, she was with me all night and you didn''t even bother to ask that question," Dave said.


    There was no response from Catherine as he shook his head and began to head home as fast as he could.


    Emma was in a white sleeping gown as she prepared the table for breakfast.


    While many women would look less attractive in the morning with their make-up off them, Emma still looked as pretty as ever.


    Her ck curly hair never seemed to get entangled and was always in its curled-up form, her slightly pointed noise and her beautiful pink lips all made up for her beauty.


    But none of them brought out her looks more than her big blue eyes that could make any man think he was swimming in the blue sea just by looking into them.


    "I just hope he gets here soon." She said as she dropped the jug of water on the table.


    A few minutes after dropping the water on the table, the door was pushed open as Dave walked in.


    He was still trying to catch his breath because he hadn''t gotten enough rest before walking back two kilometers.


    "What the heck happened to you?" Emma asked, looking at his slightly drenched body.


    "As I said, I was jogging," Dave said with both of his hands ced on his knee. "I know I should take a shower before I''m weed to eat your breakfast."


    "No no no," Emma said, walking up to him.


    She pulled him up and slowly led him to the closest seat around the table.


    "Sit." She said and Dave did obediently as she said.


    "I wonder what type of jogging would drain you like this," Emma said as she sat down at the other end instead of sitting close to him and he knew why.


    "You look like you have been ying football in the hot sun for one hour."


    "Yeah, that''s funny because it''s only morning," Dave said.


    "Eat your breakfast so you can go take a shower you really need it."


    "Ok," Dave said but he still didn''t start eating as he kept his gaze on her.


    "Are you okay?" Emma asked after taking a bite from her sandwich and noticed that he was still looking at her.


    "Yeah," Dave said, snapping out of his daze. "It''s just that you keep getting more beautiful every day." He said taking a bite from his sandwich.


    "Oh," Emma said with a blush. "Thank you."


    Dave concentrated on his meal to try and finish it as first as he could but then his phone began to vibrate in his pocket.


    "What now?" He grumbled as he took the phone out of his pocket. "Why is he calling me now?"


    "Hello, coach." He said with the phone against his ear.


    "Dave, report at the training ground now." The coach spoke through the phone.


    The phone was on the loudspeaker as Emma was paying attention to the conversation with her sandwich in her hands.


    "I thought we didn''t have training until Wednesday," Dave said.


    "There has been a change of ns, report to the training ground and we''ll tell you more along with the others." He said and quickly ended the call.


    ''What sort of change of ns is this?'' He thought as he turned to face Emma whose facial expression wasn''t looking as good as it was when he entered the house.


    *******


    Please read Author''s note below ????

 Chapter 6 Double Reward

    Dave had already nned his weekend and the only n he had made was to spend it with Emma and do whatever she wanted to do.


    The two hardly spent time as a couple and this weekend he wanted to try and make up for it but this sudden change of ns seemed to have disrupted everything for him.


    "Emma." He called looking into her eyes.


    "It''s okay, they need you at training and I don''t really mind," Emma said.


    "I really wanted to spend the whole today and the weekend with you," Dave said.


    "A single morning training isn''t going to stop that," Emma said. "Now eat fast so you can go get ready.


    Dave smiled at her as he turned to he picked up his sandwich and ate it as fast as he could.


    As soon as he was done with that he ran upstairs while Emma continued eating.


    It took about thirty minutes before he came downstairs wearing Unique FC''s orange sports trousers and a ck sports shirt.


    Emma was sitting on the couch in the living room and as soon as she spotted himing down the stairs she picked up the ck bag beside her and walked up to him.


    "Here''s your bag." She said handing him the bag. "Everything you need is in there.


    "Ok," Dave said, taking the bag from her and hanging it over his shoulder.


    "And here''s your car keys," Emma said as she picked up the key from the small table and handed it to him.


    Instead of grabbing the key, Dave had decided to grab her hands as he stared directly into her eyes.


    "Dave you have training to catch up with," Emma said with a calm voice.


    "Yeah," Dave said as he kissed her, took his car keys from her, and quickly headed for the door.


    "See youter babe." He decided before closing the door.


    Dave quickly headed for his car which he had driven into the flower around his housest night.


    He hopped into the car started the engine and zoomed off heading for the Wondamino stadium in Vile.


    The stadium wasn''t that far so getting there with his car was quite a short drive.


    He entered the halls and headed for the pitch to see that he was one of the first few people to arrive.


    There were only three yers present there on the pitch and the yers being Adolf the captain, Ferran Phil, and the team''s right winger Carlos Oman.


    Dave slowly walked to them after taking a deep breath.


    "Hi, guys." He said after pulling up in front of them.


    Adolf was doing sit-ups, Carlos was stretching his legs while Ferran just stood there talking to Carlos about something before Dave arrived.


    "How''s it going, Dave?" Ferran asked.


    "Good," Dave said.


    "I already had my weekend nned before the coach called this morning with his change of ns," Carlosined.


    "And you think we didn''t get the same call or had our weekends nned," Adolf said.


    "We all did Carlos but this has to be something important for the coach to call all of us like this," Ferran said.


    "Oh look, the basket arrived early today."


    Dave turned to see Jonas approaching them with George following behind him.


    "The man match is done Jonas, you can''t change anything about it now," Adolf said. He was always stepping up to defend Dave.


    "But we could have done something about it if this basket wasn''t between the sticks," Jonas said as he walked closer to Dave while staring dead into his eyes. "That wasn''t the only match we could have changed something about."


    "Losing that match by a huge margin wasn''t entirely his fault," Ferran said.


    "Yeah we also made a lot of mistakes, can''t you acknowledge that he managed to make some saves?" Carlos said.


    "Useless lucky saves," Jonas said, walking away from his teammates. "I hope we get a recement soon."


    "What''s wrong with Jonas?" Mateo asked.


    He had arrived at the moment Jonas had stormed off heading to the other side of the pitch.<sub> </sub>


    It didn''t take long for the rest of the yers to arrive at the pitch and then finally coach Norman.


    All the yers gathered in one spot as he faced them to address them.


    "Last night''s loss saw us drop to eleventh ce with a minus two goal difference," Norman said with his hands behind his back.


    "I know some of you will point the me at one person but he wasn''t the only reason, you lost your stride in the second half all of you and that''s why you conceded a lot of goals.


    "We lost our stride because there was no point doing anything when he had a basket between the sticks," Jonas said.


    A lot of the yers there felt the same way but Jonas was the only one who was showing his feelings toward the goalkeeper.


    Coach Norman ignored Jonas'' words as he cleared his throat and moved to the reason why they were all called here today.


    "I know you all are wondering why I called you here this morning while you''re supposed to be having your days off but like I said there has been a change of ns.


    "UEFA has shortened our league games to finish in two weeks instead of four weeks and that means there will be a lot of jam-packed matches for us during these two weeks."


    "We understand, coach, we need to start training early for those matches," Adolf said.


    "Yes," Norman said with a smile.


    The training began with the yers runningps on the pitch before some of them began to stretch while they were doing so Dave decided to do something else.


    "Hey, Mateo." He said as he offered the striker a hand up after he had fallen.


    "Thanks, Dave," Mateo said after Dave had pulled him up.


    "Do you mind practicing your shooting while I practice my keeping?" Dave asked.


    Mateo stared at the goal post for a while before replying.


    "Sure." He said with a nod.


    The two walked towards the goalpost as Dave walked to stand in between the sticks.


    "So do you want it on the penalty spot or away?" Mateo asked, holding the ball in his hand.


    ? "Anywhere you want," Dave said.


    "Okay, we will do some freekicks and then move to the penalty spotter," Mateo said as he dropped the ball a little distance away from the eighteen-yard box.


    "Okay," Dave said, adjusting his gloves.


    Mateo was about to kick the ball but stopped before his leg touched it as an idea popped into his head.


    "Anything wrong?" Dave asked.


    "Let''s make a deal," Mateo said.


    "A deal?"


    "Yes, I am going to y five shots from this spot and if I manage to score more than two past you, you get to buy me lunch," Mateo said.


    "And if I get to keep out more than two?"


    "I get to buy you lunch," Mateo said.


    "Ok," Dave said.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ You have been put to the test ]


    [ Keep out more than two of Mateo''s shots ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +100 exp ]


    [ +1 stat point in dexterity ]


    ''Double reward.'' Dave thought.

 Chapter 7 Poor Stamina

    Now that his system had also offered to reward him if he managed to win the deal, the goalkeeper was keener to keep out Mateo''s shots but the question was if he would be able to keep out three shots from someone who had scored eight goals from freekicks this season.


    "Are you ready?" Mateo asked as he adjusted the ball on the spot he was meant to kick it from.


    "Yeah," Dave said as he jumped up and touched the crossbar.


    "Ok, here goes nothing," Mateo said slowly moving back.


    He didn''t move that far back before returning to send the ball off with his right foot.


    Dave was glued to the floor as the ball flew towards the top right corner and slid into the goalpost.


    "Mateo, there isn''t even any wall and you''re ying something like that," Dave said, throwing the ball to him.


    "If you want to be a good goalkeeper you are gonna have to learn to deal with shots like that," Mateo said as he caught the ball and dropped it on the spot ready for the next kick.


    <Watch his foot and learn to be a little more decisive> Christine said.


    The goalkeeper took a deep breath as Mateo stepped back, closed up on the ball again, and sent it flying towards his goal post.


    The ball was just elevated a little bit and was nowhere the height of the first shot but Dave had made a mistake by diving to his left while the ball was heading for the middle.


    His mistake wasn''t entirely a mistake as his leg was still in the middle, it was enough to deflect the ball which struck the left crossbar and rolled away.


    "You got lucky in that one," Mateo said before walking to the piles of balls behind him and picking one. "You got really lucky." He said as he dropped the ball on the spot.


    "Well, I''m nning to be two times lucky," Dave said as he adjusted his glove.


    "We''ll see about that," Mateo said as he raced towards the ball and released the shot towards Dave''s weak side and this time it was elevated.


    The goalkeeper caught the gist of where he was going to put the shot but he just wasn''t fast enough as the ball slipped through his hands and he fell t on his face.


    "Wow," Mateo said. "You put up a really good amount of effort to save that one but sorry I made it a little too powerful."


    The goalkeeper got up with more determination as he knew that if Mateo was to score the next one then he would have to buy him lunch and then lose the reward his system promised him.


    "This is it, buddy," Mateo said slowly, stepping back. "If I score this one, then you''ll have to buy me lunch."


    The winger stopped moving back and this time instead of running to the ball he slowly approached it and once he got close enough to it he released a lobbed shot to the right-hand corner.


    "No, no, no," Dave said as he dived toward the ball.


    The only thing that was able to reach the ball was the tip of his gloves which pushed the ball further to hit the bar before rolling over the bar.


    Mateo was in shock as he stared at the goalkeeper with his mouth wide open.


    "I never believed you could do that," Mateo said.


    "Neither did I," Dave said as he got up from the floor panting.


    <I''m not sure you will be able to do something like that again>


    ''What?''


    <Check your stamina gauge>


    [ 10% stamina remaining ]


    ''You''re saying that jump took¡­''


    <Ny percent of your stamina yes>


    That exined quite a lot for the goalkeeper who wouldn''t be able to jump that well again after doing a really high jump in an attempt to save a shot.


    ''How do I restore my stamina?'' Dave asked.


    <By resting of course>


    This wasn''t the answer he was expecting but still, Catherine was right.


    "Dave," Mateo called.


    "Yeah," Dave replied, raising his head.


    "Get in your post," Mateo said.


    The goalkeeper looked around him to see that he was still standing outside his goal post, he had gotten carried away in his conversation with Catherine.


    "Oh." The goalkeeper said as he quickly got in between the sticks.


    ''I just hope he doesn''t y a high shot.'' Dave thought as he adjusted his gloves and got ready for the shot. ''My chances of keeping this one are very low.''


    <If he ys a low shot you''ll be able to catch it if you''re fast enough to catch it that is>


    ''I just feel like you''re mocking me now.''


    Mateo moved back a little and quickly closed up on the ball but just as he was about to kick the ball someone called his name from behind startling him and causing him to kick the ball directly to where Dave was standing.


    It still had the shot in it but given that it wasing directly at the goalkeeper, it was an easy save for him.<sub> </sub>


    "Ferran," Mateo called, sounding really annoyed. "You saw himing and you didn''t tell me." He said looking at Dave.


    "No, I didn''t. I was concentrating on the ball, looking for  a way to stop your deadly shot." Dave said as he picked up the ball.


    "Sorry man, I just wanted to ask you something," Ferran said.


    [ Questplete ]


    [ You have sessfully kept out more than two of Mateo''s shots ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +100 exp received ]


    [ +1 stat point added to Dexterity ]


    [ Level up ]


    [ Congrattions you are now level two ]


    [ +3 stat points received ]


    [ +1 skill point received ]


    [ Level two skill unlocked ]


    [ Double jump ]


    The goalkeeper had gotten lost in his system while he was trying to take in everything that he didn''t know when Mateo had appeared in front of him.


    "Dave," Mateo called but there was no response from him.


    "Dave!"


    Adding a little exmation was enough to knock the goalkeeper up from his trance.


    "Oh, Mateo." He said. "How long have you been standing there?"


    "Enough to know you''ve not been here for quite a while," Mateo said. "Is anything wrong?"


    "No," Dave said, waving his head.


    "Did anything happen to my sister?" Mateo asked.


    "Come on Mateo you of all people should know, that I would never let anything happen to your sister," Dave said.


    "I''m just saying, things happen you know," Mateo said, turning away from him. "Nowe let''s go have lunch."


    _______ _______


    Dave opened the door to find his living room in a dazzling condition, the tiled floor shining, the couch well arranged and when he turned to his kitchen he could tell the difference as it had never looked better.


    He was still looking around when he began to hear footstepsing down the stairs and as Emma hade into his view he couldn''t take his eyes off her.


    She was wearing a ck silky gown which brought out her shape, her hair was straightened now instead of the curls and was let loose and for her foot, she was wearing red heels.


    "I knew you were going to be back anytime soon now." She said as she came down from thest stair.


    "Yeah," Dave said.


    "How was the training?" Emma asked as she walked closer to him and ced her hands on his shoulder.


    "It was nice," Dave said. "Is that coconut I smell on you?" He asked taking a sniff of her body.


    "Yeah it''s my new perfume, do you like it?" Emma asked with a smile.


    "It''s wonderful," Dave said leaning in for a kiss which Emma was quite expecting as the two had gotten locked in a passionate kiss right now.


    "So what''s the asion?" Dave asked immediately after he had pulled out of the kiss.


    "You were taking me out today, have you forgotten?" Emma asked.


    She had fallen into his arms now and was staring directly into his eyes.


    "Oh, yeah," Dave said with a smile that showed that he had forgotten.


    "I should go get ready then," Dave said.


    "Ok," Emma said as she removed her body from his to allow him to go get dressed.


    "Be quick, I have a special ce for us to go," Emma said.


    "What special ce?" Dave asked, stopping on the stairs.


    "It''s a surprise," Emma said with a smile.


    "Surprise," Dave said. "Now I feel like you''re the one taking me out."

 Chapter 8 Group Stage Final Round

    Unique City was one of the best cities in Bilbeth with lots of nice ces to go and explore, which was why Dave had gotten a little excited when Emma said they were going to a special ce.


    Dave wasn''t much of a fancy dresser and had just put on a red shirt, ck trousers, and ck sneakers. There wasn''t anything fancy or great about his dressing but it was still okay.


    "So where are we going?" He asked as he walked down the stairs.


    "You''ll know when we get there," Emma said as she got up from the couch and picked the keys on the table.


    "Are those my car keys?" Dave asked, pointing at her hand.


    "Yes, I''m driving," Emma said heading towards the door.


    Nothing was said between the two as Emma drove the car and Dave sat up front with her.


    Dave stared up for a while and slowly brought his gaze down to see the car radio.


    "A little music will be okay." He said as he reached for the radio and turned it on.


    He expected music to start ying on the already selected channel but that wasn''t the case.


    "Come watch as Supreme United takes on the Catns tonight at the Supreme stadium." A male voice said through the speakers.


    "This match will decide whether Supreme United will make it to the Champions League round of sixteen meanwhile Barcelona are already clear and will still make it to the round of sixteen if they should lose tonight''s match."


    "Isn''t that the final round of the champions league round of sixteen?" Emma asked.


    "That''s it," Dave said as he reached for the radio and turned it off.


    "Supreme United are quite unlucky to be in the same group with the same Barcelona that knocked them outst season," Emma said.


    "Yeah," Dave said, he seemed quite disinterested in the conversation Emma was trying to build.


    "How did their first leg go?" Emma asked.


    "Huh?"


    "Supreme United and Barcelona in the group stage," Emma said.


    "Oh, they got trashed by five goals to one," Dave said.


    "Oh, wow," Emma said.


    "And the five goals were all scored by one person," Dave said.


    "One person, who?"


    "Don''t act like you don''t know," Dave said.


    "Was it¡­. Ciro?" Emma asked.


    "Of course it''s Ciro, he''s the best yer in the world," Dave said.


    "Yeah but I don''t think a fan of Fernandez Hernandez would agree with you," Emma said.


    Dave slowly turned to her and stared at her for a while before turning to the ss window.


    "Why did you look at me like that?" Emma asked, keeping her focus on the road.


    "Just drive, I don''t want to spoil our outing to get spoiled by a football argument," Dave said.


    When Emma said they were going to a special restaurant, this wasn''t what Dave had in mind.


    "We eat here almost every day Emma." Dave looked up at the sign board which said ''Meal O''clock.''


    "And that''s why it''s a special ce to us," Emma said, walking inside.


    "I get your point," Dave said with a sigh as he followed her inside.


    There was a short period of silence between the two as they sat opposite each other and ate before Emma decided to break the silence.


    "So how was training today?" She asked.


    She had already asked him that question at home and asking him again meant that she wanted him to tell her a little bit of the details.


    "It was nice considering I beat Mateo in a challenge and he got to buy me lunch," Dave said.


    "Oh wow, I wonder what type of challenge you beat him in," Emma said, taking a sip from her red-colored drink.


    "It was a shooting challenge where I had to keep out three of his shots or buy him lunch," Dave said.


    "And you actually managed to keep out three of his shots," Emma said with a cheerful smile.


    "Well I kept out two, I got lucky in thest one," Dave said.


    <You got really lucky>


    "What happened?"


    "He got distracted and just rolled the ball to me," Dave said.


    "That shouldn''t have counted," Emma said.


    "But it did," Dave said with a smile as he took a bite out of his steak.<sub> </sub>


    Emma didn''t say anything as she watched him eat, she waited until he was done with the steak before she decided to say what she wanted to say.


    "My mom was wondering if you would join us for dinner next Saturday," Emma said.


    "Next Saturday?"


    "Yeah, they just want to talk to you, my mom especially," Emma said.


    "Ok, I just hope this new development doesn''t mean we have a fixture that night," Dave said.


    "Yeah, that wouldn''t be good," Emma said.


    "I am going to watch the match at Supreme stadium tonight," Dave said.


    "Dave you don''t need to ask, you know the answer is always going to be yes," Emma said.


    "Thank you," Dave said. "But you know thest time I asked you said no."


    "Because I was busy honey brain."


    "Yeah, you said you were busy," Dave said.


    Emma rolled her eyes with a sigh as she turned to call the waitress.


    _____ _____


    Arge amount of noise was being generated by the fans in the Supreme stadium and most of the noises wereing from the Supreme United fans.


    "Can we really hope for aeback against a team like FC Barcelona?" A man asked.


    "Dude, we''ve been awesome this week." His friend replied.


    "And so have they."


    "Theirst match against Real Betis was a nightmare for Real Betis." Another man from the side joined the conversation.


    "What was the score?"


    "Eight goals to three with Ciro Lautaro banging another hat trick."


    "Big deal, Rnd scored a hat trick on Friday?"


    "Yeah, and what did Rnd do in the first leg when Ciro scored five goals against us?"


    "At least he scored a goal."


    The men''s conversation came to a sudden end as Jim''s voice was heard in the arena.


    "Hello and wee everybody to the final round of the champions league group stage both for Bilbeth Premier league leaders Supreme United andst season''s European champions, FC Barcelona.


    "The yers are getting ready to start heading out and the match will begin shortly."


    It was at that moment that Dave and Emma arrived at the stands.


    Emma was putting on a Barcelona Home jersey which had the ssic blue and red stripes and the jersey was Ciro''s number ten jersey.


    It wasn''t actually Ciro''s just one she bought at the mall and she had a pair of blue jean trousers to go with the jersey.


    Dave on the other hand was putting on ck sports trousers and had a ck hood on top to go with that.


    "So many people," Emma said looking at the other side of the stands which was filled mostly with FC Barcelona fans.


    "Yeah, they have a lot of fans," Dave said as he pulled her along to a space he had spotted.


    They couldn''t exactly see what was going on on the pitch as some people were blocking their view but that was something they would have to worry about when the match began.


    "Ciro Lautaro has been excellent this season in the champions league, he''s currently thepetition''s leading scorer and his five goals against Supreme United in the first leg were all that he needed to surpass Fernandez by two goals," Jim said.


    "Fernandez, on the other hand, has been wonderful but you have to give Ciro the credit for being on top this time, I wonder what ns Supreme United has to contain him and I know the Supreme United fans will be hoping for a possibleeback," Steve said.


    "Thateback doesn''t look like it''s going to happen unless Supreme United have a very good tactic that can help them beat Barca''s defense and keep their elite strikers contained."


    "And don''t forget they also have to find a way to deal with that game controlling midfield of theirs," Steve said.


    "Yeah, three of the assists from the first leg all came from Andres Frednado," Jim said.


    "Yeah, the guy has been in form recently, and considering he''s only twenty years old, it''s quite phenomenal."


    "Alright, the yers are entering the pitch right now," Jim said.


    There were loud cheers from the fans as both teams made their way into the pitch.


    "Just like FC Barcelona''s manager said, Ciro Lautaro won''t be in the starting lineup for tonight''s match," Jim said.


    "And it looks like Zinin will be the one recing him," Steve said.


    "Ciro isn''t ying in the first half," Dave said, quickly springing up to take a look.


    "This could be FC Barcelona trying to give Supreme United the chance to try and do something before magical Ciro is brought in, in the second half," Jim said.


    "Let''s just hope they make good use of it."

 Chapter 9 Wow Goal

    The Barcelona fans in the stadium were confused by what Jim had said, the lineups they had seen online confirmed that Ciro was going to be in the starting eleven but it seemed like those lineups weren''t as urate.


    "Rx, at least he will being in, in the second half," Emma said, pulling Dave down.


    "On the Supreme lineup we can see Carlos, Rnd, and Diego leading their attack," Jim said.


    "Let''s just hope these three can do something today like they have been doing in the league this season," Steve said.


    "Rnd has been top notch extending steering further away from Mateo and Martin in the league''s golden boot race," Jim said. "In their midfield, we have Zlensky, Foden, and Pelcao who is just recovering from injury and making his debut for the team."


    "A wonderful midfielder, he was magnificent during his days at Arsenal, let''s just hope he will be able to make a difference for Supreme United tonight," Steve said.


    "And finally in defense we have Conan and Steven as center-backs, Michael as right back, Simeon as left back, and Perez Zoe in between the sticks," Jim said.


    "They are ying four three three to try and strengthen their defense now."


    "Yeah having three defenders at the back in their away game against Barca just couldn''t keep Ciro out, let''s just see if this one will keep the Barca attack out," Jim said.


    The yers had lined up and were now shaking each other and after that, the two captains made their way to the referee so that they could go through the process of choosing the sides they would be starting in.


    Rnd, being Supreme United''s captain, made his way to the referee as Frank Christensen, FC Barcelona''s captain, was already there.


    "In Barca''s attack, we have Vasquez and Lelemar who have bothbined with Ciro Lautaro for fifteen goals and nine assists in the champions league campaign so far," Jim said. "And then there''s Zinin who hasn''t made many appearances in the campaign so far but has a goal and an assist to his name so far."


    "He''s a great yer whoes in at thest minute and changes the game, he has done it a lot of times for Barca this season," Steve said.


    "In midfield, we have Frednado, Pierre, and Andrew," Jim said.


    "Frednado and Pierre have been in great form recently but Andrew doesn''t seem to have found the flow in his game for quite a while he has just been quiet," Steve said.


    "Well let''s just hope he finds his rhythm in this game," Jim said. "Finally in defense we have defensive rocks, Pedro and Fabro, as center-backs, Jeffery as right back, Scholes as left back, and Frank as the man between the sticks."


    The yers got in their positions as Rnd and Foden made their way to the center where they were going to kick off the game.


    "The game is all set and all we''re waiting for is the referee''s whistle," Jim said.


    It didn''t take long before the referee blew his whistle to signal the beginning of the game.


    Rnd passed the ball to Foden who quickly railed it back to Pelcao as many ck jerseys closed up on their own half of the pitch.


    "Barca are being aggressive here as they pressurize Supreme United in their own half," Jim said.


    "I''m not seeing anything from here," Dave said as he stood up and walked to the rail that was built in front of the stand to prevent someone from identally falling off while watching a match.


    Emma had sat on the seat for a while before deciding to join him there.


    "So we''re going to stand for ny minutes plus," Emma said as she rxed her body on the rail but she didn''t get any reply from Dave.


    Supreme United was still with the ball but it didn''t take before they had lost it due to a mistimed pass from Simeon.


    Foden got the ball away from him andid it to Zinin who was trying to run past Supreme United''s right back but that run wasn''t sessful as he drew back trapped the ball and made a quick pass to Lelemar.


    "Barcelona with their tiki-taka," Jim said as he watched as Barcelona yers passed the ball around Supreme United''s part of the pitch and sent it back when the situation called for it.


    Scholes made a run down the left side of the pitch with the ball and just before crossing onto Supreme United''s part of the pitch made a long pass to Andrew who was ying right midfield.


    Andrew trapped the ball and was hesitant with his movements before quickly making a quick run past Pelcao.


    "I haven''t seen Andrew run that fast for a long time now and it looks like he''s about to create something here."


    The midfielder raced down the empty left side and sent a low cross towards Lelemar.


    The center-forward knew he was heavily marked and wasn''t going to get the space to take the shot but that didn''t mean he didn''t have another option.


    He raced towards the ball before Conan could get to it and with his back heel pushed it backward for Vasquez who was racing into the box at that time.<sub> </sub>


    There was no one there to mark him as he sped towards the ball and took the shot but Steven had ced his foot in the right ce as the ball deflected on it and flew directly towards Perez Zoe who didn''t have any problem catching it.


    "That was close!" Jim screamed.


    "That was a really good save from Steven," Steve said.


    "Supreme has the ball now and they are going to try and counter-attack against an offensive Barcelona defense.


    That was exactly what Perez had in mind as he quickly threw the ball towards Diego who took care of Jeffery with a nutmeg and was now racing towards Barcelona''s goal post.


    He wasn''t alone though as Barca''s yers were hot on his trail and the center-backs had already closed up on the goal post.


    Diego didn''t stop running as he ran to the left corner side and finding Rnd among the ck jerseys he sent in a nice cross.


    "Diego has set up the ball for an aerial challenge."


    Rnd jumped high to meet the ball ahead of two Barca yers and with his head sent the ball towards the top right-hand corner of the goal post.


    "Rnd!!!." Jim screamed.


    That was a really nice header but Frank was equal to it as he dived towards the ball and with the tip of his gloves tipped the ball over the bar.


    "What a save!! From Captain spider man!" Jim eximed.


    "Wow Jim, it''s been only a few minutes and this match just keeps getting interesting," Steve said.


    "Wow," Dave said.


    "Brilliant header right?" Emma said.


    "No, that save was phenomenal," Dave said.


    "That was a super save from captain spider man but that means they have a corner to deal with now," Jim said.


    "And don''t get me wrong, Supreme United are wonderful with corner kicks, they have scored from forty percent of their corner kicks this season in BPL that''s more than any other club and the best record in BPL history so far," Steve said.


    "Yeah and that one goal against Barca in the 5:1 defeat was from a corner kick."


    "I think Pelcao''s going to be the one taking the corner kick," Steve said.


    "Pelcao takes the kick," Jim said. "Pedro nods it away."


    The ball came flying towards Rnd who wasn''t in a good position to kick it but that didn''t mean he didn''t have any tricks up his sleeves.


    He sprang up and with a bicycle kick sent the ball flying to the bottom left corner of the post, Frank dived towards the ball but he couldn''t get to it on time as it smashed on the bar and fell into the goal post.


    "That is a wonderful bicycle kick from Rnd Hills!!! Captain wonderful!!!"


    Supreme United fans were in cheers as Rnd ran to the side and did a sliding celebration.


    His teammates ran to him and all fell on his body.


    Ciro was observing everything from the bench and he had only one thing to say about that goal.


    "Wow."


    ****


    Hey guys, hope you enjoyed the chapter.


    Sorry, I can''t keep the updates steady, I''m working on two other books that''s the reason I can''t update daily but I''ll try my best to update at least five chapters in a week.


    If you love the novel so far, I don''t know if you would mind dropping a review of what you think.

 Chapter 10 First Free Kick Goal

    The Supreme stadium had taken on a whole new feeling as the fans cheered and chanted for the yers.


    Both the yers and fans were really starting to believe that there was a chance that they could win this match.


    "Rnd has two goals in the champions league campaign so far and they bothe against Barcelona through corner kicks," Jim said.


    "Just like I said Supreme United are wonderful with corner kicks and I was already fifty percent sure that corner kick was going to get converted into a goal," Steve said.


    The Barcelona fans didn''t feel down because of the goal as they kept changing the name of their team.


    They really didn''t have anything to lose from this match as it was certain they were going to finish on top of the table even if they lost this match.


    The ones who were desperate to win this match were Supreme United who were fighting for second ce with Juventus.


    They had the same number of points as Juventus but Juventus was in second ce because they had a higher goal difference.


    <o>,m Their goal was to try and win this match either with a high amount of goals or just hope that Juventus draws or loses their match.</o>


    Drawing the match was a chance they couldn''t take because Juventus were ying against the weakest team in the group which meant that they had a better chance of winning than them who were ying against the best team in the group.


    The game kicked off again with Vasquez sliding the ball to Frednado who quickly sent it back to Scholes in the left wing.


    "This match may not really mean anything for Barca considering their position in the table but I don''t think Barca is a team that looks to lose a match no matter what," Jim said.


    "I wonder what''s going on in Ciro''s mind after seeing that goal," Steve said.


    "He''s probably nning his revenge in his mind," Jim said.


    "Yeah, he''s whispering something to Arnold Ondo, the left-back who is also a starting but starting on the bench," Steve said.


    "The way I am seeing things it seems like FC Barcelona''s manager Phillip Shaw is nning something deadly in the second half," Jim said.


    "Yeah, Andrew is switching the point of attack to the left wing now with a cross to Lelemar," Steve said.


    Lelemar trapped the ball as a Supreme United yer raced towards him, he didn''t try to pass the ball or move but he knew what he was doing.


    As soon as the defender had gotten closer to him he tipped it over him and rushed past him leaving the defender in awe.


    He wasn''t free though as Supreme United''s left back tried to close up and take possession of the bouncing ball but Lelemar was faster as he got on the ball and with his back heel flicked it over Simeon.


    There was a loud gasp in the stands as they had just witnessed Lelemar humiliate two Supreme United yers with his incredible fun.


    "I don''t know if that guy can y a match without trying to humiliate anyone," Steve said.


    "Yeah, but getting past those two leaves him all alone on the left side of Supreme United''s goal post. Can Lelemar create something here?" Jim said.


    Lelemar still didn''t pass the ball as he tried to get past Steve at the edge of the box and he did get past Steve before he was brought down by Conan under a careless challenge.


    "That''s a careless challenge from Conan, that could be costly."


    The referee blew his whistle as Vasquez quickly rushed to Lelemar who was still lying on the floor.


    "One thing Barca wouldn''t want is to lose Lelemar to injury," Jim said.


    "Yeah there isn''t any proper recement for him in the left wing, sure Zinin can be yed there but he does a lot better in the right wing than the left wing," Steve said.


    The referee slowly walked to Conan who was standing over Lelemar and showed him a yellow card.<sub> </sub>


    "As expected Conan gets the first booking of the night," Jim said.


    "Some medical personnels areing into the pitch to check on Lelemar now as the referee has partially stopped the game," Steve said.


    "FC Barcelona fans are probably praying now that he will be okay to continue."


    "Yeah, and you can see Roberto warming up on the touchline as Phillip may be considering bringing off Lelemar if he''s unable to continue," Steve said.


    "I think he''s getting up," Jim said.


    "Yeah, he''s limping a bit but I think he wants to continue as the medical personnels are leaving the pitch now," Steve said.


    Committing a foul at the edge of the box wasn''t really a good thing for Supreme United who had to deal with a free kick now.


    "A free kick at the edge of the box, so who''s going to take it?" Jim said.


    Lelemar was standing a little distance away from the ball while Vasquez was standing close to him while they waited for Supreme United to form their wall.


    "I think Vasquez''s going to take it," Jim said.


    "No, Lelemar is definitely the one who''s going to take it." Steve said.


    "I don''t think Lelemar is going to be able to take it considering the challenge he just recovered from," Jim said.


    "Ciro has recovered from a challenge simr to that one before and was still able to y a free kick which he scored," Steve said.


    "And you think Lelemar will be able to do the same," Jim said.


    "Yeah, he''se close to scoring a free kick before closer than Vasquez has gotten this season."


    "I know but Vasquez has ten free kick goals while he has none."


    "He''s still at the early stages of his career, Jim, even Ciro wasn''t able to score a free kick until he was twenty-five."


    The referee blew his whistle as Vasquez jogged towards the ball.


    "I told you it was Vasquez," Jim said.


    Vasquez got close to the ball and walked and jumped over it as Lelemar raced in from behind and took the shot.


    "That''s a wonderful goal from Lelemar!!" Steve screamed in joy. "He slotted it up the right-hand corner, Perez had a hand to it but it was just too much shot power for him to handle.


    "That''s the first free kick goal of his career and his first free kick goal for FC Barcelona," Jim said.


    "I told you he could do it, Jim," Steve said.


    After scoring that wonderful free kick goal Lelemar rushed towards the stands and did a flip before his teammates got close to him and celebrated with him.


    "They have the equalizer and just a few minutes after conceding the first goal and things are beginning to take a whole new look for Supreme United," Jim said as some of the Supreme United yers sat on the floor with frustrated looks on their faces.


    ****


    I am finally done with my exams and high school had been concluded. I will try my best to see if I can update at least four chapters a week from now.


    Thanks for all your support.

 Chapter 11 Crossbar Comes To The Rescue

    Things weren''t looking good for Supreme United who were back on level terms just a few minutes after taking the lead.


    They had to win this match at all cost or else they were going to y in the Europa league or worse get knocked out finally if Dynamo Kyiv should win against Juventus by any chance.


    "Just a few minutes after taking the lead and they are on level terms again," Jim said.


    "Yeah, and you can hear the fans of Barca increasing the intensity of their chants," Steve said.


    "Like I said nothing will change if they lose the match but Barca isn''t a team that likes to lose no matter what," Jim said.


    Rnd stood over the ball in the kick-off spot waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he had heard it, he passed the ball back to Foden who tried to run into Barcelona''s half with the ball before sending it back to Rnd due to the tight defense.


    Supreme were trying to break through Barcelona''s defense but their tactics didn''t seem to be working as they kept passing the ball around in their own half.


    "Supreme United are trying their best to keep the ball away from Barcelona who seemed to be pressuring them in their own half," Jim said


    "It''s the first half and they have already run out of attacking options," Steve said.


    The right-back yed a through pass to Zlensky who walked with the ball a little before sending the ball to Pelcao with a cross before Andrew could get to him.


    The cross wasn''t able to get to Pelcao as Frednado jumped in before the ball could get to him and stole the ball.


    "Frednado has stolen the ball and now he''s leading an attack through the middle," Jim said.


    Frednado got past Foden with some neat body faints and was still running through the middle as the number seventeen was disyed on the back of his jersey.


    He knew he couldn''t take on the centre-backs alone as he tipped the ball to Lelemar who was now open on the left wing.


    Lelemar tried to make a run into the box but he was stopped by Conan who had almost dispossessed him in f the ball.


    He slowed down in his stride as he turned back and quickly railed the ball to Andrew, Andrew drew closer to the eighteen-yard box and feigned a shot before passing the ball to Pierre who quickly sent it to Frednado.


    Zinin quickly made a run past Simeon into the eighteen-yard box, Frednado didn''t waste time in lobbing the ball to him as he rose high to meet it ahead of Steven.


    "Supreme United may be in trouble here," Jim said. "And what a header!"


    Zinin had sent the ball flying towards the top right-hand corner where Perez couldn''t get to it but his header had been quite unlucky as the ball smashed on the crossbar and fell to Michael''s foot.


    Michael tried to get away from Frednado who was behind him but he couldn''t as the youngster dispossessed him of the ball and quickly passed it to Lelemar.


    Lelemar was really decisive as he found Vasquez open in the middle and sent a short cross towards him.


    There was no other way to take it as Vasquez sent the ball flying towards the top left-hand side of the goal post with a bicycle kick.


    Perez dived towards the ball but he wasn''t able to get to it but that wasn''t going to cost them anything as the ball smashed on the crossbar and went over the bar.


    "Another one saved by the crossbar!" Jim eximed.


    "Perez and the whole Supreme United yers should be thanking that crossbar now," Steve said.


    FC Barcelona''s manager and the yers on the bench including Ciro had almost jumped up in joy when Vasquez took that kick but they couldn''t finish their celebration as the ball had smashed the bar.


    Even Dave had almost shouted goal before that ball hit the crossbar and went over the bar.


    "Finally," Emma said with a sigh of relief.


    "Huh?" Dave said, turning to her.<sub> </sub>


    "You''ve just been staring at the match without saying anything even that equalizer didn''t excite you and you just no longer cared if I was standing next to you," Emma said.


    "Oh, sorry," Dave said, grabbing her hand. "I seemed to have been lost in my thoughts there."


    "What were you thinking about?" She asked.


    "How to make a save just like the one Frank made," Dave said.


    "Don''t worry, you''ll get there one day," Emma said with a smile.


    That was one of the reasons why he loved and treasured this woman so much, she believed he could do anything even if it seemed impossible.


    What he had told her about thinking about Frank''s save wasn''t exactly the truth.


    He hadpletely stopped focusing on the match after he had called Frank''s save phenomenal and Christine had offered to show him something.


    His attention had been on his system screen since that time and he didn''t even know when Lelemar scored the equalizer.


    What Christine had shown him was a series of goalkeeping skills ranking from ordinary to super special, those were the skills he needed to unlock to be a top-ss goalkeeper.


    He was still at level two and had unlocked one skill frompleting a quest, he still had one more skill avable to unlock at level two but to unlock it he needed three skill points, and right now he only had one from hisst level up.


    [ 1/0 Skill points ]


    ''How do I even get skill points?'' He asked Christine in his mind.


    <The system will decide that but I know you will get one skill point with each level up>


    ''I already know that.''


    <You may also get a certain amount of skip points from quests, it''s all up to the system>


    Barcelona had been getting past Supreme United''s defense but even the craziest of chances they had created had gone wild with Perez saving two low shots from Zinin and Vasquez.


    Frednado had even hit the crossbar on a close shot.


    They were the more confident and more fluid side when it came to attacking but their finishing had not been that great in this match.


    The referee blew his whistle twice to signal the end of the first half as the yers began to make their way back to their locker rooms.


    "That''s the end of the first half and that has really been interesting to watch as both sides are tied one one," Jim said.


    "I''m surprised the score line is not three goals to one or four goals to one because Barcelona has been dangerous with their attack," Steve said.


    "Supreme United should just hope they don''t take in another goal fest because Ciro is going to being in, in the second half," Jim said.


    "He may change the game or he may not but there''s a high chance he will change the game for Barca," Steve said.


    "I agree, considering the way Supreme United yer in the first half, if they don''t change things up a bit and tighten their defense then they are going to be taking in another goal fest," Jim said.


    ****


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 Chapter 12 Lelemar!

    Now that the first half was over, Emma had suggested that they should go sit down for a little while but when she turned she could see that all the seats were now upied and there was no longer any space for sitting.


    "And there''s no longer space for us." She said turning back to Dave.


    "If you''re tired I could carry you for a little while," Dave said.


    "No, that would be really weird," Emma said, looking around.


    Dave shook his head as he leaned closer to her, so close that she could feel his breath on her neck, and that alone had sparked up a reaction in her body.


    "I would do anything for the love of my life." He said.


    "I know you will Dave but no," Emma said, pushing him back. "Maybe when we get home you can carry me and stand all you want but I''ll just manage now."


    "Ok," Dave said, turning his gaze back to the pitch.


    <You know it would have been really embarrassing for the both of you if she had agreed for you to carry her>


    ''I know but if it''s for her, I don''t mind.'' Dave said as his eyes darted towards her and back on the pitch.


    ''So what type of quest will I be getting next?'' He asked.


    <That will be up to the system and will depend on your life situations>


    ''Ok, I just hope I get good quests.''


    [ yer Profile ]


    [ Name: Dave Richard ]


    [ yer level: 2 ]


    [ 100/100 HP ]


    [ 100/100 Energy ]


    [ 30/200 EXP ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Goalkeeping skills ]


    [ Double jump: level 01 ]


    [ Physical Status ]


    [ Skill points: 01 ]


    [ Stat points ]


    [ Physical Status ]


    [ Strength: 15 ]


    [ Dexterity: 6 ]


    [ Endurance: 10 ]


    <You still have a long way to go Dave>


    ''I know it''s not like I''m going to retire anytime soon, I''m only twenty-one.''


    "Alright, the second half is about to kick off as the yers are making their way to the pitch now." Jim''s voice resounded in the stadium calling the attention of those who were lost on their phones back to the match.


    "Finally," Emma said, returning her phone to her pocket.


    "It looks like Barcelona is going to be making a change before the game kicks off but I don''t think it''s Ciro," Steve said.


    The yers of both teams took their positions in their different halves as Vasquez stood over the ball in the kick-off spot.


    But before the referee blew his whistle to start the game, the official responsible for substitutions raised the substitution board to disy the number twenty-three in red and the number eighteen in green.


    "Ok, so it is Scholes who will being off for Arnold," Jim said.


    "And you can see and hear the FC Barcelona fans apuding him as he makes his way out of the pitch," Steve said.


    Scholes walked to the sideline where Arnold hugged him before running into the pitch.<sub> </sub>


    "If Scholes had received an apud, Arnold is receiving a super apud from the fans now," Jim said


    "They love him so much, his gamey this season has improvedpared to how he had yedst season," Steve said.


    "A goal and four assists so far in the champions league campaign," Jim said.


    The referee waited for Arnold to reach his position before he blew his whistle to signal the start of the second leg.


    "And there you have it, the beginning of the second half," Jim said.


    "Arnold is the game now but there''s still no Ciro," Steve said.


    FC Barcelona had begun the match doing what they did best in every single match, keeping possession. It doesn''t matter whether they lose, win or draw they alwayse out on top when ites to ball possession.


    For now, they were just trying to keep the ball in the area while thinking of an attacking option.


    Frednado passed the ball to Jeffery who quickly passed it back to Frank before Diego could get to it.


    Frank tried to get away from Rnd before making a long pass to Frednado but the pass didn''t get to him as Foden cut in from behind to steal the ball which he quickly railed to Rnd.


    "Uh oh, Barcelona are in trouble here," Jim said.


    Rnd made a run with the ball as Pedro raced towards him.


    He found a space to take a shot but Pedro quickly ced his leg in front of him to block the shot.


    The shot deflected on his leg and flew away from the goalpost for a corner kick.


    "And now Barcelona has one of those dangerous corner kicks to defend," Steve said.


    Pelcao stepped up to take the corner kick and as soon as he had heard the referee''s whistle, he sent the ball flying into the middle.


    "The yers are rising high to meet it, including Frank, who was to go for a catch," Jim said.


    Frank rose high, he didn''t rise higher than Rnd but he had been able to catch it because he didn''t have to nod it like everyone else had to.


    "That was risky but leaving the ball open for Rnd was also risky and the captain doesn''t want to take any chances," Steve said.


    Frank didn''t even wait for five seconds after he had caught the ball as he quickly threw it towards Zinin who was leading a counterattack now.


    Lelemar had understood the gist of the matter and was already racing ahead of Lelemar as Vasquez tried to keep his distance just in case the ball dropped loose on his side.


    "Supreme United are in danger of a Barcelona attack here," Jim said.


    Zinin knew that he wasn''t going to get past Conan without getting pulled back and that was why he quickly lobbed the ball to Lelemar who didn''t even let the ball to touch the floor before using an overhead kick to get past Steven and while the ball was still in the air he slotted a shot at the bottom right-hand side of the post.


    Perez had dived towards it but he couldn''t get to it on time as the ball smashed into the.


    "That is a wonderful goal from the super kid Lelemar!! Mr talented!!" Jim was always energetic whenever a goal was scored, he didn''t care which side it was, he just loved to scream goal.


    ? Lelemar rushed to the left corner as his teammates rushed after him and had all clustered up on him now.


    "You can see the smile on Ciro''s face after that goal," Steve said.


    "He''s probably saying in his mind, put me in so I can set my boy Lelemar up for a hattrick," Jim said.


    "And there''s a high chance that he will do it whenever hees in, he''s the joint top assister in the champions league campaign so far," Steve said.


    "Look at the devastated looks on the faces of the Supreme United yers as Barcelona celebrate their goal," Jim said.


    "And do you hear that?" Steve asked.


    "Of course I do, the Barcelona fans are chanting the name of Lelemar," Jim said. "They have to, he scored the equalizer with a nice free kick and now he puts his team ahead with this wonder goal."


    "Yeah, Rnd is clearly frustrated with the defense now and it looks like he''s going over to talk to their coach," Steve said.


    "Supreme United had a hope of winning this match but it seems like FC Barcelona just made their goal this night tougher for them," Jim said. "Last time it was Ciro, this time it''s Lelemar."


    *****


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 Chapter 13 Ciro Is In

    The Supreme United fans were in awe of that goal, a few minutes ago they had taken the lead, it didn''t take long before Barcelona had gotten an equaliser through Lelemar and now they were leading because of that wonderful goal from Lelemar.


    Zinin had spotted him at the left wing and lobbed the ball to him, everyone thought he was going to find it hard getting past Steven who was already upon him but the Brazilian had made it look really easy.


    Rnd had gone to talk to the coach and as soon as he had returned to the pitch the official raised his board showing the number two in red and the number twenty-three.


    "It looks like Steven will being off for Derik to make his debut for the senior squad," Jim said.


    "He was promoted to the senior squad this season and hasn''t yed any match since then but today he will be making his debut as a substitute," Steve said.


    "Steven doesn''t have a happy look on his face as he leaves the pitch now and the fans seem to have ignored him," Jim said.


    "At least getting ignored is better than getting booed, apart from that block on Vasquez''s shot, his performance tonight has been below average," Steve said.


    Derik quickly jogged to his position as Rnd got ready to start the game.


    The referee blew his whistle as he quickly sent the ball back to Derik who was now ying right back as Michael had switched to Steve''s center-back position.


    Derik tried to move forward with the ball but as Pierre raced towards him he quickly passed the ball to Foden under pressure.


    "That is expected given that this is his first important match and who wouldn''t be under pressure ying against a big team like Barcelona?" Jim said.


    Foden was the most technical yer in Supreme United''s midfield and he had set up two attacks in the match tonight which the attack had failed to make good use of.


    The time had entered the fiftieth minute now and Supreme United had failed to create any form of attack.


    They were starting to keep long possessions now but keeping possession doesn''t mean anything when you can''t get past the defense to score.


    Foden received the ball from Pelcao and quickly rolled it to Rnd who made a quick run past Frednado but he couldn''t go any further as Fabro had quickly stolen the ball and turning away from Rnd he yed a long pass to Scholes on the left-back position.


    "Barcelona has won the ball after a long spell of possession by Supreme United," Jim said.


    Scholes made a straight run before passing the ball to Frednado in the middle of the pitch where he had his path blocked by Foden.


    "Oh, what do we have here? It''s Frednado versus Foden." Jim said.


    "Two midfield wonders of the same age," Steve said.


    Foden tried to pressurize Frednado and dispossess him of the ball but the Barcelona midfielder had him where he wanted him as he turned and with his back heel nutmegged Foden before running past him to get the ball.


    "Waooooh!!" Jim eximed.


    "This is Frednado saying that you may be more technical but when ites to dribbling and skill, I am better," Steve said.


    "Waooh, that kid must be taking lessons from Ciro on how to do nutmegs, that''s the fifth one tonight," Jim said.


    Frednado raced down the middle with the ball before crossing it to Zinin on the right wing.


    Zinin made a run past Simeon but he couldn''t cross the ball as the left back had blocked his path.


    He managed to get past him with some neat body faints but now he was at the edge of the box and had no choice but to roll the ball back to Andrew who quickly passed it to Frednado.


    "Frednado is with the ball now, he''s found an open space, he''s taken the shot!"


    Jim always got excited in situations like this but his screaming would have gotten more intense if Frednado had scored the goal.


    The midfield had found space just like Jim had said and had taken the shot.


    Perez waspletely glued to a spot as the ball flew to the top right-hand corner and smashed on the bar before going over the bar.


    "Crossbar!" Jim eximed.


    Frednado shook his head as he watched the ball go over the bar, that goal surely would have been nominated for a Puskas award if it had gone in.


    "I have said it before and I will say it again, Supreme United have a little bit of luck on their side in this match and they should be thanking that crossbar," Steve said.<sub> </sub>


    The match had continued as Supreme United were slowly losing the touch to their game as Barcelona pressurized even more.


    Barcelona on the other hand had lost the touch to their finishing and were missing a lot of chances from their attacks.


    As the time began to enter the sixtieth minute, Ciro began his warm-up on the sideline.


    The ball had gone over the line for a throw-in as most of the Supreme United yers had turned their gaze to Ciro who was warming up on the sideline.


    "Ciro is getting ready toe on as we can see him warming up on the sideline," Jim said.


    "Yeah, and you can see the look on the Supreme United yers who are watching him now," Steve said. "They are probably wondering how they are supposed to handle the CVL attack now?"


    "Yeah, the attack feels more fluid when those three are upfront and Ciro on his own can take on the whole defense," Jim said.


    Rnd had gotten a cross at the edge of Barcelona''s eighteen-yard box but he had fired the shot high and wide.


    Now that the ball was out of y, it was time for Ciro toe in as the official responsible for substitutions raised his board to show the number seventeen in red and the number ten in green.


    "As we all suspected and expected, Zinin will be the one making way for Ciro," Jim said.


    Zinin received a loud round of apuse from the fans as he left the pitch and he responded by pping his hands while waving to the fans.


    "He deserves it, he almost scored with a header and had assisted the second goal," Jim said.


    Ciro hugged Zinin before making his way into the pitch and the Barcelona fans had gone wild with their ps and cheers.


    "Ah, the man every Barcelona fan had been dying to see y and every Supreme United fan had been praying he never gets to y," Steve said.


    Ciro got in position as Frank quickly yed a short pass to Jeffery who railed the ball to Pedro.


    Pedro passed it to Frednado who hade closer to take the ball.


    Frednado tried to get past Rnd before sending the ball back to Pedro.


    Pedro quickly sent it to Ciro who didn''t hesitate before passing it to Andrew as he ran deeper into his position.


    Andrew knew what he was trying to do as he found space and drilled a low pass to their number ten.


    Now it was time for Ciro to do his thing as he quickly got past Simeon with a nutmeg.


    Conan tried to bring him down with a tackle but he tipped the ball over him and jumped over him to get his leg to the ball again.


    "Waooh, Ciro is taking them all on!" Jim said in excitement.


    Michael was quickly deleted with a body faint and before Zlensky and Pelcao could hang up on him he lobbed the ball to Lelemar who had dealt with Derik with some neat body movements.


    He met the short lob with a header and sent it to the bottom left corner, Perez got a hand to it but it wasn''t enough to take care of it as the ball fell into the.


    "I said it before he came in and he has proven me right!" Jim screamed in excitement as Lelemar rushed to the sideline.


    Ciro rushed along with the other yers and they had all pulled him down.


    The Barcelona fans were jumping up and down in cheers as Ciro had once again put up a good show for them.


    "Ciro is in and now things have just gotten tougher for Supreme United," Steve said.


    It had been less than five minutes since he had entered the pitch and he had already humiliated Supreme United''s defense to set Lelemar up for a hattrick.


    ****


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 Chapter 14 Drop To Europa League

    Supreme United hade into the second half with the goal of getting an equalizer and maybe a winning goal but the FC Barcelona yers had kept that goal away from them long enough for Ciro toe in andpletely shatter it.


    Supreme United were down three goals to one now and with the way they were ying and Ciro now in the game, it looked like they were going to concede more if they didn''t do something about their defense.


    "It''s Supreme United one, FC Barcelona three," Jim said.


    "A wonderful header from Lelemar toplete his hattrick," Steve said.


    "Yeah and a wonderful pass from Ciro to set that up," Jim said.


    "We said he was going to do it and it didn''t take him up to five minutes to do it and now he has surpassed Churro in the champions league top assist race," Steve said.


    The FC Barcelona fans were happy, jubting, and cheering their yers on.


    Rnd had a really frustrated look on his face as he stood over the ball in the kick-off spot.


    He had every right to be frustrated, he was trying his best to get forward, create chances, and all that but his teammates weren''t really doing much to him, of course, there were those who were trying like Foden in midfield.


    Rnd''s main cause of frustration was the fact that they were going to drop to the Europa League if they fail to win this match and every hope of winning had already been taken away from them.


    The referee blew his whistle to signal the kick-off as Rnd quickly rolled the ball to Foden with a back heel pass.


    Supreme United tried to keep the ball while thinking of the best-attacking options and how to build their attack because getting past Barcelona''s defense wasn''t usually an easy task.


    Foden made a ball through the middle after receiving the ball from Michael.


    He passed the ball to Rnd who tried to make a run past Frednado but Frednado quickly drew back to block his path and aware that he couldn''t get past him and even if he did Pedro would be there to steal the ball rolled the ball Pelcao.


    "Frednado will be like ''not this time," Steve said.


    "We''re entering the seventieth minute and there has been no action from both sides so far and we really need to see some action from Supreme United," Jim said.


    Pelcao sent the ball back to Derik who moved forward toward the eighteen-yard box before finding Zlensky with a short long pass.


    Zlensky tried to get past Andrew before ying a pass to Foden who quickly lobbed the ball to Diego on the right wing.


    Diego ran past Pierre to get a foot to the ball before bringing it down.


    He was now in possession of the ball as he made a run down the right as Arnold tried to stop him.


    He feigned crossing the ball to get Arnold out of the way before drilling a low cross towards Rnd.


    Rnd had run past Pedro to meet the ball close to the goal post but now he wasn''t in a good position to take the shot but as always he had a trick up his sleeves.


    He let the ball roll past him a little before trying to stuff it past Frank with a back heel shot.


    "What was that?!" Jim eximed.


    The ball had almost gone in before Frank had caught it with the help of the crossbar.


    He lost bnce but he was able to press the ball against the crossbar with his left hand before it could go in.


    "That was really close," Steve said.


    "Yeah and that back heel shot from Rnd was something else," Jim said.


    "I think that if Rnd was ying for a top-tier club like Real Madrid or Barcelona he would have been a champions league winner by now," Steve said.<sub> </sub>


    "Yeah."


    The match continued with Barcelona dominating with their long spell of possession.


    They tried many times to get a fourth goal in but all their attempts were either sent flying wide, hitting the crossbar, or getting saved by Perez.


    "Barcelona are terrorizing Supreme United here as we enter the nieth minute," Jim said.


    Carlos had lost the ball to Jeffrey when he tried to enter Barcelona''s eighteen-yard box with the ball and now it looked like Barcelona were cooking up something dangerous.


    Jeffrey quickly rolled the ball to Frednado who made a long run down the middle and just before entering Supreme United''s side of the pitch sent the ball rolling towards Ciro.


    "This could be theirst attack before the final whistle," Jim said and you could tell he was really excited to see what Barca was going to conjure.


    Ciro made a run down the right wing before passing the ball to Vasquez who tried to find shooting space and when he couldn''t find any, sent the ball back to Frednado.


    Frednado didn''t quickly move with the ball as he spotted Ciro making a run into the eighteen-yard box.


    The midfielder looked for open spaces in Supreme United''s defense and through those spaces, he drilled a low pass to Ciro who got a foot to the ball, eliminated Conan, and took the shot aiming for the bottom left corner.


    "Ciro takes the shot! Oh, it''s hit the crossbar!" Jim had almost jumped up from his seat.


    "And again Supreme United getting saved by the crossbar," Steve said.


    "Forty-five percent of their shots tonight had hit the crossbar it''s as if part of the reason they came here tonight is to practice hitting the crossbar," Steve said.


    "That''s funny because hitting the crossbar intentionally is one of Ciro''s specialties," Jim said.


    Ciro stood there staring at the crossbar before Vasquez came to pull him along.


    "He would have stirred four goals clear of Fernandez if he had scored that goal," Jim said.


    "Yeah but what about that pass from Frednado, what a neat pass through the legs of Supreme United yers in the box," Steve said.


    "I''ve said it before as a Midfielder he has what it takes to be the best in the world," Jim said.


    Perez dropped the ball in the eighteen-yard box as the referee checked his watch.


    As soon as Perez yed the ball in, the referee blew his whistle thrice to signal the end of the match.


    "There you have it, the match has finallye to an end," Jim said.


    "As expected Lelemar gets the man of the match award," Steve said.


    Rnd had gone to meet Ciro as soon as the match was over, maybe he wanted a jersey swap.


    Although they had just dropped to the Europa League, the Supreme United yers didn''t make a big deal out of it and neither did the fans. At least now they had hope of winning three trophies this season as they had already won one.


    "What a match, entertaining from both sides but the stronger team had to make it out on top. It''s Supreme United one, FC Barcelona three." Jim said to conclude thementary for the match.


    ****


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    Your power stones and an honest review would really be appreciated.

 Chapter 15 Awesome Skill

    Dave was silent throughout the drive home and Emma had decided to leave him alone to swim in his thoughts while she focused on the road.


    The drive from their city to Supreme stadium wasn''t that much of a long drive and it didn''t take long before they had arrived home.


    Emma opened the door and got out, she was about to shut the door when she noticed that Dave didn''t even make a move to get up.


    "Babe." She called to snap him out of his daze.


    "Oh sorry," Dave said quickly, opening the door and getting out of the car.


    "I wonder what got you so lost in your thoughts," Emma said as she locked the car and quickly walked to catch up with him.


    "It''s nothing," Dave said, his voice felt a little low like someone sad.


    "Are you sure?" She asked.


    "Yeah," Dave replied, walking ahead of her into the house.


    He didn''t even look around and walked straight towards the stairs.


    <Human emotions, always so confusing>


    He was about to go up the stairs when he felt Emma grab his arm.


    He quickly turned to see Emma who had a smile on her face, quite a mischievous one.


    "You know you can carry me now." She said,


    Dave didn''t reply immediately as he looked at her from head to toe.


    "You want me to carry you?" He said.


    "Yeah, you wanted to do it back at the stadium." She said, blinking her eyes.


    "Oh, I am really tired now," Dave said with a scrunched-up voice.


    "So you won''t carry me," Emma said, trying to sound sad.


    "Of course, I''ll carry you," Dave said as he pulled her closer and lifted her on his body. "Waooooh you are heavy."


    "My parents, especially my mother, didn''t say that when they carried me every day for about five years," Emma said.


    "You were just a baby then," Dave said with a chuckle.


    "Doesn''t make any difference." She said,


    "Yeah, I guess it doesn''t make any difference since you''re still my baby," Dave said as he looked up to meet her gaze and that was when the both of them locked eyes.


    "I never get tired of drowning in those eyes," Dave said with a low voice.


    "You could just swim to safety," Emma replied with a voice simr to his.


    Dave didn''t reply as she leaned closer to him and before you knew it, the two were locked in a passionate kiss and you could tell that Emma was the one controlling everything from above.


    "If you keep trying to suck my life out like that then you''re nning to fall," Dave said after quickly pulling out from the kiss.


    "Sorry."


    "I don''t think I can do this anymore," Dave said as he slowly made his way to the couch and dropped her there. "I wonder how someone so slender could be so heavy."


    Emma didn''t reply as she pulled him down on her body first.


    "I''m not heavy, you just don''t have enough muscles in your arms, you have weak arms." She said,


    "No, you''re really heavy," Dave replied.


    She was about to say something when Dave quickly locked her in a kiss to stop the words froming out.


    The rush of excitement over her body caused her to raise her legs before wrapping them around Dave pressing him against her body.


    She loved the way he moved his warm lips against his body and caressed her with his surprisingly soft hands.


    She had almost gottenpletely emerged in the great feeling when Dave''s phone began to ring.


    "It''s Mateo," Dave said after taking out his phone from his pocket and checking the name of the caller.


    Emma rolled her eyes as he got off her body to sit beside her on the couch.


    "I wonder why he''s calling," Dave said before picking up the call and putting the phone against his ear.


    "Hello, Dave." Mateo''s voice resounded through the speaker.


    Emma could hear what he was saying because Dave always had his calls on loudspeaker.


    "Yeah Mateo, what''s up?"


    "I''m okay, the coach called me a few minutes ago," Mateo said.


    "Why?" Dave asked as he knew they had to be a reason.


    "He told me that we have a match on Tuesday, he said I should inform you," Mateo said.


    "A fixture this Tuesday?" Dave said. "Against which team?"


    "Spree United," Mateo replied. "Coach said we have to prepare well for the match because winning against Spree will take us right past them to tenth ce and have them drop back to eleventh ce but losing or drawing, I don''t even want to think about it."


    "Ok," Dave said.


    "We have a training session on Sunday in the afternoon," Mateo said.<sub> </sub>


    "I know, I''ll be there," Dave said.


    "Ok, is my dumb head sis there?"


    Emma had quickly turned to Dave with a sharp look as soon as she had heard that.


    "You''re the dumb head Mateo," Emma said.


    "Oh, you didn''t tell me she was close to you Dave," Mateo said.


    "Well, you could have asked," Dave said, turning to Emma with a smile.


    "How''re you doing sis?" Mateo asked through the phone.


    "I''m okay, you?"


    "Same except that I''m lying in my room all by myself, lonely."


    "And who cares," Emma said, turning away from Dave. "If you want someone to be lying in your room with you then get a girlfriend."


    "I will sis and trust me she''s going to be prettier than you," Mateo said.


    "That''s what you keep saying," Emma said, rolling her eyes.


    "Uhmm I have to go now, bye Dave, see you tomorrow," Mateo said before ending the call.


    As soon as the call had ended and Dave dropped his phone on the table, Emma stood up from the couch.


    "Where are you going?" Dave asked with a puzzled look on his face.


    "Upstairs." She said heading towards the stairs. "Are youing?" She turned to him to ask.


    "Why not?" Dave said quickly getting off the couch and following her up the stairs.


    _____ ____


    Dave got up and turned to see Emma breathing peacefully beside him as they both had their bodies covered with white sheets.


    He slowly moved her hair to the side to clearly see her face and after looking at her for a while, he pecked her on the cheek before getting up from the bed.


    He slid into one of his sports outfits and quickly made his way down the stairs and to the fridge where he grabbed a two liter bottled water and consumed its contents on the spot.


    [ Daily questpleted ]


    [ Drink two liters of water ]


    [ +5 exp received ]


    [ 35/200 exp ]


    After that, he left the house toplete his two kilometers run.


    It took him time and had taken a lot out of him yesterday but he had finally made it to the pack and crashed on the grass.


    [ Daily questpleted ]


    [ Run two kilometers]


    [ +10 exp received ]


    [ 45/200 exp ]


    "That''s still a lot of exp required," Dave said as he looked up at the sky which wasn''t that bright yet as the sun was yet topletely rise.


    <Yes but if you do the harder quests you''ll level up faster>


    "Yeah, the harder quests that the system just gives to me in any situation it deems fit of turning into a quest."


    <Yes>


    [ Goalkeeping skills ]


    [ Double jump ]


    [ Level: 01 ]


    "How does this double jump even work?" Dave asked.


    <What does it sound like it does?>


    "I mean how do you activate it?"


    <Through your system, each skill you think of can be activated with your mind> Catherine exined.


    "Ok," Dave said as he slowly got up and did what Catherine had told him.


    [ Double jump activated ]


    [ Skill willst for 60 seconds ]


    [ Cooldown time: 30 minutes ]


    "Sixty seconds?" Dave thought as he quickly jumped up to test the skill out.


    He jumped as high as he could and was about to fall when he felt an invisible force thrust him higher, it wasn''t that much but the experience was exhrating for Dave.


    "This skill is awesome." He said with a wide smile on his face. "I wonder what the other skills will be able to do."

 Chapter 16 Pick Up The Pace

    Running two kilometers every day was always going to be a tiring task and having to walk back after that was even more tiring.


    He opened the door to the living room to find a sweet aroma lingering in the air.


    "You didn''t tell me you were making my favorite stew for breakfast," Dave said quickly making his way to the kitchen.


    The gas was burning slowly as Emma stood over her pot of boiling stew while stirring it with a wooden spoon.


    "Well, it was a surprise," Emma said, turning to him with a smile but the expression on her face had changed when she saw that his shirt was soaked with his own sweat. "I thought you went out to jog, not to run a marathon race."


    "It''s two kilometers the distance for a marathon race?" Dave asked.


    "No, but running two kilometers is quite a lot," Emma said.


    "Yeah but I have to run to stay fit," Dave said.


    "Yeah but you have to take it easy because I don''t want to hear that you copsed on the road one day," Emma said, returning her attention to her stew.


    "No, that''s not going to happen," Dave said.


    "Okay," Emma said. "Do you need me to remind you to go take a bath?"


    "I''m going," Dave said with a sigh as he turned to the stairs.


    He went to take his bath as Emma got breakfast ready and by the time he was done cleaning up, she was already done with setting up the table.


    The two ate their meals quietly and after they were done, Emma cleared the table before joining him on the couch where he was watching the highlights of the football match between Barcelona and Real Betis.


    "Hey, I watched a full football match with youst night," Emma said as she grabbed the remote control from him and changed the channel to a telenov channel.


    "I am allowing this because that was just highlights," Dave said.


    "Yeah, right," Emma said scoffingly as she dropped the remote control on her side of the couch.


    "I don''t even know what you see in all these over-dramatic shows."


    "Well if you would just sit down one day and watch them with me, you would understand," Emma said.


    "I''ll pass," Dave said as he tried to get up but he was immediately pulled down by Emma.


    "What are you trying to do?" She asked with a mean look on her face.


    "What?" Dave said with a chuckle.


    "I am here because I want to spend the weekend with you and you do not get to leave me like that." She said resting her head on his body.


    "Fine, I''ll watch the show with you," Dave said, shaking his head.


    "Good," Emma said before getting up to kiss him and then returning her head to its favorite position.


    "You are aware that I have a training session in the afternoon right?" Dave said.


    "And I am going to see my friends but it''s not yet afternoon is it?" Emma said.


    "No babe," Dave said, cing his hand on her cheek.


    ___ ___


    Unique FC yers had all gathered on the pitch putting on their training kits and they were just waiting for the coach to arrive.<sub> </sub>


    Dave was casually passing the ball with Mateo as the two were talking about something.


    "If you had special abilities that allowed you to increase your productivity in football, would you use them or would you think it was cheating?" He asked as he trapped the ball and rolled it back to Mateo.


    He had been thinking about this since he had used his double jump skill which was only his first and lowest skill.


    It all seemed like some sort of cheat code to him.


    "It depends," Mateo said as he raised the ball and kicked it to him for a header.


    "On what?" Dave asked, nodding the ball back to him.


    "Whether the abilities are obtained from drugs or are just natural special abilities," Mateo said as he brought the ball down and passed it to him. "Because if the skills are from you, no matter how extraordinary it may seem, it''s okay because it''s natural, take Ciro for example. He does wonderful things whenever he''s with the ball, special things that are just natural to him."


    Dave was about to say something when Ferran called their attention as the coach had arrived.


    "Let''s go," Mateo said, already walking ahead of him.


    Coach Norman had arrived with the rest of the coaching team and now he wanted to talk to the yers before their trainingmences.


    "I told you guys yesterday about how we were expected to finish our matches in two weeks instead of four." Coach Norman said.


    "Yeah the UEFA order," Adolf said.


    "Yes, they just released the fixtures for the two weeks we have to finish the league and ording to those fixtures, we have three matchesing up this week.


    "We will be facing Spree United on Tuesday, Ronino United on Thursday, and Litno  FC on Saturday."


    "With such a short time for all these matches, there are going to be a lot of injuries," Adolf said.


    "I know and that''s why a lot of my starters won''t be starting most of the matches." Coach Norman said. "I am going to be implementing intensive rotation to make sure we don''t suffer any serious injuries and end the season in a good position. We''ll talk more about our tactics in the locker room after the training."


    "Really?" Jonas said.


    "Any problem Jonas?" Coach Norman asked, turning his gaze to him.


    "Yes, my problem is that you did not talk about the main reason why we are losing matches and how to fix it," Jonas said.


    "What problem is that Jonas?" Coach Norman asked.


    "Our basket of a goalkeeper, of course, his clumsy mistakes have cost us a lot of matches," Jonas said. "We need a recement if we are going to end the season in a good position."


    "Our second choice goalkeeper is currently on loan as you all know, that was a really poor choice by the management, and Alexander from the B team cannot start matches unless something happens to Dave." Coach Norman said.


    "We may get a recement if I see no improvement but that will have to wait until the end of the season." Coach Norman said, turning his gaze to Dave. "We''ll have to tighten up our defense."


    <You should pick up the pace Dave if you don''t want to lose your ce in this club>


    ''I''m not sure if I know how.''


    ***


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 Chapter 17 Push Harder

    The yers were already done with the training and were currently in their locker room when the coach was exining the tactics for the match, the changes that would be made, and the reason why he was doing things like this.


    "Like I said some of you won''t be starting the match against Spree United." The coach said cing his hand on the board used for pitch representation.


    "Mateo will be starting because we don''t have a better left winger at the moment and we''re going to be needing someone to make runs and create chances." Coach Norman said, turning his gaze to Ina Shaw who was Mateo''s backup winger.


    "Fredinho will be starting ahead of Fred, Fred you need to be rested for the tougher match against Ronino FC who are currently in spectacr form." Coach Norman said.


    "Yeah, I was surprised by how they dominated and won the match against Dynamo FC," Mateo muttered to Dave.


    "Carlos will also be switched with Christian Merino, Harry will be starting ahead of Edward and Rnd will be starting ahead of Jonas." The coach said.


    "Wait, you''re benching me too?" Jonas said as he was clearly surprised to hear his name.


    "I already made my reason for doing so Jonas, I don''t want a long list of injuries." Coach Norman said.


    "You of all people should know that I never get injured, my longest injury was just for two weeks, and besides you know I do a better job at that position," Jonas said.


    "I know you do Jonas but Ryle is also a good enough left back and he deserves ying time." Coach Norman said.


    "Fine, at least you won''t be able to me me when you lose the match."


    Coach Norman ignored his words as he turned back to the rest of the yers and continued what he was saying.


    "As we all know, Spree United are known for their dangerous counterattacks and through balls." Coach Norman.


    "Yeah but wepletely contained them in ourst meeting," Adolf said.


    "That''s correct and that is why we are going to use the same tactic with a few minor changes."


    "Minor changes?" Ferran asked.


    "Yeah." Coach Norman said, turning to the board. "We are going to use their own tactics against them and you are going to be the key to that Ferran."


    "How?" Ferran asked.


    "Well because in that match you will be ying the role of an attacking midfielder supporting the strikers in any way you can and intercepting their midfield before they start up anything.


    "As always Adolf, you and Aima will have to make sure none of their through balls gets past you and if anyone does get past you I trust you Dave to do something about it in any way you can."


    "Pff as if," Jonas said, turning his gaze to Dave.


    "I expect my two wing backs to be less offensive and try to push out the ball to the midfield more. Mateo, you know what to do, your job is to create chances and when you get the chance go for goal, the same thing goes for you, Carlos."


    "You don''t need to exin our jobs to us, coach," Mateo said.


    "Fredinho eyes on the goal, take the shot once you get the opportunity." Coach Norman said.


    "Okay coach," Fredinho said.


    "The key is to take advantage of them whenever they try to counterattack, you quickly recover the ball." The coach said, pointing at both of the blue dots representing Adolf and Aima. "And then get the ball to their goalpost as fast as you can."


    With that, their training for the day hade to an end as the coach said he would give them more updates before the day of the match.


    Dave walked out of the stadium with Mateo who seemed to have engaged him in quite an interesting conversation.


    "So you''re telling me that you have a direct link up to Aston Vi," Dave said as the two stopped beside his car.


    "Yeah, I''ve been in contact with them for quite a while now," Mateo said.


    "Are you nning on joining them?" Dave asked.


    "Well I still have two years left in my contract with Unique FC and until I''m in the final years of my contract I can''t talk about it," Mateo said. "I told them not to contact Unique FC about their offer until next year."


    "So you are nning on joining them," Dave said.<sub> </sub>


    "Of course, I''m nning on joining them, who wouldn''t love to y in the best league in the world and although Aston Vi is just a mid-team, ying in the premier league would be a nice experience," Mateo said.


    "Yeah Bilbeth is only the eighth-best league in Europe." Dave said. "It''s going to be nice seeing you in an Aston Vi jersey."


    "Yeah I know but it''s not happening now so the least I can do is try my best for Unique," Mateo said.


    "Yeah," Dave said, turning to open the door to his car.


    "What about you Dave?" Mateo asked.


    "Huh?" Dave said, turning to face him.


    "I know you only have two years left in your contract just like me so what are you nning on doing after that?" Mateo asked.


    "I don''t really know, my dream has always been to y for Barcelona but I don''t think I''ll ever fulfill that dream at my current level," Dave said.


    <At your current level you''re right but if you push yourself it will definitely happen>


    "But I think I''m better off extending my contract," Dave said.


    "Okay," Mateo said.


    Dave was about to enter his car when he was stopped by Mateo who had grabbed him by the shoulder.


    "I know you think of yourself as a terrible goalkeeper and you think other people think of you that way too but I don''t. I think you have the potential to be a great goalkeeper but you just have to push yourself a little harder.


    "You make nice saves during training and underperform during matches because you always let the pressure get to you, that''s something you have to learn how to deal with.


    "Don''t give a thought to what coach or Jonas said, I know you can prevent yourself from getting reced, you''re a good goalkeeper and I know that."


    Dave was speechless as he stared at him with mixed feelings of sadness and happiness.


    "Thanks, Mateo, I''ll try my best." He said with a smile on his face.


    "I know you will," Mateo said.


    "I should be leaving now," Dave said entering his car.


    "Okay, see youter and tell my sister I said hi," Mateo said.


    "Okay, I will, bye," Dave said before closing the door.


    <He really believes in you and if you don''t want to let him down you have to start pushing yourself a little harder>


    "How? You''ve been saying that  without telling me exactly how to do it." Dave said.


    <Why don''t you start by always making sure youplete all your daily quests?>


    ''I''ve told you, Catherine, I don''t like going to the gym.'' Dave replied as he turned his key to start the car engine.


    <Is the gym the problem or working out?> Catherine asked as he drove out of the area.


    "The gym," Dave said.


    <Really? You are a professional footballer who gets paid a good amount of money weekly, if the gym is your problem then BUY GYM EQUIPMENTS>


    *****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    Sorry for the very dyed updates. I have two other ongoing novels at the moment and it''s really hard to keep a consistent update on all of them at once.

 Chapter 18 Faster Than Expected

    Dave got home just a little early into the evening to discover that Emma wasn''t back yet which was good for him because he had some things to sort out before she came back and became a distraction to him.


    He had been thinking about what Christine told him while he was driving home and buying gym equipment was something he had never really thought about.


    He walked to the couch in the living room, slowly sat on it, and brought his phone to dial a number.


    "Hello, rk." He said after cing the phone against his ear.


    "Oh, hi Dave, how''re you doing?" rk''s voice resounded through the phone''s speaker.


    "I''m okay, Ummm¡­ rk, how much would it cost to get gym equipment?" He asked.


    "Are we talking full gym equipment or just some of them?" rk asked.


    "No, not all of them," Dave said. "I need a treadmill, some lightweight lifts, and the other equipment that goalkeepers need," Dave said.


    "Okay, I don''t exactly know their prices but let me do a little research and get back to you," rk said.


    "Okay take your time," Dave said before ending the call.


    rk Munrow was Dave''s agent but he wasn''t only his agent, he was also his friend so he was always open to helping him out with other things.


    Dave picked up the remote and turned on the television to watch the highlights from the New City United vs Spree United match.


    He was aware that Spree United had won by two goals to nothing but he still needed to see the best moments of the match and how the goals went in.


    As soon as the highlights had begun, the door opened for Emma to walk into the house holding a small stic bag with her handbag hanging over her shoulder.


    She was putting on a ck female singlet, a dark pink jacket, and a pair of ck trousers, she also had white sneakers to go with that and had her hair loose.


    "Where the heck did you go dressed like that?" Dave asked, looking at her.


    "What? Is anything wrong with my dressing?" She said checking herself.


    "No, no, no, you look okay," Dave said.


    "Then what''s up with the voice?" Emma asked, moving closer to him.


    "Nothing, I''m just wondering where you went looking this stunning," Dave said.


    "I told you I was going to see my friends," Emma said, sitting beside him.


    "Oh yeah, I forgot," Dave said with a cheeky smile.


    "Well it''s nothing to worry about but just try and forget my birthday or our anniversary and you won''t hear the end of it," Emma said with a threatening voice.


    "I know and that''s why I have them marked on my phone''s calendar with reminders," Dave said, waving his phone.


    "Wait, you have our anniversary marked on your calendar?" Emma said.


    "Well we don''t have an anniversary yet but I''ll make sure to Mark it after we get married," Dave said with a smile.


    Emma didn''t say anything as she stared at him with quite a straight face.


    "What?" Dave asked.


    "I love you, babe." She said, giving him a kiss.


    "I love you too." He replied with a smile. "So what''s that?" He asked, pointing at the stic bag she had dropped on the table.


    "I knew you would be hungry by now so I brought you something to eat before I made dinner," Emma said.


    "You did? That''s so sweet of you." Dave said.


    "You should eat it now." She said,


    Dave didn''t reply as he had his gaze on the television screen now watching what seemed to be a killer goal.


    A corner from New City United who were putting on a red jersey with little ck designs had just been caught mid-air by Spree United''s goalkeeper.


    Spree United was putting on their home jersey which was a white top with blue shorts.


    The goalkeeper caught the ball mid-air and that was all Spree United needed to create a counter-attack.


    The goalkeeper quickly threw the ball to the yer in the middle of the pitch who quickly nutmegged the defender behind him to get past him and now he was racing toward the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation.


    The keeper tried to rush out and clear the ball but that was the biggest mistake he had made as the yer had quickly lobbed the ball over him to create what could be described as a wonder goal.


    "What a goal," Emma said, shaking her head.


    "Yeah, I just pray that doesn''t happen against us on Tuesday," Dave said.


    "Yeah, you guys are ying against them on Tuesday," Emma said.


    "Yeah," Dave said.


    "Just try your best, you guys will definitelye out on top, you''ve already beaten them this season, you can do it again," Emma said.


    "I hope so."


    Just then, his phone began to vibrate in his hand and when he checked the caller, he could see that it was rk.


    He picked up the call as he got up from the couch and began to walk towards the staircase.


    "Hey rk, what''s up?" He asked, stopping in front of the staircase.


    "I just did a little looking into all the kinds of stuff you need and I''ve made the calctions," rk said.<sub> </sub>


    "Okay, how much will they cost?" Dave asked.


    "For every gym equipment you will need, the price will be three hundred thousand euros," rk said.


    "Three hundred thousand?" Dave said, sounding quite surprised.


    "Yeah, these things are expensive," rk said.


    "Okay but how long are they going to take to get here?" Dave asked.


    "Well, the store is in our city so it''s just going to take a couple of hours to get to you," rk said.


    "Okay, ce an order for all of them then," Dave said.


    "Okay Dave, let me do that, I''ll call you in the morning to give you more feedback," rk said.


    "Okay," Dave said, ending the call.


    "Was that rk?"


    Dave was quite startled as he turned to see Emma standing behind him.


    "Yeah," Dave said, sliding his phone into his pocket.


    "What are you paying three hundred thousand euros for?" Emma asked.


    "Okay, do you know that one thing you once asked me to get but I couldn''t because I didn''t have enough resources ?" Dave asked.


    "One thing, are you talking about gym equipment?" Emma asked.


    "Yeah," Dave said with a nod.


    "That''s a lot of things Dave, it''s not just one thing," Emma said.


    "Oh, yeah that''s right," Dave said.


    "So you''re finally taking my advice and deciding to get things to improve yourself," Emma said.


    <Technically he took my advice>


    "Yeah," Dave said.


    "So when are they getting delivered?" Emma asked.


    "Tomorrow, in the afternoon probably," Dave said.


    "Okay, that''s great," Emma said with a smile on her face.


    "Yeah, now where''s that thing you bought me, I''m starving?" Dave said, walking back to the couch.


    ____ ____


    The next morning, Dave quickly got up from his bed quietly as always to avoid waking Emma as he quickly made his way down, and headed to the fridge where he took out two liters of bottled water and quickly took the content down into his system.


    Next up was his two kilometers run and afterpleting two of his daily quests, he had gained another fifteen exp.


    [ 55/200 exp ]


    Hey on the grass and stared at his system screen for a while before deciding to get up and hear back to his house.


    He got home to find Emma in the kitchen already preparing something and she had turned to him as soon as he entered the kitchen.


    "You''re back quite early today," Emma said with a smile.


    "Well, since you''re leaving today, I thought a little extra time with you would be nice," Dave said.


    "Yeah¡­.about that," Emma said with an awkward expression on her face.


    "What?" Dave asked.


    Emma was about to say something when Dave''s phone began to ring in his pocket.


    "That has to be rk," Dave said as he quickly stuck his hand into his pocket and brought out his phone.


    "Hello, rk," Dave said after cing the phone against his ear.


    "Yeah, hi Dave, could pleasee outside, I''m in front of your garage right now?" rk said.


    "You are?" Dave said quickly rushing outside.


    "What?" Emma said quickly following him.


    Dave got outside and headed toward his garage to see a ck moving truck parked in front of it.


    "Hey over here," rk said, waving at him. He was standing in front of the garage door.


    "Well, that was faster than I expected," Dave said.


    ****


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 Chapter 19 Ball Blaster

    Dave couldn''t believe what he was seeing as numerous pieces of equipment were getting moved into his garage.


    When rk said he had done some looking into all the pieces of gym equipment that he needed, he thought he was talking about a few pieces of equipment, he didn''t expect them to be this much.


    "All these things are not going to fit in here," Dave said.


    "Yeah but we''re going to make sure the bigger and more important ones fit and there should also be enough space for you to be able to use them," rk said.


    rk was quite a good-looking young man; you could even say he was more handsomepared to Dave.


    He was a little taller than Dave, had ck hair and a pair of blue eyes to go with that, and he also had very broad shoulders.


    "Well, since you don''t park your car here, this will be a good use for it," Emma said, walking closer to Dave.


    "Yeah," Dave said as he watched the men bring in the pieces of gym equipment.


    The treadmill, exercise ball, smith machine, leg press machine, exercise bike, leg curl, leg extension, and lots of other equipment.


    "Hey,e let me show you something," rk said as he gave Dave a tap before heading to the back of the Van.


    Both Dave and Emma followed him to the back of the van where two of the men in the van were handing him some kind of machine.


    "That was heavier than I expected," rk said after slowly dropping the machine on the ground.


    The machine looked like a dodgeball shooter but it was quite different in its own way.


    It had the structure of a dodgeball shooter but the lower part of the machine was covered for some reason.


    "What''s that?" Dave asked strangely looking at the machine.


    "Well, this is going to y a big role in improving you as a goalkeeper," rk said, smacking the part of the machine that was meant for shooting out balls.


    "Okay, but what''s the name?" Emma asked.


    "This is the ball ster three thousand," rk said. "Now guess what it does?"


    "It sts balls," Emma said.


    "Yeah, I guess the name gave it away but let''s go see how it works," rk said, pushing the ball ster toward Dave''swn.


    It had wheels so moving it around wasn''t really a problem.


    "So how does it work?" Dave asked.


    "We need to fill it up first but before that, we''ll have to set up the goalpost, the materials are in the van," rk said, pointing backward.


    "Okay, I think I should return inside and finish what I was doing," Emma said, turning to hear back inside.


    "Yeah, you should, we would probably be starving at the end of this," rk said.


    It didn''t take long for the two men to finish setting up the goalpost on thewn and now it was time to test out the ball ster.


    The goalpost wasn''t the size of a regr goal post but it was wayrger than a mini goal post.


    The moving men were done moving all the pieces of equipment rk had bought and had zoomed off in their van now.


    "Where are you going to put those balls?" Dave asked, pointing at the long and transparent stic bag which was filled with about eight balls and was lying on the ground.


    The balls weren''t the size of normal footballs, they were the size of what you would call mini footballs.


    "Here," rk said, kicking the lower part of the machine.


    "Huh?" Dave said with a confused expression on his face.


    rk didn''t reply to him as he bent down beside the machine and with a click of the button by the side, the lower part of the machine had opened.


    The button was ck just like the rest of the machine''s parts so Dave couldn''t really see it.


    Inside the machine, the battery could be seen by the side with a lot of otherponents but the reason why rk had opened the machine was because of the long white tube which ran from down there to the upper part of the machine.


    "Oh¡­.  That''s where the balls go." Dave said.


    "Yeah, go put on your gloves so we can test them out," rk said, pulling the bags of balls closer.


    "Okay," Dave said quickly making his way inside.


    "Are you guys done?" Emma asked as soon as she saw Dave enter the house.


    "No, not yet," Dave said, running upstairs.


    "Okay," Emma muttered to herself as she turned to continue what she was doing.


    It didn''t take long before Dave came downstairs with his boots and gloves.


    "Hey, babe it seemed like you were about to tell me something before rk called me, what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Dave asked after stopping in front of the kitchen.


    "Hey, I thought you were doing something outside, go finish what you''re doing, I''ll tell youter." Emma quickly turned to him to say.


    "So it''s nothing to be worried about?"


    "No, not at all." She said, shaking her head.


    "Okay," Dave said before quickly making his way out of the house.


    He got outside to see that all the balls in the stic bag were gone and he didn''t need anyone to tell him that they were inside the machine now.


    It didn''t take long before he was putting on his boots and gloves and was standing in front of the goalpost now.<sub> </sub>


    "Are you ready?" rk asked from behind the machine.


    "Yeah," Dave said as he stretched himself to touch the crossbar.


    "Okay, I''m just going to set this to level two," rk muttered to himself as he clicked the number two button.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Keep out half of the balls ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +100 exp ]


    [ +1 stat point in dexterity ]


    [ +1 skill point ]


    "I''m going to ask again, are you ready?" rk asked again.


    "Yeah," Dave said with a nod.


    "Okay," rk said as he pushed the big red start button.


    As soon as he had clicked the start button, the ster cannon of the machine had slowly begun to move and before Dave knew it, a ball had been shot out to the top left corner.


    Dave didn''t even know when the ball was shot out as he was pinned to the spot.


    "Just so we''re on the same page, you have twenty seconds to get up and get ready for the next ball," rk said.


    "It''s not funny rk," Dave grumbled.


    The next ball was shot out after twenty seconds and this time Dave was ready for it.


    It was shot a little closer to him at the right side and all Dave needed to do was stick his leg out to block it.


    "Nice save," rk said.


    "Thanks," Dave said as he quickly got back up on his feet.


    The next ball was shot at the same spot and was also an easy save for Dave.


    "That''s two out of three now," Dave said as he quickly got back on his feet.


    "Yeah, you''re doing great," rk said.


    The next shot ball wasn''t an easy one as the machine had ced it at the upper left corner and although he had dived toward it, he just couldn''t get a hand to it.


    "Waooh that was a tough one to keep out," rk said, shaking his head.


    Dave let out a deep sigh as he slowly got up from the ground.


    The left side of the post was his weak side and


    balls ced at the top corners of the left side were almost impossible for him to stop.


    The fifth ball was ced at the bottom right corner and although he had gotten a hand to it, he wasn''t able to keep out.


    "That''s two out of five now," rk said.


    Again Dave didn''t say anything to him as he got up on his feet again.


    The sixth shot was ced at the right corner with just a little elevation and all he needed to knock it out.


    "Okay, three out of six. rk said.


    The seventh ball was ced at the top right corner and just like the first one, Dave was pinned to the spot as the ball went in.


    "Damn it," Dave muttered under his breath.


    "Last one''sing," rk said.


    "Last one?" Dave said.


    "Yep," rk said with a nod.


    "I''ve kept out three which means I need to keep out this one toplete the quest," Dave muttered to himself.


    <That''s correct>


    The next ball was shot out toward the top right corner and this time, Dave was ready for it.


    He dived toward the ball with his right hand but he was only able to get the tips of his glove to it as the ball smashed through it and fell into the.


    [ Quest Failed ]


    "Damn it!" Dave yelled as he mmed his fist into the ground.


    ****


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 Chapter 20 Getting Somewhere

    <You know you could have kept that out if you had used your skill, double jump>


    ''I was so keen on trying to focus on the ball that didn''te to my mind.'' Dave replied as he slowly got up from the floor.


    <No you were under pressure and that''s one of the main causes of your mistakes>


    "Hey, you did great," rk said, walking up to him with a smile on his face. "But I guess we should have started with level one."


    "Wait, what level was that?" Dave asked.


    "Level two," rk replied. "But keeping three out of eight shots at this level is a good start."


    "No it''s not rk, I''m a professional goalkeeper, this shouldn''t be so hard for me," Dave said before walking past him heading towards the door.


    Emma expected the meal table to be quite lively with the two men talking about testing out the ball ster and the other pieces of equipment in the garage but what she was seeing now was the opposite.


    The table was abnormally quiet with Dave saying nothing to her and rk not trying to raise any conversations.


    Emma knew her boyfriend very well to know when things weren''t exactly okay with him and judging by the fact that he had not said anything to her since they started eating breakfast, he knew there was something wrong.


    "What is wrong with you two? Did you guys have a beef out there?" Emma asked, finally letting out the question.


    "A beef? You know I can never have a beef with Dave." rk quickly said in defense.


    "Then what happened, you two have been acting strange since you returned from testing out the ball ster?" Emma said.


    There was no response from the two as rk turned his gaze to Dave who was looking down at his te now.


    "He''s upset that he was only able to keep out three balls out of eight in level two of the ball ster." rk finally said.


    "Really?" Emma said, turning her gaze to Dave. "That''s why you''re acting like this?"


    "I''m a professional goalkeeper Emma, something like this shouldn''t be hard for me," Dave said, raising his gaze to look at her.


    "I know you''re a professional goalkeeper but these equipment were bought to help you improve not make you feel sad," Emma said.


    "That machine has five levels and look how poorly I did at level two," Dave said.


    "You didn''t do poorly bro, you kept out three balls," rk said.


    "Those were easy saves, I couldn''t keep out the tough ones and it''s still a failure since I wasn''t able to keep out at least half of the balls," Dave said.


    <I think your main reason for being like this is the fact that you weren''t able toplete the quest>


    "Why are you taking this so seriously man, it''s not a champions league final?" rk said. "It was only a training practice and just like Emma said that ster was bought to improve you not put you in this state after one try."


    There was a little moment of silence in the room as Emma kept her gaze on him for a while before deciding to say something.


    "Many people in different career fields didn''t start their career on a high note but with determination and hard work, they were able to get somewhere." She said,


    "She''s right," rk said.


    "Feeling sad just because you think you performed poorly in a training session won''t get you anywhere," Emma said.


    "I''m not feeling sad, I''m just disappointed," Dave said.


    "That still won''t get you anywhere," Emma said. "I''ve told you to stop thinking of yourself this way Dave, you have the talent and skills you just need a few ingredients to spark up things and you just bought a whole lot of those ingredients today."


    "Yeah man cheer up, you''re still at the starting point of your career," rk said.


    "My career started three years ago," Dave said.


    "Yeah but a footballer who''s twenty-one years old is still at the starting point of his career," rk said.


    "He''s right Dave and you know that," Emma said. "I would love to see a smile on your face please." She said but there was no response from him.


    "Won''t you smile for me, baby?" She said, blinking her adorable eyes.


    Dave tried to hold it in but he couldn''t do it for long as a smile had appeared on his face and that smile was quickly followed by a little chuckle.


    "Well, that even worked on me." rk said with a smile on his face.


    After having their breakfast, rk helped Dave move some of the gym equipment to a room upstairs to create space to use the ones in the garage, and now it was time for rk to leave.


    "I''ll see you around then," rk said as he stood at the entrance.


    "Yeah, thanks for your help," Dave said.


    "Bye Emma." rk said with a little wave.


    "Bye rk," Emma said from where she was standing.


    Dave watched rk walk out of the area before he closed the door and turned to Emma.<sub> </sub>


    He stood there and stared at her for a while before he slowly walked to her and wrapped his hands around her waist as she ced her hands on her shoulders.


    "So what did you want to tell me before rk arrived?" He asked, staring into her eyes.


    "I thought you had already forgotten about that by now," Emma said.


    "Well, I''m still worried about what it may be and it''s not easy to forget something that gets me worried about you,," Dave said.


    "I told you it was nothing to worry about," Emma said.


    "Then what is it?" Dave asked.


    "I told you I was just here for the weekend right?" Emma said.


    "Yeah but I don''t want you to leave," Dave replied.


    "Well, I''m not," Emma said.


    "Huh?" Dave said with a confused expression on his face.


    "I have an appointment tomorrow, an appointment with Unique City publishingpany. I applied for the position of a reporter." Emma said.


    "Really? If you get the job that means..."


    "I''ll have to move in with you." She said with a smile.


    "That would be great, you''re definitely going to get that job," Dave said.


    "I hope so," Emma said.


    "You''ll get it for sure," Dave said, giving her a kiss. "You know I won''t be here tonight because we''ll be heading to Spree to settle down for the game tomorrow."


    "I know, I can handle myself," Emma said with a smile.


    "I know you can," Dave said, letting go of her. "I''m going to the garage to spend two hours of my time, hope you won''t miss me that much?"


    "I definitely won''t," Emma said as she walked to the couch and grabbed the remote control. "Because I would be watching a very long episode of my favorite soap opera."


    "Shouldn''t you be preparing for your interview tomorrow instead?" Dave asked.


    "I''ve already done that." Emma said.


    "Okay," Dave said heading towards the door. "I am surely not going to miss you."


    "Yeah, me too," Emma said, turning the television on.


    <It''s just two hours, the both of you have been away from each other for a way longer time than this>


    ''I don''t think you understand what sarcasm is, Catherine.'' Dave replied after walking out of the house.


    <Of course I do>


    ____ ____


    Dave was running on the treadmill as he was in the final minutes of his two hours of working out.


    He had started with the treadmill before moving to the other equipment and now he was ending his workout session with the treadmill.


    "Just one minute." He said with a panting voice as he checked the time on his watch.


    It didn''t take long for the one minute toe to an end as he reached for the treadmill''s controls and turned it off.


    [ Daily questplete ]


    [ Spend two hours in the gym ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +20 exp ]


    [ All stats have received a +1 boost ]


    <Now you''re getting somewhere>


    ****


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 Chapter 21 Arrived For The Match

    Dave returned to the house to find Emma sleeping on the couch with the television still on.


    "Well, would you look at that?" He said as he slowly walked to her.


    She was lying on her side with her face facing the television and it looked like she was holding the remote control before she fell asleep as the thing was on the floor now.


    Dave looked at the television to see that amercial was ying on it now before he slowly turned his gaze to Emma who looked cute even while sleeping with her mouth slightly open.


    Dave sat down beside her before using his hand to push aside the few strands of hair covering her face.


    He stared at her for a while with a smile on his face before she blinked her eyes before opening them and as soon as she had seen his face, a warm smile appeared on her face.


    "You''re back." She said with a low voice.


    "Yeah, I guess the TV wasn''t enough to keep you from missing me," Dave said.


    "I didn''t miss you, I was just tired and fell asleep," Emma said.


    "Really? And what happened to the very long season of your favorite soap opera?" Dave asked.


    "There was no very long season of my favorite soap opera," Emma said. "It was just a few episodes before they started showing other things that disinterested me."


    "And then you fell asleep because you were bored and not because you were tired," Dave said.


    "I was bored and tired," Emma said.


    "And you''re not ready to admit that you were bored because you missed me?"


    "No, I''m not admitting it." She said with a smile.


    "Okay, that''s fine by me," Dave said, leaning closer to kiss her.


    "So how boring was your workout session?" Emma asked, staring into his eyes as he had his face very close to hers now and she could feel his cold breath on her face.


    "It wasn''t boring given the fact that I didn''t fall asleep," Dave said.


    "Oh."


    "But still, nothing is more fun than being with you," Dave said as he locked her in a passionate kiss, the type of kiss, the type of kiss that always had her gasping for air but she wouldn''t push him back to try and catch her breath rather she would pull him closer to suffocate her more just like she had done now.


    ____ ____


    The yers making up the squad for Unique FC in the match against Spree United had all assembled at the stadium as it was time to head to the airport for their flight to Spree.


    Dave, as always, was with the only real friend he had in the team apart from Adolf, Mateo Smith.


    It looked Mateo was telling him something as the yers made their way to the team bus.


    Most of the yers were putting on ck sports trousers with the team''s orange jacket which had the logo ced on them as badges, the logo was also ced on their trousers.


    The distance between Wandamino stadium and the airport wasn''t that long so it didn''t take long before the yers had arrived there along with their coach and other staff.


    They quickly made their way to the club''s private ne and once everyone had settled down the ne had taken off heading for Spree.


    After a few minutes in the air, Mateo had taken out his smartphone to take a selfie.


    He drew closer to Dave and raised the phone to take a selfie with Dave before rxing back in his seat.


    "Off to spree for the match, hashtag a must-win match," Mateo said as he typed on his phone and as soon as he was done he pushed the post button.


    "How brave of you to assume that we''re going to win when we have that basket in the goalpost and I am not starting," Jonas said from where he was sitting on one of the seats behind the one opposite Dave and Mateo.


    He had seen the post as soon as Mateo had posted it.<sub> </sub>


    "Stop this nonsense Jonas, we''re going to y a match that we are supposed to win, you''re supposed to be filling the atmosphere with positivity, not negativity," Adolf said as he was the one sitting beside Jonas.


    "No amount of positivity will stop that basket from conceding a goal," Jonas said.


    Dave knew best not to say anything to Jonas while he made thesements, it was the best way to avoid any trouble as the team was going to y a match and conflict wasn''t a good thing on these types of asions.


    <But one day you''re going to stand up and shut that guy up, just one day>


    "I hate that guy," Mateo muttered with a look of annoyance on his face.


    It took up to thirty minutes before they had finally arrived at the airport at Spree.


    On getting to Spree United''s stadium the Zelerion stadium there were a lot of fans waiting for them there and they were chanting the name of some of their favorite yers as they walked into the building.


    p One of the names that could be heard among the fabs was Mateo but nobody even thought about calling Dave''s name but he couldn''t care less.</anda>


    The yers, coaching staff and other staff were weed by the host team before they were taken to the guest locker room.


    The team had arrived by 2:00 PM which meant that they still had a lot of time to train and do other things before the match kicked off by 7:00 PM.


    "Alright boys, change into your training kits so we can go for a few rounds of training." Coach Norman said as soon as they had entered the locker room.


    The yers did as they were told and quickly changed into their training kit which was an orange kit with ck curvy designs but for the goalkeeper, it was ck with orange curvy designs.


    All the yers had left the locker room except Dave and Mateo.


    The goalkeeper was slowly putting on his gloves before the winger approached.


    He would have already left if he had not turned back and seen Dave still getting ready.


    "Hey, man are you okay?" He asked as he stopped in front of him.


    "Of course, I''m okay Mateo," Dave said, looking up at him with a smile.


    "Okay," Mateo said. "Remember just try your best and don''t let the pressure get to you, you''re a good goalkeeper and I know you can prove the haters wrong, you just have to build up your confidence that''s one of the reasons for your poor performances."


    <He''s right about that>


    "Don''t let Jonas'' words get to you."


    "Thanks, Mateo, I''ll try my best," Dave said, strapping his gloves around his wrist to prevent them from slipping off his hand.


    "I know you will," Mateo said.


    "You know sometimes when I''m with you, I feel like the younger person," Dave said.


    "You need to be the older person to encourage someone," Mateo said.


    <I think that particr trait runs in their family>


    "Now let''s go train and get ready for this match," Mateo said, offering him a hand up.


    "Yeah," Dave said as he grabbed his hand and was pulled up by him. "Let''s go train."


    ****


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 Chapter 22 Pre-Match Training

    There were a lot of yers in Spree United''s stadium Mateo and Dave made their way there.


    The pitch was divided into two parts with Spree United yers training on one side and Unique FC yers training on the other side.


    Some of the yers were conversing with yers from the other teams while the others were training on their side of the pitch.


    "Hey, do you want to try out a free-kick shoot-out on me?" Dave asked, turning his gaze to Mateo.


    "Sure," Mateo said with a nod.


    Dave quickly walked to the goalpost as Mateo walked to one of the balls in on the pitch and picked it up.


    Mateo''s strong foot was his left foot so he ced the ball in the best spot for him not too far from the eighteen-yard box.


    "Are you ready?" He asked, raising his hand.


    "Yeah," Dave replied raising his hand.


    "Okay."


    He took a few steps back before aiming the ball at the top left-hand corner.


    Dave was pinned to the spot as the ball fell into the back of the.


    "And I was beginning to wonder if your free-kick skills were getting rusty."


    Mateo quickly turned to see Ferran standing behind him with a ball trapped under his boot.


    "Says the person who takes most of the freekicks," Mateo said.


    "Yeah, but you should start taking them," Ferran said.


    Ferran Phil was a twenty-four years old Spanish Midfielder who yed the role of an attacking midfielder for Unique FC.


    You could say he was one of the top three midfielders in Bilbeth Premier League so far this season.


    His gamey had been neat and smooth and he was currently the top assist provider with fifteen assists so far in the season.


    Ferran had blonde hair, curvy but slightly long lips, a nice nose that fitted properly with his face, and a pair of brown eyes.


    He was slightly taller than Mateo and was quite muscr whenpared to the neen-year-old Mateo Smith.


    "Do you mind if I take a shot?" He asked rolling the ball under his boot to the middle.


    "Sure," Mateo said.


    "Okay," Ferran said before turning his gaze to Dave. "Are you ready Dave?" He asked raising his hand.


    "Yeah," Dave said, tossing the ball he was holding to Mateo.


    Ferran took a few steps back before running to the ball to take with his right foot what was known as a power shot.


    Dave was pinned to the spot again as the ball flew right past him toward the top left corner and banged on the crossbar before going over.


    "Waooh, I''ve never seen you use that technique before," Mateo said with a surprised expression on his face.


    "Well taking a free kick like that isplicated for me, I''m even surprised I managed to hit the bar," Ferran said scratching the back of his head.


    "Really?" Mateo said.


    "Yeah, why don''t you give it a try?" Ferran said.


    Dave was still trying to get over the power behind that shot and how he was even supposed to keep out a shot with that much power aimed at his weak side.


    ''Howe I didn''t get a quest for this?'' Daveined subconsciously.


    <Maybe the system doesn''t deem it worthy of a quest>


    ''Really?''


    "Power shoting in hot Dave," Mateo said as he slowly began to step back.


    "Another power shot?" Dave muttered.


    Mateo quickly ran towards the ball and took the shot with his left leg as the ball was sent flying toward Dave.<sub> </sub>


    Unlike Ferran''s shot, Mateo''s shot wasn''t elevated and it was heading to the right side of the post.


    Dave quickly dived toward the ball and he was able to get a hand to it.


    The ball deflected on his hand and smashed on the bottom right-hand corner bar before rolling off to the side.


    Mateo stared at Dave with a dumbfounded look on his face as he didn''t know how to exin that save.


    "Well, you certainly did it better than me," Ferran said. "But that was a neat save from Dave, nice save Dave!"


    "Yeah, that was a super save," Mateo said.


    "We hope you''ll be able to make a save like that during the match," Ferran said.


    Even Dave was surprised by how he had made that save, he didn''t think he would be able to do it.


    "I hope so too." The goalkeeper said as he walked to the ball picked it up and threw it to Ferran.


    "I''m going to try something different this time," Ferran said as he caught the ball and dropped it on the floor.


    "Bring it on," Dave said as he walked to the middle of his line.


    <That''s the confidence I''m talking about>


    Ferran ced the ball on the spot most convenient to him and this time he wasn''t going to step back.


    He draw his foot back and took the shot, this time it wasn''t a power shot.


    The ball quickly flew to the top right-hand corner as Dave quickly dived towards it and with the tip of his glove he was able to knock it over the bar.


    "Waooh!" Mateo eximed with a stunned look on his face.


    Even some of the yers who were watching them from behind were surprised to see that savee from Dave.


    "If you can bring saves like this into the match then we are going to win this match for sure," Ferran said.


    <For one save yeah, but it''s going to be a problem for the rest of the match>


    [ 30% stamina remaining ]


    ____ ____


    The stadium was filled up with fans from both teams now as the yers from both teams were making their way into the locker room to get ready for the match.


    For today''s match, Unique FC yers were going to be putting on a ck jersey with three orange stripes running down the front and their shorts was just in ck with their numbers disyed on them and the name of their sponsor ced on them.


    The goalkeeper''s kit was always different from the rest of the team''s so Dave was putting on a in green jersey.


    Spree United yers on the other hand were putting on blue jerseys with ck dotted designs while their goalkeeper was putting on a ck jersey with blue dotted designs.


    The atmosphere was filled with loud apuse from all the fans as the yers from both teams made their way into the pitch.


    "Their yers are making their way into the pitch now for what could be described as a heated match," Jim said.


    "Yeah Spree United is currently above Unique FC with one point and winning this match will have them steer clear of them but losing it will have them drop to eleventh ce," Steve said.


    "A draw will also keep them on top for the meantime," Jim said.


    After lining up and shaking hands with each other, both captains made their way to the referee to choose sides.


    After that, Unique FC had made their way to the left side of the pitch as Spree United made their way to the right side.


    Two Spree United yers were now on the kickoff spot with the ball and all they were waiting for now was the referee''s whistle.


    "Here we go, we are set for another ny minutes of entertaining football," Jim said as soon as the referee''s whistle was heard.


    ****


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 Chapter 23 Wonder Save

    It had been ten minutes since the match began and Unique FC just like they did in most matches was dominating the match with a long spell of ball possession.


    They were passing the ball around in their own half as breaking through Spree United''s defense was proving quite difficult for them but despite that, they had been the better team so far.


    "Unique FC have been with the ball for six minutes now," Jim said.


    "They are doing everything possible to stop Spree United from touching the ball," Jim said.


    "Let''s just hope their possession and gamey can grab them a win this time around," Jim said.


    Ferran had received the ball from Mateo who had almost lost it to two Spree United yers that had rushed toward him at once.


    Ferran received the ball from Mateo and quickly rolled it to Harry who sent it back to Adolf.


    Adolf pushed a little forward with the ball before passing it to John, Unique FC''s right back.


    John made a little run at the right wing with the ball before making a very nice cross to Mateo on the left wing.


    Mateo used the momentum from the moving ball to get past the right back marking him with an overhead kick and now he was running straight into the eighteen-yard box.


    "Uh oh, Spree United may be in trouble here as Mateo Smith has finally made a break into their defense," Jim said.


    Mateo may have broken into the defense but it wasn''t going to be easy making it past the center-backs.


    He tried to dribble past one of the center-backs but it didn''t exactly work out for him and he had almost lost the ball at the edge of the goal kick line.


    He was muscled down by the defender but with a swift turn, while he had his leg on the ball, he turned it away from the line and quickly got up from the floor.


    "That is one way to get away from a defender," Jim said.


    Mateo passed the ball to Harry who quickly passed it back to him as soon as ran past the yering to take the ball from him.


    He received the ball at the other end and quickly sent a cross to Ferran who was just outside the eighteen-yard box.


    Ferran brought the ball down with his chest and with a swift turn got away from both of the yers who were marking him before drilling a shot down to the bottom right-hand corner.


    Spree United''s goalkeeper dived toward the ball but he wasn''t able to get his hand to it as the ball rolled into the back of the post.


    "What a goal!!" Jim screamed with an enthusiastic voice. "What a way to get away from the defense and what a way to drill a shot!"


    Ferran quickly ran to the sideline to meet Mateo with a hug as the other yers rushed to the area to celebrate the goal.


    "You also have to talk about that cross from Mateo that was some beautiful y from him," Steve said.


    "Yeah what a neen-year-old, that''s his ninth assist in the league so far this season," Jim said. "That''s a total of neen goals plus assists in the league."


    You could see the look of devastation on the faces of Spree United yers.


    They were a team that loved to press with counter-attacks and through balls but Unique FC were one of the teams that made that really difficult for them.


    "We''re twenty-six minutes into the match so far and the hosts are already trailing on a one-goal deficit," Jim said.


    The referee blew his whistle to signal the kick-off as the yers passed the ball to begin the game after conceiving the goal.


    Spree United weren''t known for keeping the ball like Unique FC did and they were morefortable with crosses as their gamey mindset was to always get forward.


    They passed the ball around in their own half of the pitch before sending a cross to the left winger, but he was quickly dispossessed of the ball by John who had beaten him to an aerial duel.


    John got the ball and quickly rolled it to Adolf who had two yersing at him.


    Adolf passed the ball to Aima, who tried to get away from a defender but he wasn''t quick enough as he had gotten muscled off the ball by a Spree United Midfielder.


    The midfielder had gotten clear sight of the goalpost and was about to take the shot when Adolf knocked the ball out of his foot with a neat tackle.<sub> </sub>


    "That was a close call but the ball isn''t cleared yet," Steve said.


    He was right about that as Spree United''s center forward had quickly gotten his foot on the ball and was about to take a shot from far out when he was brought down by Aima under a nasty challenge.


    "Oh, that''s bad," Jim said.


    The referee blew his whistle for a foul as he quickly ran to Aima and showed him a yellow card.


    "That''s well deserved, that''s a really nasty challenge and Othello doesn''t seem to be getting up," Jim said.


    "Yeah, you can even see some Spree United yers around the referee now calling for a red card on Aima," Steve said.


    "That''s a nasty tackle but I don''t think it''s worth a red card," Jim said.


    Othello got medical attention as soon as possible and after a few minutes, he was back on his feet.


    "He''s back up and it looks like he''s the one who''s going to take the freekick," Jim said.


    "If he takes it right, this could be their equalizer," Steve said.


    The ball was ced on the spot where the foul had taken ce as Unique FC had set up their wall near the edge of the eighteen-yard box.


    "Yeah but I don''t think he''s going to take it from that far out," Jim said.


    "Why not? I mean he''s already scored a free kick from that far out this season so why not?" Steve said.


    "If this free kickes anywhere near the goalpost, it''s a goal," Jonas muttered to the yers who were sitting close to him on the bench.


    There was a bit of tension in the air as Othello stood over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and it didn''t take long before the whistle sound was heard.


    "There''s the signal," Jim said.


    Othello ran towards the ball and paused for a while before taking the free kick with a power shot.


    The ball flew over the yers straight to the top right-hand corner.


    Everyone, even Unique FC fans expected it to go in but Dave had dived toward the ball at the right time, and with the tip of his glove, he had tipped it over the bar.


    "Oh my God! Did Dave just save that!" Jim screamed.


    "What a save!"


    Everyone on and off the pitch were shocked by that save, they thought it was going to go in but Dave had just proved them wrong.


    "How did Dave make that save?" Jim said as he still couldn''t get over the save.


    Dave let out a sigh as he looked around to hear the fans chanting his name, it was a really nice experience for making such a wonder save.


    <Nice save but let''s hope a ball like that one doesn''te in again until the second half>


    [ 20% stamina remaining ]


    [ 50/100 Energy ]


    ''Yeah.'' Dave replied.


    ***


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 Chapter 24 Robbed And Stabbed

    The match had entered the fortieth minute now and still, there had been nothing from both sides after that goal from Ferran.


    "Five minutes remaining on the clock as Unique FC seem set to go in at halftime with a one nill lead," Jim said.


    "It should be leveled by now if it weren''t for those saves from Dave," Steve said.


    "Yeah, I''m still trying to get over that freekick save," Jim said.


    Dave seemed to have turned up in this match with two crucial saves at the moment.


    The second save came from the corner which dropped in front of one of Speed United''s yers.


    The shot was drilled low to the bottom right corner and all Dave needed to do was stick his leg out to catch the ball before it rolled into the.


    After that save, it seemed like both teams seemed to have parked buses in front of their goal post.


    Spree United had attempted their long balls both low and high but all of them had been cut off by Unique FC by mostly by Adolf.


    Unique FC had gotten a couple of chances but they had wasted most of them and the only clear chance they got which was a through ball from Ferran and a header from Fredinho which had gotten tipped over the bar by Spree United''s goalkeeper.


    The ball had gotten rolled back to Adolf now, he tried to maneuver the yer behind him before passing the ball to Dave.


    <If you want a second goal cross that ball to Mateo>


    Dave did as he was told as he pushed the ball forward a little before ying a long pass to Mateo before the yers chasing the ball could get to him.


    Mateo brought the ball down with his chest before getting past the right back marking him with a neat body faint.


    "Oh, Mateo''s through!" Jim eximed.


    The left winger made a quick run past the center-backing at him and pushed forward at the edge of the eighteen-yard box.


    "Oh, oh, oh!" He''s still going!"


    He feigned shooting at the yers blocking his way before pushing forward a little bit and drilling a shot at the left side of the goalpost.


    The goalkeeper was glued to the spot as the ball rolled past him into the back of the.


    "Mateoooooo!!!" Jim screamed.


    "What a goal!" Steve said with a stunned tone in his voice. "And talk about that long ball from Dave."


    Mateo quickly ran to the sideline and did a sliding celebration as Ferran quickly rushed to him and pulled him down before the rest of the yers starteding.


    The stadium had burst into cheers as chantsing from Unique FC fans off course.


    "That goal was sensational!" Jim screamed. "We are experiencing Ciro football level from Mateo here at Zelerion stadium!"


    "Yeah, and it was really smart for Dave to y that pass from the goal area," Steve said. "He''s got his first career assist as a goalkeeper, that''s something I didn''t expect from him today."


    "You could see Norman celebrating with his coaching staff now, that''s the first time I''ve seen him celebrate a goal like that since theirst five matches," Jim said.


    The match had kicked off after Spree United had conceded their second goal.


    They tried to push forward and get one back but their efforts proved futile until the referee had finally blown his whistle to signal the end of the halftime.


    "And there you have it, the second half hase to a conclusion with the guests clinching on to a two-goal lead, the hosts got a few chances which would have gone in if it weren''t for the surprising heroics of Unique FC''s number one, Dave Richard," Jim said. "Mateo has been awesome so far with an assist and a sensational goal thanks to a wonderful through ball from Dave."


    Therge screen in the stadium was disying the stats so far into the second half as the yers made their way to their locker rooms.


    Unique FC had dominated the match so far with sixty-three percent to thirty-seven percent and they had been the best attacking side so far with seven shots and three shots on targetpared to Spree United''s three shots and two shots on target.


    "That was a wonderful first half to watch and I know it''s just going to get better in the second half," Jim said.


    ____ ____


    Emma had a bright smile on her face as the scoreboard disyed on the screen of her television.


    She wasn''t one to watch football matches as she found them quite boring but for Dave, she had decided to watch this match and she was d that she was watching it.<sub> </sub>


    So far Dave''s performance had put a bright smile on her face, a super save and an assist was really something to be proud of, not to talk about the wonderful goal that her little brother scored.


    Commercials were ying on the screen now as Emma checked her watch to see that the time was eight pm.


    She walked to the kitchen to grab a drink from the fridge and just as she opened the fridge she began to hear whispering soundsing from the back door in the kitchen.


    She slowly closed the fridge and slowly made her way toward the door. She didn''t even get there before the door was sted open by three men putting on ski masks.


    "Get on the floor!" One of the robbers said, pointing his gun at her.


    "I thought you said no one was here." The other robber said, turning to the third robber.


    "No one was supposed to be here." The third robber said.


    "Will you two quit whining and go check upstairs?" The robber pointing his gun at Emma said.


    Emma was terrified as shey on the floor with her face down.


    The other robbers quickly made their way upstairs to see if they were going to find anything.


    The robber watched Emma fidgeting on the floor for a while before slowly squatting down beside her and forcefully raising her face.


    "Well, aren''t you a stunner?" The robber said, trying to sound enticing.


    "Let go of me, you low life." Emma stuttered.


    "Did you just call me a low life?" The robber said as his voice had suddenly changed.


    "We''ve got it." One of the robbers said as both of them made their way down the stairs with one of them holding a ck bag in his hand.


    "Listen pretty face, nobody calls me a low life." The robber said as he pulled out a pocket knife from his pocket and stabbed it into her shoulder.


    "Arghhh!!!" Emma screamed in pain as she rolled to her side.


    "Why did you do that?" One of the robbers asked as the both of them were shocked to see him do that.


    "Stop asking me a shitty question and let''s get out of here." The robber said, pulling his knife out of Emma''s shoulder to force out another scream from her.


    The first robber had quickly left through the door followed by the second one but the third who was holding the back was a little hesitant as he stared at Emma for a while before finally making his way out of the body.


    Her shoulder was seriously bleeding as she moaned and groaned while crawling her way to the couch in the living room.


    The match had resumed now as she picked up her phone from the couch and began to go through her contact list.


    She knew there was no point calling Dave because he was in the middle of a match but there was someone that she could call.


    "Please pick up." She said with muffled breath.


    "Hello." She heard a voiceing from the phone.


    "Hello, rk, are you still in town?" She asked, dropping the phone on the couch.


    "Yeah, I have a flight booked for tomorrow but I''m still in town at the moment," rk replied. "Are you okay Emma? You sound a little¡­.out of breath."


    "rk¡­rk ¡­.call an ambnce." She stuttered before eventually passing out.


    "Emma¡­Emma, Emma are you still there?" rk asked but there was no response from her.


    "Hang in there Emma, I''ming."


    *****


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 Chapter 25 News Of Disruption

    The second half of the match had just kicked off with Unique FC starting the kick-off.


    They had afortable two-goal lead so far so all they had to do was put extra effort into their defense and maybe see if they could get a third goal.


    "The second half is set with the guests still sittingfortably with a two-goal lead," Jim said. "Can Spree United make aeback or are they going to receive more bullying from Unique FC who have been the better side so far."


    It had been two minutes since the match resumed and Spree United had not touched the ball and that was nothing to be surprised about given the fact that Unique FC was a side that liked to keep the ball always.


    "I expected Spree United''s manager to make a few changes in his team, especially in his midfield but it turns out he still has faith in his current squad to turn things around," Steve said.


    Ferran was with the ball now as he pushed forward but his path was blocked by a few Spree United yers and not wanting to take his chance with a dribble, he passed the ball to Minino.


    Minino tried to make a quick run past the yer that was marking him but he wasn''t fast enough and was brought down by a yer under the mistimed challenge.


    "That''s a foul," Jim said as the referee blew his whistle and quickly rushed to the area.


    "Yeah, and Unique FC yers are gathering around the referee now to ask for a card," Steve said.


    "I don''t think that''s worth a yellow card, it was a mistimed challenge but it''s not bad and Minino is back on his feet," Jim said.


    "Yeah, I agree," Steve said.


    Just like thementators said, no card was given as Unique FC were awarded a free kick.


    The free kick was yed short by Minino to Ferran who quickly rolled it to Harry who feigned make a cross to the other side of the pitch before ying a through ball to Mateo.


    Mateo easily got past the right back marking him with a dummy before making a quick run to the left side of Spree United''s eighteen-yard box.


    "Mateoing up with more ways to get away from the defense," Jim said.


    He knew there was no way for him to get into the box but there was someone in the box who could properly take what he was cooking up.


    He ran closer to the goal kick line before tipping a cross to the far end of the goal post.


    Fredinho and a Spree United defender rose high to meet the ball but the Spree United yer got there ahead of Fredinho but he wasn''t able to get a proper header as the ball bounced off his head and fell to Carlos who had entered the area now.


    Carlos knew he couldn''t get a shot from his position and that was why he dived for a header.


    "Diving header!!" Jim screamed.


    Carlos got his head on the ball but his uracy was a bit off as the ball hit on the lower crossbar and bounced out for a goal kick.


    "That was close!"


    Carlos got up and shook his head before running back to their side of the pitch.


    "Mateo has proven to be a big threat so far into the match," Jim said.


    "Yeah, they have to find a way to contain him or they are going to be conceeding more goals," Steve said.


    Spree United had possession of the ball now for the first time since the match resumed as the goalkeeper passed the ball short to one of his centre-backs.


    They passed the ball around in their own half for a while before ying a through pass to the central defensive midfielder who had quickly made his way past Ferran and there was nothing the attacking midfielder could do about it.


    The defensive midfielder made a run down the middle bedore lobbing a cross to their right winger who was all alone.


    Unique FC yers raised their hands as soon as the yer got the ball but that was none of his problem as he moved closer and slotted the ball to the bottom left corner.


    Dave got a hand to the ball but the shot was just too much for him to get under control as the ball bounced off his gloves and fell into the.


    "Oh, my Spree United has pulled one back!" An enthusiastic scream came from Jim.


    <That''s clearly an offside>


    The referee didn''t blow his whistle as the linesman had his g raised for an offside.


    "Oh, it''s offside," Jim said.<sub> </sub>


    "Spree United yers are gathering around the referee toin now," Steve said.


    "I think there''s going to be a VAR check," Jim said.


    "Yeah, it seems like he is telling the yers toe down and he''s walking towards the VAR area now," Steve said.


    "That was definitely an offside," Mateo said, walking toward Dave.


    "Yeah, he was far away from me." Rnd Ryle said.


    "Why the VAR check, the linesman clearly said it was offside?" Dave said.


    "Yeah," Mateo said.


    "Hey Dave, the coach wants to see you." Minino came running toward the goalkeeper.


    "Why?" Dave asked.


    "I don''t know," Minino said.


    "It''s probably to scold you because you couldn''t save that unsaveable shot," Mateo said.


    "I''ll have to go and see if that''s true," Dave said, already making his way toward their coach.


    Dave got to the area to see that Norman was on his phone at the moment.


    "Coach," Dave said, stopping in front of him.


    "Yeah Dave, rk wants to speak with you," Norman said.


    "rk?" Dave said with a surprised look on his face. "Why would rk want to speak to me in the middle of a match?"


    "Here," Norma said, handing him the phone.


    "Hello, rk," Dave said after cing the phone against his ear.


    "Yeah, Dave something just happened," rk said.


    "What?"


    "Your house was robbed and Emma got caught in the middle of it all," rk said.


    "What? Is Emma okay?" Dave asked as a horrid look had appeared on his face.


    "Emma is okay, I just wanted to let you know so that you don''te home to any surprises," rk said.


    "You''re not telling me the truth rk, you said she got caught in the middle of it," Dave said.


    "She''s okay Dave, trust me, don''t let this disrupt your good performance, she''s okay," rk said before ending the call.


    "rk! rk!" Dave called before slowly turning his gaze to Norman. "Emma''s not okay." He muttered.


    "While we''re waiting for the VAR results we have just gotten reports that Unique FC''s goalkeeper, Dave Richard''s house was involved in a robbery and his girlfriend Emma Smith is currently in the hospital," Jim said.


    "That''s Mateo Smith''s older sister," Steve said.


    "Emma?" Mateo said with a shocked expression on his face.


    ***


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 Chapter 26 Comfortable Win

    The referee had returned to the pitch to confirm to everybody that the goal was indeed offside.


    Unique FC yers and fans were happy to hear that but the same couldn''t be said for Spree United yers and fans.


    Even though the guests were happy to have that goal ruled out in their favor, some of the yers and fans had worried looks on their faces.


    The news about Dave''s house getting robbed and Emma currently being at the hospital seemed to have made tensions rise between the yers and fans.


    Dave was in such good form at the moment and giving him this kind of news in the middle of the match could affect his performance not to talk about Mateo who had been wonderful to watch so far into the match.


    "Spree United yers and fans are not happy with that result but that was the right decision," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but let''s just hope that the news that we just dropped doesn''t make Dave and Mateo lose focus and keep doing what they are doing till the end of the match," Steve said.


    "Why would you drop a news like that and expect them not to lose concentration?!" A fan screamed from the stands.


    "Hey, I''m sorry about what happened but you don''t have to let this disrupt you and make you lose focus," Adolf said to Dave who was standing over the ball now to take the freekick.


    "I know," Dave said looking down at the ball. "I just hope rk''s right."


    The referee blew his whistle as Adolf walked back to his position after giving Dave a nod.


    Dave yed a short pass to the center back who quickly passed the ball to Rnd on the left wing.


    Rnd took a few steps forward with the ball before passing the ball back to Adolf who was trying to break through the middle now.


    He was almost dispossessed off the ball by Spree United''s central defensive midfielder but he managed to drag the ball back to Aima before that happened.


    Aima quickly got on the ball and yed a through ball to Minino on the right midfield wing.


    Minino ran down the wing but he soon got his path blocked and had no option but to send the ball back to Aima who quickly rolled a pass to Ferran.


    Ferran had a lot of space for running in the middle and as always, he was going to make good use of it.


    He ran down the middle before ying a long ball over the top to Carlos.


    Carlos yed the ball forward and made a quick run to get past the defender that was marking him and meet the ball.


    As soon as he got his foot on the ball, he found Mateo open and in space and quickly crossed the ball to him.


    Mateo rushed toward the low cross and got there before the defenders chasing the ball but his shot had been so poorly struck that it had gone straight to the goalkeeper and was easily caught by him.


    "Oh, he could have done better with that chance," Jim said.


    The goalkeeper quickly threw the ball to the yer in the left wing to begin a counter-attack but Edward was there to meet the ball with a header and over the line, it went for a throw-in.


    "I think the news is beginning to affect Mateo because normally that should have been a clear goal for him," Steve said.


    "That may be true Steve but you should also remember that he''s missed chances simr to that one in previous matches so maybe that''s not the problem, maybe it was just one of his poor finishing moments," Jim said.


    "Alright, I think we''re going to have some changes from Unique FC," Steve said. "Number twenty-three toe off and number eighteen toe in."


    "Okay, Rnd Ryle will be leaving the pitch now for Jonas Blue," Jim said.


    The fans apuded him as he walked off the pitch for Jonas to make his way into the pitch.


    "And for the second substitute, Fredinho will being off for Unique FC''s star striker Fred," Jim said.


    The substituting official lifted his board which showed the number seventeen in red and the number nine in green.


    "With Fred on the pitch now maybe just maybe Unique FC can get a third goal," Steve said.


    "Well, we''ll have to watch and see." Jim said.


    The throw was taken as the yer who had received the ball quickly sent the ball back to the thrower with a backheel pass.


    He received the ball and quickly yed it through to their left winger who had maneuvered his way around Aima now.<sub> </sub>


    Jonas tried to stop him but he was quickly bodied out of the way as he ran toward the eighteen-yard box from the right wing.


    Mateo closed upon him together with Ferran and tried to bring him down with a tackle but the yer had quickly spotted Othello make a run into the box and crossed the ball to him.


    Adolf had gotten to Othello at that time as the both of them rose to meet the ball.


    Othello happened to be the more experienced header as he used Adolf as some kind of support to nod the ball with the side of his head.


    Dave was pinned to the spot as the ball bounced on the floor and rolled into the through the bottom right-hand corner.


    "Oh, Spree United have one back!!" Jim screamed. "They finally have one back!"


    Othello quickly rushed into the picked up the ball and began to run back to their half of the post while screaming to his teammates that they could do it.


    "That was a terrible mistake by Unique FC, they never should have given Kelvin that much space on the right wing," Steve said.


    "Yeah and look at the way he bodied Jonas out of the way," Jim said. "Dave was glued to the spot, he looked totally clueless but I wouldn''t me him for that goal."


    "It''s Spree United one, Unique FC just one goal in it now, can Spree United get an equalizer, or is Unique FC going to clinch into the lead long enough for the final whistle?


    The match had now entered four minutes of extra time and Unique FC were still holding onto their lead.


    After that goal, Norman had switched to a very defensive style of y and it had worked quite to stop any of that attackers to do anything.


    Right now the ball was a few yards outside the eighteen-yard box with Ferran and Mateo standing over it.


    Spree United yers had formed a wall with the other yers around the goalpost waiting for a possible rebound or clearance.


    "Take the free kick Mateo," Ferran said.


    "Why? You''re the better freekick taker, you should be the one to take it if it has to go in." Mateo said.


    "I don''t know how true that is anymore but I want you to take it," Ferran said. "I''ll run over it and take it as fast as you can."


    "Okay," Mateo said.


    "If this freekick goes in then everything''s over for Spree United," Steve said.


    "Ferran steps up to take it, oh he''s run over it."


    Mateo rushed in at that moment and took the free-kick aim for the top left-hand corner.


    The ball flew directly to the target and flew into the back of the as the goalkeeper was glued to the spot.


    "Mateo shoots! Mateo scores!"


    "To be honest I didn''t think he was going to score that," Steve said.


    "Well, he just proved you wrong!"


    Mateo celebrated the goal by pointing his fingers up as Ferran quickly made his way to him and gave him a fist bump.


    "Well, that''s settled, I don''t think Spree United are ever going toe back from that one with just two minutes remaining on the clock," Jim said.


    Just like Jim said, all Spree United did was pass the ball around without seeding with any attack as the referee finally blew his whistle to bring the match to an end.


    "What a match!" Jim eximed. "It somehow looked like Unique FC were going to bottle it after that goal from Othello but they quickly patched themselves up and thanks to thatte freekick from Mateo, they were able to settle with afortable win."


    "So there you have it, the match ends with Spree United one, Unique FC three," Steve said to end thementary.


    ****


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 Chapter 27 Nothing To Worry About

    Dave had been quiet for about thirty minutes since their ne took to the sky.


    He had spoken to rk after his forced interview and he had told him that Emma was okay but he still wasn''t convinced because rk wasn''t able to get him to hear Emma''s voice.


    "Hey, dude cheer up, he said she''s okay," Mateo said as he could no longer take Dave''s moodiness.


    "I didn''t hear her voice," Dave said.


    "He said she was sleeping," Mateo said.


    "That''s the point," Dave said quickly, turning to face the window.


    "I''m just surprised I didn''t know Dave was dating your sister until now," Ferran said, raising his head on the back of Mateo''s seat.


    "Not everything should be public knowledge but thanks to thementators everyone knows about it now," Mateo said.


    "How did they even find out what happened?" Ferran asked.


    "I don''t know but sometimes information gets out through ways we can''t even exin," Mateo said.


    "They shouldn''t have said that during the match, Dave was doing so well until that news messed him up, it even messed you up to some extent," Ferran said.


    "Yeah but I''m d you managed to win the match and gained all three points." Mateo said.


    "Yeah, it''s all thanks to you, the man of the match," Ferran said with a smile.


    "We all yed a big part in the win," Mateo said.


    "Yeah," Ferran said. "I hope your sister''s okay." He said, turning his gaze to Dave who was still looking out the window.


    "She''s okay," Mateo said with some sense of confidence and certainty which Dave just couldn''t have in this current situation.


    Dave quickly made his way to his car as the team arrived at the Wondamino stadium.


    <Hey, slow down, it won''t do her any good if you die driving like this>


    Dave didn''t listen to her as he kept driving at the same speed until he arrived at the hospital.


    Well, you could say he only got lucky because there weren''t many cars on the road at that time.


    He parked his car in the parking spot and quickly made his way into the hospital and straight to the receptionist.


    "Where is she?" He asked with a tense voice.


    "Who?" The female receptionist asked, raising her eyebrows.


    "Emma Smith, she was brought in here a few hours ago." The receptionist said.


    "Yeah, she was." The receptionist said. "You''re Dave Richards right?" She asked, taking notice of the sports kit he was putting on.


    "Yeah, where is she?" Dave asked.


    "Calm down sir, she''s okay."


    "Where is she?" Dave asked.


    "Down the hallway, room number fifteen." The receptionist said as she had be quite startled by Dave.


    "Thank you," Dave said quickly, rushing into the hallway.


    "Was that Dave Richards?" A boy asked a few seconds after Dave had rushed into the hallway.


    Dave quickly made his way to room number fifteen to find Emma lying on her bed with a drop hanging over her with the part of her shoulders that had gotten stabbed bandaged.


    "Emma." He said quickly rushing to her.


    "Come on Dave, I told you that she was okay, twice."


    Dave quickly turned to see rk sitting in the corner with a magazine in his hand.


    "And then you proceeded to not show me how she was okay," Dave said.


    "I didn''t want you to see her like this, at least not while you were still over there," rk said, getting up from his seat. "I''m starting to think that you conceded that goal because you decided to get worried about this."


    "Why wouldn''t I be worried?"


    "I told you there was nothing to worry about," rk said. "And as you can see, she''s sleeping peacefully."


    Dave didn''t say anything as she slowly walked to her and examined her from head to toe.


    "What did they do to her?" He asked with a devastated look on his face.<sub> </sub>


    "She got stabbed on her shoulder, she was bleeding seriously and could have bled to death if I didn''t get there fast enough," rk said.


    "How did you know?"


    "She called me and I am d I didn''t leave town today," rk said.


    "Thanks, rk." He said as he quickly turned to him and entangled him in a warm embrace. "You''re a lifesaver."


    "Don''t mention it," rk said.


    Dave slowly pulled away from the hug and turned his gaze back to Emma.


    She let out a soft moan before blinking her eyes a few times and finally opening them.


    "Dave." She muttered as soon as she caught sight of Dave.


    "Hey, Babe," Dave said, squatting down beside her bed.


    "I thought you were supposed to be at Spree?" She said with a faint voice.


    "No, the match''s over and I came running here as fast as I could," Dave said, entangling his hand in hers.


    "Yeah, he came running here pretty too fast," rk said.


    "I can''t imagine how worried you must have been." She said with a smile.


    <You seriously can''t imagine it because it''s unimaginable>


    "I told him there was nothing to worry about but he took it upon himself to do so," rk said.


    "Hmph¡­so how did the match end?" She asked.


    "We won, three goals to one," Dave said with a smile.


    "Really? Who scored the third goal?" She asked.


    "Mateo, he scored a free kick," Dave said.


    "Oh," Emma said with a smile.


    "I''m certain that match would have ended with a clean sheet if you had stopped worrying over nothing," rk said.


    "Nah, that goal had nothing to do with Dave."


    Both Dave and rk quickly turned to see Mateo standing there with a pack of flowers in his hand.


    "Oh, here''s our man of the match," rk said with an enthusiastic voice.


    "Wait..he won man of the match?" Emma said, pretending to be surprised.


    "Don''t act so surprised sis, you know what I''m capable of," Mateo said, walking to her. "This is for you by the way." He said, handing her the flowers.


    "Thanks, Mateo," Emma said with a warm smile as she took the flower from him. "I told you there was nothing to worry about Dave."


    "Really? Because you looked worried there in the second half and missed two clear chances." Dave said.


    "I''m d to know that you two were worried about me," Emma said.


    "Hey, Mateo, I heard yourst goal was a free kick, how did you do it, bro?" rk asked.


    "You didn''t watch the match?" He asked before realizing why he didn''t watch the match. "Oh¡­you were stuck here."


    "Yeah, so how did you take the free kick?"


    "I don''t have to tell you, we can watch the highlights together," Dave said as he dipped his hand into his bag and brought out his iPad.


    "Okay, that''s what I''m talking about," rk said.


    <I told you there was nothing to worry about>


    ''Yeah but sometimes it''s good to worry.'' Dave replied, staring at Emma who had her eyes on Mateo''s tablet now.


    ***


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 Chapter 28 Post Match Rewards

    "That was a neat pass, Dave," rk said.


    The three men were all grouped up in front of Emma''s bed as they watched the highlights from the match on Mateo''s tablet, they also made sure to create enough space for Emma to see what was going on without having to stress herself.


    "Yeah, but it wouldn''t have mattered if Mateo hadn''t done so well to put it away neatly," Dave said.


    "Yeah, that was some neat finishing," rk said. "But I''m still going to say it."


    "Say what?" Dave asked.


    "You would have gotten your first clean sheet for the season and Mateo would have gotten his first career hat trick if you had kept your focus on the match for the full ny minutes," rk said.


    "Then you should me the robbers because when someone you care about, getting worried is a given even though some people overdo it," Mateo said, turning his gaze to Dave.


    "Can you guys stop talking about who got worried and who overdid it, please?" Emma requested.


    "Those stupid robbers," Dave grumbled.


    "Kelvin getting away from Jonas with a little touch of speed and strength." Jim''s voice came from the tablet as they quickly turned their attention to it.


    "He just bodied him out of the way," rk said.


    "Yeah, I me him for that Goal, there was nothing Dave or Adolf could do to stop that goal, he should have done his job well," Mateo said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.


    "Do you have a problem with him, Mateo?" Emma asked.


    "Not exactly but he''s always criticizing Dave for not doing his job and then hees in during the second half and forgets how to do his job," Mateo said.


    "That freekick was clean," rk said with amazement in his voice as that was the main part that he wanted to see in the highlights.


    "So you guys are now tenth ce on the table," Emma said.


    "Yeah, just two points behind Troham United," Mateo said.


    "Yeah, but we''ll have to wait and see if they are going to move clear ahead of us or if they remain where they are," Dave said.


    "There''s no way they are going to move clear ahead of us," Mateo said. "Dynamo FC are currently in wonderful form, I don''t think Troham United will stand a chance against them."


    "Well, we''ll have to wait and see what''s going to happen in the match," rk said. "Congrats to you two, by the way, that was a wonderful match and a wonderful performance by the both of you."


    After a few more minutes of talking with each other, Mateo and rk had left, leaving Dave alone with Emma.


    The couple talked for quite a while before Emma had finally fallen asleep.


    Dave kissed her on her forehead before going to sit down on the seat by the side.


    <Well you are certainly not going to have afortable sleep tonight>


    ''Are you suggesting that I leave, Catherine?''


    <No, no, not at all, I''m just saying that after a match like that, you should get some good rest>


    ''I know but in this current situation, this will have to do.'' Dave replied.


    <Okay, since you''re free now, I think you should see this>


    ''See what?''


    [ Victory Rewards ]


    [ Two crucial saves: +20 exp ]


    [ Assist: +20 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded (01): 0 exp ]


    [ Rating: 8.4 ]


    "Waooh," Dave muttered looking at the message on his screen now.


    <Yeah, you will get a message like this after every match>


    ''I''m just shocked by how urate that rating is."


    <The system rates you ording to how well you did and is more urate than the rating system used in your matches>


    ''Huh?''


    <What I''m saying is that sometimes the rating the system gives you will not correspond to the one you were given after the match but you should know that the system''s rating is more urate>


    "Okay," Dave muttered.


    [ yer Profile ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ yer level: 2 ]<sub> </sub>


    [ 100/100 HP ]


    [ 75/100 Energy ]


    [ 65/200 exp ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Goalkeeping Skills ]


    [ Double jump: level 01 ]


    [ Physical Status ]


    [ Skill points: 01 ]


    [ Physical Status ]


    [ Strength: 16 ]


    [ Dexterity: 7 ]


    [ Endurance: 11 ]


    ''So when am I going to get my next skill?''


    <You''ll have to keep going, just keep going and you''ll find out soon>


    ____ ____


    Emma had gotten discharged by eleven pm the next day after Dave had made sure that she had a nice breakfast and the doctor had done a few more checks on her.


    The goalkeeper parked his car in his normal parking spot and quickly went around to open the door for Emma.


    "You know you don''t have to do that, my right hand still works fine." She said, raising her right hand.


    "No, using that hand may affect your left hand," Dave said slowly, bringing down her hand.


    "The doctor didn''t say anything like that," Emma said with a little chuckle.


    "Yeah but in situations like this, I know better than the doctor," Dave said.


    "You really think you do."


    The couple had entered the house which looked quite intact for a house that was robbedst night.


    Dave had taken a few steps toward the living before looking at the floor to see the faint trails of Emma''s blood which ran from there all the way to the kitchen.


    "I was in the kitchen when they knocked the door open," Emma said. "I had to crawl to the couch to get my phone."


    Dave didn''t say anything as he followed the trail all the way to the kitchen where he could see therger portion of the blood spill.


    He didn''t know that she had to struggle like this before she could get help and thinking about what would have happened if she had not called rk on time was causing something to boil inside him as he clenched both of his fists.


    "Dave," Emma called as she had followed him to the kitchen.


    "Dave." She called again after there was no response from him.


    There was still no response from him as she moved closer to him and ced her hands on her shoulder.


    "Hey, you don''t have to get angry over nothing, I''m okay as you can see." She said to him with a low voice.


    "Yes you are okay but something could have happened if you had not called rk on time and what if he was already out of town?"


    "Yeah, but none of those things happened," Emma said.


    Suddenly knocking was hearding from the door. Emma wanted to go get it but Dave had stopped her.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll get it." He said heading toward the door.


    He walked to the door and opened it to see a man standing there.


    The man was about two centimetres shorter than him, he had a slightly huge body, had moon-shaped lips just like Dave''s, ck medium hair and brown eyes.


    Looking at Dave''s face you could tell he was very surprised to see this man who was standing at his doorstep now.


    "Hello, Dave." The man said, smiling at him.


    "Dad?"


    ****


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 Chapter 29 Unexpected Visit

    Tom Richards had been out of the country for about two months now and Dave didn''t expect him to be back now that was why he was very surprised to see him.


    "Can Ie in?" Tom asked.


    "Sure dad," Dave said, making way for him to enter the house. "You can have a seat there." He said pointing at the couch.


    The goalkeeper quickly scanned the room with his eyes and when he couldn''t find Emma he quickly made his way to the kitchen where he saw her cleaning the dry blood stains on the floor with a sponge.


    "Hey, you don''t have to do that," Dave said as he quickly rushed to her and pulled her up from the floor.


    "It''s not much work¡­ I was almost done," Emma said looking at the floor.


    "Let me do it." He said taking the sponge from her. "But that''ll beter because we have a guest now."


    "Who?" Emma asked.


    "My dad," Dave said.


    "Your dad? You mean like the president of Unique FC?"


    "Yeah, him," Dave said.


    "I thought you said he wasn''t returning home until next month," Emma said.


    "Yeah, he was supposed to but I think he caught his stay short for some reason," Dave said.


    "So are you going to introduce me to him?" Emma asked.


    "He''s already here¡­so."


    Tom was looking around the room as he sat on the couch, he had been to his son''s house before, once and he didn''t evene to see him as a father, he came to see him as the president of the club.


    He quickly turned his gaze toward the kitchen area as he heard footsteps and that was when he saw Dave entering the room with Emma.


    "Hello Mr. Richards," Emma said as soon as they had gotten close to him.


    "Dad, this is my girlfriend, Emma Smith," Dave said, introducing her to his father.


    "The one that was here when your house got robbedst night right?" Tom said.


    "Yeah¡­how did you?"


    "Thementators said it during the match and I happened to be watching the match at that moment," Tom said.


    "Is that why you came back?" Dave asked.


    "No, no, I was already on my way back when I heard it and I decided that this would be a good time toe see you," Tom said, adjusting his cor.


    "Oh," Dave said.


    "How are you doing now, Emma?" Tom asked, turning his gaze to Emma.


    "I''m okay now," Emma said with a meek smile as she ced her hand on her wounded shoulder. "Would you like me to get you anything to drink?"


    ? "A ss of water would be okay," Tom said.


    "Okay," Emma said.


    "No, sit down, I''ll get it," Dave said, already walking toward the kitchen.


    He walked to the cab and grabbed a ss before making his way to the fridge.


    He dropped the ss on top of the fridge and brought out two liters of bottled water from the fridge.


    <So your father is the president of Unique FC>


    "Yeah." Dave said before quickly taking down the whole content of the bottled water.


    [ Daily questpleted ]


    [ Drink two litres of water everyday ]


    [ +5 exp received ]


    <I don''t think you realize how privileged you are to have your father as the president of a club you y for>


    "I realize that very well, Catherine." Pouring the contents of a smaller bottled water into the ss cup. "But things aren''t always the way you expect them to be."


    He mmed the fridge shut and walked into the living room to see Emma talking with his father.<sub> </sub>


    "Here''s your ss of water." He said dropping the ss on the small table before dropping the small bottled water.


    "Hey, your dad was just telling me about the first trophy you won in the academy," Emma said, turning to him with a smile as Tom grabbed the ss of water.


    "Oh really? I''m not surprised since that''s the only thing he''s ever been proud of me for." Dave said as there had been a sudden change in his tone.


    Emma had noticed it as the smile on her face had slowly diminished and Tom had stopped the edge of the ss between his lips just before he could take a sip.


    "I''ll be back." He said as he turned and quickly made his way upstairs.


    <So you have quite a sour rtionship with your father>


    ''I don''t want to talk about it, Catherine.'' Dave replied as he entered his room.


    <You don''t have to, I already know bits of what happened and with time, I''ll know the rest>


    Dave didn''t reply as he had his gaze on the little cupboard by the side where he kept his wristwatches.


    He had about eight different wristwatches on top of there but they were all gone now.


    He slowly walked to the cupboard and opened the firstyer where Emma kept her Jewelry to see that they were gone and then he opened the secondyer where he dropped a few euros to see that it wasn''tpletely empty now.


    <What did you expect from a robbery?>


    "Hey, babe."


    Dave quickly turned to see Emma standing at the entrance of the room.


    "Your dad wants to leave." She said pointing backward with her thumb.


    "Okay," Dave said, turning his gaze back to the cupboard.


    "He wants to talk to you before he leaves." She said,


    "Oh, does he?"


    "Yeah, Dave, he really wants to talk to you." She said with a pleading voice.


    He stayed there for a while without saying anything before quickly springing up and making his way to her.


    "Stay here." He said.


    "Okay," Emma said with a nod.


    He gave out a deep sigh before going down the stairs to meet his father who was outside now.


    "So you guys have already started talking about signing new yers for next season," Dave said as they entered the street now.


    "Yeah, that''s the reason why I cut my stay short," Tom said.


    "So what positions are you guys talking about, are you nning on buying a new goalkeeper?" Dave asked.


    "No, we already have two goalkeepers and one will be returning next season," Tom said. "You did really well in the match yesterday."


    "Yeah, and if I fail to do something simr in the next match, I immediately turn to your enemy," Dave said.


    "You know I''ve always wanted the best for you, Dave," Tom said as they halted just before they entered a junction in the street.


    "Really?"


    "Yeah, that''s why I loaned out Anderson so that with the pressure you may be able to get better and I think it''s beginning to work," Tom said.


    "You think I''m a fool?" Dave said as the expression on his face had turned to something unpleasant.


    "Huh?"


    "I know you loaned out Anderson just because the club was about to go bankrupt just like you loaned out the other yers, you would have loaned me out too but you couldn''t because nobody wanted me."


    "Dave¡­" Tom stuttered as he didn''t know exactly what to say.


    "Goodbye dad, I believe you can find your way home from here," Dave said as he turned and began to walk back as Tom stood there and watched him walk away with a devastated look on his face.


    ***


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 Chapter 30 The Cops

    Dave entered the house to see Emma standing in front of the stairs with a questioning look on her face.


    "I told you to stay in the room." He said as he walked toward the couch and crashed on it.


    "What''s up with you and your dad?" Emma asked, moving closer to him. "You never told me you guys were like this."


    "I don''t want to talk about it." He said, turning his gaze away from her.


    "Why? You seemed happy to see him at first and then your mood suddenly changed." She said as she walked closer to him and slowly sat down beside him.


    "I was happy because I thought he was here for another reason but it turns out he was here for the same reason he visited me on a few asions for," Dave said.


    "What reason?"


    "Didn''t you hear him? He clearly said he wasn''t here for me."


    "He didn''t say that, Dave," Emma said, shaking her head.


    p "You won''t understand," Dave said, sinking deep into the couch.</anda>


    "Then make me understand," Emma said, pulling herself closer to look over him.


    Knock! Knock! Knock!


    "I''ll get it." She said slowly getting up but before she could fully stand on her feet, Dave was already fully up on his feet.


    "I''ll get it." He said moving toward the door.


    He opened the door to see two policemen standing there.


    "I was wondering when you guys were going to show up," Dave muttered.


    "Hello, Dave, I am detective Mark UCPD and this is my partner detective Lawson." The detective said.


    "Hello, detectives."


    "We got the news that there was a robbery herest night and one of the robbers stabbed your girlfriend." Detective Mark said. "When we arrived here that night she had already been taken to the hospital and the whole ce was locked so we decided toe take a look at the ce now and see if we can find anything that might help us."


    "Okay," Dave said.


    "Can wee in?" The Detective asked politely.


    "Sure," Dave said shifting back to create space for them to enter.


    The Detectives looked around the house before their gaze had turned to Emma who was sitting on the couch now.


    "Is she the one that got stabbed?" Detective Lawson asked, pointing at Emma.


    "Yeah, she''s the one," Dave said.


    "I''m going to go ask her a few questions." Detective Lawson said, turning to Dave as if he was trying to ask for his permission.


    Detective Lawson walked to Emma to ask her a few questions just like he said while Dave had taken Detective Mark to the kitchen where she had gotten stabbed.


    "So you''re telling me that she crawled all the way from here to there to get help." Detective Mark said after Dave had exined everything to him.


    "Yeah," Dave said with a little nod.


    "I''m d she managed to contact your friend just before passing out, it could have ended differently for her if she had not gotten help on time." Detective Mark said.


    "It could have ended differently for us," Dave said, turning his gaze to the living room where Detective Lawson was still asking Emma questions.


    "So what did they steal from here?" The detective asked.


    "My wristwatches, her jewelry, and a couple of Euros," Dave answered.


    "How many Euros?" The detective asked.


    "About fifty Euros," Dave said.


    "Okay." The detective said. "These robbers have been going into houses while the owners were away and stealing things for about a week now and there has not been a report of them hitting a house twice so I don''t think they will be returning but you still have to keep your eyes peeled though. Give me a call if you see anything suspicious." The detective said, handing him hisplimentary card.


    "Okay," Dave said, taking the card from him.


    "Are you done, Lawson?" Detective Mark asked as he entered the living room.


    "Yeah," Lawson said with a startled voice as he quickly got up from the table on which he was sitting.


    "Okay, tell me what you got outside." Detective Mark said heading outside.


    "It was nice talking to you," Lawson said, turning her gaze to Emma. "Hope your shoulder heals soon."


    "Thanks," Emma replied.


    "Thanks, Dave." The Detective said with a little nod before heading toward the door.


    Dave kept his gaze on him as he walked out of the door before he slowly turned it to Emma.


    "Was that guy flirting with you?" He asked, pointing at the door.


    "What do you mean, he was only being nice?" Emma said.<sub> </sub>


    "He was supposed to say thank you for your cooperation ma''am or something simr but instead he said it was nice talking to you."


    "Stop being hrious, all the cops are not the same," Emma said.


    "What were you two even talking about that he found nice?" Dave asked.


    "He asked me about what happenedst night and then he asked me a few questions about myself," Emma said.


    "Oh¡­so he diverted to personal questions."


    "He was just being nice, Dave, stop acting jelly." She said, crossing her arms.


    "He was definitely flirting with you," Dave said.


    "No, you''re just being jealous over nothing."


    Dave let out a deep sigh as he walked to the couch and sat beside her.


    "Arguing with you is like trying to retrieve a needle from a hayfield." He said.


    "Really? Because I don''t think we''ve ever argued about anything." Emma said.


    "Yeah, but that one time you told me that the Manchester Derby was better than the Elssico killed it," Dave said.


    "That was just one argument." She said,


    "One very long argument that prevented me from enjoying the match," Dave said.


    "Yeah, that was quite a long argument but I still think the Manchester Derby is better." She said with a smug look on her face.


    "And she''s trying to start it again, I''m just going to keep quiet¡­.for now," Dave said.


    "Quietness means defeat," Emma said.


    "No, it doesn''t," Dave said, staring at her with intensifying desires in his eyes.


    Emma wanted to say something but she had gone mute as soon as she had locked eyes with him.


    "You have to be careful with my shoulder." She said with a low voice.


    "I know," Dave muttered as he immediately locked her in a passionate kiss.


    He wanted to just wrap his all arm around her and that was when he had made the mistake of touching her wounded shoulder.


    "Aw!" She winced as she immediately moved away from him a little.


    "Sorry," Dave said with an awkward expression on his face.


    "It''s okay," Emma said although the pain she was feeling now was evident in her voice.


    "I think I''m going to go do something else," Dave said, getting up from the couch.


    "What? You said you''re not going to the stadium until three PM." Emma said.


    "No, I just want to go make something for lunch," Dave said.


    The room went quiet as soon as he had said that as Emma stared at him as if she was trying to hold in something.


    "What?"


    That was all he needed to say as Emma immediately burst intoughter, letting out everything she had been holding in.


    "What''s so funny?" Dave asked, raising his eyebrows.


    "You''re asking me, thest time you tried to cook you almost set the ce aze," Emma said.


    "That was just one time and besides I''ve been taking lessons from YouTube during my free time." He said.


    "Really? And how many times have you practiced?" She asked.


    "This is going to be my first practical," Dave said, standing straight with confidence.


    "Okay, I''m just going to lie down here," Emma said, lying down fully on the couch.


    "Good," Dave said, turning to head toward the couch.


    "Half expecting the smell of something burning." She said,


    "That''s not funny Emma." He said quickly, turning to her.


    "You can just ask for my help. My hands still work fine." She said, shaking her fingers.


    "Sorry, but I won''t be needing it," Dave said, walking off toward the kitchen.


    ***


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 Chapter 31 A Few Football Updates

    "Hey, babe I''m heading to the stadium now," Dave saiding down the stairs. "Are you sure you¡­.."


    He wanted to make sure she didn''t want toe with him but he wasn''t able to finish the sentence as he could see another woman sitting on the couch with her now and the both of them were giggling like little kids.


    "Hey, babe this is my friend Karen." Emma quickly introduced her friend to him as soon as she spotted him in the living room.


    "Hi, Dave," Karen said with a little wave.


    "Hi," Dave said, returning the wave.


    Karen, unlike Emma, seemed to be a little busty. She was sitting so her height couldn''t really be determined but it looked like she was the same height as Emma, she had an oval face with plump pink lips, long eyshes and beautiful brown eyes andstly she had long and straight blonde hair.


    "Karen is from Vrester and she drove all the way from there just toe see me after she heard what happened," Emma said.


    "That''s nice of you Karen," Dave said, turning to her with a smile.


    "It''s nothing, Emma''s my best friend and I''ll do anything for her, I''m just d that she''s okay," Karen said.


    "Okay," Dave said as he walked to the small table in the living room and picked up his car keys. "I''ll leave you two alone now."


    He walked to the door, opened it, and was about to walk outside when he heard Emma say something.


    "Hey, babe before you leave, can I ask you for one thing?" Emma said.


    "What?" Dave asked.


    "Can Karen sleep over tonight? She arrived herete and you know it''s not safe to travel far distances at night." Emma said.


    "She came to see you so I don''t see why not," Dave said with a shrug.


    "Thanks, babe," Emma said with a smile.


    "Okay, I''ll be going now," Dave said.


    "Wait," Emma said, stopping him from leaving again.


    "What?" Dave said, sounding a little annoyed this time.


    "Are you really going to leave without giving me a kiss?"


    Dave didn''t reply as he quickly walked to her and kissed her before raising his gaze to meet hers.


    "That''s more like it." She said with a smile.


    Dave smiled back at her before turning and quickly making his way to the door.


    "You two are really cute together." He heard Karen say before he walked out through the door and closed it.


    He arrived at the stadium by three PM which was exactly the time set for the training.


    The coach knew the yers were going to need some rest after that matchst night and that''s why he decided to schedule the training in the evening.


    Dave parked his car in his normal parking spot and just after stepping out of it, he saw Mateo''s ck Lexus IS heading toward him.


    The new neen-year-old winger parked his car beside his own before stepping out of it.


    "How''re you doing bro?" He asked as he went for a handshake and a shoulder bump.


    "I''m okay, you?" Dave asked.


    "I''m good," Mateo said with a little nod. "I think we should head inside fast, they must have started by now.


    The two had quickly made their way inside and after asking some of the staff around, they found out that Coach Norman had not yet arrived.


    Since the coach wasn''t there yet then there was no need to rush as they had not missed any information so they took the walk to the pitch slowly.


    "So how''s my sister?" Mateo asked as they walked to the pitch.


    "She''s okay and she''s even better now after she ate the delicious meal I made for her," Dave said.


    "Wait, you cooked a meal that Emma ate and said it was delicious," Mateo said with a shocked expression on his face.


    "Well, she didn''t call it jealous but with the look on her face while she was eating it, I knew she liked it," Dave said.


    "If she didn''t call it delicious what then did she call it?" Mateo asked.


    "Horrible and lots of other terrible things but I didn''t mind as long as she kept stuffing it in her mouth," Dave said.


    "That''s definitely the sister I know," Mateo said with an awkward expression on his face.<sub> </sub>


    The two had arrived at the stadium where they found Ferran and a few other yers training by themselves.


    Ferran had stopped the stretching he was doing and quickly made his way to the two as soon as he spotted the two.


    "Hey, Mateo, hey, Dave." He said after stopping in front of them.


    "You have a serious habit of over-punctuality, Ferran," Mateo said sarcastically.


    "So How''s your sister?" He asked, ignoring the joke.


    "She''s fine, she''s with Dave so I am sure she''s getting better by now," Mateo answered.


    "I''m d your girlfriend is okay Dave," Ferran said, turning his gaze to Dave.


    "Yeah, thanks," Dave said with a nod.


    "So did you guys hear about Fernandez''s hat trick against Elche in the afternoon match yesterday?" Ferran asked.


    "Waooh, Fernandez scored a hattrick?" Mateo said with a look of amazement on his face.


    "That means he has steered clear of Ciro in the Pichichi race by three goals," Dave said.


    "Yeah, he steered clear of him until Barca''s match against Levantest night," Ferran said.


    "Barcelona yedst night?" Dave said with a surprised expression on his face as he had no idea.


    "Yeah," Ferran said with a nod.


    Well, he would have known if the whole thing with Emma had not disrupted his mind.


    "Okay how did the match end and how many goals did Ciro score?" Mateo asked.


    "Well, the match ended six goals to nothing with Ciro grabbing a quadruple," Ferran said.


    "Wait, you can''t be serious, four goals," Mateo said.


    "We are talking about Ciro here Mateo," Ferran said.


    "Well, he took that personally, Fernandez scored a hattrick and he decided to score four," Mateo said.


    "Those two are clearly battling it out in La Liga," Dave said.


    "Yeah, and we will see the best of that battle in the El sico next week," Ferran said. "Both teams are currently on level points but Barcelona are on top with goal difference."


    "Okay, you got anything about the premier league?" Mateo asked.


    "Yeah," Ferran said with a nod. "Man City beat Arsenal to top the table, it was a tough match but thatst-minute goal by Caralo was enough to seal the win for them."


    "Okay, any news on Aston Vi?" Mateo asked.


    "Yeah Aston Vi also yedst night but they lost to Liverpool one goal to nothing, it was an early goal by Salem after that they couldn''t do anything else and Aston Vi were unable to find an equalizer."


    "Well, that''s a bummer," Mateo said.


    The yers had all arrived now and so had coach Norman who was walking into the pitch now along with the other coaching staff and the president of the club Tom Richards.


    "Were you aware that your father was back?" Mateo asked, turning his gaze to Luis.


    "Yeah, he paid me a visit," Dave said, keeping his face straight and void of any emotion.


    "Hello, Boys." Coach Norman said after stopping in front of the squad. "As you all can see the president is back and he would like to have a word with you."


    After saying that, he stepped back as the president stepped forward to address the yers.


    He turned toward Dave and made eye contact with him but the goalkeeper turned away as soon as that eye contact was established.


    He slightly shook his head as he cleared his throat and faced the whole squad.


    "I will start by congratting....


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    My apologies for not updating for quite a while now. I have been down with a serious fever for a while now but I''m slowly recovering and will pick up the pace once my head is straight again.

 Chapter 32 Fun Training

    After congratting the yers onst night''s performance, president Tom Richards had gone on to tell the yers and the coaching staff about some of the things he was nning for the transfer window open at the end of the season he then concluded by encouraging the yers in his own way to keep upst night''s performance.


    The trainingmenced after the president''s speech starting with the basic running ofps to the stretches, thepetitive training games like the tic tac toe version where there would be two teams, and a drawing of the ying area.


    For their training, they had six balls, three white ones, and three yellow ones. The yers would have to run to the spot and push balls to the open spaces until a team had gotten a correct alignment either perpendicrly, horizontally, or vertically.


    The yers had only five seconds to run to the spot and move any of their assigned balls either white or yellow and no yer could go twice in one round, it was one yer per round and if none of the teams could win after the first round, y continued until a particr team won.


    The tic tac toe was one of the most exciting parts of the training before the team switched to the final training exercise for the day, the training match.


    The team didn''t have a second goalkeeper in the senior squad since Anderson was loaned out but they had sixteen-year-old Alexander Collins who had been training with the first team since the start of the season because of the league regtion which prevents a goalkeeper from the B team to y a match while the goalkeeper in the senior team is okay.


    The teams were picked for the training match and just like always, Mateo had made sure that Dave was on his team, Ferran was on the opposite team though.


    The training match had ended in a three-goal draw with Ferran scoring two of the first goals for his side and assisting the third, Mateo on the other wasn''t able to score but he was the creator of the three goals.


    Dave''s system had given him a quick quest just before the first goal went in a one-on-one situation with Ferran.


    The goal went in so that was another quest that failed.


    The sun had almostpletely set as the yers were getting ready to leave.


    Norman left out any talk about tomorrow''s game tactics till tomorrow morning since the game was at home and was in the evening anyway but he had chosen his starting eleven for the match.


    "Nice training today right."


    Dave was pulling off his boots when he heard the voice and there was no need to turn as he already knew he it was.


    "Yeah." The goalkeeper uttered pulling off one of the boots. "I just hope we''ll be able to get a win against Ronino FC."


    "The team is currently in good form afterst night''s win, everyone looks even Jonas didn''t look for a way to insult or belittle you today," Mateo said.


    "Yeah, Jonas not looking for a way to say horrible things about me was one of the best parts of today''s training," Dave said before pulling out the other boot and slowly getting up from the floor.


    <I think you''re forgetting that he''s the only one in the team who didn''t make anyment about your performancest night> Catherine stated <But that''s good, he''s fighting with himself now>


    Dave slid his feet into his normal boots after he had handed his training boots to the person in charge of keeping them for him here at the stadium.


    "Hey, Mateo see you tomorrow," Ferran said to Mateo as he walked off the pitch.


    "Okay, see you, tomorrow master," Mateo said.


    Ferran turned to him with a smile before continuing his walk off the pitch.


    "Master and student is a correct term to give the rtionship between you two," Dave said.


    "Yeah, he''s a great teacher," Mateo said.


    Dave and Mateo talked about contracts, teams in Europe''s top five leagues, the big teams, the big yers, and a little about the greatest rivalry in the history of the game on their way out of the stadium.


    "Alright Dave, see you tomorrow and tell Emma I said hi," Mateo said before walking off toward his car.


    "Okay, goodbye Mateo," Dave said.


    He waited for him to drive off before he got into his own car and drove toward his sweet home.


    It didn''t take him long to arrive at his home as he parked his car in his normal spot just outside the garage.


    He walked to the door, opened it, and walked into the living room which was empty and the whole area was unusually quiet.


    He felt like there was something wrong.


    <No, Dave you''re just making up scenarios in your head, walk upstairs and see that there''s nothing wrong>


    "You say that with very disturbing confidence," Dave muttered.


    The goalkeeper slowly made his way upstairs expecting to hear a sounding from any of the rooms but still, there was nothing.<sub> </sub>


    "Babe." He called slowly moving toward his bedroom but there was no response from anybody. "Emma."


    He got to the bedroom room to see that it was just as empty as the living room with no sign of Emma or her friend.


    "Where could she have gone with her friend?" Dave muttered with a worried look on his face.


    <Why don''t you try calling her?>


    ''Yeah.'' Dave replied as he quickly brought his phone out of his pocket and walked out to the hallway.


    It was at that time that Karen who had been in the house at the time he got home wasing out from the bathroom and she had almost jumped up in fright on seeing him there.


    "Oh, it''s just you." She said catching her breath. Dave himself had also gotten a little frightened on seeing her walk out of the bathroom.


    Karen had just gone to take a little wash while Emma was out and walked out of the bathroom now with a short white towel which used to cover mostly her chest leaving arger part of her thigh exposed but on seeing Dave she had pulled it down a little to expose arger part of cleavages.


    "Where''s Emma?" Dave asked as he was already starting to feel ufortable.


    "Oh, Emma," Karen said, moving closer to him. "She went to the nearby mall to get some groceries.


    Now he could get a clearer view of her exposed cleavages but he didn''t want his eyes to linger there. Looking down wasn''t safe either so looking to the side was the best option.


    ''She just returned from the hospital and she''s already going to the mall alone.''


    "Oh." He said. "Has it been long since she left?''


    "Yeah, like fifteen minutes now," Karen said with a nod.


    "Okay," Dave said, expecting her to continue her walk toward the guest room but she was still standing there looking at him. "Aren''t you supposed to be heading that way?" He asked, pointing behind her.


    "Yeah, but I left something in your room and I want to go take it," Karen said with a smile curving up on her lips.


    "Oh, okay, that''s not a problem," Dave said.


    "Thank you," Karen said before continuing her walk past him.


    She had flung her hair a little as little droplets from it had dropped on his skin.


    He stood there for a few seconds after she had entered the room and let out a deep sigh before quickly making his way down the stairs.


    <Do you realize that your heart was beating faster than it did when you made that savest night>


    "I know Catherine don''t rub it in."


    He stood in front of the couch as he dialed Emma''s number and after a few seconds of ringing she picked up the call.


    "Hey, you know you''re not supposed to be doing things like this in your condition." He barked into the phone before she could say anything.


    "I know but we were out and someone had to get them," Emma replied through the phone''s speaker.


    "Where are you now?" He asked.


    "Just a few more steps before I get home." She replied.


    "Okay," Dave said before ending the call.


    He stared at the couch for a while before crashing down on it and letting out a deep sigh.


    <This is going to be a long night>


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    Please drop a review of what you think so far¡­.

 Chapter 33 Something Suspicious

    There was an awkward moment of silence as the three ate their meals with Karen constantly turning her gaze toward Dave who had his gaze down on his food and it didn''t look like he was going to raise it just like that.


    Emma didn''t notice the awkwardness in the air and thought they just wanted to enjoy their meal quietly.


    Well, she wasn''t going to let that silencest for long as she had a few things that she wanted to ask Dave.


    "Umm¡­Dave, you forgot to tell me how the training went." Emma said before putting a stake in her mouth.


    "Yeah, you usually ask before I do that," Dave said, slowly turning his gaze to her.


    The reason why Dave had his gaze down was because he was directly facing Karen who was putting on a green dress that hugged her body and exposed her cleavages in a way that he found quite ufortable.


    "Okay, so how was the training?" Emma asked with a smile.


    "It was nice, really fun, like the best training session since this week." Dave dered.


    "Really?" Emma expressed with a smile.


    "How fun?" Karen asked, joining the conversation.


    "I said it was the best this season and I don''t think you guys will like me to go into the details of the training," Dave said.


    Emma found it quite strange that Dave was talking to Karen but he had decided to keep his gaze on her instead, not turning to her for a single second.


    "Did you guys y that fun tic tac toe game with the colored balls?" Karen asked with an excited tone to her voice.


    "Yeah¡­..we did," Dave said, slightly turning away from Emma.


    "That''s my favorite part in the few training videos that I have watched," Karen said.


    "That''s good," Dave said with a little nod as he grabbed his ss of water.


    "Umm¡­.Dave." Emma called.


    "You know it''s normal to face someone when you''re talking with the person," Emma said.


    "I know." Dave said before quickly taking down the liquid contents in the cup and getting up from his seat. "I''ll be in my room."


    "But we haven''t watched our show together." Emma said.


    "I have to be at the stadium by ten AM." Dave said.


    "It''s just eight thirty two PM, we usually go to bed by ten." Emma contended.


    "I feel like going in early today." Dave said, feigning a yawn before stretching


    Maybe that fooled Karen but definitely not Emma.


    "Okay," Emma said, not wanting to argue further with him.


    After Dave had gone upstairs, Emma had cleared the table with the help of Karen and now the two were watching a telenov in the living room.


    "So Dave''s team is ying against Ronino FC tomorrow," Karen said a few minutes after they had started watching the telenov.


    "Yeah," Emma said with a nod, her gaze not shifting from the television''s screen.


    "Are you going to watch it?" Karen asked.


    "Well, the Wondamino stadium is just a ten minutes drive from here so why not?" Emma said. "And besides I don''t think Dave will want me to stay here alone at night after what happened."


    "You know you never told me much about him," Karen said. Her attention didn''t seem to be on the telenov at all unlike Emma who was enjoying it.


    "I did," Emma said, turning to her. "I told you on WhatsApp."


    "Yeah, but you never borated on who he was," Karen said.


    "I told you he was a football yer for Unique FC just like my brother. What else did you expect me to tell you?"


    "Okay," Karen said.


    There were a few moments of silence as the two watched the show together before Karen decided to bring up another question.


    "Has he ever told you anything about his past rtionship, his ex-girlfriend?" Karen asked.


    "I''m his first girlfriend just like he''s my first boyfriend, there was no past rtionship." Emma borated. "Why are you suddenly asking me these questions?"


    "Ummm¡­I was just making sure no onees back to get in the way of your perfect rtionship." Karen said, feigning a smile.


    "Okay," Emma said, turning her gaze back to the television.


    The two watched the telenov in silence together until Emma slowly got up from the couch.<sub> </sub>


    "I''ll be back." She said before making her way toward the staircase.


    "Okay," Karen said rxing on the couch.


    Dave was busy scrolling through social media checking thetest news and reading articles about footballers, he even found one written about his heroicsst night and how that performance may be the start of something special for him and Unique FC.


    ''That was a very heartwarming article to read.''


    <You can say that again but you''ll have to keep pushing if you don''t want to see the opposite of that next time>


    ''You don''t always have to state the obvious Catherine.''


    He was still scrolling through the media while lying on his back when Emma had entered the room, he didn''t even hear her footsteps but he had done what his instincts told him to do.


    He quickly turned his phone over and turned to the other side pretending to be fast asleep.


    Emma stood at the entrance and watched him fake snoring for a while before deciding to say something.


    "You know I saw you right," Emma said. "And you already gave yourself away with the snoring even if I didn''t see you."


    Dave let out a sigh as he rolled back to lie on his back.


    "I know you did." He said. "I wasn''t feeling sleepy yet so I decided to entertain myself with my phone."


    "I know why you decided to leave, it''s Karen right?" Emma said, moving closer to him.


    There was no response from Dave who was looking at her with wide eyes now.


    "I saw how awkward you were acting during dinner, you usually look at me and tell me how pretty I am during every meal we share together but today you couldn''t even look at me until I spoke to you." She said sitting beside him on the bed. "You don''t like her."


    "Emma," Dave said with a sigh as he sat up on the bed. "It''s not that I don''t like her, I just don''t feelfortable around her for some reason."


    "Did anything happen between you two while I was at the grocery store?" She asked.


    "No, no nothing happened between us," Dave said.


    "Then why do you find being around her ufortable?" She asked.


    "I don''t know but I just don''t feelfortable around her I feel like¡­."


    "You feel like what?" Emma inquired.


    "Never mind it''s nothing," Dave said.


    "Okay," Emma said. "But can you at least try to act normal when having a conversation with her, it was sort of rude the way you were talking to her and looking in another ce?"


    "Okay, I''ll try to act normal next time," Dave said.


    "Thank you," Emma said, kissing him. "I''m going to go finish the telenov with her and I''m spending the night with her in the guest room, hope you don''t mind?"


    "Sure, I don''t mind," Dave said with a smile.


    "Okay." She said getting up from the bed. "Hope you don''t miss me too much."


    "I''ll try not to."


    "Well, I won''t miss you because I''ll be having a st with my best friend." She turned to him with a cheeky smile before leaving the room.


    After she was gone, Dave let out a deep sigh as he crashed on his bed.


    <It''s good that you didn''t tell her what you were feeling about her friend>


    ''Yeah, she''s leaving tomorrow so I don''t want to stir up any trouble.''


    <You have quite a good sense of perception>


    ''Well in cases like this I do, this isn''t the first time I''ve experienced something like this.''


    <Good for you and may I give you one precaution tip so you don''t fall off your career path?>


    ''What?'' Dave inquired?


    <Never let her sleep over again no matter what>


    ***


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    Please drop a review of what you think so far.

 Chapter 34 Tactics And Formation: Unique FC Vs Ronino FC

    Dave woke up by 6:20 AM just like he did every morning, he had forgotten that Emma wasn''t there with him expecting to feel her body and cuddle but sadly she wasn''t there.


    <You told her she could stay with her friend have you forgotten?>


    "No, Catherine." He said with a sigh. "I haven''t forgotten."


    He sat up on his bed and slowly slid his legs into his running boots which were always beside his bed.


    After properly putting on the boots, he stared at the door for a while before slowly making his way to it.


    <You know you didn''tplete two of your bigger daily quests yesterday so you shouldn''t miss any of them today>


    ''I know Catherine.'' Dave replied as he slowly made his way down the staircase.


    His first destination after making his way down the stairs every day was the freezer in the kitchen.


    He took out his favorite-sized bottle of water and quickly took down the contents.


    [ Daily questpleted ]


    [ Drink two liters of water ]


    [ +5 exp received ]


    [ 75/200 exp ]


    "Do you usually drink that much every morning?" Dave heard Karen say behind him.


    ''What now?''


    He let out a deep sigh as he slowly turned to her to see that she was putting on green pajamas that covered her legs very well but the upper part of her body, not so much.


    "Yeah, it''s a normal routine," Dave said.


    "Oh, I see, do you have another normal routine that you do daily?" She asked moving closer to him.


    "Yeah, I have a lot of daily routines," Dave said. "Where is Emma?"


    "Uh¡­she''s still sleeping," Karen said. "You think a lot about her, don''t you."


    Now she had gotten close to him in quite an ufortable way but he wasn''t going to let himself say ufortable as he quickly walked past her.


    "Yeah." He said walking into the living room.


    "Where are you going?" She asked walking into the living room.


    "I''m going for my daily jog." He said opening the door.


    "Oh, I thought you would love a little chat with me and maybe a little extra." She said slowly swiping her left index finger across her lips.


    "Umm¡­Karen." Dave called.


    "Yeah," Karen answered.


    "Are you in a rtionship?"


    "Not at that moment, I just broke up with my boyfriend." She said.


    "Oh, that exins a lot," Dave said before leaving through the door and mming it shut leaving Karen there to rethink the meaning of what he had just said.


    <That was mean, but she deserves it>


    "Yeah," Dave said as he ran down the road.


    For the few days that he had gone on this jog hispletion time had always been fifteen minutes but today, he had arrived at the park at approximately twelve minutes.


    "Well, that''s an improvement." He muttered as he crashed on the low grass.


    [ Daily questpleted ]


    [ Run two kilometers]


    [ +10 exp received ]


    [ 85/200 exp ]


    <Yeah, a nice improvement>


    [ +1 stat point added to Dexterity ]


    ''Oh, a reward.''


    <You deserve it, just don''t ck off and you''ll keep getting more rewards>


    ''I won''t.''


    <I know humans for not always keeping to their words but don''t worry, there''s no way you''re cking off with me in your head>


    ''I will be lying if I said that you don''t scare me.'' Dave replied as he sat down on the floor.


    [ Physical Status ]


    [ Strength: 16 ]


    [ Dexterity: 8 ]


    [ Endurance: 11 ]


    The goalkeeper got home to find the sweet smell of chicken stew lingering in the air.<sub> </sub>


    He slowly walked to the kitchen to find Emma standing over the gas cooker while stirring her chicken stew.


    She didn''t hear him enter the house as she was still busy with what she was doing.


    He slowly approached her from behind and once he was close enough, he slowly wrapped his hands around her waist.


    She was putting on a purple singlet which exposed the bandage on her shoulder and small ck shorts.


    "Dave." She said with a smile as she stopped what she was doing and raised her gaze to look at him.


    "Good morning," Dave muttered to her.


    "Good morning, hope you didn''t miss me too muchst night?" She said rxing her head on his chest.


    "You already know the answer to that question," Dave said. "You were enjoying yourself with your friend so I''m pretty sure you didn''t miss me."


    "Is that what you think?"


    "That''s what I know."


    "Well, most of the things you know aren''t true so." She said with a shrug.


    "Hey."


    <That''s a mean way to tell someone he''s dumb>


    ''She''s just joking.''


    "Come here." He said before pulling her closer for a kiss.


    "Emma¡­."


    Karen had juste down the stairs at that moment to ask Emma for something and now she had gotten in the middle of the couple who were locked in a passionate kiss now.


    "Oh."


    "I''ll let you finish up now," Dave said after pulling out from the kiss.


    He walked past Karen without even looking at her and she stood there looking toward Emma even after he had gone upstairs.


    "Karen," Emma called.


    "Umm..yeah." She shook her head to snap out of her daze before quickly making her way to her.


    _____ ____


    Unique FC yers were gathered in their locker room with Norman standing in front of the tactic board which had blue and red caps ced on it.


    "For this match, we will be switching to the four four two formation." The coach said quickly rearranging the red caps on the board to the four four two two formation.


    "Okay," Adolf said.


    "Our starters in the lineup will be Norman, Adolf, Aima will be rested and Pirlo will start and then Jonas will be starting in the left back position.


    "Midfield will be Minino on the right, Edward will be supporting Ferran from the central midfield and then Harry will be on the left.


    "So Ferran is taking the role of an attacking midfielder not like the way he''s been doing with the other formation but as a supporting striker," Adolf said.


    "That''s correct." Coach Norman said before turning his gaze to Ferran. "I want you at the edge of the box during any attacks from the wings, any ball spills and you punish them for it."


    "Got it, coach," Ferran said with a nod.


    "Finally, our two forwards will be Fred and Carlos, Carlos on the right and Fred on the left."


    "Wait, you''re not starting Mateo?" Ferran said with a baffled look on his face.


    "Trust me, Ferran, Mateo would be starting if this match wasn''t being yed just a day after ourst match," Norman said. "Mateo is still very young and if he starts all the match with all these little spaces, he is likely to get injured and that is not good for the team. The same thing also applies to the rest of you."


    "I don''t mind, as long as Ie on in the second half," Mateo said to Ferran.


    "You should be aware that you will be getting benched in the next match against Litno FC, Ferran." Coach Norman said.


    "I have a feeling that that match isn''t going to end well for us," Mateo muttered.


    The coach had gone on to exin the tactics for the match.


    Ronino FC were currently in sixth ce on the table and one of the things that made them quite a formidable team was their good defense, they weren''t that good in attack but their defense and wonderful midfield were enough to break their opponents and a little chance they got, they made sure to make good use of.


    Norman nned to break them through the wings and that was why he was starting Jonas who was the fastest wing-back on the team.


    If that didn''t work, he had n B which was to shoot from far range and he could shoot from far range better than Fred Miles.


    Carlos was also good with far-range shots and then there was Ferran.


    "We have to grab all six points from this match," Norman said. "We''re just six points away from the conference league spot and winning against Ronino will be a good boost to the team''s confidence and points."


    "We''ll try our best coach," Adolf said.


    "Yeah, I know we can do it," Norman said before checking his watch. "We''re going to train till it''s one PM and then we''ll go home and get ready for the match."


    "You heard him, get up let''s go, we have a match to win!" Adolf said quickly getting up from his seat.


    "I''m d we have a captain like him," Mateo said to Dave as the two walked out of the locker room.


    "Yeah," Dave said as he watched Adolf jog into the pitch.


    "Yeah," Dave said with a smile on

 Chapter 35 Match Quests

    Dave got home by around one thirty PM, he parked his car in his normal parking spot and quickly made his way to the entrance door.


    He opened the door to see Emma and Karen standing there with Karen putting on the same ck dress she was putting on yesterday.


    "And I thought I was going to leave without saying goodbye to you," Karen said on spotting him.


    "Oh, you didn''t say you were going this early," Dave said pretending to care.


    ''Finally.''


    "Well, I should have left earlier than this but I wanted to say goodbye to you first but it looked like you weren''t going toe back soon and I am so d I haven''t left yet," Karen said.


    <Wow>


    "Okay, just say your goodbye and get going," Dave said, feigning a smile.


    The look on Emma''s face had changed as she found that to be a bit rude but Karen had kept herposure.


    "Umm¡­how about a proper goodbye, with a hug?" Karen said, smiling at him.


    "A hug?" Dave said as his gaze slowly shifted to Emma who gave him a little nod in approval. "Okay."


    Karen quickly moved toward him as soon as she heard that and wrapped her arms around him but Dave kept his arm straight until she had pulled out of the hug.


    "It was nice spending the night with you guys." She said moving toward the door.


    "Yeah, it was nice having you," Emma said with a smile on her face.


    "I wish I could be there to watch your live game but that will mean I will have to stay one more night," Karen said with a little chuckle.


    "Yeah, but your parents will probably be worried about you and will want you to return," Dave said.


    "I don''t leave with my parents," Karen said, slightly shaking his head.


    "Oh, then I''m sure you have other things to take care of at your ce," Dave said.


    "Yeah." She said slowly stepping out of the house. "I''ll call you." She added turning her gaze to Emma.


    "Okay," Emma said.


    Dave waited until her body was fully out of the house before he mmed the door shut and turned to Emma who had her arms crossed now with an annoyed expression on her face.


    "What?" Dave asked.


    "Really? I thought you just didn''t like being around her but it turns out you don''t like her at all."


    Dave let out a deep sigh as he walked to the couch and slowly sat on it.


    "You''re right babe, I don''t like her and I have my reason." He said.


    "What reason?" Emma asked as she walked to him and sat down beside him.


    "Are you sure you want to know?" Dave asked slowly, turning his gaze to her.


    "Of course, I want to know," Emma said.


    "Okay," Dave said, letting out a sigh. "No, I''m not telling you."


    "What? Why?"


    "I''m surprised you didn''t notice," Dave said.


    "Notice what?" Emma asked with a confused expression on her face.


    "I want you to recall everything that has happened since yesterday, the way she has acted, the things she has said to you, and the questions she asked and try to make them make sense in your head," Dave said, giving him a little tap on his head.


    Emma let out a sigh of defeat as she decided to talk about something else.


    "My friend Emilia ising to see me on Sunday." She said,


    "Okay," Dave said.


    "Please don''t treat her the way you treated Karen," Emma said.


    "Well, as long as she doesn''t try to take something that doesn''t belong to her, I''m going to be cool with her," Dave said before getting up from the couch and making his way up the stairs.


    "Something that doesn''t belong to her?" Emma muttered with a confused expression on her face.


    ______ _____<sub> </sub>


    The clock was showing 5:45 PM as the yers from both Unique FC and Ronino FC were having theirst training session before the match began.


    Unique FC yers were putting on ck training outfits while Ronino FC yers were putting on white training outfits with some of them putting on ck sports jackets.


    "So when is Emma going to arrive?" Mateo asked before lobbing a ball to Dave who caught it with ease. "Because I expect her to be here a lot earlier than the normal match time."


    "She''ll be here in the next fifteen minutes," Dave said, rolling the ball to him. "I don''t think she''ll be able to stay there alone after what happened."


    "Good," Mateo said before lobbing the ball a little distance away from him to test his dexterity.


    Sadly his Dexterity wasn''t that good enough as he tried to stretch himself and catch the ball but he could only get the tip of his gloves to it before falling together with the ball.


    <Low dexterity means you won''t be able to catch balls like that so you should focus on punching them out>


    ''Got it, Catherine.''


    The yers quickly made their way down the tunnel as soon as the time had struck 6:30 PM to get ready for the match.


    Unique FC yers had quickly put on their home kit which was an orange kit with ck little dotted designs and for the goalkeeper, it was just a in ck jersey.


    The atmosphere erupted with cheers and apuse as both teams matched into the pitch.


    Ronino FC had quite a unique kit, red tops with a curvy ck design running through the middle and in white shorts.


    "The yers are on the pitch now for thest round of Bilbeth Premier League football for the day," Jim said.


    "Yeah, and you can say that Ronino vs Unique is one of the most entertaining matches to watch in the league, these teams always give their best against each other, they never let either side have it easy," Steve said.


    "Yeah, their first meeting this season was a very tough one until Unique''s defense started getting sloppy and Ronino used that to their advantage to take a three-nil lead in a space of thest ten minutes," Jim said.


    "That match should have ended in a draw but it looked like their defense switched off at the final ten minutes and there was nothing Dave''s sloppy keeping could do about it."


    The yers were lined up in front of the stadium now as Dave looked directly at the spot where Emma usually sat during his games to see her waving at him.


    He waved back to her with a bright smile on his face.


    "You know, Unique FC can win this match if they y just like they did against Spree and if Dave keeps up his good form from that match," Jim said.


    "Yeah, Ronino were quite poor in theirst match and if it weren''t for that penalty, there was no way they could have drawn that match against Dynamo FC," Steve said.


    The sides had been chosen as Unique FC moved to the left side and Ronino FC moved to the right side.


    "Hey, Dave, I hope you still have what you had during thest match," Adolf said, moving closer to Dave.


    "I do," Dave said with a nod.


    "Good," Adolf said, giving him a pat on his back before returning to his spot.


    "Now, we''re just waiting for the referee''s whistle for the match to kick off," Jim said.


    [ Match quests received ]


    [ ¡Á2 quests ]


    [ 1st quest ]


    [ Make three crucial saves ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +5 dexterity ]


    [ +20 exp ]


    [ 2nd quest ]


    [ Make an interception ]


    [ Quest reward ]


    [ Energy upgrade (+5) ]


    ''Okay, that''s a lot of quests.''


    <With a lot of rewards, JUICY REWARDS>

 Chapter 36 Deceived By Sweeper Keeper Attribute

    The match had kicked off and for ten minutes now Unique FC had kept the ball away from Ronino FC.


    Ronino FC was ying a four-five-one formation just like they always did, five yers in the midfield wasn''t good for any team, that is if you have five formidable midfielders.


    Ferran received the ball from Edward but his path had immediately gotten blocked by two midfielders forcing him to quickly pass the ball to Harry in the left midfield position.


    Harry yed a through ball to Fred but a defender had quickly swooshed in from the right to steal the ball before he could get to it.


    "Finally, Ronino FC has gotten possession of the ball after seventeen minutes," Jim said.


    The defender quickly passed the ball to one of the midfielders who rolled it back to the center back who was making a run to the center of the pitch.


    He didn''t even pass the ball as that was the right momentum he needed to lob the ball.


    Their center forward tried to get past Adolf but he wasn''t sessful.


    He wasn''t sessful in getting past the center back but he was sessful in winning the ball as he brought it down with his chest before rolling it to the right midfielder who was making a run toward Jonas.


    Jonas tried to clear the ball with a slide but that was a terrible mistake as the midfielder turned the ball away from him with a neat touch before continuing his run down the right.


    "Oh, that was a terrible mistake from Jonas," Jim said.


    Pirlo had blocked his path to stop him from entering the eighteen-yard box but entering the eighteen-yard box wasn''t a problem as he ran down further and then made a quick turn before crossing the ball into the middle.


    Adolf rose high above the other yers to nod the ball out but that nodding wasn''t actually a good clearance.


    The edge of Unique FC''s box was upied by three Ronino FC midfielders and the ball was now heading toward the one in the middle.


    The yer didn''t even wait for the ball to drop to the floor as he quickly sent the ball flying toward the bottom right corner with a volley.


    "What a volley!" Jim screamed.


    Dave happened to be at the right ce at the right time as he quickly stuck his leg out and the ball bounced on it before flying off the eighteen-yard box.


    "What a save! Dave with another crucial save!" Jim screamed.


    "He''s already started to prove that thest match wasn''t a fluke," Steve said.


    The rebound had fallen to Norman Mole''s feet and he had immediately rolled it to Edward who was leading a counter-attack on the guests.


    "Oh, Unique FC are looking to cook up something here," Jim said.


    Edward passed the ball to Harry who made a run down the left before squaring it back to Edward at the edge of the box.


    Ferran had made a run into the box as Edward quickly found him with a lob.


    He had two defenders closing up on him as Fred dragged the other one away from him.


    Ferran got the ball under control after it had bounced on the floor and with a powerful shot sent the ball flying toward the top right-hand corner but he seemed to have overhit it a bit as the ball bounced on the crossbar and flew over the bar.


    "Oh, that was so close," Jim uttered.


    "Yeah, and the goalkeeper waspletely glued to the spot," Steve said.


    "Both teams have tried a shot on each other with failed attempts, both got really close but Ronino FC got way closer and if it weren''t for Dave Richards, they would be one goal behind already," Jim said.


    [ Quest progress ]


    [ Crucial saves: a¡­¡° ]


    <That was a nice save>


    ''I didn''t even know when I stuck my leg out but I''m d I did.''


    The match continued till the fortieth minute with both sides making two more failed attempts, none of the shots were on target.


    Unique FC were dominating the match on ball possession, they had sixty-two percent of the ball possession while their guests had thirty-eight percent of ball possession.


    "Unique FC once again bossing the game on possession level but they seem to becking ideas,attacking-wise," Jim said.


    "Same goes for Ronino FC, both teams are doing wonderfully defensively but their attack is not doing anything," Steve said.<sub> </sub>


    Minino ran down the right with the ball before rolling the ball to Edward.


    Edward rolled the ball back to Jonas on the left, Jonas trapped the ball and moved it forward a little before passing it to Harry.


    Harry attempted to zoom past the midfielder blocking his path but he knew he wouldn''t be able to get past him, but that wasn''t the only option he had.


    He passed the ball to Jonas before making a quick run past the yer marking him before receiving the ball from Jonas.


    He made a quick run down the middle before passing the ball to Ferran.


    Ferran passed it back to Edward with a quick touch but before Edward could do what he wanted to do, he had gotten muscled off the ball by two Ronino FC yers.


    Adolf tried to get the ball back to prevent the counter-attack but the yer had gotten past him with a nutmeg before rolling the ball to their center forward who was kept on side by Norman Kole.


    Norman raised his hands for an offside but there was no response from the referee as the center forward kept moving with the ball.


    "Oh, no one-on- one situation now!" Jim screamed as the center forward closed up on Dave with the defenders chasing him from behind.


    [ Instant quest received ]


    [ Sessfully sweep the ball off the yer''s feet ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ Unlock sweeper keeper attribute ]


    [ Instant level up ]


    <Don''t do it!> Catherine warned but it was already toote as Dave had run out toward the striker.


    "What''s Dave doing?"


    Dave running out of his lines was exactly what the striker needed as he quickly lobbed the ball over him.


    Dave quickly realized his mistake as he tried to run back and knock the ball over the bar.


    He almost got a hand to the ball as the ball bounced on the line and fell into the back of the.


    "What a goal!" Jim screamed.


    "That was a costly mistake from the defense and they got properly punished for it," Steve said.


    "I don''t me Dave for that goal but what was he thinking running out of his line like that?" Jim said.


    The Ronin FC yer who had the name Sandro written on the back of his jersey above the number nine ran toward the corner kick spot as his teammates ran toward him.


    "Sandro''s got his twelfth goal of the season," Jim said.


    "Look at the look on Mateo''s face, I honestly don''t think he should be on the bench no matter what," Steve said.


    Dave had a devastated look on his face as he sat on the floor with his back against the crossbar.


    [ Quest failed ]


    "You don''t have to remind me." He grumbled.


    <You should have listened to me Dave>


    "Unique FC are now one goal behind with just three minutes of added time to go into the break, they still have a lot of time left to make aeback but that may be difficult with Ronino''s defensive wall," Jim said.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    Happy new month my dear readers.


    What to expect: Two chapters daily starting today.


    If you want a mass release of five chapters then drop a super gift before the fifth of November.

 Chapter 37 Looking Good Not Looking So Good

    "And there you have it, the first half hase to a conclusion," Jimmented as soon as the referee had blown his whistle to mark the end of the second half.


    "Unique FC had been the better side so far based on possession and gamey but a little mistake was all that was needed to put them one goal behind," Steve said.


    The match stats on therge screen now showed that Unique FC had sixty percent of the ball after the first half while Ronino FC had forty.


    They had yed seven shots and got two on target while Ronino FC had yed five shots and got two on target.


    The hosts were leading in the number of passes and passing uracy but leading in all these stats didn''t exactly matter as they were one goal behind.


    The yers from both teams were making their way down the tunnel.


    Dave had stopped at the sideline to look up toward Emma, the two had immediately established eye contact as she smiled at him and gave him a nod of encouragement.


    The goalkeeper walked into the locker room to find his teammates sitting at their designated spots while looking at Norman who was trying to give them some words of encouragement and change up a few things in the tactics.


    "Fred, Carlos, I''m just not feeling the vibe from you two." Heined. "The midfielder has been the one doing most of the job so far in trying to get the ball into the back of the.


    He wasn''t bluffing in any way when he said, three out of the team''s seven shots hade from Ferran with the only two shots on target being among those shots even the one that was off target hade close to bing a goalpared to the remaining four shots which was two wasted shots from Carlos, one from Edward and an over hit shot from Minino.


    Fred had been very quiet in the first with the opposition defense not allowing him to do anything, Ferran had set him up with two through balls during the first half but he had failed to get to any of them before the opposition defenders.


    He had also missed a lot of crosses from Carlos, he mistimed three crosses from the forward and had failed to get to a pass from him because he thought he wasn''t going to pass, there was just ack of understanding between the two.


    "There''s just ack of understanding between the two of you, I want the two of you to talk to each other on the pitch, establish eye contact know where he is going to be and when he is going to be there." The coach said looking directly at Carlos. "I need that Mateo and Ferran link up from the both of you."


    "Well, if you needed the Mateo and Ferran link up then you should have started Mateo," Minino said.


    Norman quickly shot a dead stare at him as soon as he had finished saying that.


    "I''m just saying." The Midfielder said raising both of his hands.


    "And Jonas, I expected more from you." The coach said turning his gaze to Jonas. "I expected you to cause a lot of problems from that wing."


    "I tried my best coach, causing problems for that defense isn''t as easy as you think," Jonas said.


    "I know and that''s why I''vee up with a way to beat them." The coach said before turning to face the board.


    After exining his new tactics to the yers, it was time for them to head back into the pitch for the second half.


    "Hey, Dave," Adolf said, stopping Dave just before he could leave the locker room with Mateo.


    "Yeah," Dave said, turning to face him.


    "The coach didn''t tell you this but I think you should know it," Adolf said.


    "Okay," Dave said, trying to guess what he was about to tell him in his mind.


    "In case we ever make a mistake like that one again, you shouldn''t make a mistake of running out like that when the yer has the ball glued to his feet." The captain said. "You only attempt a sweep when the ball is away from the feet of a yer and he is trying to get to it and shoot."


    "Okay," Dave said with a nod. "Thanks for telling me."


    <I''ve already told you that but he doesn''t know that so it''s okay>


    "Just don''t be too quick to run out of your line okay."


    "Okay," Dave said as Adolf patted him on his shoulder before walking out of the locker room.


    "The halftime break is over as we can see the yers matching into the pitch now," Jim said. "Another forty-five minutes for Unique FC to try and get an equalizer."


    "They are ying really good and have gotten a lot of chances to get that equalizer but if they don''t figure out a way to break through Ronino FC''s defense then it''s going to be another goal drought half for them," Steve said.


    Ferran had met up with the coach to ask him a question before stepping into the pitch.


    "When are you bringing Mateo in?" The attacking midfielder asked as his gaze slowly shifted toward Mateo on the bench before turning back to him.


    "I n to bring him in before the seventieth minute but if there''s no improvement in the finishing then I''m going to have to bring him in earlier than that," Norman said.<sub> </sub>


    "Okay," Ferran said before jogging onto the pitch.


    The yers were all on the pitch now with Sandro standing over the ball in the kick-off spot waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    It didn''t take long before the official blew his whistle to signal the beginning of the second half.


    "The second half is in progress now," Jim said after the referee had blown his whistle.


    Ronino FC passed the ball around in their own half to try and draw out Unique FC yers and for about three minutes now, they had kept the ball away from the hosts.


    Edward tried to dispossess a midfielder who had mistimed a pass from his teammate and had almost lost the ball but the Unique FC Midfielder wasn''t sessful as the midfielder got away from him with a swift turn before passing the ball to Sandro.


    Sandro wasn''t looking forward when the ball was passed to him and that was the reason why he didn''t know when Adolf swooshed in from behind and stole the ball.


    "Oh, that''s a clever move from Adolf and now he''s moving forward to try and create something," Jim said.


    Adolf ran toward the opposition goal area through the middle and just before going deeper into their half, he passed the ball to Edward.


    "Edward here!" Carlos yelled as he made a quick run down the right wing.


    Edward did as the forward told him and quickly passed the ball to him.


    Edward made a quick run down the wing as two defenders tried to close up any opportunity for him to make a cross into the box.


    The forward still got an opening to make a cross and it looked like he was going to get a cross but he had feigned the shot to get the yers out of the way before turning and rolling the ball to Ferran at the edge of the box.


    "Oh, I thought he was going to cross that," Steve said.


    Ferran could have gone for a direct short but his path was blocked by two Ronino FC yers with another two quickly moving toward him.


    He did the only thing he could do at that moment which was pushing the ball back to Edward with a backheel pass before running into the box.


    Edward received the ball and quickly pushed it forward a little into the box before passing it back to Ferran just before he was brought down in the box.


    His teammates around the area raised their hands for a foul but Ferran didn''t mind as he quickly got his foot on the ball and with a swift three-sixty rotation, got away from the defender that was marking him.


    "What a turn by Ferran and he''s open on goal now!" Jim screamed.


    The only thing standing between the midfielder and the goalpost now was the goalkeeper but before he could take the shot, he was brought down from behind under what could be described as a very nasty challenge.


    Ferran had hit the floor quickly crouching up on his right leg as it had taken quite a blow from that tackle.


    "Oh, no, that was a very nasty challenge from Zileven inside the eighteen-yard box." Jim expressed.


    The referee blew his whistle as he quickly rushed to Zileven and showed him a straight red card.


    "And he''s been shown a straight red card," Jim said.


    "The fans and the yers on the bench had almost jumped because they knew he was going to score that and then he was brought down by that challenge, that was a very nasty challenge and I think he deserves that red card." Steve gave his opinion.


    Ronino FC yers had gathered around the referee nowining about that decision but it didn''t look like he was going to change his mind as Zileven was already walking off the pitch.


    "This is the second time Zileven is being sent off with a straight red card this season, the defender has built quite a reputation for aggressiveness."


    "You can say that again," Steve said.


    The medical team had quickly made their way to Ferran with their first aid kits and his teammates were standing around him now.


    The midfielder seemed to be in serious pain as he was lying on the floor with his right arm covering his face.


    "I think things are starting to look good for Unique FC here, Ronino FC''s defense will be weaker now with Zileven being sent off and they''ve got themselves a chance for an equalizer from the penalty spot," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but Ferran is still on the floor and if he goes out under a serious injury, things won''t be looking good for Unique FC, especially for the rest of the season," Steve stated.

 Chapter 38 Head Injury

    Ferran had slowly gotten up back on his feet after about ten minutes of the medical team applying treatment on the affected leg.


    "Oh, he''s limping but it doesn''t look like it''s something serious, maybe just a little difort," Jim said.


    "Or a little strain," Steve said.


    It was good news for Unique FC that Ferran had not gone off with an injury.


    There were cheers and apuse from the fans as they were d to see Ferran back on his feet.


    "I''m d he''s okay," Mateo said with a sigh of relief as he crashed back on his seat.


    "We all are." Rnd Ryle said.


    With Ferran back on his feet and finally beginning to walk well, the game had resumed and it was time for Unique FC to take their penalty kick.


    "Now who''s going to take the kick?" Jim said.


    It looked like Fred was going to be the one to take the kick as he had stepped up toward the ball after having a little talk with Carlos.


    "It looks like Fred Miles is going to be the one to take the kick," Steve said.


    "Well, that makes sense, Unique FC has gotten a total of ten penalty kicks this season excluding this one, he took seven of those penalty kicks sessfully converting all of them," Jim said.


    The referee made sure that all the other yers were a little distance behind him as Fred stepped up to take the penalty kick.


    "Fred is going to take the kick now, can he sessfully convert it and get Unique FC their equalizer?" That was a question from Jim to everyone in the stadium.


    The referee blew his whistle as Fred let out a deep sigh before quickly making his way to the ball and driving it to the bottom left-hand corner.


    Andreas had predicted his shot as he quickly dived toward the ball and with the tip of his glove, tipped it out for a corner kick.


    "He''s saved it, Andrea has prevented Unique FC from taking the lead!" Jim eximed with a surprised tone to his voice.


    The goalkeeper''s teammates quickly rushed to him with yells as Fred stared at the spot with a shocked expression on his face.


    The guest fans were screaming in excitement now after witnessing that save from Andrea but they all seemed to be forgetting one thing, the referee had not blown his whistle since the ball had rolled over for a corner kick.


    He walked straight to the goalkeeper and showed him a yellow card.


    The yers were confused until he started pointing at the goal line.


    "Oh, it looks like that won''t count, Andrea seemed to have moved out of his goal line before Fred took that shot," Jim said.


    The rey yed on therge screen hanging over the stadium to show Andrea moving out of his goal line before Fred took that shot.


    "He was clearly out of his goal line there," Jim said.


    "Yeah, Fred is going to have to retake that," Steve said.


    That was quite a bummer as the noise from the guest fans had reduced after Andrea''s save had gotten overruled.


    The ball was ced back on the penalty spot as the yers moved behind him.


    "He has been given another chance, screwing this up is not an option," Jim said.


    "Yeah Jim, but anything can happen," Steve said.


    The referee blew his whistle as Fred took two steps backward before quickly racing toward it.


    The first time, he had drilled a shot at the bottom left-hand corner but this time he had sent the ball toward the right side of the with a powerful shot.


    Andrea was glued to the spot as the ball flew into the back of the.


    "And he''s got the equalizer!" Jim screamed.


    Norman quickly jumped up from where he was standing on the sideline as Mateo quickly sprang up from his seat in excitement.


    The fans broke into cheers as his teammates gathered around him to celebrate the goal.


    "They are back in the game now and with Ronino FC having a one-man deficiency, things may start looking different in the match.


    ''Yes!'' Dave screamed subconsciously as he raised his hand in excitement.


    <Now all you have to do is make sure that the ball doesn''t get past you again, they are one man down so this match should be easier for you guys now>


    The match had resumed as Ronino FC''s coach had removed one of his midfielders and reced him with a defender to strengthen their defense again but now they just had four midfielders on the pitch.<sub> </sub>


    The right Midfielder squared a pass to one of the central midfielders as Edward quickly rushed to him to try and dispossess him but before he could get to him, he had passed the ball to Sandro who moved forward a little before passing the ball to the left Midfielder.


    His path was blocked by Norman Kole so he sent the ball back to Sandro after trying to find a way past the right back without seeding.


    Pirlo quickly rushed toward Sandro just as the ball was heading toward him but the striker wasn''t nning to touch the ball as he used a dummy to get rid of the center-back.


    "Waoooh! That''s clever!" Jim eximed.


    Adolf rushed to clear the ball before Sandro could get to it but the striker had gotten to the ball first and with a powerful shot, sent it flying toward the goalpost, not everybody could take a shot like that from that far out.


    "He''s taken the shot!"


    The ball flew toward the bottom right-hand right hand corner as Dave quickly dived toward the ball.


    He got the tip of his glove to it and pushed it out a little as it hit the crossbar and rolled over the line for a corner kick


    "What a save!" Jim eximed. "Where is this form from Daveing from? Honestly, I thought that was going to go in."


    "Yeah, that was a stupendous save," Jim said. "Looks like he is beginning to build a form."


    Emma had quickly gotten up to apud him for that save and it didn''t take long before a few other fans joined her to apud the goalkeeper.


    The ball had gone out for a corner kick now as one of Ronino FC''s midfielders who had the name Zen written on the back of his jersey above the number eight.


    "Zen is going to be the one taking the corner kick," Jim said.


    "This could be a chance for them to do something," Steve said.


    "Yeah, as long as Sandro is in that box, anything can happen," Jim said.


    The referee blew his whistle as Zen moved back a little before running toward the ball to send it flying into the box.


    Sandro rose above all the other yers including Adolf to meet the ball.


    Dave had predicted that something like this was going to happen as he dived toward the ball to hit it out to prevent the striker from getting a head on it but it was already toote.


    Sandro sent the ball flying into the just before the goalkeeper could get his hand on it.


    The referee blew his whistle and pointed at the kick-off spot as soon as the ball fell into the as the guest fans quickly burst into screams of joy.


    Sandro quickly rushed to the sideline to do the sliding celebration as his teammates quickly ran after him.


    "What a goal!" Jim eximed. "He rose above everybody to get that ball in the, what a yer."


    "Yeah, what a marvelous goal and Unique FC had been put behind again by ten men Ronino," Steve said.


    Unique FC yers were gathered around Dave now as he had his face on the floor while waddling his feet, it seemed like he was in pain here.


    "What''s the problem, Dave?" Ferran asked, squatting beside him.


    The midfielder slowly lifted his head and immediately let out a loud gasp as the goalkeeper''s forehead was covered with blood.


    "Minino, tell the medical team to get over here!" Ferran turned to the midfielder to yell.


    "What''s going on?" Dave asked.


    "It seems like Dave Richards is down," Steve said.


    The medical team quickly made their way to the goalkeeper to see what was going on.


    [ You have sustained a head injury ]


    [ -50 HP ]


    [ -30 Energy ]


    [ HP and energy will keep dropping until the blood spill is stopped ]


    "Dave," Emma said with a gasp as she stood up to get a clearer view of what was going on.


    ***


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    A review of what you think so far will really be appreciated.

 Chapter 39 What Was Norman Thinking?

    Dave''s head injury had happened during the dive for the balling into the box which means that he must have made some kind of collision with someone.


    "If Dave is unfit to continue the match after this that means that sixteen-year-old Alexander will be making his debut for Unique FC," Jim said.


    "Yeah, it''s been ten minutes now and he''s still lying on the floor," Steve said.


    "He made a collision with Sandro but the striker is still standing like nothing happened," Jim said. "He made a collision with an iron head."


    [ Blood spill has stopped ]


    [ -10 Energy ]


    [ Healing process has begun ]


    Dave slowly sat up on the floor after the wound on his forehead head had been covered up with a bandage.


    "Should I tell the coach to bring you off?" One of the medical personnel asked him.


    "No, no, I can continue," Dave said, waving him off.


    "Are you sure, what you just sustained is a head injury and you''ve lost quite a lot of blood?" The medical personnel said.


    "I can continue," Dave said.


    The medical personnel turned his gaze to Adolf to help him out here but before Adolf could do anything, Ferran had already squatted down beside him.


    "Hey, man are you sure you can continue?" Ferran asked.


    "Yeah, I''m sure, I''m okay," Dave said.


    "Okay," Ferran said, getting up. "He says he can continue, leave him to continue, he''lle off if anything starts happening but for now he''s okay," Ferran said to the medical personnel.


    "Okay." The man said before he began to walk back with his team.


    Ferran helped Dave get up back on his feet and as soon as he was standing again, the fans erupted with cheers and apuse as they were happy to see the goalkeeper standing again.


    Emma let out a deep sigh of relief as she was d to see that what had happened to Dave wasn''t exactly something serious.


    "Oh, Dave Richards is back on his feet and surprisingly he looks okay," Jim said.


    "He says he can continue," Adolf said after walking up to Norman who had Alexander standing beside him now.


    "I can see that but start warming up Alexander, just in case," Norman said.


    "Yeah, but Alexander he has started warming up on the sidelines now which means that there''s a chance that Dave maye off," Steve said.


    <Your Energy is very low Dave>


    ''I am aware of that.'' Dave replied.


    <Are you also aware that there''s a chance that you may pass out during the match?>


    ''Huh?''


    <Your energy drops with any energy-consuming thing you do, like walking and once it drops to one, you''re falling unconscious>


    [ 23/100 Energy ]


    ''I can do it, I just need to get thatst crucial save and get the quest done.''


    <The quest is not more important than your life>


    ''I know but my Energy hasn''t gone that low yet, I''ll ask to be taken off if it falls below five.''


    [ 50/100 HP ]


    <Okay, at least your HP looks okay>


    The match had kicked off with Carlos rolling the ball to Ferran and now it was time to see if Unique FC were going to get an equalizer.


    "Unique FC are behind again with the clock showing fifty-three minutes, will they be able to get an equalizer against ten men Ronino FC?" Dave said.


    "Well, we''ll have to watch and see," Steve said.


    Unique FC had pressurized Ronino''s defense from both wings and had gotten two clear-cut chances but both of them had gotten wasted by Fred.


    For the first chance, Ferran yed Jonas through on the right wing.


    The left-back sped past the yer marking him and without trapping the ball, he sent it flying into the box.


    Fred was in a very good position to trap the ball before drilling it low toward the goalpost but he had gone for a volley instead.


    He struck the ball with his boots and it was sent flying over the bar not evening close to the goalpost.


    The second chance was the most annoying of them all.


    Edward had received a pass from Minino and after feigning to make a run toward the right wing, he had passed the ball to Ferran.<sub> </sub>


    Ferran used the moving speed of the ball to zoom past two yers before ying a pass to Fred at the edge of the box.


    Ferran quickly made a run into the box while asking for the ball back but Fred didn''t listen to him as he made a swift turn from the defender that was marking him and shot the ball toward the goalpost.


    It was a low shot, but it had just rolled off for a goal kick, it was so close to going in but it didn''t go in so that didn''t mean anything.


    "Oh, that was so close," Jim said.


    "Very close indeed but he could have passed the ball back to Ferran inside the box, the midfielder had created enough space for shooting," Steve said.


    "Yeah and Ferran looks quite upset," Jim said.


    Ferran seemed to be saying something as he angrily walked off the eighteen-yard box.


    The match had gone till the sixty-second minute and right now Mateo and Rnd were beginning to warm up on the sidelines.


    "Oh, looks like Mateo and Rnd Ryle will being on anytime soon now," Jim said.


    "That''s good, they really need Mateo in front, I expected Norman to bring him on way earlier than this," Steve said.


    The match continued as Mateo and Rnd got ready toe on as the official responsible for substitutions got his board ready.


    The ball had gone out for a throw-in after Zen had knocked the ball over the line from blocking Jonas'' attempted dribble.


    "Mateo is ready toe on but the question is, which of the forwards are going toe off?" Jim said.


    "I think it''s going to be Carlos because Fred is the only pure striker there, so if Norman is going to bring on a winger then he has to bring off the winger," Steve said.


    "Yeah," Jim said.


    The official raised the board which showed the number nine on red and the number ten on the green.


    "And I was wrong," Steve said with a little chuckle, he''s bringing Fred off.


    "That''s a surprise, two wingers ying as center forwards," Jim said.


    "I think the reason why he''s bringing off Fred is that he''s missed a lot of chances and hasn''t been ying like himself, Carlos has been better than him so far," Jim said.


    The stadium rang with apuse as Mateo made his way into the pitch, the youngster had been one of the saviors of the club so far this season, one of the reasons why they weren''t in a relegation zone like they werest season.


    "Mateo has been wonderful for Unique FC so he deserves all the respect," Jim said.


    "At neen years of age, he''s already an important yer for the team," Steve said.


    After Mateo hade onto the pitch, Jonas had made the way for Rnd Ryle and now it was time to resume the game.


    Harry was on the sideline to take the throw and after trying to find any of his open teammates, he had thrown the ball to Rnd who had just escaped from the yer that was marking him.


    Rnd quickly passed the ball to Pirlo as soon as he received it and Pirlo quickly sent it across to Minino.


    "With Mateo now on the pitch let''s see if Unique FC will be able to get that equalizer," Jim said.


    Minino had a lot of free space to cover before anybody got to him and that was exactly what he did.


    He crossed into their opponent''s side of the pitch before passing the ball to Ferran who was making a run into the box.


    He wanted to shoot from there but there were many yers in his way already so he passed the ball to Mateo.


    "His first touch on the ball."


    Mateo tried to confuse the yer in front of him but the yer wasn''t fazed and had almost dispossessed him of the ball before he passed it to Rnd on the wing.


    Rnd received the ball before drilling it back to Mateo who had made a run into the box now.


    "Oh, he''s in here."


    Mateo got his foot to the ball and was about to shoot when a yer slid down in front of him.


    Fred would have already taken the shot and have it blocked by that slide but Mateo was as calm as ever.


    Instead of shooting, the winger found Minino making a run into the box and made a short lobbed pass to him.


    Minino got his foot to the ball just before it could hit the floor and drilled it low to the bottom left corner.


    The goalkeeper had gotten a hand to it but it had still fallen into the goalpost.


    "Oh, they''ve got their equalizer!" Jim screamed. "Greatposure from Mateo to improvise and what a shot from Minino!"


    The fans burst into cheers of joy as the midfielder''s teammates gathered around him to pull him down.


    "I know that was a wonderful strike from Minino but that goal was all Mateo, if he had taken that shot when he got the ball, that chance would have already been wasted," Steve said.


    "Yeah, that kid should have been in the match from the start, what was Norman thinking?"

 Chapter 40 Sense Of Determination

    The match was all squared now. Just a few minutes after Mateo hade in, he had provided a wonderful assist to Minino to put the sides leveled again and with the clock showing seventy-five minutes now, it was time to see if any of the sides could get a winning goal.


    Ronino FC were the one with the ball now as one of the midfielders passed the ball to Zen who was making a run down the right wing now.


    Zen tried to cut his way past Rnd but the left-back had predicted his move and dispossessed him of the ball by stealing it with a little flick just before he could take it past him.


    "That''s a nice way to gain possession," Jim said.


    Rnd was leading the attack on the left wing with all the yers from both teams quickly making their way toward the eighteen-yard box.


    A midfielder closed up on him and tried to take the ball from him but the left-back was moving with quite the speed and with just a little turn he had gotten rid of him but not entirely as the yer was hot on his trail now.


    That had caused him to change course as he was now leading the attack through the middle instead of the left wing.


    "Here!" Edward screamed as he got closer to him, Rnd did as he was told and quickly passed the ball to him.


    Edward quickly got his foot to the ball and moved forward with it before crossing it to Carlos on the right wing.


    "Oh, they are starting to cook up something deadly here," Jim said.


    Carlos tried to move into the box before quickly stretching the ball further down the wing and then making a cross into the box.


    The cross was quickly brushed off by a defender who had gotten a sloppy head to it.


    The ball fell to the feet of Ferran at the edge of the box and without hesitating, he rolled it to Mateo who was behind him.


    Mateo quickly got away from the first defender with a neat turn.


    "Oh, Mateo is taking on the defense here."


    He nutmegged the second defender to get past him and just before he could do anything, a yer collided with him from behind as one of the defenders who had gotten knocked off bnce during the collision tried to get the ball away but all he had done was tip it toward Ferran setting it up properly for him.


    The attacking midfielder raced toward the ball and without giving it a second thought, smashed it into the right side of the goalpost, there was nothing Andrea could do to stop that.


    "They have the lead! They have the lead! Ferran has put them in front with a wonderful strike!" Jim screamed.


    Mateo wasining after being brought down in the box but after that goal from Ferran, he had quickly gotten up from the floor, rushed toward the midfielder, and entangled him in a hug as they both let out the joy they were feeling now in the form of screams.


    "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Dave screamed from his goalpost.


    <I wouldn''t scream and jump too much if I were you, that also costs energy>


    [ -1 Energy ]


    <Told you so>


    ''Oh.''


    Almost all the home fans were up on their feet now, jumping, shouting, and waving the orange colors of Unique FC.


    ? "They finally have the lead since the beginning game, what a strike from Ferran," Jim said.


    "The gamey of the team has changed since the addition of Rnd and Mateo," Steve said. "Rnd has been making interceptions to start up attacks and Mateo doing what he does best, those two are the main reasons why they have the lead now."


    Unique FC were leading three goals to two as the match had entered the nieth minute and since there had been a lot of game stops due to Ferran and Dave''s problems, the referee had added ten additional minutes to the game.


    "Oh, that''s a lot of minutes," Jim said.


    "Yeah, that''s quite a lot of time for Ronino to get an equalizer," Steve said.


    "Or a lot of time for Unique to cement their lead," Jim added.


    Mateo had received a pass from Rnd on the left wing now.


    He was now running with the ball trying to see if anyone was open for a pass when one of the midfielders quickly rushed toward him from behind and brought him down with a tackle.


    He had gotten the leg to his ball so the referee didn''t see that as a foul.


    "Oh, I expected to hear the whistle for that challenge," Jim said.


    "I don''t think so, he went directly for the ball and Mateo had only fallen in collision with the ball."


    Ronino FC were leading the attack now as the midfielder quickly sent the ball to his teammate who was already making a run into their opponent''s half.<sub> </sub>


    He received the ball and just before Pirlo could get to him, he passed it to Zen who had a space in the middle to make a run because Pirlo had left his line.


    Luckily Adolf was there to cover up but it looked like he was going to get therete as Zen pushed the ball forward a little and unleashed the shot toward the goalpost.


    "What a shot!" Jim eximed.


    The ball was heading toward the top right-hand corner with Dave in the middle but the goalkeeper had done what he could do.


    He dived toward the ball and with the tip of his glove pushed it forward a little.


    "Diving Dave!"


    The ball smashed on the bar and bounced beside the goal line in front of the open.


    The ball was about to fall into the with Rnd and Sandro heading toward it at full speed.


    "Oh, no, a rebound in front of the open."


    Sandro got closer to the ball first but just as he kicked it Rnd arrived there with a slide and blocked it with his foot as the ball was sent flying out of the eighteen-yard box.


    "Oh my God!" Jim screamed. "I thought they had finally gotten their equalizer at the dying minute."


    "That was a superb block by Rnd, he couldn''t get there first but he knew exactly what to do," Steve said.


    The ball had rolled out for a throw-in now as Dave slowly crashed to the floor.


    [ -20 Energy ]


    [ 3/100 Energy ]


    He was breathing heavily in a way that had startled Rnd.


    "Are you okay?" Rnd asked, moving closer to him.


    Their teammates had rushed to the area to congratte the two for those wonderful saves but lying on the ground breathing that way had killed off that mood.


    "Tell the coach that I want toe off." He muttered.


    "But the match is almost over," Pirlo said.


    "I know but I can''t continue."


    "Dave Richards is down here," Jim said.


    "It''s probably a concussion from that collision with Sandro," Steve said.


    Adolf had helped the goalkeeper up as the official responsible for substitutions raised his board which showed the number one in red and the number thirty-seven in green.


    "With three minutes of additional time left, Dave Richards will being off for Alexander," Jim said.


    Most of the fans got up to apud Dave as Adolf helped him off the pitch.


    He had turned his gaze toward Emma with a smile to see that she was also standing while pping for him and when their eyes had met, she had returned the smile.


    "Rest, we''ll need you in the next match," Adolf said before running back into the pitch.


    ''Yeah.'' Dave said subconsciously as he rxed on the seat.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ Make three crucial saves ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +5 stat points added to Dexterity ]


    [ +20 exp received ]


    <You''re starting to get that sense of determination, I like that>

 Chapter 41 Sleeping On The Couch Together

    "There you have it, the referee has blown his whistle to bring this entertaining battle of a match to an end," Jim said after the referee had blown the final whistle.


    Ronino FC weren''t exactly saddened by the loss as they had fought very well and were still in sixth ce despite the loss.


    "This match was one hell of a roller coaster ride," Steve said.


    "Yeah, it looked like Ronino FC were going to hang on to that lead after taking the lead again but with the addition of Mateo and Rnd, Unique''s gamey took a very unique change, and before anyone knew it, they were able to get two goals," Jim said.


    "The match could have ended on level terms if Dave Richards had not made that save but Sandro would have still finished off that rebound if it weren''t for Rnd''s improvisation."


    The man of the match was announced as the yers made their way off the pitch and there was no doubt that it had to be him.


    Ferran slowly walked to the official who handed him his man of the match award which was a small ball trophy.


    "Who certainly deserves that award, he wasn''t that brilliant in the first half but he stepped up for the team in the second half, he could have gotten two goals if Zileven had not brought him down under a nasty challenge," Steve said.


    "You''re right Steve," Jim said. "This Victory puts Unique FC in ninth ce, just one point ahead of Troham United who dropped all three points against Dynamo FC earlier today."


    Unique FC yers were all gathered in their locker room as the coach wanted to discuss a few things with them before leaving.


    "The match was tough but I''m d we finally got the win," Norman said. "It could have ended as a draw, but thanks to Dave''s dive and Rnd''s individual effort, we were able to clinch the lead till the final whistle.


    "This match puts us ahead of Troham United and one step closer to a conference league spot, we have to keep fighting, keep going, we have had a lot of setbacks but we have to keep going." He said with a p. "Congrattions to all of you, we weren''t that good in the first half but we started well in the second half and that red card made things easier for us."


    After he was done encouraging, congratting, and saying a few things about the next match, the yers were allowed to go.


    "Hey, I hope you''re okay?" Norman asked after meeting Dave in the hallway as he was walking out with Mateo who was making sure that he wasn''t going to fall.


    "Yeah, they said it was just a minor concussion and I''ll be okay with a good rest," Dave said.


    "Okay, I hope this doesn''t affect the good form you''re starting to build," Norman said.


    "I hope so too," Dave said.


    "Alright, see you guys tomorrow."


    "Okay, coach," Mateo said before Norman began to walk away.


    "Hey, Mateo!" Ferran came running toward the two before the two could take any step forward.


    "Huh?"


    "Do you want to take a selfie with my man of the match award?" The midfielder asked, raising the silver-colored award.


    "Sure," Mateo said with a nod.


    "Cool," Ferran said, bringing out his phone from his pocket. "You can also join in Dave, if you don''t mind."


    "Okay," Dave said.


    He raised his phone and took a selfie of the three of them with his award raised for a proper view.


    "Alright man, I''ll see you tomorrow, quick recovery Dave," Ferran said before turning to leave.


    "Thanks."


    "Okay, master," Mateo said.


    Ferran turned and pointed at the winger with a smile on his face before continuing his walk down the hallway.


    Mateo and Dave walked outside to find Emma waiting for them beside Dave''s car.


    She quickly rushed to them as soon as she saw them walk out of the stadium.


    "Hey, are you okay?" She asked after stopping in front of them.


    She wanted to remove Dave''s arm from her brother''s shoulders and ce it on hers and she would have done it if one of her shoulders didn''t cause her so much pain with the slightest touch on it.


    "Yeah, I''m okay," Dave said with a smile.


    Mateo helped him into the car, Emma was going to be the one doing the driving so Dave wasn''t going to be in the driver''s seat.


    "So, how are you doing?" Mateo asked after she had shut the door.


    "I''m okay, this shoulder still hurts a lot but I''m okay." She said with a warm smile.


    "I know how that feels," Mateo said.


    "Are youing to dinner?" She asked.


    "Oh, the family dinner, I''m not sure I will be able to make it," Mateo said.


    "It''s on Sunday," Emma said.


    "Wait, our family dinner is never on a Sunday," Mateo said with a confused expression on his face.


    "Yeah, but you guys have a match that night so I convinced mom and dad to move it to Sunday," Emma said.


    "Oh."


    "See you around." She said moving to the other side of the car. "Nice performance by the way, too bad you didn''t get the man of the match award."


    "Thanks," Mateo said. "I got in the match before this one so it''s nothing."


    "Okay," Emma said before entering the car and mming the door shut.


    The engine roared a few secondster and in no time, the car had zoomed off the stadium area.


    Emma drove for about one minute before quickly turning to him to say something only to discover that his eyes were closed.


    "Oh." She said slowly turning back to the road.


    Dave may have been really tired and had his eyes closed but he was still pretty much awake in his mind.


    [ Victory Rewards ]


    [ Three crucial saves: +30 exp ]<sub> </sub>


    [ Goals conceded (2): 0exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.9 ]


    [ 155/200 exp ]


    ''And again the rating matches with that of the match.''


    <Yeah, but just know that one day, it''s not going to match and the one you see here is the one you should believe>


    It didn''t take long for Emma to drive to the house and now she was staring at Dave wondering if she should wake him up or not.


    ''What are you even thinking Emma, you have a broken shoulder?''


    "Hey, Dave." She said, tapping him on his arm.


    "What?" Dave muttered slowly opening his eyes.


    "We''re here." She said.


    "Okay," Dave said, quickly pushing the door open.


    "Hey, wait, let...."


    She could finish that statement as he had already made his way out of the car and was walking toward the house now, more like staggering toward the house.


    [ 2/100 Energy ]


    <You should get something to eat fast, that''s the only way you can regain half of your lost energy>


    Emma quickly got out of the car and locked it before quickly making her way to him.


    "Hey, hey, hey, take it easy." She said cing her hand on both of his shoulders to prevent him from mistakenly falling over.


    The two had made their way into the house now and all Emma wanted to do now was get him upstairs and on your bed.


    "Hey,e, we just have about twenty steps to climb before we get there," Emma said.


    "No, I think I''ll crash here." He said before quickly staggering toward the couch and falling on it.


    Emma stared at him for a while before slowly making her way to him.


    "You seriously want to sleep on the couch?" She said with a baffled expression on her face. "It''s just a few steps up before we get to the room."


    "No, I''m okay here." He muttered.


    "And I thought I was going to force him to do it next week," Emma muttered.


    "What?"


    "Nothing." She said turning toward the staircase.


    She stared at the staircase for a while before turning her gaze back to him.


    "I''ll be back." She said before quickly making her way toward the staircase.


    "Okay," Dave muttered.


    It had been about fifteen minutes since she had gone upstairs and she still had not returned.


    [ -1 Energy ]


    "Ow." Dave groaned as he rolled to lie on his back.


    <Where did she go? Does she want your energy to drop to zero?>


    ''What happens when my energy drops to zero?''


    <You do not want to find out>


    He was d as he had begun to hear footstepsing down the stairs and it didn''t take long for Emma to appear before him holding a sleeping bag and three pillows.


    "What are those for?"


    "I decided since you want to sleep on the couch, why don''t we do it together." She said dropping one of the pillows on the floor.


    Dave wanted to say something before knocking was hearding from the door.


    "That must be the pizza." She said.


    She dropped everything she was holding and quickly made her way to the door.


    "You ordered pizza?" Dave said with a surprised expression on his face.


    She opened the door, got handed the pizza by the pizza delivery guy, and paid him before returning to him with the pizza package in her hand.


    "Yeah." She said with a smile. "Now."


    She slowly dropped the pizza on the small table behind her and quickly picked up one of the pillows on the floor before stepping closer to Dave, raising his head, and cing the pillow there.


    "That''s better right?" She asked after allowing his head to rx on the pillow.


    "Yeah," Dave said, giving off a warm smile.


    "Good." She said before setting up her sleeping bag beside the couch and dropping one of the remaining two pillows on the edge of the couch beside Dave''s head. "Now, the pizza."


    "Emma," Dave called just before she could grab the pizza.


    "Yeah," Emma said, turning to him.


    "I don''t know what I would do without you." He said with a smile.


    "Me too." She said returning the smile.

 Chapter 42 Left Out Of The Squad

    Dave woke up early in the morning to find Emma''s hair covering his face as the two of them were sharing one pillow now.


    He didn''t mind having her hair against his face as he liked that mixed scent of Shea butter and coconuting from it.


    Last night had been very enjoyable for him despite the way he had returned home and that wouldn''t have been possible if it weren''t for her.


    <Remember you have a morning run to get to, a quest toplete if I''m being specific>


    ''Can''t I just skip it today? I''m very tired.''


    <Really?>


    [ 100/100 Energy ]


    ''Fine.'' He sighed inwardly. ''I''m going.''


    The slightest move he had made had gotten detected by Emma as she slowly turned and wrapped her arms around him.


    "Where are you going?" She asked with a sleepy voice as she slowly opened her eyes.


    "For my daily jog," Dave said, sitting up on the couch.


    "What?" She said as her voice had gone from sleepy to serious. "After all you went throughst night."


    "I''m okay now." He said with a smile.


    "No, you''re not." She said quickly getting up on her feet. "Lie down." She ordered.


    There was no response from Dave who was staring at her with a strange expression on his face so she had to do what she had to do.


    She pushed him down on the couch and stretched his legs to make sure that he was lying down properly.


    "You''re not going anyway until you''ve gotten enough rest." She said before turning and making her way to the kitchen.


    ''You hear that Catherine, I''m not going anyway.''


    <You are unbelievable>


    "Do you want coffee or tea?" Emma returned to ask.


    "Coffee will be nice," Dave said.


    "Okay," Emma said with a smile before making her way back to the kitchen.


    A few seconds after she had left, his phone had begun to vibrate.


    He quickly brought it out and checked the caller to see that it was rk.


    "Hey, rk." He said after clicking the answer button and cing the phone against his ear.


    "Hi, Dave, how are you doing?" rk asked through the phone''s speaker.


    "I''m okay."


    "And Emma?"


    "She''s fine," Dave answered.


    "I watched the matchst night and saw what happened to you, I''m just d to hear that you''re okay," rk said.


    "Yeah, it wasn''t exactly something serious," Dave said.


    "You really put up a fine performance in the match. It seems like working out with those gym equipment is starting to improve you." rk said.


    "Yeah, you can say that," Dave said with a smile.


    "Hey, I''ve got to go, something just came up, I''ll call youter," rk said before ending the call.


    "Okay," Dave said slowly, bringing his phone down.


    "Who was that?" Emma asked, putting down one of the white mugs she was holding on the table.


    "rk," Dave said.


    "Oh, did you say hi to him for me?" She asked handing him the other mug which was filled with coffee.


    "Thanks," Dave said after taking the cup of coffee from her.


    "You''re wee." She said with a smile.


    "I also brought coffee for myself." She before grabbing her own cup of coffee and sat down on the sleeping bag.


    "You deserve it," Dave said before leaning closer to her and kissing her.


    The two had watched a few shows together before Dave had gotten up to go ease himself upstairs.


    <You''ve missed your ten exp for today, I just hope you don''t miss the five and twenty exps>


    "I won''t, Catherine," Dave said.


    He still had a lot of time to head to his personal gym given the fact that today''s training was going to start quitete in the evening and the Saturday match against Litno FC was a home match.


    He made his way to the bathroom and after easing himself he made his way to the room where he had dropped the smaller gym equipment.


    "It''s a good thing I dropped a fridge up here." He said as he walked to the fridge by the side, opened it, and brought out the bottled water required for him toplete his quest.


    [ Daily questplete ]


    [ Drink two liters of water ]


    [ +5 exp received ]<sub> </sub>


    [ 160/200 exp ]


    He dropped the empty container on the floor and left the room as what he had just done was his only reason foring here.


    Just as he wasing down the stairs, he heard Emma''s voice, and looking toward the door, he could see her hugging someone.


    ''She told me one of her friends wasing over today right?'' He thought,ing down the stairs.


    <Yeah, she did>


    ''I just hope it isn''t another Karen.''


    "Babe, this is my friend Emilia," Emma said, pulling Emilia close. "The one I told you wasing today."


    "Yeah," Dave said as he stared at Emilia with a baffled expression on his face and after looking at her for a while he turned his gaze to Emma.


    The reason for the baffled expression on his face was the resemnce between the two.


    Their body was practically the same slender-looking body and their face was just a copy of each other, the curvy little pink lips, the small pointed nose, long eyshes, and curly hair.


    The only difference between the two was that Emma seemed to be slightly taller than her despite the fact that she was putting on heels. They both had curly hair but she had red hair while Emma had ck hair and finally, her eyes were brown while Emma had blue eyes.


    Emilia was putting on silver-colored trousers with a white shirt and she had her hair tied back.


    "Are you two friends or twins?" Dave asked with a baffled expression on his face.


    "I was expecting that question anytime soon now," Emma said. "A lot of people asked us that question while we were in the university."


    "Why wouldn''t they ask?" Dave said, still looking back and forth between the two.


    "We may look alike but we still have a lot of distinguishable features," Emilia said. "Our hair color isn''t the same, our eye color isn''t the same and she''s taller than me."


    "A lot of people couldn''t spot these features back then and kept mistaking each of us for the other person and at one point I was like, hey, she has red hair, I have ck hair," Emma said.


    "I wouldn''t me them," Dave said. "Ummm.... Wee, Emilia."


    "Thank you," Emilia said.


    "And during the time you are here, I hope I don''t mistake you for my girlfriend." He said jokingly.


    "Dave," Emma said with a chuckle.


    ____ ____


    With Emilia acting as a distraction for Emma, Dave was able to head to his personal gym without getting asked any questions.


    Right now, he was training his bnce on the exercise ball as he was nearing the final five minutes of his gym hours.


    He was sitting on the ball with a ball in his hand.


    The idea of his training was to keep throwing the ball a little distance away from himself and see how long he will keep catching it without falling off the ball.


    He had thrown it too far this time and in the process of catching it, he had fallen off the ball.


    "Aw." He groaned as he slowly got up from the floor.


    [ Daily questplete ]


    [ Spend two hours in the gym ]


    [ +20 exp received ]


    [ 180/200 exp ]


    "Gym time''s over."


    <You know, you don''t have to stick to the two hours, you can still train your body for extended periods and get good results>


    ''I know Catherine but I think I''ve trained enough for today.''


    <You think?>


    ''Yeah.''


    He walked to the table by the side to pick up his phone and just as he was about to grab it, it began to vibrate with an iing call from coach Norman.


    "Hello, Coach." He said after clicking the answer button and cing the phone against his ear.


    "How are you doing Dave?" Norman asked.


    "I''m okay," Dave said.


    "Okay," Norman said.


    There was a pause between the two for a while and just before Dave could say something, Norman dropped the bombshell on him.


    "You won''t be in the squad for tomorrow''s match," Norman said.


    "If it''s about what happened yesterday then you should know that I''m okay and can start the match," Dave said.


    "No, it''s not that, it''s a decision from the board to exclude you from the match and let you rest," Norman said.


    Dave had gone mute as soon as he heard that as the happy expression on his face had suddenly dropped.


    "Hello Dave, Dave," Norman called but there was no response from the goalkeeper before he suddenly ended the call.


    "Didn''t even check to see if I was okay or not and you decide to make a decision to leave me out of the squad." He said, biting his lower lip in anger.


    He had only one person to me for this.

 Chapter 43 All Double Digits

    Emma was really d to have Emilia visit her because unlike Karen she actually had a lot inmon with her.


    Sure Karen was her childhood friend and the two had attended the same school up to high school but they never really had anything inmon.


    She had met Emilia at the university as the two happened to be in the same department, the department of journalism, and from the first day they met during a lecture, they had bonded.


    Right now the two women were sitting on the couch in the living room as Emilia was helping her paint her nails.


    "So how did the interview go?" Emilia asked.


    "Huh?"


    "The one you told me you had this week, that''s the reason why you''re still here," Emilia said.


    "Oh, the interview was rescheduled to next week because of what happened to me," Emma said.


    "You called them to reschedule it and they said yes," Emilia said with a surprised expression on her face.


    "No, I wasn''t the one that called them," Emma said, pulling up her right hand in front of Emilia after she was done with her left hand.


    "Who called them then?" Emilia asked before dipping the small brush in the tiny container filled with pink nail paint.


    "rk," Emma answered.


    "Who''s rk?" Emilia asked as she started painting from her thumb.


    "Dave''s friend."


    "Dave''s friend?"


    "He''s also his contract agent and a lot of other things that I don''t know," Emma said with an awkward expression on his face.


    "And you''re sure that he convinced them to reschedule the date for your interview," Emilia said.


    "Yeah, I got an email from them confirming that the interview had been moved to Monday next week," Emma said. "I was just as shocked as you are now."


    "He sure has some skills."


    "Huh?"


    "I mean rk, the one that helped you reschedule your interview," Emilia said.


    "Yeah, he does," Emma said with a nod. "So how did your interview go? It''s crazy that we both got job opportunities the same week and then mine had to be rescheduled."


    "I¡­.got the job," Emilia said with a smile.


    "You did?"


    "Yeah, I''m starting next week," Emilia said with a nod.


    "You got the job and you didn''t even bother to tell me."


    "I wanted to tell you in person," Emilia said.


    "So, what did they give you?" Emma asked.


    The happy expression on Emilia''s face quickly vanished as soon as Emma asked that question.


    "What''s wrong?" Emma asked.


    "I wanted sports Emma, you know how much I love sports reporting, it was all I wanted," Emilia said, biting her lower lip.


    "Hey, calm down, just tell me what niche they assigned to you," Emma said.


    "Education," Emilia stated with an unpleasant look on her face.


    "You wrote an article project about the education system that won the best project award, you will clearly do well in that area," Emma said.


    "I know Emma but I wanted sports, I also write good sports articles."


    "Why did they refuse to give you sports?" Emma inquired.


    "She said they already had enough sports reporters and the reason why they were hiring me was to fill up the education reporting unit," Emilia exined.


    "Oh," Emma said.


    She was about to say something when the door was suddenly pushed open for Dave to walk into the house.


    "Hey, where have you been?" Emma asked as she seemed to have gotten him off her mind for the period she had been with Emilia.


    "At the garage," Dave said, quickly making his way upstairs.


    He didn''t even turn to her to answer that question and judging by the look on his face, Emma knew that he was upset over something.


    "Is he okay?" Emilia asked after he had gone upstairs.


    "He usually has these mood swings, it''s definitely something about football." Emma articted.


    "Oh."


    "Don''t worry, I''ll talk to himter."


    Dave had gone straight to his room with anger still burning in his heart.


    He had called his father immediately after that call with coach Norman but for some reason, he didn''t seem to be picking up his call.


    He had his phone in his hands now as he was calling his father''s number again but after ringing, there was still no response.


    He dropped the phone on the bed and let out a deep sigh before crashing on the bed.


    <Instead of lying here wailing in your sorrow, I will advise you to go outside and train more, you don''t have to throw yourself on the floor anytime you experience a setback. Is this even a setback? It''s just one match Dave><sub> </sub>


    ''One match that I am supposed to be part of because I am clearly not down with any form of injury.''


    <Why don''t you go train and during training today, you can show your coach that you''re physically okay and don''t need the rest they are suggesting, the match is yesterday so the decision can be overruled>


    "Yeah, you''re right?" Dave muttered sitting up on his bed.


    <Now go outside and train, you can''t get anywhere by cking off>


    Dave let out a sigh as he got up from the bed and quickly made his way downstairs.


    He didn''t want to disrupt what the women were doing as he quickly made his way toward the door but before he could open it Emma had called him.


    "Yes, Emilia can sleep over." She turned to her and said before she could say anything to him.


    "I wasn''t going to ask you if she could," Emma said with an awkward expression on her face.


    "You weren''t?"


    "Yeah, she''s from Supreme City so she can make it back early even if she leaveste in the evening," Emma said.


    ''That exins why she arrived that early.''


    "Oh."


    "What''s up with you?" She asked, keeping her gaze on his face.


    "What?"


    "You looked quite upset when you entered the house and I can still see it on your face although you''re trying to cover it up." She said,


    "There''s nothing wrong babe, I''m okay," Dave said, giving her an assuring smile.


    "Sure."


    "Yeah," Dave said with a nod. "I''ll be outside"


    "Dave¡­"


    She wasn''t able to say what she wanted to say as he had already left the house and mmed the door shut.


    The goalkeeper''s training idea now was the ball ster as it seemed to be the only relevant thing he could do as he didn''t want to spend any more time in his personal gym.


    He pushed the ball ster into thewn and left it within penalty range in front of the goalpost.


    He quickly filled it up with the balls before putting on his boots and gloves and now it was time to start his training.


    Looking at the controls on the ster''s back he could see that it had levels one to six.


    <I suggest that you start with the lowest level>


    "Yeah," Dave said as he clicked the buttonbeled with one and then clicked the red start button before quickly running to the goalpost.


    Level one of the ster was too easy, it was too slow and predictable as the goalkeeper was able to keep out all the balls.


    "That was too easy," Dave said after punching up thest ball which had proven to be the trickiest shot out of them all as it had been ced in the top right-hand corner but still, he didn''t dive to keep it out.


    <Well, that was just level one and your dexterity seemed to have gotten quite the boost fromst night''s match>


    "Yeah," Dave said as he began to kick the balls around him back to the machine.


    [ Physical Status ]


    [ Strength: 16 ]


    [ Dexterity: 13 ]


    [ Endurance: 11 ]


    ''They are all double digits now.'' Dave said subconsciously as he fitted thest of the eight balls into the tube and closed it up.


    <Double digits is a good thing now you just have to keep going to get to better double digits>


    Level two also wasn''t that hard for the goalkeeper as he had efficiently kept out all the balls until thest one which had gone straight for the top left-hand corner.


    He was glued to the spot as the ball hit the crossbar and fell into the.


    ''At least I kept out seven of them.''


    <Yeah, but if more of those balls had gone toward there, then I''m sure you wouldn''t have been able to keep out more than four of them>


    ''Every goalkeeper has a weakness.''


    <True, but you''re not every goalkeeper and you should find a way to deal with this weakness>


    Dave had quickly filled the ster with all eight balls and now it was time to see how well he was going to do in level three.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Keep out at least six of the balls ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +2 boost to all stats ]


    [ +15 exp ]


    He had been expecting that and seeing it now, a smile had suddenly appeared on his face.


    ''Now we''re talking.''

 Chapter 44 Source Of Motivation

    With the quest popping up on his screen now, Dave was more than determined to keep the balls out as he really wanted to get those rewards.


    The first ball was shot toward his right side and it wasn''t much trouble for him as he dived toward it and pushed it out.


    <You know receiving a quest from the system at this level means that keeping out six out of the eight balls isn''t going to be easy>


    ''I am aware of that Catherine.''


    <I''m just reminding you so you can put your sixth sense to good use>


    The second ball was shot directly at him while he had already dived to the right but luckily for him, his legs has notpletely shifted out of there, and with them, he was able to hit the ball away.


    <That was a close one>


    ''Yeah, really close one.'' Dave replied as he got ready for the next one.


    The third shot was fired at the bottom right side and Dave had dived toward it at the right time but the ball had bounced on the floor and rolled over his hand to get into the.


    <Two out of three>


    ''Just three more saves to make.''


    He got up on his feet again as the fourth ball was quickly fired toward the top right-hand corner.


    Dave was glued to the spot as he didn''t expect the ball toe at that time.


    <Be vignt Dave>


    The fifth one was quite a tricky one as it had been shot toward the bottom left-hand corner but with a swift dive, Dave was able to get there on time and with the tip of his glove, he prevented the ball from going into the goalpost.


    <That''s three out of five now if you miss any of thest three balls you''ve failed the quest>


    Dave let out a deep sigh as he got ready for thest three balls, if he wanted toplete the quest and get those rewards then he had to make sure that none of those threest balls were going to go into the goalpost.


    The ball was shot directly at him but higher in a way that made it look like it was going to go over the bar but he knew it wasn''t going to go over the bar as he quickly raised his right hand and tipped it over the bar before it fell into the goalpost.


    ''Two more to go.''


    This one was shot toward the top right-hand corner as Dave quickly dived toward it and tipped it off with the tips of his gloves.


    [ 20% stamina remaining ]


    <Well at least you have enough stamina to make another save like that one>


    "Just one more." He muttered as he slowly got up from the floor.


    He kept his gaze on the ball-sting part of the ster for thisst part, he was really determined to keep thisst one out until something he had not nned for happened.


    The ster sted the ball toward the top left-hand corner, Dave was glued to the spot as the ball hit the crossbar and fell to the side.


    [ Quest failed ]


    "Oh,e on." He said with a frustrated voice as he fell to the floor.


    "Why are you beating yourself up? You did great."


    Dave slowly turned his gaze toward the entrance to his house to see Emilia walking toward him.


    "You''ve been watching me?" Dave said with a baffled look on his face.


    "Yeah," Emilia said with a nod after stopping in front of him.


    "For how long?"


    "About five minutes," Emilia said.


    "Oh."


    He had been so focused onpleting his quest that he had failed to take notice of her standing there.<sub> </sub>


    "I thought you were busy with Emma."


    "She went to¡­.um¡­powder her nose so I decided toe out here and see what you were doing and I am d I did." She said with a bright smile on her face.


    "Oh, okay."


    "That was some really good goalkeeping," Emilia said.


    "You think?" Dave said slowly getting up from the floor.


    "No, I don''t think, I know," Emilia said with an enthusiastic voice. "Why don''t I put the balls back in the ster and you try again."


    "Okay." Dave answered after staring at her for a while with a strange expression on his face.


    "Okay," Emilia said before she quickly began to go around the area to pick up the balls.


    It didn''t take long before she picked up all the balls and filled the ster with them.


    "Level three right?" She asked with her hand on the level three button.


    "Yeah," Dave said.


    She quickly pushed the button as soon as Dave said that.


    "I can see that there are other things that differentiate you from Emma apart from those physical differences," Dave said before she could hit the start button.


    "Emma likes football, she wouldn''t watch highlights with you if she didn''t."


    "She told you about those," Dave muttered.


    "She just doesn''t like it as much as I do, that isn''t really much of a difference." She added before pushing the start button.


    Dave expected to see the quest again after she pushed that button but nothing happened and that led to him getting demoralized.


    Low morale coupled with low stamina had led to him performing badly as he had only managed to keep out two of the balls and the reason why he had kept those out was because they were too easy to keep out.


    "What''s wrong, you''re not even trying?" Emilia asked after thest ball had fallen into the after Dave''s passionless attempt to keep it out.


    "I think that''s enough training for today." He said walking toward her.


    He had pulled off the glove on his right hand just as he got close to her and that was when he had gotten a serious dose of the cramp.


    "O." He said flinging his hand.


    "Wait," Emilia said as she quickly grabbed his hand and pulled it to get rid of the cramp.


    "Aw." He winced. "Thank you." He said as he could feel his hand again.


    "You''re wee," Emilia said with a warm smile. "I''m going to go see if Emma is done now." She added before quickly making her way back inside.


    _____ _____


    Dave was lying on his bed going through his phone as Emilia and Emma were busy doing something downstairs.


    He was scrolling through the media with his phone when he came across an article that had the heading ''How Long Can Dave Richards Keep This Up.''


    Reading the article gave him a warm feeling in his heart as a smile appeared on his face but that feeling and smile vanished as soon as he scrolled down to thements section.


    Ny percent of thements were about his performance being a fluke and how they were waiting for him to flop in a game against one of the big teams in the game.


    Reading thosements gave him mixed feelings of worry because even he was afraid that he might start performing badly and then anger because of the way some of them had written theirments.


    That feeling of anger was making him wish that he would be able to continue this good form and perform well even against top teams and thene back to rub it on their faces in his own way.


    <If this is going to be a source of motivation for you then you should keep reading thosements>

 Chapter 45 Four Points Away

    Dave had been lying on his bed for quite a while now without doing anything, he was scrolling through his phone at first but at some point, he had gotten tired and dropped.


    He raised his watch to his view to see that the time was an hour and five minutes past noon.


    "I should probably go downstairs and see what they are doing." He muttered before slowly getting up from his bed.


    He quickly made his way downstairs and just as he walked further down the stairs he could hear steam soundsing from the kitchen.


    He walked into the kitchen to see that the two were busy trying to make something.


    Emma seemed to be steaming something over at the gas cooker area while Emilia was helping her chop some vegetables by the side.


    "Hi," Emilia said with a smile as soon as she saw him.


    Emma also noticed his presence as she turned off the gas cooker and grabbed a cloth to clean her hands before turning to face him.


    "I thought you were never going toe down from there." She said,


    "I was only up there for like one hour, you guys were busy so I decided to give you some space," Dave said.


    "Well, you can always join our busy moments, you can even join us right now," Emma said with a cheeky smile on her face.


    "Ugh¡­..I think I''ll pass, I''m really not in the mood to get nagged for something I didn''t do right." Slowly stepping out of the kitchen area.


    "Oh, what? Now you can''t take a little nagging from me?"


    "No, it''s just that your kitchen nagging is the worst out of all your naggings." He said before turning his gaze to Emilia. "Just do everything she says correctly and you''ll survive, I''ll be over here."


    With that, he quickly zoomed into the living room before Emma could say anything else.


    "A good watch time will be okay." He said as he walked toward the couch but just as he was about to sit on it, someone started knocking on the door.


    He let out a sigh as he slowly walked to the door and opened it to see someone he wasn''t really expecting to see on his doorstep right now.


    "Mateo?" He said with a surprised expression on his face.


    "What''s up?" Mateo said, walking inside as he had fully opened the door for him.


    "What are you doing here?"


    "Well, I had nothing to do so I decided toe see you and my annoying sister, where is she anyway?" He said looking around.


    "In the kitchen," Dave muttered.


    "Oh," Mateo said quickly, bringing his voice down.


    He walked to the kitchen expecting to see his sister alone there, he had no idea that Emilia was also there.


    "You didn''t tell me my sister from another mother was here," Mateo said as Emilia quickly raised her gaze to see him.


    "Mateo?" She said with a surprised expression on her face.


    She was quite surprised to see him there and she waited till he had gotten closer until she dropped what she was doing to embrace him.


    "Your sister from another mother?" Dave said from where he was standing as he didn''t want to enter the kitchen.


    "Yeah, Emilia is Emma''s twin sister from another mother so that makes her my sister from another mother," Mateo exined.


    "Oh," Dave said.


    "You should have seen my parent''s reactions the first time she came over, Emma was upstairs so when they saw her my father was like ''What happened to your eyes?'' And my mother was like ''What happened to your hair?'' They were very confused until Emma came downstairs and then they got more confused." Mateo narrated.<sub> </sub>


    "Did you really have to talk about something no one asked you to talk about?" Emma asked. She had left what she was doing and was facing him now.


    "Hey, sis," Mateo said with a smile.


    "Why are you here?" Emma asked.


    "I just came to see how you''re doing but I''m mostly here for Dave." He said.


    "Oh, I thought you came to give me a hand in the kitchen," Emma said, turning her gaze to the floor.


    "Why would Ie all the way from my house to give you a hand in the kitchen?" Mateo said with an awkward expression on his face.


    "Umm¡­.Mateo, I think we should leave them to finish what they are doing." Dave said.


    "Yeah, we should do that," Mateo said, already walking around the area as he already knew where this was heading.


    All this while Emilia had been trying to hold in herughter and as soon as the two were out of the area she had let the whole thing out.


    "Do you really have to scare them like that?"


    "Well, if I don''t they will stand there and keep and we will never be able to finish on time," Emma said.


    "I wonder how you nag them to make them run away like that with the mention of helping you out in the kitchen," Emilia said.


    "It''s best that you don''t know," Emma said before turning to continue what she was doing.


    Dave and Mateo had watched a few shows together before Dave had switched it to a football channel to watch some highlights but there weren''t any highlights showing at the moment as the Bilbeth Premier League table was disying on the screen.


    Supreme United were topping the table with seventy-seven points after ying thirty-one matches and their thirty-second match of the season was just tonight.


    The second position was upied by Dynamo FC who were on level points with Supreme United but Supreme United could clearly steer clear of them as they had their thirty-second league match to y tonight.


    The third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh positions were upied by Zilo FC, Razid FC, Junami United, Ronino FC, and Spree City respectively.


    The eighth ce in the table was being upied by Lesica United who were likely to lose three points tonight as they were facing off against Supreme United.


    Unique FC currently upied the ninth ce in the table after their win against Ronino FCst night and Troham United dropping all three points against Dynamo FC.


    They were on level points with Troham United, both teams had forty points after winning just eight of their league matches so far while drawing four and losing four but Unique FC had the higher goal difference as they had scored fifty goals while conceding forty while Troham United had scored twenty-five with fifteen goals conceded.


    Lesica United were only ahead of them with four points and if they could just find a way to make it past them with just four matches left before the seasones to an end then they would secure a spot for a Europeanpetition for the first time in five years.


    The UEFA conference wasn''t that much of a bigpetition whenpared to the likes of the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Champions League but for a team like Unique FC, it was a really bigpetition.


    Looking at the table now, Dave was beginning to get a sense of determination, at first he didn''t think it was possible but right now he could see himself participating in his first-ever Europeanpetition next season.


    <That''s more like it>


    "Mateo." He called as the table had cleared off from the screen now.


    "Yeah," Mateo answered with his eyes glued to his screen as the highlights of their matchst night were about to start.


    "We have to qualify for the UEFA conference league." He said.


    Mateo had slowly turned to him after hearing him say.


    "Yeah, we have to but we all have to try our best to do that," Mateo said.

 Chapter 46 Pissed Off Dave

    After having their lunch together, the four had spent a few more hours together talking andughing, it was a really enjoyable time for all of them and with twenty minutes remaining for the time to hit four PM, Dave had decided to go get ready for their evening training.


    He went upstairs to put on his training outfit and, walking into the room, the first ce his eyesnded was on his bed where he had left his phone before going downstairs a few hours ago.


    He walked to the bed and sat down there before picking up his phone.


    He still needed to talk to his father about what Norman had told him and although his previous calls were unanswered with him not making any attempt to call him back up till now, he was still going to try again.


    He clicked his dad''s contact on his phone and slowly ced it against his ear.


    The call rang on his end for a while before he finally picked up the call.


    "Hey, Dave," Tom said as his voice resounded through the speaker of Dave''s phone.


    "Hey, Dad."


    "How are you doing?" Tom asked.


    "Don''t ask me that question," Dave said, trying to hold himself back from shouting. "Because if you really cared about how I was doing, you would have called a long time ago to know, the match wasst night and it''s almost evening now."


    "I''ve been busy with a lot of things Dave," Tom said.


    ''That''s your excuse for everything.''


    "Busy with what exactly? You want to tell me that you are busy every hour of the day, evenst night."


    "Did you call me toin about me not calling you to ask if you were okay?" Tom asked as the tone in his voice suddenly changed to one that indicated that he was slightly annoyed.


    "Why would I bother since I already know you''re going to give me that silly excuse," Dave said. "I heard you made a decision with your board to leave me out of the squad for tomorrow''s match."


    "Yes, Dave, you''ll be left out of the squad because you need to rest for the match after that one," Tom said.


    "And who told you that I needed rest? You didn''t even call me or ask any of your medical staff if I was going to be fit for the match and you just assumed that I needed rest." Dave said. "Since when did the board start making decisions on who ys or not? Are you guys trying to take the coach''s job from him?"


    "Norman assumed that you would be fit for the match, he wanted to start you so we had to make the decision to make sure that you weren''t part of the squad," Tom said.


    "I am fit to start that match dad and you know Alexander can''t start a match when I am avable," Dave said with a hint of desperation in his voice.


    "But you are not avable, I already told the Bilbeth Premier League board that you''re not, that''s why you''re not in the squad," Tom said.


    "You went that far to keep me out?" Dave said with a shocked expression on his face. "Did you also tell them that I was going to be out for one week so that I don''t get to y the remaining matches for the season?"


    "No, Dave, this is for your own good, I saw what...."


    "You didn''t see anything dad," Dave said, cutting him short and before he could say anything again, he ended the call.


    He threw his phone on the bed before turning his gaze to the entrance to see Emma standing there and judging by the look on her face, he knew she had been standing there for quite a while.


    "You heard all that, didn''t you?" He said before turning away from her.


    Emma didn''t say anything as she slowly walked closer to him and sat beside him on the bed.


    "Hey." She said cing her hands on both of his cheeks to turn his gaze to her. "It''s just one match, it''s okay."


    "One match that I was supposed to y," Dave said. "He doesn''t value my opinion and that''s why he makes decisions like this without seeking my opinion first, he didn''t even call me ore to see me and he just went on to make that silly decision."


    "He was just trying to look out for you," Emma said restoring the eye contact that he had broken.<sub> </sub>


    "His idea of looking out for me is trying to fight for his selfish ambitions," Dave said.


    "Hey, don''t say that, he''s your father and he was only doing what he thought was best for you." She said.


    Dave wanted to say something but he had quickly bitten his lower lip to swallow the words.


    "He''s seeded in keeping me out of the squad but he''s not going to stop me from going to training." He said as he quickly got up from the bed and got into his ck training outfit.


    "See youter babe." He kissed her before quickly making his way to the room''s exit.


    "Please don''t do anything stupid." She said but Dave didn''t reply to her as he quickly made his way out of the room.


    Dave tried to act normal after he had gotten to the stadium with Mateo as he didn''t want his aggression to transfer to anyone who didn''t have anything to do with it as that deep feeling of anger was still burning inside of him.


    It didn''t take long after the two had entered the pitch for the coach and the members of the coaching staff to start making their way onto the pitch.


    The yers had quickly gathered in front of them so that they could tell them their focus for today''s training.


    Norman had spotted Dave among the yers and you could say he had quite a surprised look on his face.


    "You know you''re not supposed to be here Dave," Norman said.


    "What, you don''t think I''m fit to train either?" Dave said.


    "Huh?" Mateo said with a confused expression on his face.


    "I know you''re fit to train but your father doesn''t want you to be part of this training session because you''re not part of the squad for tomorrow''s match," Norman said.


    "What?" Adolf said with a surprised expression on his face.


    The yers were surprised as this was the first time that they were hearing that Dave wasn''t part of the squad for the match.


    "You were aware that what happened to mest night wasn''t serious, why didn''t you tell him that I could start?"


    <Your father said he did Dave>


    "I did Dave, I even told him what the nurse said but he kept saying that you weren''t for to start," Norman said.


    "Maybe he knows he will flop in the match and decided to keep him out," Jonas said from where he was standing.


    "What did you just say?" Dave asked quickly, turning to him with a fierce look on his face.


    "I said you were going to flop like you always do," Jonas said unfazed by the look he was getting from Dave.


    "Since you''re going to talk about flops, why don''t we talk about who has been a flop in thest two matches and even the whole season," Dave said. "yers have just been breaking past you like you''re a standing tree, you im to be the best left back in the team because you can run but how many chances have you created so far this season?


    "That left-back position was leaking in thatst match before Rnd was brought in, he outperformed you despite ying the lesser minutes and I am sure that Sandro would have put that ball in if you were there instead of him, you''re just a flop of a left back with an oversized ego!"


    "Come on Dave," Mateo said, quickly pushing him out of the area before he could continue what he was saying. "Hey, it''s okay."


    Dave was breathing heavily as he had let out some of the things he had always wanted to say to Jonas, that was just some of it.


    Jonas had a stunned expression on his face as he was never expecting that response from Dave and the other yers had shocked expressions on their faces too.


    "I have never seen Dave act so pissed off before," Minino said with a baffled look on his face.

 Chapter 47 Career Quest

    Dave sat in the locker room with that pissed-off look still on his face.


    The coach had told him earlier that he wasn''t supposed to be part of the training because he was supposed to be at home resting and that was why he had been sent off but instead of going home, he had decided toe to the locker room instead.


    <Hey, just go home and rest like they said, staying here won''t do you any good>


    ''I know.'' The goalkeeper replied with a sigh as he slowly got up from the seat.


    Before Norman had ordered him out of the pitch, he had caused a little stir with the things he had said to Jonas.


    All of his teammates knew of how much Jonas used to criticize him and they never thought he was going to talk back to him and he didn''t just say anything to him, all he said to him were facts that nobody had really pointed out yet.


    Talking to Jonas like that had taken everyone by surprise, they knew Dave to be a calm and introverted person but anger can push anybody to do what they wouldn''t do under normal circumstances.


    <Well, at least you achieved something> Catherine said after he entered his car and shut the door.


    ''What?''


    <You finally responded to that jerk in one of the best ways possible now he won''t just say anything to you again>


    Dave didn''t respond to her as he let out a sigh before turning on the engine of his car.


    Everywhere was slowly getting dark as he drove home and by the time he arrived home, the sun was almost gone from the sky.


    He got out of his car and slowly made his way to the door. He knocked twice on it and before he could knock the third time, the door had been opened by Emma.


    "Hey." She said with a warm smile on her face but that smile died down as soon as she noticed that he didn''t have the brightest of looks on his face.


    Dave didn''t say anything to her as he slowly made his way into the house.


    "How did the training session go?" She asked.


    It had been almost two hours since he left so she had assumed that he had actually trained.


    "It''s going well for them, I guess." He said looking at the staircase.


    "You weren''t allowed to train with them?" She asked, moving closer to him.


    "No," Dave said, shaking his head.


    "Hey." She said, cing her head on his shoulder. "It''s okay, it''s just one match and if you look at the bright side you''ll see that it''s not really something to feel down about."


    "What bright side?" Dave asked, turning his gaze to her.


    "You get to spend more time with me, we can even go out together and go watch the match togetherter in the evening." She said with a smile.


    There was no expression on Dave''s face as he stared at her but it didn''t take long before a smile appeared on his face.


    "Where do you want us to go together?" He asked.


    "Anywhere you want, anywhere that will make you feel better and get your mind off the match during the day." She replied before removing her head from his shoulder.


    <That''s a pretty good idea>


    "Okay," Dave said before quickly moving around the room. "Is Emilia here?"


    "No, she left almost an hour ago," Emma replied.


    "Okay."


    Before she knew what was happening, she was pushed to the wall by the side.


    Dave had been careful not to touch her wounded shoulder so he had pinned her against the wall with her right shoulder only.


    "What is going on?" She asked with an amused look on her face.


    "I don''t know what I would do without you." He said intently, staring at her.


    "Awn, I don''t know what I will do without you too, babe." She replied, staring directly into his eyes.


    That was the way he always looked at her, with burning desires in his ear but there was just something about today, it seemed more intense.


    He slowly initiated a kiss with her as she slowly ced her hand on his shoulder.


    The kiss slowly turned to quite a passionate one as he wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her away from the wall.


    She gasped for air after he had pulled out from the kiss but she wasn''t getting any breaks as he immediately ced a kiss on her neck to send a wave of exhrating feeling from that part of her body to the lower part of it.


    "I just wish I didn''t have to be so careful with this shoulder." She moaned.


    She just wanted to wrap her arms around him andpletely feel the exhrating wave that was moving through her body now.


    With each movement of his lips on her neck she would let out a soft moan.


    After sucking on her shoulder for a while, he lifted her and carried her to the couch.


    Normally he would have just dropped her there but because of her shoulder, he slowly dropped her there.


    "Thank you." She said with a smile.<sub> </sub>


    She wanted to say something but before she could say it Dave had started sucking on her neck again and instead of words, moans hade out instead.


    ______ _____


    Dave woke up on his bed with a white sheet covering his body.


    He let out a little yawn as he turned to the side expecting to grab Emma but unfortunately he didn''t feel anyone.


    He quickly raised that part of the sheet to discover that she wasn''t there.


    <She only left a few minutes ago>


    He let out a sigh as he slowly stepped down from the bed, picked up his pants, and put them on before picking up his sports jacket which was lying at the edge of the bed.


    He slowly put on the jacket as he made his way down the stairs.


    He made his way to the kitchen where he had correctly guessed Emma was going to be.


    She was putting on a red robe and was holding two cups of coffee in her hands as he walked in.


    "Coffee?" She said, raising one of the cups toward him.


    "Thanks but I think I''ll have a ss of water instead." He said before quickly making his way to the freezer.


    "Okay, I''ll just drink them both." She said before dropping both of them beside the gas cooker.


    She then turned toward Dave to see the two liters of bottled water above his mouth with thest content falling into his mouth.


    "You said you wanted a ss of water." She said with a baffled look on her face.


    "Well, that''s a ss of water to me." He said before dropping the empty container on the floor.


    "Two liters is not a ss of water," Emma argued.


    Dave didn''t say anything as he slowly walked up to her and kissed her.


    "Do you really want to start an argument about what is and is not a ss of water to me?" He asked, staring deep into her eyes.


    "No." She said, shaking her head with a smile on her face. "I''m d you sound happy again."


    "Why wouldn''t I be happy when I''m with you? Sure I still want to be part of the match but spending a full day with you without any training interruptions is also something to be happy about." He said, cing his hand on her jaw.


    He ced a simple kiss on her lips before quickly making his way toward the exit of the kitchen.


    "I''m going for my morning run now." He said before jogging toward the door.


    Emma stared off toward the exit for a while with a bright smile on her face before slowly turning back to her cups of coffee.


    "Two cups of coffee." She muttered looking at them.


    _____ _____


    Dave had arrived at the park now afterpleting his two-kilometer run but this time, he didn''t feel as tired as he always felt after finishing the run and was still standing.


    <o>,m <The more your dexterity increases, the more your agility, stamina, and flexibility increases></o>


    ''I can tell.''


    [ 68% stamina remaining ]


    [ Daily questpleted ]


    [ Run two kilometers]


    [ +10 exp received ]


    [ 195/200 exp ]


    ''Just five more exps to level up.''


    [ Career quest received ]


    [ Move to one of the top five leagues ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ ????? ]


    [ ????? ]


    [ ????? ]


    [ ????? ]


    "Huh?" Dave said as he stared at the message with mixed expressions of amusement and confusion.

 Chapter 48 New Skills

    ''Catherine, why are the rewards blurry?'' Dave asked subconsciously as he stared at the quest message on his screen.


    <The rewards are blurry because the system hasn''t decided yet, it also means that the rewards aren''t exactly like the regr ones you receive, there are a few special things there>


    ''Oh, so the system wants me to move to any of the top five leagues and if I do I will get rewarded for it.''


    <Yes>


    ''I still have two years left on my contract.'' He sighed inwardly.


    <Your contract doesn''t have to expire before you can move to a new club>


    ''I know but I don''t think any club wants to pay for my very cheap release use.''


    <How much is your release use?>


    ''Fifty thousand euros.'' Dave replied.


    <Yeah, that''s pretty cheap>


    ''I know but I don''t think any club wants me, I haven''t even received an offer from any of the clubs in the Scottish or Portuguese league to talk more of the clubs in the top five leagues, I don''t think they want a goalkeeper like me.''


    <Yeah, they didn''t want a goalkeeper like because you were a very bad goalkeeper then but now you are improving and you''re starting to put up good performances, trust me, very soon they will starting for you>


    The goalkeeper was a bit offended by the way she had put the part about him being a bad goalkeeper but he couldn''t argue the point that he was a very bad goalkeeper before he got the system.


    ''If they starting, I just hope it''s any club from Ennd or Spain, France will be nice too.''


    <What''s wrong with Germany and Italy?>


    ''Nothing, I just prefer those three over them, especially Spain, because it will be easier to move there.''


    <Okay>


    ''I think I''ll start heading back now.'' He said subconsciously as he turned to leave.


    That was when he saw a little child about eight years old walking toward him.


    "Hey, mom, that''s Dave Richards!" The boy yelled on seeing him.


    "Winn, wait."


    His mom tried to stop him but he had already broken free from her grip and quickly raced to the goalkeeper.


    "Hello, Dave." He said stopping in front of him.


    "Hi," Dave said, lowering his gaze to look at him.


    Winn was a blonde-haired boy with cute dimples. He was putting on ck jeans with the orange Unique FC home jersey.


    "Can you please sign my jersey?" He asked politely before turning his back to him.


    On turning his back, Dave could see that the jersey had Mateo written above therge number ten in white Italic font.


    "I would love to kid but I don''t have any pen with me, do you have any pen with you?" He asked.


    "No." The boy said, shaking his head. "But I think my mom does."


    Dave slowly raised his gaze to see a young woman about the same age as him standing there.


    "Mom, can you please give him a pen so that he can sign my jersey?" Winn requested.


    "Sure." The woman said before dipping her hand into her handbag to bring out a ck pen. "Here." She said handing Dave the pen.


    Dave took the pen from her and signed the jersey directly on the number before returning the pen to the woman.


    "Thank you so much," Winn said with a smile as he pulled the back of his jersey to check it.


    "You''re wee," Dave replied with a warm smile. "So what''s your name?" He inquired.


    "Winn." The boy answered. "And this is my mom." He added pointing at his mother.


    "Carol." The woman said, offering her hand for a handshake. "Carol Michael."


    "Nice to meet you," Dave said, epting the handshake.


    "The pleasure is mine." She said, "I''ll grab Winn now and leave you to continue where you''re going."


    "See you tonight Dave." The boy said before his mother grabbed his hand and they continued going where they were going.


    "I wish I could say the same." The goalkeeper said with a sigh before the smile on his face suddenly returned.


    He had this fuzzy warm feeling in his heart now that was making him feel like a little child visiting an amusement park for the first time.


    Nobody had ever approached him for an autograph until today, it has always been his teammates with him getting ignored but today, he signed his first autograph and although it was just a child, it gave him that feeling of satisfaction, that exhrating feeling of finding out that there was someone who thought himself to be his fan.


    <As long as you keep pushing you will be getting an autograph horde one day>


    ''Yeah.''


    He made his way home to find breakfast ready and served on the table.


    After their breakfast together he had gone to his personal gym as Emma watched some of her favorite shows.


    They were going out together in the afternoon and with only five exps remaining for him to level, he had to head to his personal gym and get it done.<sub> </sub>


    After two hours of non-stop training with the various equipment there, he had finallypleted the quest.


    [ Quest Complete ]


    [ Spend two hours training in the gym ]


    [ +20 exp received ]


    [ 215/200 exp ]


    [ Level up ]


    [ Congrattions you are now level 3 ]


    [ +3 stat points received ]


    [ +1 skill point received ]


    [ Two new skills are now avable ]


    ''New skills?''


    <Check your skills bar>


    ''Oh.''


    [ Unlocked skills ]


    [ Double jump ]


    [ Avable skills ]


    [ Double stamina ]


    [ Ball ma ]


    ''Why are they not part of the unlocked skills?'' He inquired.


    <Because they are not unlocked, you need to unlock them with your skill points, make your choice and use your skill points to unlock it>


    [ Skill points: 2 ]


    He didn''t need a description to know what both of the skills could do and right now, he thought the best skill for him was double stamina.


    <Then go for it>


    [ You have insufficient skill points to unlock this skill ]


    [ Unlocking double stamina requires (+3) exp ]


    ''And I only have two.''


    <Why don''t you try the other one?>


    ''Okay.'' Dave replied before clicking the other skill.


    [ Are you sure you want to unlock ball ma ]


    [ Yes/No ]


    ''Can''t I just save the points and unlock the double stamina with it when it''s up to three?''


    <You can but ball ma is also an important skill, you can always get enough skill points to unlock itter>


    ''No, I think I''m okay with knocking balls away for now.'' He replied as he tried to click the negative option but he had made a mistake in the process and clicked the positive option instead


    [ -2 skill points ]


    [ You have sessfully unlocked ball ma ]


    "Ohe on," Dave said in frustration as he slowly sat down on the treadmill.


    <I can''t believe you''re getting angry for unlocking a very useful skill, this skill will be more useful than the double stamina in my opinion>


    ''Then why does double stamina cost more skill points than it?''


    <I said in my opinion, with this ball ma skill now, you can catch balls instead of hitting them over the bar for a corner kick that may eventually lead to a goal and even start a counterattack instead of causing a rebound that will lead to a goal>


    ''I see you have a point.'' Dave replied. ''But my poor stamina is always going to be a problem.''


    <No, it isn''t, your stamina is improving with your dexterity increase and besides you have six stat points that you can add to your dexterity and improve your stamina more>


    [ Unused stat points: 6 ]


    "Yeah," Dave muttered with a smile on his face.


    *****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 49 Surprise Place

    Dave made his way into the house afterpleting his two hours at his personal gym only to discover that the living room was empty.


    The television was still on but Emma was nowhere to be found.


    ''Did she go to get ready?'' He thought as his gaze slowly went up the stairs.


    Suddenly he started to hear footstepsing toward the area and it didn''t take long before he saw her step onto the staircase.


    She was putting on a short pink gown with little flower-shaped designs at the bottom of it and a ck jacket which Dave guessed was for covering her wounded shoulder.


    She didn''t really do anything special with her hair but still, her hair always looked good with the curls.


    "Wow," Dave said, taking his gaze on her from top to bottom.


    "You like it?" She asked, smiling like an excited high school girl.


    "Of course I like it," Dave said, moving closer to her.


    "You should go get ready." She said.


    "I know but where are we going?" He asked.


    "I said you should choose remember."


    "Oh, yeah you did," Dave said, scratching the back of his head.


    "Now, go get ready and while you''re doing so, you can think of a nice ce that you want to go to get your mind off anything concerning the match for now." She said before leaning closer for a kiss.


    "Okay." Dave smiled at her before quickly making his way upstairs.


    It took him about ten minutes to get done and quickly make his way down the stairs putting on a pair of simple-looking Jean trousers, an orange coloured short-sleeved shirt and a pair of white sneakers.


    "That was fast," Emma said with a surprised expression on her face.


    "Well, since you spend almost an hour in there I wouldn''t argue with you." He said moving closer to her.


    "Hey, that''s how long a bath time should be," Emma said, getting up from the couch.


    "Because you want to wash yourself till you get bleached."


    "Let''s just get going," Emma said quickly making her way toward the door.


    "Yeah," Dave said before picking up his car keys from the table and heading toward the door.


    "Hey, do you mind driving?" He asked as soon as they had gotten closer to the car.


    "Why would I?" Emma replied with a shrug.


    "Okay." He said before throwing the keys for her to catch.


    The two entered the car together and Dave waited until she had entered the road before he brought his phone, dialed a number, and ced it against his ear.


    "So where are we going?" Emma asked as she drove the car down the road.


    "Just keep going," Dave replied.


    "Okay." She said with a nod. "Who are you calling?"


    "Hey, rk," Dave said after rk had picked up his call.


    "Oh," Emma said, turning her gaze back to the road.


    "Hi, Dave, how are you doing?" rk''s voice resounded from the speaker.


    "I''m okay, you?" He asked.


    "Same bro," rk said. "So what do you want me to help you with or you''re just calling to check up on me?"


    "I just want to ask you some questions," Dave replied.


    "About what?"


    "Transfers," Dave said.


    "Okay, what do you want to know?"


    "Has any club ever shown interest in me, for a possible transfer?" He asked.


    "Well, there has been one club," rk said.


    "Which club?"


    "Frono FC, but I told them you were happy at Unique FC and didn''t want to move to a new club for now," rk revealed.


    "You told them that without asking me first?" Dave said with a baffled look on his face.<sub> </sub>


    "If I had told you, would you have agreed to join them?" rk asked.


    "No," Dave replied after a few seconds.


    "My thoughts exactly," rk said. "So why are you asking about transfer offers? Are you nning to exit Unique FC?"


    "Not exactly but if any club at all from any of Europe''s top five leagues contacts you because of me please let me know before telling them that I''m not interested." Dave pleaded.


    "Why would I tell a club from one of the top five that you''re not interested? Who wouldn''t want to move to a better league?"


    "Okay," Dave said. "I''m d you don''t n on doing that."


    "Why would I?"


    "Okay, thanks for your time."


    "No problem," rk said before Dave ended the call and brought his phone down from his ear.


    "So, you want to join a club in any of the top five leagues," Emma said.


    "Yeah, especially anyone from Spain or Ennd," Dave said.


    "So if Eibares for you now, you''ll dly join them?" She asked.


    "Why wouldn''t I? Eibar is a better club than Unique FC and besides they just got promoted to liga," Dave said.


    "Yeah, but there''s a chance that they''ll get relegated again." She alleged.


    "They are in seventeenth ce right now, that''s not a relegation spot," Dave said.


    "Yeah, but how many points are they clear of the relegation spot with?"


    "One," Dave said with an awkward expression on his face. "What''s the point? They are never going toe for me."


    "Dave," Emma muttered with her eyes fixed on the road as she hadpletely lost interest in what they were saying.


    "Yeah," Dave replied.


    "Where exactly are we going?" She asked.


    "Just keep driving, we''re not there yet," Dave said.


    "Okay."


    She continued driving for an additional ten minutes as Dave went through his phone and left her to concentrate on the road.


    The car was approaching arge red building now and just as she was about to drive past it, he told her to stop.


    "Where?" She asked, turning her gaze to him.


    "The shopping mall, looking for a parking space there," Dave said.


    "Okay." She said, before slowly driving into the area.


    It didn''t take her long to find a parking space in between two cars and she slowly fitted the car there.


    Dave was the first to step down from the car with his eyes still on his phone''s screen.


    The first ce her eyes had gone after stepping out of the car was way up the building which had something written on it.


    It had Unique city''s shopping mall, written there with a stylish design, and a shopping cart used to rece the h in the shopping.


    "Isn''t this...."


    "Unique city''srgest shopping mall," Dave answered the question before she could ask it.


    "I thought you said we were going somewhere that would help you get the match off your mind for the day." She said with a stunned look on her face.


    "You are the reason why I haven''t given much thought to being unjustly left out of the squad since today, no ce will stop me from thinking about it but you can," Dave said, smiling at her.


    Emma didn''t say anything as she returned her gaze up there with that surprised expression still on her face.


    "I heard you talking to Karen about wanting toe here, so here we are and since it''s a shopping mall, you can pick a few things you like," Dave said.


    "I don''t even know what to say." She said before slowly turning her gaze to him.


    "You don''t have to say anything." He said with a smile before grabbing her by her arm. "Now let''s go inside and see how big this ce really is."


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 50 Long Day At The Mall

    When the mall was tagged as Unique city''srgest shopping mall, there was no exaggeration there, none of the other shopping malls in the city came close to it.


    The ce was quite huge with long rows of counters filled with different kinds of products.


    The mall wasn''t the best in the city just because it was thergest, it was the best because it covered a wider range of products than the other malls, there was even arge boutique inside the mall.


    "Wow," Emma said, looking around the area.


    She wasn''t wowed by the size of the ce because she already expected it to be thisrge


    She was amazed by the way everything looked in here, none of the other malls came close.


    "I think we should get a shopping cart before anything else," Dave said, turning her gaze toward the area where the shopping carts were kept.


    "Yeah," Emma said.


    The two picked up the shopping cart and just as Emma pushed into the long row of counters that looked more like a maze, their shopping had begun.


    Dave had told her to take anything she wanted but she wanted to restrict anything she was going to take to useful things only as she was aware that he wasn''t exactly earning that much as a professional football yer.


    She didn''t want him to have to pay for something that wasn''t exactly useful although there were a few useless things that she wanted to pick.


    "Super mixer." She said with an awkward expression on her face before picking up one of the packaged electric dough mixers. "That''s exaggerated."


    "People will do anything to sell their products."


    "Yeah," Emma said before throwing it into the cart.


    The shopping continued until the cart had gotten filled up halfway.


    They had entered the wear section now and Emma had stopped after she had stopped a pair of nice-looking red heels.


    This part of the mall had a few staff ced behind small counters to exin a few things about the wears to the people.


    "This will look good on me, don''t you think so?" Emma asked, cing her hand on one of the heels.


    "Yeah, it will certainly look good on you." The blonde-haired girl sitting behind the counter said to draw the attention of the two. "But there are ones better than that one."


    "There are?" Emma said, sounding surprised.


    "Yeah, I can show you if you want." The girl said getting up from where she was sitting.


    With Emma being kept busy by the girl who was showing her a few other heels, Dave had turned his gaze to the jewelry section ahead.


    He quickly made his way there to find a man with a scrunched-up full beard.


    "Hello, umm¡­.can I get a ring here?" He asked, looking at the man.


    "Rings are over there." The man asked, pointing at the counter which had lots of rings hanging on the loops that were ced there.


    "No, not those rings, I want one in a case, a nice looking case," Dave said.


    "Oh, you''re looking for a special ring to propose with." The man said slowly getting up from where he was sitting.


    "Yeah, that''s what it is for," Dave said with a nod.


    The man didn''t reply to him at that time as she slowly walked to the counter a little to the left of the goalkeeper and picked up a case with a curvy design made with little diamond-shaped beads.


    "This is just the right ring for you." The man said, handing him the case.


    "Are you sure?" Dave asked, looking at the other cases of different sizes, shapes, and designs.


    "Yeah, I''ve always wanted to buy that ring so that I can propose to the love of my life with it, but I never found her." The man said.


    "She went missing?"


    "No, I never found the one." The man said.


    "Oh."


    "You''re lucky to have found yours." The man said, walking back to his counter. "I guess she must be someone really special to you."


    Dave didn''t answer immediately as he opened the case to see a nice looking ring with a little purple diamond and looking at it, a smile had curved up on his face.


    "Yeah, she is." He said.


    "Hey, you can''t just run off like that without telling me."


    He quickly closed the case and slid it into his pocket before turning to her.


    "What are you doing here?" She asked, looking around. "You don''t like wearing jewelry of any sort."<sub> </sub>


    "I came to buy something for you," Dave said.


    "Really?" She said as the tone of her voice changed to a sweet one. "What?"


    "It''s a surprise," Dave said with a smile.


    "Oh, I love surprises." She said with an excited voice.


    "Okay, now give me some space, and let me get the surprise gift." He said.


    "You haven''t gotten it yet?"


    "No," Dave replied.


    "Okay." She said before slowly returning to where she hade from.


    As soon as she was gone, Dave turned to the ne section and picked one of the nes there before turning to the man who was smiling at him now.


    "Ummm¡­thank you." He said.


    "Don''t forget to take that ring out of your pocket and check it out before leaving." The man said.


    "I will," Dave said before making his way out of the area.


    After going around the mall to pick a few more things, the two had headed toward the refreshment section to have their lunch and after a few minutes of eating, Dave stood up to go checkout everything they had bought.


    "Let me follow you," Emma said.


    "No, no," Dave said, stopping her from getting up from her seat. "Just stay here and finish your meal, it doesn''t require both of us to be there."


    "Okay." She said sitting down back on her seat.


    Dave quickly pushed the cart to the checkout area just a little distance away from the entrance.


    After checking all the items out and paying for them, he sent Emma a text to starting to the exit.


    The two had left the mall by around 4:40 PM and by the time they got home, it was already ten minutes to five.


    It was fair to say that the two were a bit tired after all that walking, picking, pushing, and carrying.


    "Are we going to go watch the match, we have about thirty minutes before it begins?" Emma asked after Dave dropped the heavy back in front of the staircase.


    "I don''t think I can go there now, let''s just watch it here," Dave said after letting out a sigh.


    "I was going to say the same if you had said the opposite of what you just said now," Emma said.


    Dave let out a sigh as he lifted the bag and dropped it on the first step of the staircase.


    "Can you help me carry this one upstairs?" She said handing him the bag she was holding which had a few light items in it. "I want to grab a ss of juice in the freezer."


    <More burden to bear>


    "Yes, your Highness," Dave said, taking the bag from her.


    "Don''t worry, you''ll have your drink ready by the time youe down." She said with a chuckle.


    Dave struggled to get the heavy bag upstairs and after entering the room, he dropped both of the bags before walking to his bed and crashing on it.


    [ 30/100 Energy ]


    <You still have a lot of energy left in you>


    ''Catherine, don''t.'' He said subconsciously before letting out a deep sigh.


    Less than thirty minutes left for the match to begin meant that the yers were still warming up on the pitch and the official lineup for both teams would have been out.


    Dave pulled out his phone to check the lineups, especially Unique FC''s lineup.


    "What?" He muttered after going through Unique FC''s official lineup for the match.


    He had a horrid look on his face and the reason for that expression was that neither Ferran nor Mateo was starting the match.


    ''Why would he not start any of the only two people that makes things easier for the team in every match?'' He thought with a pondering look on his face.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 51 Already Behind

    It was quite absurd for Norman to not start any of his top chance creators who could step up in tough moments to score difficult match-winning goals.


    The two were currently the team''s leading top contributors with Mateo having a total of twelve goals and ten assists to make up for twenty goal contributions and Ferran having a total of fifteen assists plus eight goals to make up for twenty-three goal contributions.


    <Well, he did say he was doing it to prevent injuries>


    ''I am aware of that but Mateo was benched in thest match and we almost lost it because of that, why not bench Ferran just like he said and start Mateo? Why bench both of them?'' Dave replied. ''You won''t be able to me injuries when you lose a match because you decided to bench your best yers who are clearly fit for the match.''


    <Maybe he has a n, you just have to watch and see what he''s up to>


    ''I just hope you''re right about him having a n and I hope it''s not a n that is guaranteed to fail.''


    The goalkeeper viewed the lineup again to see if there was any other thing that he had not spotted and that was when he realized that another starter wasn''t starting the match today.


    Adolf was missing from the starting lineup with Pirlo Shrek filling his position now.


    "I just hope he knows what he is doing," Dave muttered before slowly getting up from his bed.


    [ +5 Energy ]


    [ 35/100 Energy ]


    ''I''m going to have to eat enough food and get good rest to fill that back up again right?''


    <Yeah, you have to>


    ''Well, doing those things has never been a problem.'' He replied before slowly making his way out of the room.


    On his way down the stairs, he saw Emma talking to someone at the door, and by the time he had gotten down; she had already closed the door.


    "Who was...."


    He stopped there after she slowly turned with the pizza package she was holding, that had just answered the question he wanted to ask.


    "You ordered pizza?" He said with a surprised expression on her face.


    "Yeah, I don''t really have the strength to cook anything and besides the match will be starting soon."


    "I''m notining, I''m just surprised, you usually don''t like ordering pizza, it was understandablest night because of my condition but now."


    "Well, this night will be thest for a very long while," She said moving toward the couch. "Unless I return to my apartment at Razid."


    "Why would you return when you have a job in Unique?" Dave asked, moving closer to her.


    "I haven''t gotten the job yet and if I don''t get it, then I''m going to have to return to my apartment." She said before dropping the pizza package on the table.


    "That won''t happen because you''re going to get it, I''m sure of that," Dave said.


    <So much confidence in saying what you don''t know> Catherine said sarcastically.


    ''There''s something called positivity Catherine, you don''t have to be an expert in a field to have it.''


    "I hope so babe," Emma said before quickly making her way to the kitchen.


    Dave sat down on the couch to watch the Pre-Match warm-up that was currently going on on the pitch.


    Most of the Unique FC yers were putting on their ck training outfits with three orange stripes running down the middle while a few of them were putting on their green jackets.


    Litno FC yers on the other hand were putting on sky blue kits which served as their training kits.


    He heard footstepsing from the side and quickly turned to see Emma returning with two sses of orange juice in her hands.


    She slowly ced them on the table before sitting down on the couch beside Dave.


    Dave smiled at her before turning his gaze to the items on the table.


    He reached for the pizza package but before his hand to get to it, it got smacked away by Emma.


    "What?" He said rubbing the affected hand with his left hand.


    "You are not allowed to touch that until the match begins." She said,


    "If you had any idea of what was going on in my stomach now, you wouldn''t be saying this." He said with his gaze still fixed on its target.


    "Well, nothing would have started going on down there by now if you had actually eaten your lunch instead of running off to checkout everything we bought on your own." She said, "You can have a ss of juice in the meantime if it''s that intense."


    She had a smile on her face as she said this but Dave was well aware that the second he tried to reach for that pizza his hand would get smacked away and he had a feeling that it was going to be quite intense this time.<sub> </sub>


    <I would love to see what would happen if you grab the pizza, run upstairs with it, finish it and then return the empty carton to her>


    ''Waooh, that''s evil and mean Catherine, you are an evil A.I.''


    <You think?>


    Dave chose peace over violence as he reached for one of the sses of juice and grabbed it before returning his gaze to the television''s screen.


    The yers had gone down the tunnel and headed to their locker rooms to get ready as they had less than twenty minutes before the match began.


    Dave slowly took sip upon sip from the juice and by the time the yers had started matching onto the pitch he had finished his ss of juice and quickly grabbed the other one on the table.


    "You''ll have to go refill that one when you finish it," Emma said before grabbing the empty ss cup on the table and quickly making her way toward the kitchen.


    This was a home match for Unique FC, so the yers were putting on the ck home kit with the orange dotted designs while Litno FC yers were putting on their sky blue away kit that had arge white water drop design ced a little down on it.


    "Wee to all our viewers from all around the world," Jim said. "Jim Waterson here and in the absence of my partner Mr. Steve Jefferson, joining me today to offer his expertise is Mr. John Trevor."


    "Thank you, Jim, it is really an honor to be here with you to witness this match with you from the comentator''s seat," John said.


    The lineup for the home team popped up on the screen as the yers lined up in front of the pitch.


    Just like Dave had confirmed earlier, Unique FC were going to y under their normal formation of four-four-three with Norman Kole filling the right-back position, Aima and Pirlo as center-backs, and Jonas upying the left-back position.


    The midfield was led by Minino who was now in central midfield instead of the right with Edward on the left and Harry Norman on the right.


    The attacking trio was led by Fred Miles in the striking position, Carlos Oman in the right wing, and Ina Shaw in the left wing.


    Of course, Alexander Collins was the one between the sticks given the fact that Dave was out of the match.


    "Norman left out two of his main stars in the starting lineup, I hope he knows what he''s doing," Jim said.


    "That''s what everyone is probably thinking now," Dave said.


    "What?" Emma asked before sitting down beside him with a ss of juice in her hand.


    "Mateo''s not starting and neither is Ferran," Dave said.


    "That''s not right," Emma said, turning her gaze to the screen to make sure that he wasn''t bluffing. "This match could end in a way I didn''t expect."


    "Unique FC''sst match could have ended badly for them but as soon as Mateo was brought in, the rhythm of the game had changed, Ferran was also crucial to that win, I''m sure the fans are already wondering why those two aren''t in the starting lineup," Jimmented.


    With Adolf also on the bench, Carlos had stepped up as the captain, and right now, he was standing in front of the referee with Litno FC''s captain to go through the process of choosing their sides.


    "Dave Richards made a collision with Sandro in theirst match and suffered a concussion afterward, he''s not part of the squad for today''s match as sixteen-year-old Alexander steps up for the senior squad," Jim said. "He only got to y for less than three minutes during the match against Ronino after Dave was taken off and that was too little of a time to see what he could do as he wasn''t even able to touch the ball but today we''re going to see what the youngster can really do."


    <If he puts up a stunning performance, they are going to startparing him to you>


    ''I know.''


    Carlos was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly rolled the ball to Minino who was standing behind him.


    Minino found Carlos making a run down the right wing and quickly crossed the ball to him but whatever they wanted to do had gone wrong as the opposition left back swooshed in at the right moment to steal the ball while it was in the air.


    He quickly crossed the ball to their right winger who used a dummy to get rid of Jonas and was now making a run toward the eighteen-yard box.


    "Unique can be in trouble here," Jim said.


    The winger raced toward the box and just before stepping into it, he released a powerful shot toward the goalpost.


    He didn''t even stop to think about it. Alexander dived toward the ball which was heading toward the top left-hand corner, he had gotten a hand to it but it was just too powerful for him as it deflected on his hand, struck the crossbar, and then fell into the back of the.


    "What a shot! What a goal! He didn''t even stop to think about that!" Jim screamed.


    The guest fans erupted into cheers as his teammates quickly gathered around him to celebrate the goal.


    "Oh my, the clock hasn''t even hit the second minute and Unique FC are already behind," John said.


    ''That wasn''t the way I envisioned the match to start.'' Dave thought as he stared at his devastated teammates with a devastated look on his face.


    ***


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 52 No Urgency, No Tactics

    The clock was showing twenty-five minutes now, twenty-five minutes since the match began and Unique FC were still one goal behind.


    That goal from Tello had taken them by surprise, the way he took care of Jonas and the way he fired the shot from there were things that had taken them by surprise.


    Litno FC were a side quite simr to Unique FC, they liked to keep the ball just like them and that was the reason why Unique FC were struggling a bit with possession here.


    From the time they conceded that goal to this point, they had only managed to get one shot on target.


    A ball that had been crossed deep into the box, Fred rose high and met it with a nod but it had deflected on the head of the yer who jumped up with him at the same time and fell toward the goalkeeper for an easy catch.


    After that it was as though they had run out of things to do, every other attempt by them to start an attack had failed and they had just resorted to pointlessly passing the ball around.


    ''I knew it was going to turn out like this at some point.'' Dave thought stuffing a piece of pizza in his mouth.


    The Angel had just entered the thirtieth minute as Pirlo received the ball from Edward at the edge of the box and quickly rolled it down to Norman Kole.


    "We have just fifteen minutes to go in on the break and Unique FC are still trailing behind," Jim said.


    "I think theyck the urgency to really get the ball forward and do anything, they are ying it safe for the meantime," John said.


    "ying it safe won''t equalize that one-goal lead," Jim said as the rey of that goal by Tello was showing on the screen now.


    The way the winger got rid of Jonas without even touching the ball was one of the best parts leading to that goal.


    "He was like, hey, Jonas stop me if you can," Jim said.


    He wanted his team to win, he really wanted them to win as that was the only way they could move closer to their goal of qualifying for the UEFA conference league but watching Jonas get deleted like that gave him some kind of satisfying feeling.


    He imed to be the best left back in the team but his form had just been terrible in thest three matches and it looked like it was going to continue with this match.


    Emma had been quiet for quite a while since the match began, she had her legs crossed on the couch with a slice of pizza in her hands and her gaze on the television''s screen.


    Dave turned his gaze to the table where her ss of juice was standing untouched with his empty cup standing beside it.


    He then turned his gaze to her and that was the moment the two made eye contact.


    It stayed like that for about ten seconds before she quickly turned to her ss of juice and grabbed it.


    "I told you, you would have to go get your refill yourself." She said,


    "Please." Dave pleaded.


    "No." She said trying to look at him with a straight face but the smiles were justing in from nowhere.


    "Baby please."


    Emma stared at him without knowing exactly what to say to him, she wanted to say no again but when she opened her mouth something different hade out.


    "Fine," She said as she rolled her eyes before grabbing the ss cup and getting up from the couch. "But no amount of begging will change my mind the next time."


    "There won''t be a next time," Dave muttered with a little chuckle.


    "What was that?" Emma asked quickly, turning to him.


    "Nothing." He said, shaking his head.


    She stared at him for a while before she slowly turned and continued her walk to the kitchen.


    "Oh, he''s crossed it to Nico who''s in space, that is certainly a goal! What a goal!" Jim screamed.<sub> </sub>


    Nico pulled off his top and started flinging it as he ran to the sideline with his teammates chasing him.


    The guest fans were going wild with cheers and chants now.


    "What a cross! What a volley!" Jim eximed. "That was sensational!"


    "How did that happen?" Dave said with a horrid look on his face as Litno FC''s scoreboard switched from one to two with Unique FC''s side still showing zero.


    He had only seen the cross and the volley at the edge of the box, he had no idea of how the attack started but that was nothing to be worried about as the rey was going to be shown very soon.


    Minino had carelessly lost the ball in the middle of the pitch to one of the opposition yers who quickly extended the ball to Nico.


    The center forward found Tello making a run down the right wing and quickly passed the ball to him.


    Jonas tried to bring him down with a sliding tackle but that had gone horribly wrong for him as Tello tipped the ball before jumping over him to continue his run.


    He found Nico at the edge of the box as the defenders had quickly run past him to defend a possible cross or even a shot from Tello but none of them had remembered to mark Nico.


    He received the cross from Tello and neatly slotted it at the bottom left side of the goalpost.


    There was exactly nothing Alexander could do about that shot, he was glued to the spot as the ball rolled into the.


    "Look at the look of devastation on the faces of the yers here, with just seven minutes left for the break, they are two goals behind now," John said.


    Mateo didn''t know how to feel about that goal as he fell back in his seat. You couldn''t imagine what was going on in Ferran''s mind now as he was watching what was going on on the pitch with a face void of any expressions.


    "I heard Jim scream, who scored?" She asked before turning her gaze to the screen to see that Litno FC were two goals up now.


    "Oh." She said before dropping the ss of juice on the table and sitting beside him.


    The match had continued but Dave no longer had confidence in his teammates doing anything as that was what they had been doing since the match began, nothing.


    No through balls, no exceptional individual performances, no breaking into defenses, they just didn''t know what to do and still, Norman wasn''t ready to make any changes yet.


    "Just so that you are aware, we''ve finished the juice," Emma said but there was no response.


    After seven minutes and two minutes of added time without Unique FC being able to do anything Unique, the referee had blown his whistle to signal the end of the first half.


    "There you have it, the first halfes to an end with Litno FC leading the race after having slotted two goals into the goalpost of the hosts, and with them not being able to respond to the goals it had stayed that way," Jim said.


    "Like I said before, they''ve just not had that urgency to push forward, you know, get the ball forward and do something and they also seem to becking the tactics to do anything meaningful," John said.


    "Yeah, and the mistakes from the left side of their defense especially is the reason why they are two goals behind now," Jim said.


    "Tello seems to be too much for Jonas, he has to find a way to stop him or they are going to be conceeding more goals in the second half."


    "The yers are making their way down the tunnel now to have a little rest before the second half kicks off," Jim said. "It has been a one-sided half so far and if Norman doesn''t make any considerable changes to his team and tactics then it might as well continue that way in the second half."


    ''If this match ends with us losing then qualifying for the conference league just got tougher.''


    There was no other way to say it, given the fact that Lesica United were able to surprisingly hold Supreme United to a one-one drawst night, and losing this match would mean that they would remain five points behind Lesica United who had easier matches uing.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 53 Two Subs Makes The Difference

    The second half was about to resume and the yers were making their way into the pitch now.


    "Wee back everyone, the second half of the game is about to kick off, we''re just waiting for all the yers to be on the pitch and that referee''s whistle," Jim said.


    "There have been no changes from both sides during the break," John said.


    "Well, that''s a surprise because I expected a few changes, especially from the hosts," Jim said.


    Unique FC yers were all on the pitch now except for Carlos who was standing beside Norman on the sideline.


    "Remember Carlos, if you can''t prate them, shoot from outside the box, you have to learn how to do that," Norman said.


    "Okay, coach," Carlos said with a nod before quickly making his way into the pitch.


    The yers were all ready on their sides now with Nico standing over the ball at the kick-off spot waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    It didn''t take long before the referee blew his whistle and he quickly rolled the ball to the midfielder behind him.


    "Alright we are set for another forty-five minutes, the goal deficit is still very much there, the question now is if we''re going to get an equalizer and dramaticeback from the hosts or are the guests going to clinch on to the lead?" Jim said.


    "Litno FC has been the all-round better side so far and unless Unique FC can do something about that, I don''t see them winning this one," John said.


    "My thoughts exactly," Jim said.


    Dave expected to see either Mateo or Ferran or even both of them in the pitch for the beginning but none of them were there and he was quite disappointed to see that.


    "Is he nning to lose this match on purpose?" Dave asked with a pondering look on his face.


    "Hey, calm down," Emma said.


    She went behind him on the couch and stuck her legs out beside his in a way that she was sitting behind him on the couch with her arms wrapped around him.


    "This is a nice view for me don''t you think?" She asked after cing her head on his right shoulder.


    "Yeah," Dave said, smiling at her.


    "Maybe he knows what he''s doing." She asked, turning her gaze to the screen.


    "Maybe?" Dave said with a puff. "I hope he knows what he''s doing."


    "Besides I don''t think there''s any way that he''s not going to bring in Mateo and Ferran." She said,


    "I know but I''m just worried that he may bring them inte when they will not be able to do anything," Dave said with a worried expression on his face.


    Unique FC had gotten possession a few minutes of Litno FC keeping it away from them.


    Minino was being pressed by two midfielders who didn''t want him to cross over so he had no option than to quickly move back and pass the ball to Pirlo who had moved closer to him to receive it.


    Pirlo quickly passed the ball to Norman who slowly pushed the ball forward as he properly scanned the area for a proper cross.


    He found Edward in space in the left midfield position and quickly crossed the ball to him.


    "Long ball to Edward."


    The midfielder in charge of marking him had quickly closed up on him as soon as he received that ball and he had been forced to roll the ball back to Jonas.


    "I still can''t believe coach didn''t put in Rnd after all the mistakes he made in the first half," Dave muttered under his breath.


    "Huh?" Emma said. She sounded tired like she was about to fall asleep.


    "Nothing," Dave replied.


    "Okay."


    Aima had the ball at the edge of his box with two of the opposition yers heading toward him.


    He sent the ball to Alexander who acted under pressure and quickly sent the ball out of the area.


    "You should expect that given the fact that he is young and inexperienced, this is the first time he''s ying on a big stage like this. He didn''t get this much exposure in thest match where he was on the pitch for less than four minutes and didn''t touch the ball." Jim said.


    Minino had risen high to win the ball which Alexander had sent out to nobody in particr.


    He brought the ball down with some neat skill before passing it to Harry on the right.


    Harry didn''t even move that much with the ball before passing the ball to Minino who had quickly moved past the yer marking him to meet the ball at the other end.


    Despite finding his way past the yer, he still couldn''t get past because there were other yers in front of him but he didn''t want to go past them.


    Carlos was already waving for the ball and without hesitation he quickly rolled the ball to the wing that was in space now.


    The opposition yers had all raised their hands to call for an offside but there was no response from the linesman or referee as the winger kept racing down the wing.


    "He''s on side and this can mean something promising for them here." Jim said.


    He stopped at the edge of the line just before the ball could go out for a goal kick and quickly rolled it back to make a cross into the box but before he could do that, one of the opposition defenders marking him jumped in and brought him down with a sliding tackle.


    He got possession of the ball and was about to start a counter-attack with it when the referee blew his whistle while pointing at the spot for a foul.


    "That is definitely a foul," Jim said.<sub> </sub>


    "How nasty was that challenge because Carlos seems to be rolling on the floor here?" John said.


    There was no exaggeration there as Carlos was rolling on the floor with his right hand ced on his face.


    Carlos had picked up an injury from that tackle but it didn''t look like the referee was going to show any card to the yer responsible; the host yers didn''t think that was fair as they were gathering around the official toin.


    The medical staff quickly made their way to Carlos to check what was going on with him


    "Edward really wants the referee to show Levi a card, all the yers have stopped but he''s still following him," Jim said.


    The referee had gotten quite annoyed by the way Edward was following him and Edward was going to go in for that as he quickly turned and showed him a yellow card.


    "And there''s the first booking of the night," Jim said. "Edward Stark, booked for trying to convince the referee that his decision wasn''t right."


    It didn''t look like Carlos would be able to continue as a stretcher had been brought in to carry him out, he couldn''t even get up.


    "Oh, Carlos is being carried off the pitch now after sustaining a surprisingly serious injury," Jim said.


    "And that guy didn''t get a card," Dave said with a surprised expression on his face.


    "Norman is going to have to rece him quickly and it seems like he''s getting the yer ready as we can see Christian Merino and Mateo Smith standing beside him," John said.


    "He''s finally decided to bring on Mateo," Jim said.


    "Finally," Dave said with a sigh of relief.


    The official responsible for substitutions raised his board to show the number seven in red and the number sixteen in green.


    That was Marino''s cue as he quickly made his way into the pitch to rece Carlos.


    After that, he raised his board to show the number twenty in red and the number ten in green.


    "And now, Ina Shaw will being off for Mateo Smith," Jim said.


    Ina made his way out of the pitch and after shaking hands with him, Mateo quickly made his way into the pitch.


    Despite the fact that the team was losing, the youngster received a standing ovation from the fans who were happy to have him on the pitch.


    With Mateo on the pitch now, there was no doubt on who was going to take the freekick for the foul which had happened a little close to the edge of the box.


    The referee had drawn a line for Litno FC to form their wall of three yers with the other yers running around inside the box.


    "This is a very close free kick, can Mateo put it in and pull one back for his team?"


    "You can do it, Mateo," Dave said with his hands crossed against each other.


    The youngster stood over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he let out a deep sigh before taking two steps backward.


    He closed up on the ball again and quickly sent the ball flying into the box.


    Almost everyone expected him to y it directly to the goalpost but he had decided to cross it.


    "Oh, he''s crossed it," Jim said.


    The ball flew high past everyone and was heading toward Merino who was standing away from all the yers because of something like this.


    He quickly brought down the ball with his chest and drilled a shot low into the bottom right-hand corner.


    "Merino shoots! Merino scores!" Jim screamed.


    The fans burst into cheers as the right winger quickly rushed to the, picked up the ball, and started running toward Mateo.


    "What a goal! What a cross from Mateo! They''ve finally pulled one back and it''s just one goal in it now." Jim said.


    "All he needed was to make the necessary changes, just brought on two yers and they''ve already made the difference," John said.


    "Yeah!" Dave screamed, causing Emma to quickly shoot her eyes open with a startled look on her face.


    "What? What? What happened?" She asked quickly looking around.


    "We''ve pulled one back," Dave said not even realizing that he had just woken her up.


    "Oh." She said with a calm voice this time before returning her head to his shoulder. "In case you guys get that equalizer, please don''t scream."


    "Huh?" Dave said, turning his gaze to her, that was when he realized that he had been sleeping.


    "Okay." He said before turning his gaze back to the screen.


    With the addition of Mateo and Merino, they had finally pulled one back and with fifty-nine minutes showing on the clock, he was confident that that equalizer was going toe soon.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 54 Last Chance

    The clock had just entered the seventieth minute with Litno FC still leading by two goals to one.


    The rhythm of the game changed a little bit with the introduction of Mateo and Merino.


    One problem Ina Shaw had in the left wing was the speed to get past the right back in charge of keeping him at bay but that speed was something Mateo had in abundance and coupling it with his skills made it easy for him to get past the right back most of the times.


    Merino wasn''t that much of a fast yerpared to Carlos but he was a very technical yer and a difficult one to mark and even if he didn''t know how to get past a yer, he always knew how to find his teammates with deadly passes.


    The ball was passed to Minino in the center of the pitch but before he could get his foot to it, Roberto swooshed in from behind and stole it.


    "We have twenty minutes remaining and you still haven''t brought on Ferran," Dave said with a sigh. He believed that if Ferran was the person there, he wouldn''t have lost that ball.


    Roberto passed the ball to Nico before moving toward the right to receive the ball back from the center forward.


    He found Zen rushing toward Jonas and quicklyyed off the ball to him.


    Jonas had not been able to stop Zen from getting past him since the match began. Zen had sessfully made it past him five times and two of those times had led to a goal.


    He was looking to redeem himself with this, if only he knew that it was going to be the worst humiliation that he was going to receive tonight.


    The winger used the heel of his boots to knock the ball over the left back before making his way past him to trap it.


    "Oh, my, how did he do that?" Jim said in amazement.


    "Best left back in the team," Dave muttered with a disappointed look on his face.


    Zen raced down the right wing as Edward quickly rushed to block his path and prevent him from entering the box because if he does, that''s game over for them.


    Zen wasn''t even nning to enter the box in the first ce as he raised further down the wing before releasing a cross into the box.


    "That cross could be costly."


    Nico was being marked by Aima and the two had quickly sprung up to meet the ball.


    Nico had the height advantage here and had won the air duel to nod the ball toward the top right-hand corner.


    Alexander was glued to the spot as the ball smashed on the crossbar and fell over for a goal kick.


    "Crossbares to the rescue!" Jim screamed.


    "Oh, that was close, so so close," John said.


    Nico let out a sigh of frustration before falling on the grass.


    "That was close," Dave said with a gasp.


    Ferran and Rnd had been warming up on the sideline and with the ball going out for a goal kick, it looked like it was time for them toe in.


    "It seems like Ferran Phil and Rnd Ryle are getting ready toe on now," Jim said.


    "Yeah and it looks like Litno FC are also going to make a substitution, Miralem is putting on his kit," John said.


    "Finally," Dave said with a sigh of relief.


    The official with the substitution board raised it to show the number eighteen in red and the number five in green.


    "Jonas Blue will now make the way for Rnd Ryle," Jim said.


    "I think that''s the right call for Norman, that right-wing position has been leaking since the beginning of the match, let''s see if the youngster can patch it up," John said.


    There was no response from the crowd as Jonas walked off the pitch, he could have gotten booed for his performance today but everyone had just decided to keep quiet.


    Rnd offered his hand for a shake as Jonas got closer to him but he ignored the gesture and walked past him.


    "Okay," Rnd said before jogging onto the pitch.


    Now it was time for Ferran toe on as the board was raised to show the number twelve in red and the number eight in green.


    "I wasn''t sure about which of the midfielders was going toe off for Ferran but it looks like Harry Norman is going to be the one to make the way for him," Jim said.


    "With Ferraning on now, it looks like Minino is going to switch back to right," John said.


    "Yeah, that''s definitely what''s going to happen," Jim said.


    With Ferran and Rnd now on the pitch, Dave could finally watch the match with full confidence and the hope that that equalizer was going toe one way or the other.


    The match continued with both sides trying their best to get the ball in their opponent''s goalpost.<sub> </sub>


    In the first half, the match was entirely one-sided but right now, Unique FC seemed to be outperforming their guests to a little extent.


    "If he had started these yers, we would be leading now," Dave said.


    <That may be true but I think he knows what he is doing, what if what just happened to Carlos had happened to Mateo or Ferran?>


    ''Mateo and Ferran are not right-wingers.'' Dave replied.


    <That''s not what I meant>


    ''Huh?''


    <That injury was bound to happen in this match and if Mateo and Ferran had started the match maybe it wouldn''t have been Carlos maybe it would have been either one of them>


    ''The injury was bound to happen, what are you talking about?''


    <Don''t worry, with time you wille to understand>


    Dave didn''t even bother to ask as he returned his attention to the match.


    Emma''s head on her shoulder was beginning to wear him out to a little extent but he wanted to see that equalizer happen so badly that he didn''t seem to be bothered about it.


    The clock had entered the nieth minute now as Mateo received a ball from Ferran on the right wing.


    He tried to run into the box but a defender quickly slid toward him trying to bring him down. The youngster had anticipated it all along as he grabbed the ball with his boots and jumped over the yer.


    "He''s still going!"


    Everyone was on the edge of their seats as they expected Mateo to shoot from there and get the equalizer but the winger had found Fred making a run into the box and quickly ced the ball for him with a backheel pass.


    The defense was caught off guard as Fred raced toward the ball and sent it toward the top left-hand corner.


    "Fred!"


    The goalkeeper quickly dived toward the ball and just before it could enter the, he tipped it over the bar with the tip of his glove.


    "Oh, what a save, that was really really close!" Jim eximed.


    Dave had a shocked expression on his face because for a second in his mind that ball had gone in.


    "Williamson has just prevented what could have been a sensational equalizer in thest minute and now Unique FC have a corner with just four minutes of added time to go," Jim said. "This could be theirst chance."


    "This is definitely theirst chance," John said.


    Ferran quickly rushed to the right corner-kick spot to take the corner as they had no time to waste, the clock was ticking and theirst four minutes were slowly fading away.


    "Ferran is standing over the ball, this is definitely theirst chance and if they miss this, the guests are leaving with all three points," Jim said.


    "Come on Ferran,e on Mateo, Fred, and every other person in that box with the urge of getting that ball into the," Dave muttered under his breath.


    The referee blew his whistle as Ferran let out a sigh before curling the ball into the box.


    "He''s taken it."


    A Litno FC yer rose to nod the ball away from the box but the ball had fallen to Rnd who was unmarked at the edge of the box.


    The left-back feigned shooting at the yer quickly rushing toward him to slow him down before pushing the ball forward at the edge of the box and curling it toward the top left-hand corner.


    Williamson dived toward it and managed to get a hand to it but it wasn''t enough as the ball smashed past it and fell into the goalpost.


    "Oh, it''s in! They have finally gotten their equalizer!" Jim screamed.


    Rnd pulled off his shirt and began to run toward their side of the pitch as his teammates pursued him. The fans were screaming at top of their voices now, who wouldn''t scream after witnessing that screamer of an equalizer?


    Dave wanted to scream at the top of his voice too but after turning his gaze to the side and realizing that Emma was fast asleep on his shoulder, that idea went out of the window. He was still going to celebrate though.


    "Yes." He whispered.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 55 Long Term Quest

    Litno FC yers tried to do something with just one minute remaining on the clock but before they could do anything reasonable, the referee had blown his whistle to bring the match to an end.


    "And there''s the final whistle," Jim said. "It really looked one-sided in the first half with Litno FC totally bossing the game buting into the second half the hosts upped their game and finally they were able to get that equalizer."


    "Yeah, Jim that was a very entertaining match to watch, the introduction of Mateo and Merino really changed the rhythm of the match to an extent, and then when Ferran and Rnd came in, the team seemed to have turned into a whole different team from the one that yed in the first half," John said. "Litno FC had quite a good number of chances to increase their lead but luck didn''t seem to be on their side in taking those chances."


    The yers were making their way out of the pitch now as the image of Zen appeared on the screen with a golden tag on it and man of the match written on it.


    "I''m not surprised," Dave muttered.


    "With the draw, Unique FC maintains their stay in ninth ce while Litno FC moves one point clear of Lospeno FC in twelfth ce," John said.


    "That marks the end of our coverage for tonight, good night." Jim said.


    With the match now done, it was time for the post-match interview, and that marked the end of the match for Dave.


    He just had one thing to do to make sure that they were still in the race for the conference league spot.


    He picked up the remote on the table with his left hand and switched to the channel that was showing the match between Supreme United and Lesica United.


    "Rnd, it''s three nill!" Thementator screamed as soon as he switched to the channel.


    Rnd had just been yed through and with an overhead kick, he put the goalkeeper on the floor to get the ball into the goalpost.


    "That''s his second for tonight and Supreme United''s third." Thementator said.


    The scoreboard was now showing Supreme United three, Lesica United two with seventy-three minutes showing on the clock.


    Dave let out a sigh of relief before he switched back to the previous channel, he just didn''t like the football matches of other teams in the league, especially Supreme United.


    Mateo was being interviewed now as he slowly removed Emma''s head from his shoulder and allowed it to drop on the couch slowly before slowly removing her arms from his body.


    With her of his body now, he could finally get up and stretch.


    "Aw." He vocalized as he stretched himself, his right hand particrly.


    "Yeah, it was a tough match but we did our best and I''m d we finally got that equalizer," Mateo said. "We''re three points away from the conference league spot, we''ll try our best to be able to participate in thepetition next season."


    "Yeah, we will," Dave said with a smile.


    <You still have good chances to fight it but winning this match would have made it easier>


    "Yeah, but we have five matches left before the seasones to an end, Lesica United will definitely drop points," Dave said.


    <And you think you guys won''t?>


    ''I''m trying to be positive here, Catherine.''


    <I know but positivity doesn''t make up for hard work, good yers, proper management, and good tactics>


    ''I get your point Catherine but some teams can have all that in some matches and in some matches, some of them or all of them just fall apart that''s what leads to losing the match.''


    <How many times has Real Madrid won the champions league?>


    ''Twelve.''


    <And how many times has Barcelona won it?>


    ''Six.''


    <And you think they won those trophies those seasons by breaking during important matches> Catherine said. <Sure they may lose a few matches because of a few mistakes but in important matches, they implement all those things and give their best>


    ''I get your point but I don''t think Unique has all the resources to implement all those things, thest time the team qualified for a champions league spot through the league was in 1985 and they couldn''t even make it past the group stage but still that was a very good season for them as they won the Europa League and the super cup.''


    <Yeah, I know>


    ''You do?'' Dave replied with a surprised expression on his face.


    <Yeah>


    ''How do you¡­.''


    <I know a lot of things Dave>


    ''Okay.''


    He knew that saying that meant that she wasn''t going to tell her how she knows, it wasn''t the first she was refusing to tell him something.


    He turned his gaze to Emma and watched her breathing peacefully with her mouth slightly open.


    "You just couldn''t stay awake for ny plus a few extra minutes." He said before lifting her.


    He slowly carried her to the room upstairs and slowly dropped her on the bed before pulling her boots off her feet and covering her with the brown sheets on the bed.


    He stared at her for a while before sitting down on the bed.


    He brought out the ring case in his pocket and stared at it for a few seconds before opening it to reveal the ring with a little purple diamond.


    As soon as he felt the bed move, he quickly closed the case and slotted it back into his pocket only to turn and see that she had just turned toward the other side.


    <I can''t wait to see how everything will y out>


    ____ ____


    Dave was the first to get up in the morning as Emma seemed to be very much fast asleep beside him.


    He got up from the bed and slid into his sports trousers, jacket, and running boots before making his way downstairs.


    His everyday first destination since he got the kitchen since he got the system and because of this particr quest, he filled up the freezer with a lot of his required bottled water, even the fridge upstairs was filled up for backup.


    [ Daily questpleted ]<sub> </sub>


    [ Drink two liters of water ]


    [ +5 exp received ]


    [ 30/200 exp ]


    He dropped the container on the floor and turned toward the exit to see Emma standing there.


    "You know it''s weird how you''re able to drink two liters of water on the spot." She said,


    "Weird or amazing?" Dave asked moving closer to her.


    "No, it''s weird." She maintained.


    "You think it''s weird, I think it''s amazing, it''s okay to have different opinions on something." He said with a shrug.


    "I''m guessing I slept off and you had to carry me upstairs." She said turning her gaze toward the living room,


    "Yeah, my shoulder served as a veryfortable pillow until it started to get overwhelmed," Dave said tapping his right shoulder.


    "Sorry," Emma said, folding her face as she felt a little embarrassed to hear that from him.


    "It''s okay, a little stretch was enough to get it back to normal," Dave said, stepping closer to her.


    "So how did the match end?" She asked.


    "Why don''t you guess?"


    "You know I can open my phone and see the final score in a matter of seconds." She said raising her phone.


    "I know but I want you to guess, just guess," Dave said.


    "They didn''t win that I can tell through your mood so it definitely has to be a draw by luck given the fact that it all seemed one-sided before I dozed off." She said,


    <She used everything she could get her hand on to get the correct oue>


    ''My mood gave it away.''


    "That is¡­.."


    "What?" She asked.


    "Correct."


    "I knew it, if it was a win you would have kissed me by now." She said.


    "Really?" Dave said with an awkward expression on his face.


    <She knows you well>


    "Yeah, that''s exactly what you would have done." She said with certainty.


    "Wow, now I feel like I don''t even know myself but at least I know I am going to kiss you right now." He said before leaning closer to kiss her.


    "I''m going for my morning run now." He said heading toward the door.


    "You haven''t told me who scored the equalizer." She said,


    "You have your phone, check the highlights." He said before opening the door.


    "I won''t check it."


    "I know you won''t." He said before closing the door.


    ____ ____


    The goalkeeper returned from his run after about thirty minutes after leaving to find the living room and kitchen empty.


    "She''s not in the kitchen, that''s a surprise." He said making his way to the freezer.


    His stomach rumbled as he immediately felt a serious pang of hunger.


    "I''ve never felt this hungry after a morning run before." He muttered to himself before opening the freezer.


    His eyes were on the leftover pizza which he had put there after he had only managed to eat two slices and Emma had managed to eat only one.


    He reached for the pizza but just as he was about to carry it out, he received something from his system.


    [Long-term quest received ]


    [ As a growing athlete your health determines how far you will be able to go and food ys an important role in that ]


    [ Avoid junk food for three months ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ ???? ]


    [ ???? ]


    [ ???? ]


    ''Another quest with mystery rewards.''


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 56 Outsmarting The System

    <I''ve been waiting for that quest to appear>


    ''Avoid junk food for three months.'' Dave read the quest subconsciously to make sure he was seeing it right. ''Three months!''


    <Yeah, junk food is not good for anybody''s health, especially an athlete like you>


    ''Does pizza count as junk food?'' Dave asked, looking at the pizza package he was holding.


    <Don''t ask me silly questions Dave, the quest isn''tpulsory so if you want you can go ahead and eat and then miss out on lots of JUICY REWARDS>


    She made sure to stress the part about the rewards being juicy.


    "Come on." He said with a sigh as he dropped the pizza package back into the freezer and mmed it shut.


    ''What am I supposed to eat now that my stomach is starting a riot?''


    <Something healthy, vegetables, grains, meat is also good you need protein>


    ''Yeah but none of those things have been made into a meal yet in this house.''


    <Then wait for one to be made into food>


    ''I''ll probably be dead by then but...''


    He let out a sigh as he turned his gaze toward the staircase.


    ''Who knew that she would start cking off in making early breakfast on a day like this.'' He said subconsciously before making his way toward the staircase.


    He got upstairs and headed to the room to discover that she was on a phone call.


    "Okay, we''ll be there early." She said just a few seconds after he had entered and then ended the call.


    She turned toward the door and was quite surprised to see Dave standing there.


    "You''re back." She said with a smile.


    "Was that your mother?" He asked, walking closer to her.


    "Yeah, we were just talking about the family dinner tonight." She said sitting up on the bed.


    "Oh, the dinner which your father will also be part of," Dave said with a not-so-pleasant look on his face.


    "I promise he won''t be any trouble to you, I''ve already spoken to him yesterday." She said standing up in front of him.


    "You made a simr promisest month but you weren''t able to do anything as he verbally murdered me." He said.


    "At least he didn''t physically murder you." She said, cing her hand on his chest. "Just try to reply to him wisely, you''re currently a better goalkeeper than you werest month, you can use that to your advantage when he starts the football talk."


    "I know but that''s not the only thing he used in killing me," Dave said.


    <Now, I want to meet this man>


    "Like I said reply wisely and he''ll shut up, I''ll also try my best to make sure that he doesn''t make you the topic of the night," She said.


    "We are both definitely going to fail but it''s okay," Dave said before crashing down on the bed.


    "Yeah, but he doesn''t really mean any of those things." She said, turning her gaze to him.


    "He says it like he does."


    "But he doesn''t." She said, shaking her head. "I''m going to go see if I can make anything downstairs." She added, Pointing backward with her thumb.


    "Yeah, I''m starving."


    "There''s a leftover pizza in the freezer, you can hold yourself with it before I''m done." She said,


    "No," Dave replied, staring at the ceiling.


    "Why not?"


    "I''m on a diet." He said.


    "A diet? You ate pizzast night."


    "Yeah, I started this morning." He said.


    "Okay, so what are the requirements for your diet so that I can know what to make for you?"


    "Grains, vegetables, meat, and other healthy stuff." He listed.


    "Okay." She said before making her way out of the room.


    "I hope I don''t die before she''s done." He muttered with his gaze still fixed on the ceiling.


    <If you have fruits, they are also part of your diet>


    ''Oh, well then it''s a shame I don''t.''


    ____ ____


    The goalkeeper had survived long enough for Emma to finish making something healthy for him.


    After that, he spent a little time with her before making his way to his personal gym.


    He took a little break in the garage afterpleting his daily two hours and right now he was pushing his ball ster into thewn.


    "I hope I get another quest today." He said before dropping the bag of balls on the floor.


    <If you want a quest then I suggest you directly attempt level four>


    ''I gotst time in level three and my dexterity hasn''t increased since then.'' Dave replied as he began to fill the balls into the ster.


    <True, but I don''t think you''re going to get a quest at that level><sub> </sub>


    "Okay." He muttered before getting up from the floor.


    He stared at the level options for a while before clicking the level four button.


    He picked up his gloves from the floor and put them on before clicking the start button.


    He quickly made his way to the goal line while expecting a message to pop up in front of the screen anytime now.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Keep out six of the balls ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +5 boost to all stats ]


    [ +10 exp ]


    As soon as he received that quest, a smile appeared on his face as an idea quickly popped into his mind.


    [ +4 stat points added to Dexterity ]


    [ Dexterity: 17 ]


    <I was not expecting that>


    The first ball came flying low toward the right-hand side and all the goalkeeper needed to do was stick his leg out to block that.


    The second one was also easy for him to save as it was shot directly at him.


    The third ball was shot toward the top left-hand corner and once again he was pinned to the spot as the ball fell into the back of the.


    He felt faster after dropping four stat points into his dexterity but balls ced there just seemed too difficult for him to do anything useful about, he''s saved shots from that side before on a few lucky asions.


    <At least try jumping toward it, with ball ma you will be able to keep the ball out>


    ''Yeah, ball ma.''


    [ Ball ma-activated ]


    The fourth ball was shot toward the top right-hand corner as Dave quickly dived toward it.


    He almost had his hand to it when he saw the ball move a little toward his hand and that made knocking it over the bar easier.


    "Waooh." He said looking at his gloves.


    <If that shot had more power it would have gone in>


    The fifth shot had also been ced at the top right-hand corner and with his ball ma skill, he had been able to take care of it.


    [ 2/2 triespleted ]


    [ Ball ma deactivated ]


    [ Cooldown time: 20 minutes ]


    ''You didn''t tell me it had a cooldown time.''


    <I don''t have to tell you everything>


    The sixth shot was ced at the bottom left-hand corner and Dave had dived toward it but he wasn''t fast enough as the ball had rolled into the before he could get his hand to it.


    <That''s four over six now, you''ll have to save thesest two, toplete the quest>


    [ Error, stat points cannot be assigned at the moment ]


    "Come on."


    He tried to add his two remaining stat points to dexterity but the system seemed to be one step ahead of him this time.


    The seventh shot was ced at the bottom right-hand corner as Dave dived toward it at the right time to knock it off.


    "Just one more." He muttered as he walked back to the center of his goal line.


    Thest shot was ced at the top left-hand corner just like he half expected.


    He dived toward the ball but it looked like he was going to get there as he didn''t jump quite high enough.


    [ Double jump activated ]


    He felt that sudden thrust as he formed his hand into a fist and punched the ball out.


    He let out a sigh of relief as he fell to the floor.


    Finally, he hadpleted a quest based on the ball ster.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ All stats have received (+5) boosts ]


    [ +10 exp received ]


    <Congrattions you have sessfully cheated your way to victory>


    "It''s not cheating, Catherine, it''s called ying smart," Dave said, looking up at the sky.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 57 Player Of The Week Nominations

    [ Physical Status ]


    [ Strength: 21 ]


    [ Dexterity: 22 ]


    [ Endurance: 16 ]


    <Well at least your stats are starting to look good now>


    "Yeah," Dave said before picking up his water bottle which was lying on the floor.


    His strength and dexterity had entered the twenties with the help of that quest and he still had two extra stat points to spare.


    ''I''m definitely going to put it in dexterity when the timees.''


    <You should know that although dexterity is your most important physical stat as a goalkeeper, doesn''t mean that the other two aren''t that important> Catherine said. <You need strength to be able to win balls in tough situations against tough yers and you also need your endurance stats to be high for you to go through certain conditions without sustaining any injury>


    ''I get your point but dexterity will keep getting most of the stat points except in situations like this where the points are shared equally.''


    <I''m not stopping you>


    ''Okay.''


    "Now," He said with a sigh as he quickly got up from the floor. "It''s time to switch to level five andplete another quest."


    <Trust me, the quest won''t be something you will expect>


    ''How hard is it going to possibly be?'' He replied while picking up the balls around the area.


    It didn''t take him long to gather all eight balls and get them to the machine.


    <Just fill the balls into the machine and find out>


    ''Okay.'' He replied.


    He filled up the ster with the ball and clicked the level five button before quickly making his way to his goal line.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Keep out all eight balls making at least four catches ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +2 skill points ]


    [ +20 exp ]


    ''What the?'' He said subconsciously as he stared at the quest message with a baffled expression on his face.


    He had not heard herugh before but he could swear he could hear Catherine giggling in his mind now.


    <The quest is meant to be a challenge the do things that may seem impossible to you, just do it!>


    He wasn''t exactly feeling the vibe after receiving that quest and to add to his distraction, he heard the sound of a car engine as someone had driven a vehicle into his vicinity.


    The first ball was shot out and he didn''t even bother to try and catch it as it went for the top right-hand corner and fell into the goal post.


    [ Quest failed ]


    <You seriously couldn''t make an attempt>


    ''I''ll tryter Catherine.''


    <Okay, but if your stats increase in any way before then, the quest might get harder or you may not even get it>


    Dave didn''t reply as he walked toward the garage area to see a ck Lexus IS parked beside his ck Toyota Rav4 2021.


    It didn''t take long before Mateo stepped down from his car, he was putting on a pair of ck jeans trousers with white sneakers and for his top, he was putting on a white corless shirt and ck jacket.


    "Hey," Mateo said, making his way to him after mming his car''s door shut. "I thought I was going to see you in the standsst night."


    "Honestly I wanted toe but I went out with Emma and by the time we got home, we were tired and the match was about to begin," Dave said as they did their normal handshake before the shoulder bump.


    "Oh, you guys went to treat yourselves," Mateo said.


    "Not exactly."


    "Where did you go?" Mateo asked.


    "The shopping mall, thergest one in the city," Dave replied.


    "Oh, so you guys went shopping in style," Mateo said, making his way into thewn.


    "Something like that," Dave said with a shrug before following him.


    Just as the young winger entered thewn his eyes caught the ster facing the goalpost as the ster shot a ball into the goalpost.<sub> </sub>


    "What''s that?" He asked, turning his gaze to Dave.


    "It''s my ball ster, I use it to train," Dave exined.


    "Oh, I can see the reason for the improvement," Mateo said with a nod.


    "So, are you here to talk about what happened the other day at training or aboutst night''s match?"


    "The first one no, I really don''t mind what you told Jonas, I would have loved you to tell him more, I just didn''t like the fact that you seemed pissed off while talking, you should have said it to him like he does to you, with a calm expression, Ferran wouldn''t have pulled you away from there if you weren''t speaking with anger." Mateo expressed.


    <He''s right but I''m not sure you would have even replied to him if you weren''t angry>


    "Then you''re here to talk aboutst night''s match then," Dave said with an awkward expression on his face.


    "Um¡­..yeah but not exactly."


    "Huh?"


    "It''s part of the reason why I am here but it''s not the reason why I am here," Mateo said.


    "Then what is the main reason why you''re here?"


    "Let''s go inside first, we can''t just stand here and talk about can we?" Mateo said before making his way to the door.


    "No," Dave muttered.


    Mateo made his way inside the house and after scanning the area with his eyes and ears he discovered that his sister wasn''t there.


    "Where''s Emma?" He asked.


    "Probably upstairs," Dave said before closing the door.


    "Great," Mateo said before making his way to the couch.


    "Huh?" Dave said before following him to the couch.


    ''He''s acting strange for the Mateo I know.''


    <That''s the way people act when they are excited, I think he wants to show or tell you something exciting>


    ''You think?''


    "So¡­."


    "Turn on the TV." Mateo abruptly said before he could say what he wanted to know. "Turn it on and switch to the league channel."


    "You didn''t juste here to watch highlights, did you?"


    "Hey, I have a Television in my house," Mateo said, sounding a bit offended. "Just turn it on."


    "Okay," Dave said before picking up the remote and turning it on.


    What was currently showing in the channel wasn''t highlights like Dave thought and stated rather what was showing now was the weekly discussion session where three football experts, two males, and a female would gather in the room and talk about all the matches that were yed during the week and a lot of other things. It was called the Bilbeth Premier League weekly.


    "I don''t understand," Dave said, staring at the screen with a confused expression on his face.


    "Just watch and listen," Mateo said.


    "So, Michael, which match do you think was the most entertaining of the week?" The woman asked Michael, the man sitting closer to her and directly facing the camera.


    "I believe that the most entertaining match of the week wasst night''s match between Unique FC and Litno FC but before I exin my reason, I think it''s time we announce the seven yers nominated forst week''s yer of the week," Michael said.


    "Should I read the list?" The other man asked, raising the card he was holding.


    "Sure, go ahead," Michael said.


    "Okay, forst week''s nominated yers, this may surprise a lot of people but out of seven yers we have four nominations from Unique FC."


    "Four nominations?" Dave said with a baffled expression on his face.


    "The first yer on the list is Rnd Hills the Supreme United talisman, Luis Ovario from Dynamo FC, Zen Lucho from Litno FC, and thest four that I am going to call are all Unique FC yers. We have Ferran Phil, Mateo Smith, Rnd Ryle, and."


    He paused for a while and for those few seconds, Dave''s curiosity had grown beyond boundary.


    "Dave Richards." He finished.


    "I was nominated?" The goalkeeper said with a stunned look on his face, he couldn''t believe it.


    ***


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 58 Energy Draining Dinner

    The yer of the week award was an award given to the yer who had the best performance from the teams who yed their fixtures that week.


    Seven yers were nominated for the award then there would be a ssified way of choosing who was going to get the award.


    It wasn''t that much of a big award whenpared to the yer of the month and yer of the season awards but to the goalkeeper, it was quite a big award that he would really appreciate if he ever wins it.


    "I was nominated for the yer of the week award," Dave muttered as he still couldn''t believe it.


    "Yeah, bro," Mateo said with a nod.


    The youngster was also nominated but for him, it wasn''t really something to be excited about as he had already been nominated fifteen times this season including this current one. For Dave this was the first time since his career so why wouldn''t he be excited?


    <If you''re looking for a sign that says you''re improving, here''s one>


    "The nomination is good for the boost of motivation but Rnd is probably going to win it like he has done during most of the weeks he has gotten nominated in the season so far," Mateo said.


    "I didn''t watch any of the matches to know how the yers performed but I think any of you guys have a good chance of winning it," Dave said.


    "Huh?"


    "I mean you, Ferran, and Rnd, you guys have been awesome, especially Rnd," Dave said.


    "Yeah, the kid''s been awesometely."


    "Kid? He''s the same age as you." Dave said with a little chuckle.


    "I''m two months older than him."


    "Just two months."


    "Yeah, two months, that''s a lot of days that I was already in the world before he came in." Mateo asserted.


    The two quickly turned their gaze back to the television as Michael seemed to have said something that caught their attention.


    "Yeah, the match seemed really boring in the first half with Litno FC being the only ones really trying to do something but with the introduction of yers like Mateo, Merino, Ferran, and Rnd in the second half, the match turned into quite a heated battle," Michael said. "Zen was easily getting through on that left wing but as soon as Rnd got in that position, the youngster shut him out to the extent that he had to start crossing balls into the box from far out."


    "Yeah, and thatst goal from him in thest minute was something else." The female in the room said.


    "I''m d he scored that goal, I''m d he got us that equalizer," Mateo said.


    "That match could have ended in a better way for us if coach had been more reasonable in choosing his starting lineup," Dave said.


    "I think coach knows what he''s doing," Mateo said. "Carlos is going to be out for two weeks with a muscle injury, that''s what he has been trying but I guess it had to happen to someone at some point."


    "I know but he should have at least started you in this match given the fact that you didn''t start thest match," Dave said.


    "Yeah," Mateo said.


    "If something like this happens in our next match against Spree City, I don''t think there''s going to be anyeback for us."


    "Yeah," Mateo said.


    "Michael, what''s your take on Dave Richards''st week performances, do you think he is starting to be something of a goalkeeper?" Jonah asked.


    <Something of a goalkeeper>


    "Well, Dave Richard''s performance has been quite terrible starting fromst season when he became Unique FC''s first-choice goalkeeper and during that first season as the first-choice goalkeeper, there wasn''t really a time that he performed like this back-to-back," Michael said. "I think he is starting to build a form that he''s never really had, his performances duringst week''s matches were phenomenal. I have to give him credit, he was phenomenalpared to how he had performed before then."


    Dave found the way Michael was talking about him to be quite engrossing to the extent that he couldn''t keep his gaze off the television until someone hade downstairs.


    "Mateo?" Emma said just before she stepped on thest step of the staircase.


    "Hi, sis," Mateo said, waving at her.<sub> </sub>


    "What''s with the frequent visits, did mom tell you to start monitoring me when you''re not ying a match or training?" She asked, crossing her arms.


    "No, why would mom tell me to do that, and even if she does why would I do it?" Mateo said with an appalled look on his face. "I just came to see Dave and also drop some very exciting information for him."


    "What information?"


    "He''s nominated for the yer of the week award," Mateo said.


    "Oh," Emma said.


    The embarrassment of what she had said to her brother was beginning to hit her now but she was going to try and cover it up with a smile.


    _______ ______


    Mateo had spent a few more hours with Dave, the two had even trained together in the gym garage before he had left to go get ready for the family dinner tonight.


    The clock on the wall was showing 6:00 PM as Emma was standing close to the door with her hands on her waist and her gaze on the staircase.


    She was putting on a long and stylish ck dress which had a silver flower on the side as a special design and to go with her attire, she had on a pair of silver-colored heels.


    "Dave, hurry, we''re already runningte!" She yelled.


    There was no response from Dave for about twenty seconds until he began to make his way down the stairs.


    "I''ming."


    "Woah." Those were the first words that came out of Emma''s mouth as soon as he stopped in front of her. "I''ve never seen you put on a tuxedo before." She said moving closer to him.


    The goalkeeper was putting on a nice-looking ck tuxedo with a ck bow tie.


    "Well, thest time I put this on was six months ago when I had to go to an award ceremony so, you''re not mistaken," Dave said.


    "It looks really nice on you." She said before adjusting his bow tie and kissing him. "You should put it on more often."


    "You think?"


    "Yeah." She said with a nod before turning to face the door. "I''ll be outside."


    Dave stood there for quite a while after she had left before he walked to the table and picked up his car keys.


    His legs felt heavy as he walked toward the door but he knew this was for the best so he had to go no matter what.


    He managed to make it to the door and just before he opened it, he let out a deep sigh.


    <The moment I''ve been waiting for>


    "Here we go again." He said before stepping outside and slowly closing the door.


    If there was a way that he could prevent this family dinner from happening tonight, he would dly take it because just thinking about it was draining his energy.


    <Not your physical energy though, it''s still filled up to the max>


    ''I am aware of that, Catherine.'' He grumbled inwardly before he began to make his way toward his car where Emma would definitely be waiting for him.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 59 Quest: Crossbar Challenge

    Dave was quite surprised by how quiet Johnson Smith had been throughout the meal, he expected the man to start bashing him as soon as they had sat down for their meal but none of that had happened up till now.


    <This wasn''t what I was expecting>


    Johnson Smith, Emma and Mateo''s father was a middle-aged man who looked just like a carbon copy of Mateo only that he looked older and had a few distinct features like a stream-lined jawline which Mateo didn''t exactly have.


    Just like Mateo was a carbon copy of his father, Emma was a carbon copy of her mother, the only difference was that while her mother had brown eyes she had blue eyes, that was something she got from her father just like Mateo.


    The room was silent as they all ate their meal and that silence was beginning to make Dave ufortable until Johnson decided to say something.


    "So, Dave, you guys have a match against Spree City on Tuesday right?" He asked turning his gaze to Dave who was sitting opposite him on the table.


    "Yeah," Dave said with a nod.


    "Okay, I just hope you won''t still be out with a minor concussion." The man said, turning his gaze back to his te.


    ''He''s started.'' Dave sighed inwardly.


    "I wasn''t out with a concussion," Dave said.


    "Then why didn''t you y the match against Litno FC?" Johnson asked.


    "The board thought I wasn''t fit and needed to rest," Dave answered.


    "Oh, so the board decided and you agreed because you also thought you needed rest," Johnson said.


    "No, I didn''t agree with it but they said they had already made the decision," Dave said.


    Johnson didn''t reply as he stared at him for quite a while before turning his gaze back to his te.


    "Okay, I hope to see you in the match against Spree City and I also hope your lucky good form doesn''t start failing you in that match," Johnson said with a straight face.


    "Stop this dad, we''re here to eat and talk as a family not talk about football and who''s in a lucky form or not," Emma said


    "Well he isn''t exactly family is he?" Johnson said with his gaze still fixed on Dave. "Heck, you guys are not even engaged yet."


    That one had hit Dave hard as he didn''t expect Johnson to say anything rting to that.


    "They are clearly working on it, Johnson," Martha said.


    "For how long?"


    "I''m going to go use the bathroom now," Dave said, getting up from his seat.


    "Nice way to run away from a conversation," Johnson said just before he entered the hallway.


    "Dad," Emma said looking at his father with annoyance written all over her face. "That was mean."


    "But it''s the truth," Johnson said. "Are you even sure he''s going to propose to you?"


    "Don''t say that dad," Emma said before turning her gaze to her younger brother. "Aren''t you going to say anything about this?"


    "What do you expect me to say?" Mateo said raising his hand.


    She let out a sigh before slowly getting up from her seat.


    "I need to go to the.... bathroom." She said before making her way toward the area.


    "Just know that whatever you two may do in there is not allowed in my house," Johnson said just before she left the room.


    "Johnson," Martha said.


    "What? You know I don''t hate him, if I did he wouldn''t be sitting here having a meal with me and I wouldn''t allow my daughter to stay in his house for over one week now." Johnson said.


    Mateo smiled as soon as he heard that, that was the reason why he never said anything in situations like this whenever Dave was part of the family dinner.


    ______ _____


    "Well,st night wasn''t very enjoyable," Dave muttered as he ran down the road.


    <For you, it was quite enjoyable for me, a great night>


    "Because you enjoy it when I get roasted," Dave said.


    <Only when it''s just for the fun of it>


    "For the fun of it?" He muttered.


    He had entered the pack now and after reaching the grass area toplete two kilometers, he quickly walked to the match in the area and sat there.


    ''You mean, he didn''t mean those things he said.''<sub> </sub>


    <Well, he meant some of them>


    ''Oh.''


    <You should know that he doesn''t hate you>


    ''You''re not the first person to tell me that, but I find it a bit hard to believe.'' Dave replied before getting up from the bench.


    _____ ____


    The training schedule for today was set by 10:PM, the yers had taken a whole day off yesterday so Norman wanted to start the training for today early.


    All the yers were already on the pitch with Norman and the rest of the coaching staff standing in front of them.


    ''It''s good to be back in training.'' Dave thought as he stood in between Ferran and Mateo.


    "We are facing Spree City on Tuesday," Norman said. "We made a lot of mistakes during thest match, mistakes that we cannot afford to make against Spree City.


    "They may not be in good form at the moment but we all know what happens every time we face those guys, we have lost all our matches against them home and away for two consecutive seasons and if we lose this one, it will be the third consecutive season."


    "We could have drawn thest one if Dave had been less of a basket," Jonas said.


    <This guy just doesn''t seem to learn>


    "We could have won ourst match against Litno FC if you didn''t turn into a ghost every time Zen approached you with the ball," Ferran said.


    That had taken Jonas by surprise as he was expecting a reply from Dave so that he could tell him what he had nned in his mind if only he knew that Dave wasn''t going to reply to him even though Ferran had not said anything.


    "I''m just d coach decided to bring in Rnd, if not that match could have ended in a bad way for us," Ferran added before turning away from the left back.


    Mateo wanted tough out loud but he knew that was going to be weird given the fact that Norman was still addressing them so he decided to hold it in.


    <That was brutal>


    "As I was saying, we need to try our best to get a win for that match, a draw is not even an option, we need to win that match if we''re going to push Lesica United out of that conference league spot," Norman said.


    "If winning is our priority coach, then you know the yers to start," Ferran said, before turning his gaze to Jonas who had an unpleasant look on his face now.


    After Norman had addressed them on a few other things, the training kicked off.


    Runningps, stretches, strategy training, and other forms of training.


    The team had trained for about an hour and thirty minutes now, and while they were on a short break, Mateo had decided to practice something.


    "What are you doing?" Dave asked.


    He had almost left the pitch when he spotted Mateo arranging five balls in a row, a little distance away from the eighteen-yard box.


    "Trying something," Mateo said as stepped back from his row of balls.


    "What?"


    Mateo didn''t reply as he raced toward the balls and kicked the first in line which flew over the top bar almost making contact with it in the process.


    "Hitting the crossbar." He said.


    "Oh, crossbar challenge," Dave said.


    "Yeah," Mateo said before shooting the other ball which went straight to the crossbar and hit it before falling in front of the goalpost.


    "Yes," Mateo said in excitement. "Did you see that?"


    "Yeah, I saw it, it was awesome."


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Hit the crossbar twice in five tries ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +15 exp ]


    [ +5 skill points ]


    [ Unlock ball-ying keeper attribute ]


    ''Huh?''

 Chapter 60 Team Of The Week

    Dave was confused and surprised at the same time because he never expected his system to give him a quest like this.


    ''What does hitting the crossbar have to do with being a goalkeeper?''


    <A goalkeeper doesn''t only make saves, a goalkeeper also has to be good with the ball on his feet and start-up attacks, this particr quest is to train your long ball uracy>


    ''Okay, but what are these attributes? Thest one was the sweeper keeper attribute, this one is the ball ying keeper attribute?''


    <You''ll have to unlock one to find out what it does>


    ''You''re not going to just tell me what they do.''


    <No>


    Mateo shot the fourth ball which flew straight toward the crossbar and banged on it before falling over.


    He had missed the third one so that one made it two out of two.


    "Yes," Mateo muttered before turning his gaze to Dave with a smile on his face.


    ''If that was me, I would have alreadypleted the quest and then receive those sweet rewards.''


    <But it''s not you, Mateo has good long ball uracy, it''s not the best but it''s good>


    Mateo drew back a little before closing up the ball and shooting it toward the crossbar.


    The two watched as the ball flew toward the crossbar bar and banged on it before falling over.


    "Three out of five, yeah!"


    "Three out of five, that''s insane," Dave said.


    "I know, right," Mateo said with a wide smile on his face.


    "Let me try and see how well I''ll do."


    "Sure, go ahead," Mateo said.


    The goalkeeper gathered five balls from all the balls lying around in the area and lined them up just like Mateo had done with his own balls.


    <You know you don''t have to set up the balls like that, right?>


    ''Yeah, but I want to set them up this way.'' Dave replied.


    "Good luck," Mateo said as he slowly drew back to take his first shot.


    He quickly closed up on the ball and shot it toward the goalpost but he had hit it with so much power that it had flown over the bar without even getting close to the crossbar.


    "Oh, that was too much," Mateo said.


    "Yeah," Dave said, folding his lips.


    "Try hitting it with less shot power and more technique, you can hit the crossbar with that amount of shot power but it''s tricky and you may only manage to hit it a few times by luck," Mateo said.


    <He''s right>


    Dave took Mateo''s advice and tried to reduce his shot power but despite that, he had failed to hit the crossbar in the next three tries and now it was just down to one ball.


    [ Quest failed ]


    He had failed the quest the moment he was just down to one ball without hitting the crossbar but he was still going to try and see if he could make this one.


    He let out a sigh as he drew back a little from the ball, raced toward it, and shot it only for it to fly into the.


    "Well, look on the bright side, if that was a match that could have been a goal," Mateo said.


    "Yeah, and what type of goalkeeper wouldn''t keep that ball out?" Dave said with a sigh.


    <You can try again>


    "Hey, guys."


    The two heard Ferran''s voice behind them and quickly turned to see him heading into the pitch with Rnd following him from behind.


    "Is the break over?" Mateo asked.


    "Almost," Ferran said before stopping in front of them. "Guess what?"


    "What?" Mateo asked.


    "The yer of the week has just been announced," Ferran said.


    "Who won it?" Dave asked.


    "Rnd," Ferran said with a smile.


    "I knew it, I knew they were just going to give it to him again," Mateo said.


    "No, not Rnd Hills, Rnd Ryle," Ferran said, pointing at Rnd who was standing beside him.


    "Rnd?" Mateo said with a voice that indicated that he was quite surprised.<sub> </sub>


    "Yeah, you came in behind with a point deficit, Rnd Hills ended up in third ce, and I was in fifth ce," Ferran said.


    "Wow, congrats man, you finally beat me to it," Mateo said. "I guess that dying minute equalizer yed a big role in it."


    "Thanks, Mateo," Rnd said with a smile.


    "And don''t forget that block from the match against Ronino FC," Ferran said.


    <He came in as a substitute in two of the matches this week and still put up a good enough performance to win yer of the week>


    "Congrats Rnd," Dave said.


    "Thanks." Rnd turned his gaze to him to say.


    "So, Ferran where was I ranked?" Dave asked turning his gaze to Ferran.


    "Seventh," Ferran said.


    "Oh."


    "Don''t worry Dave, if you keep up your current form, you''ll certainly win it this week," Mateo said.


    "Yeah," Rnd said.


    "I hope so," Dave said.


    It didn''t take long before the yers started returning to the pitch to finish their training.


    Dave had attempted the crossbar challenge again during training and he had gotten the quest but just like the first time, he failed without being able to hit the crossbar at least once from that far out.


    After about two more hours of training, the training session finally came to an end.


    He seemed to be engaged in a conversation with Ferran and Mateo as the three made their way outside and once they had reached outside, they parted ways and made their way to their cars.


    Dave drove home while thinking of the crossbar quest which he had just failed two times in a row.


    <Well, the only key to improvement is constant practice, the system may seem like some special gift but you won''t get anything from it if you decide to lie on your bed and sleep all day>


    ''I know.''


    <My point is, you have a smaller version of a goalpost in your house, why not try practicing with it and start from a shorter distance?>


    ''Yeah, that''s a very good idea.'' Dave replied as he drove into his parking space.


    <You''re wee>


    Dave sighed and shook his head as he opened the door and stepped down from the car.


    "Emma." She called as soon as he entered the house.


    <Wow>


    As soon as Catherine said that, he realized that Emma had already left for her interview just like she told him before he left for training.


    "Silly me." He said with a smile as he walked to the couch and sat down there.


    The television was on but he didn''t seem to be interested in the match highlights that were currently showing and was looking around the house instead.


    Just two weeks ago, he would leave his house empty and still return to find it empty.


    Right now he was getting that empty feeling ofing back and finding his house empty.


    <Well, at least you have some alone time>


    ''Alone time''s great when you need it but living alone is something else.''


    "And now, we present you, the team of the week." He heard a female voicee from the television and quickly turned his gaze there.


    The team of the week was currently disyed there now with a four-four-two formation.


    The two center forwards were Rnd and Sandro, the midfield was filled up by Mateo, Zen, Ferran, and Mico, a yer from Dynamo FC. In defense, Rnd was in the left back position, Johnson and Correa in the center back and Alvarez in the right back, and finally in the goalkeeping position was him with an average rating of 7.8st week.


    It was really nice to see himself get nominated for yer of the week and be part of the team of the week for the first time in his career.


    <Well, it was certain that you were going to be part of the team of the week given the fact that you were the only goalkeeper nominated for yer of the week>


    ''Yeah.'' Dave replied.


    He brought out his phone to call someone and just before he could tap the screen, the phone began to vibrate as the word dad popped up on the screen.


    ''Why is he calling me now?''


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 61 My Girlfriends A Sports Reporter

    The sun was zing hot in the afternoon but Dave didn''t seem to be bothered by it as he stood about six meters away from the goalpost in thewn with five of his mini balls lined up right in front of him.


    ''Here we go, Catherine.''


    He let out a deep sigh as he drew back a little before quickly stepping closer to kick the first ball in the row.


    The ball flew straight toward the crossbar, Dave thought it was going to hit it until it zoomed past it and hit the flower behind.


    <That was close>


    ''Yeah.'' Dave replied before taking two steps backward.


    He raced toward the next ball and shot it toward the top right-hand corner.


    The ball flew toward the target and smashed on the crossbar before falling over.


    "Yes!" He yelled with an ted voice.


    <One out of two, keep going>


    The third had flown over without hitting the crossbar, and the fourth one had also flown over out of hiswn and had to go get it.


    "That''s one out of four now." He muttered before allowing the ball he was holding to drop on the floor.


    <If you want to get this right, you need to master a particr style of kicking the ball that works for you and not just kicking it in any way you want>


    ''A particr style?''


    <If you were carefully watching Mateo when he was trying to hit the crossbar, you would have noticed that he kicks the ball in a particr way and he even gave you a tip on it>


    ''Okay.'' Dave said before letting out an inward sigh. ''I understand what you''re saying.''


    He raced toward the ball and instead of hitting it with the side of his boot, he tipped it with the tip of his boots.


    The ball flew up andnded straight on the crossbar.


    "Yeah, two out of three!"


    <Well, it''s only from six meters out but still it''s something, keep practicing and try to master a shooting technique, that thing you just did now won''t be exactly useful from a long distance>


    The goalkeeper had decided to cancel his gym training for today so that he could practice more on hitting the crossbar and there was noint from Catherine.


    After about two hours of training outside, he went inside to grab a cool drink since the one he brought outside had turned into something else.


    After having a whole bottle of chilled water, he made his way to the living room and crashed down beside the couch with his head rxing on it.


    He stayed there with his eyes closed for a while and opened them to look at the wall clock.


    "I didn''t know interviewssted this long." He muttered.


    <Maybe she went to do another thing>


    ''Another thing like what?''


    <You''re asking me?>


    Dave sat up on the couch and after about five minutes of not doing anything, he stood up.


    "I''m going to go get some shut-eye." He muttered as he slowly made his way toward the staircase.


    He was about to step on the first step of the staircase when he heard the door move.


    He turned at the same time the door was pushed open to see Emma standing there looking exhausted.


    "Hey." She said with a smile before making her toward the couch and crashing on it after getting there.


    "How are you?" Dave asked, walking closer to her.


    "I''m fine, just a little exhausted." She said trying to see if there was any way she could sink deeper into the couch.


    "The interview was exhausting?" Dave said before sitting beside her.


    "Not exactly the interview." She said before sitting up on the couch. "I had to wait for hours before I was called in and.."


    "What?"


    "I got the job but...."


    "But what?"


    "They assigned me to the sports reporting department." She said before crashing back on the couch. "I know it''s in my list of special areas but I wanted governmental affairs or health more."


    "Did you try to talk to them about it?" Dave asked.


    "I did, but they said they already had enough staff in those areas." She mumbled.<sub> </sub>


    ''Help me out here Catherine, I don''t exactly know what to say.''


    <Are you asking for my help to talk to your girlfriend>


    ''Of course, I''m asking for your help.''


    "I don''t think I''ll be able tost one week working with that woman," Emma said.


    "Who?"


    "My boss." She said, "She''s something of a perfectionist, I was terrified by the way she was talking to her staff."


    "Don''t worry, you''ll certainly survive for more than one week, two or three weeks maybe." He said causing Emma to quickly shoot a cold stare at him.,


    "Seriously."


    "Listen, babe, everyone gets challenges in aspects of lives like this, but those challenges don''t mean the end of the world," Dave said. "Do you remember when you told me that?"


    "Yeah." She said with a nod.


    "You got assigned to a niche you didn''t want, your boss seems to be mean, those things are challenges that I know you will waddle through because you are a strong woman." He said, cing his hand on hers.


    Hearing him say that to her was enough to put a smile on her face.


    "And besides I can''t understand why you are sad about bing a sports reporter, I think it''s a great niche to be assigned to."


    "You''re saying that because you''re a footballer," Emma said, rolling her eyes.


    "Well, football isn''t the only sport in the world is it?"


    "I was assigned specifically to football." She said,


    "Well then, I''m saying it for the love of the sport." He said. "Seriously, I think you''ll love gathering information about yers, matches, coaches, and many other things rting to the beautiful game."


    "I know but I don''t think I would love it as much as I would love gathering information about governmental affairs and health." She said,


    "That sounds to me like it''s going to be boring."


    "It''s not." She said,


    There was a little moment of silence between the two before Emma decided to say something.


    "So how was training today?" She asked.


    "It was okay," Dave replied.


    "You guys will be ying against Spree City tomorrow right?" She asked.


    "Yeah."


    "Okay, I''ll have to book a flight tonight then." She said,


    "Flight?" Dave said with a confused expression on his face. "For what?"


    "I''m going to be at the match tomorrow as a reporter to get the full match report, that''s my first assignment." She exined.


    "Okay, that''s nice," Dave said with a nod.


    "You think?"


    "Yeah, my girlfriend''s now a sports reporter and she''s going to be at my match tomorrow as a sports reporter."


    "Stop," Emma said, hitting him on his shoulder.


    "Aww."


    "I think I need to go change and get some rest now." She said before slowly getting up from the couch. "It''s been a long day.


    "Yeah, me too," Dave said, getting up from the couch. "You''re not the only one who''s had a long day."


    Emma didn''t reply to him as she slowly walked to the staircase and began to make her way up it.


    ''Tomorrow''s going to be a nice day.''


    <And it will go from nice to terrible if you guys lose against Spree City>


    ''Catherine.'' He grumbled inwardly.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 62 Tough Quest

    [ Daily questplete ]


    [ Drink two liters of water ]


    [ +5 exp received ]


    [ 60/200 exp ]


    He dropped the container on the floor as usual before quickly making his way toward the door.


    ''I''m going to run an extra two kilometers today, Catherine, am I going to get extra rewards for it?''


    <That''s not up to me but there''s a chance that you may get something>


    "Okay." He muttered before taking off.


    With his improved dexterity, the goalkeeper could nowplete two kilometers without feeling as drained as he used to; that was the reason why he had decided to run four kilometers today.


    ''I just feel great today.'' He said subconsciously as he ran down the road.


    <I can tell>


    [ Questplete ]


    [ Run two kilometers ]


    [ +10 exp received ]


    The message appeared on his system screen as soon as he got to the park but he wasn''t going to be stopping there today.


    He continued running down the road and by the time hepleted the four kilometers he had almost gotten to the Wondamino stadium.


    The goalkeeper let out huffs and puffs as he looked ahead with both of his hands ced on his knees.


    <Four kilometers, well done>


    ''Where are my rewards?''


    <I told you that it''s not up to me but you may get something>


    [ Congrattions on exceeding your daily quest limit ]


    [ The system has decided to reward you ]


    [ +1 stat point added to endurance ]


    [ +2 stat points added to dexterity ]


    [ +5 exp received ]


    [ 75/200 exp ]


    He was still breathing heavily as he stared at the messages on his screen with a wide smile on his face.


    ''I am so d I decided to do this.''


    He got home and was d to find the table already set with breakfast ready and waiting for him.


    The two ate their breakfast and after that, Dave quickly went upstairs to get ready because they needed to be in Spree this morning for their match against Spree City which was kicking off by 2:00 PM.


    It took him about twenty minutes to finish getting ready.


    He made his way downstairs putting on a red shirt and ck jacket with ck jeans trousers and a pair of ck sneakers with red designs.


    "Hey," Emma said with a smile after spotting him from where she was sitting in the living room.


    "Hey," Dave said, moving closer to him.


    "You look....nice." She said after looking at him from head to toe.


    "Thanks," Dave said before turning his gaze to the couch where his backpack was lying.


    "Yeah." She said before turning to pick up the bag. "Your bag." She said, handing the bag to him.


    "Yeah," Dave said, taking the backpack from her.


    "I packed everything you''ll need in there." She said,


    "Thanks, babe." Dave said before leaning closer to kiss her. "I guess I''ll be seeing you there in the afternoon."


    "Yeah." She said with a nod.


    "Alright then." He said moving to the door. "See you in a few hours."


    _____ ____


    The team bus had just arrived at the airport and the yers were now making their way out of the bus and heading into the team''s ne which was already waiting for them.


    The yers made their way to their desired seats and after making sure that they were all seated and had their seat belts on, the ne had taken off.


    Mateo and Dave were sitting together as always and the two seemed to be talking quite a lot since the ne took off.


    Their teammates were quite surprised by how much the two had been talking, especially Dave.


    "Hey, what''s up with you two?" Ferran raised his head from the seat behind to ask.


    "What?" Mateo asked.<sub> </sub>


    "You guys are talking too much and you Mateo, your voice is quite loud," Ferran said.


    "Oh," Dave said before turning his gaze to Norman and Aima who were sitting opposite them and the two were looking at them with strange expressions on their faces.


    The goalkeeper didn''t even realize and now he was feeling quite embarrassed.


    <I tried to tell you>


    Dave felt embarrassed, Mateo wasn''t bothered in any way instead he brought out his phone.


    "Hey, Ferran, stay there." He said before setting his phone up for a selfie.


    He took a selfie of the three of them before bringing down his phone to post it on his Instagram.


    "Off to Spree with my buds." He said as he typed on his phone. "Hashtag victory." He added before clicking the post button.


    "I hope so Mateo," Ferran said before sitting back in his seat.


    The team arrived at Spree by exactly 11:30 AM and now they were making their way to Spree City''s Telonia stadium which was just across the road.


    There were lots of fans waiting for them by the side and as always they were shouting the names of their favorite yers on the team.


    Dave didn''t even bother to check if he would hear anyone call his name but just as he was about to make his way into the building, he heard someone call his name from the side.


    "Dave Richards." The boy called again.


    Dave slowly turned to the side to see the young boy standing there with a pair of gloves in his hand.


    "Can you sign my gloves please?" The young boy requested.


    "Sure," Dave said with a warm smile as he bent down in front of him, took the pen from him, and signed both of his gloves.


    "Thank you, Dave." The boy said with a smile.


    "You''re wee," Dave said before making his way into the building with his teammates.


    <Boost of confidence>


    The yers were shown to their dressing room by the hosts and after getting there, they dressed up in their ck training kit before making their way to the pitch where their opponents were already training.


    "This is going to be a tough match," Ferran said on spotting Spree City''s center forward Felix Nunez.


    Felix was a slim but muscr yer, he had short ck hair and a face that made it difficult to tell the expression on his face in any situation.


    "Yeah," Dave muttered.


    Felix quickly made his way to the area as soon as he spotted his favorite yers on the team.


    "Hey, Ferran." He said, shaking Ferran''s hand. "Mateo." He said before shaking Mateo''s hands.


    "Felix," Mateo said.


    "And there''s my best man Dave." He said before going for a fist bump with Dave. "You guys are wee."


    "Thank you," Dave said before Mateo and Ferran said.


    "You guys were on firest week," Felix said.


    "And so were you guys," Ferran said.


    "Yeah, we dropped two points, you guys didn''t drop any points," Mateo said.


    "But still you guys are in good form and I hear it''s because of Dave''s current form," Felix said.


    "Yeah, Dave''s been awesometely, those matches could have ended differently for us if it weren''t for his heroics," Ferran stated.


    "I see, Dave Richards is finally showing us what he''s got," Felix said, turning his gaze to Dave. "But I hope you can allow me to get at least three past you, the others I can find a way to force in."


    <I think he''s mocking you>


    ''I am aware of that.''


    "I need to return to training now, make yourselves at home." He said before running off back to his teammates.


    "Alright I am going to say it, I don''t like that guy," Mateo said.


    "I don''t think any of us does," Ferran said.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Prevent Felix Nunez from scoring ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ Instant level up ]


    [ Unlock a goalkeeping attribute ]


    ''Okay, that is a very tough quest.''


    ***


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 63 Second Chance

    There was a reason why Dave tagged the quest he had just received as a hard quest and that was because of the way things had been with him and Felix whenever they met.


    Dave had only be Unique FC''s number onest season after their former goalkeeper, during that season was the goalkeeper met Felix twice during the season and during those matches, the striker had put seven goals past the goalkeeper, scoring four goals in their first meeting and humiliating the goalkeeper in your process of scoring some of those goals.


    They had already met in the home leg this season and during that match in which Spree City trashed Unique FC four goals to one, Felix Nunez had managed to put two goals past him.


    <Well, you''re different now, you can certainly stop him now>


    ''I know but...''


    <But what?>


    ''Felix is a different breed of striker, his shots are really confusing sometimes.''


    <Then find the pattern to the confusing shots and decipher it>


    ''It''s easy for you to say.''


    <It''s easy for me to say because it''s that easy, I won''t tell you anything meaningless>


    The yers trained on the pitch with about two hours and thirty minutes left before the match began.


    Right now, Merino was ying long balls toward the goalkeeper''s goalpost and he was easily hitting them out and knocking them over the bar.


    "Catch this one on the top right-hand corner," Merino said before racing toward the ball standing a little distance away from him.


    Dave dived toward the left side because he thought Merino was trying to trick him but the winger had ced the ball in the top right-hand corner just like he said.


    <Well, he did seed in tricking you, without even trying>


    "Wow, you thought I was trying to trick you," Merino said, moving closer to him.


    "Well, not everyone tells me where they are going to y the ball before ying it," Dave said slowly getting up from the floor.


    "Hey, Dave, think fast!"


    He heard Mateo''s voice and quickly raised his gaze to see a ball flying toward him from above.


    The ball wasn''t moving with much power so it was an easy catch for the goalkeeper.


    With forty-five minutes left before the match began, the yers began to make their way back to the dressing room to get ready for the match.


    Norman had already educated them on the match tactics and selected his starting eleven and one of the things that were giving Dave confidence going into this match was the fact that both Mateo and Ferran were starting the match.


    "I still don''t get why coach is starting Jonas ahead of Rnd after all the mistakes he made in ourst two matches, mistakes that Rnd came in to fix," Mateo muttered to Dave as he tied thece on his red boots.


    "Well, maybe he wants him to redeem himself in this match," Dave said.


    "And he couldn''t do that against Litno FC?" Mateo said. "I just hope he doesn''t turn into a ghost anytime Kaleno approaches him." He added before turning his gaze to the left back who was tying up hisces just like he was doing.


    With twenty minutes left before the match kicked off, the yers from both teams matched into the pitch as apuse rang and cheers rang in the stadium from the fans from both sides.


    "Wee to our viewers from all around the world," Jim said. "It''s your regr host Jim Waterson and joining me here to provide expert opinions and analysis as comentator will be Mr. Steve Jefferson."


    "Thank you, Jim, it is really great to be back after missing out on a few matches."


    Unique FC yers were putting on their second away Jersey which was a lemon-colored kit with a mix of ck and orange stripes and just ck shorts. For Dave, it was just a lemon-colored kit.


    Spree City yers on the other hand were putting on light blue kits while their goalkeeper was putting on a red kit.


    Unique FC were ying the four-three-three formation as always with Mateo Fred and Merino leading the attack.


    Edward, Ferran, and Minino in midfield, and then Jonas, Aima, Adolf, and Norman in defense.


    Spree City were ying the four-four-two formation with Felix and Kaleno leading their attack.


    "Unique FC had lost all their matches against Spree City for the past seasons now, can this be the match that they are finally going to break Spree City''s streak on them?" Jim said.


    "Well, Unique FC has been in wonderful form so far and with Dave Richards starting to be something, they are starting to look a bit dangerous," Steve said.


    "So you''re saying that there''s a chance that they could beat Spree City," Jim said.


    "Yeah, there''s a chance but you can''t rule out what Spree City can do, they are one of the teams who are in good form alongside Unique FC as ofst week so my best bet on this match is going to be a draw."


    "A draw? Well, let''s watch and see." Jim said.<sub> </sub>


    Felix was standing over the ball in the kick-off spot waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as the whistle was blown, he passed the ball to the yer closest to him.


    "The match has kicked off now and we are set for another ny minutes of entertaining football this season," Jim said.


    Someone who had been studying both teams'' styles of y since the start of the season would notice that Spree City was just a better version of Unique FC.


    They loved to keep the ball way more than the oranges and they could easily convert defense to attack.


    The only team that Unique FC always ended up having less ball possession against, that''s Spree City.


    Right now they were passing the ball around trying to find an opening to strike while Unique FC yers were trying everything they could to get possession of the ball.


    "Felix Nunez is the yer with the most goals against Dave Richards, the striker has recorded nine goals against him in just three matches and he may extend that record tonight," Jim said.


    "Something I''m going to try my best to stop from happening," Dave muttered before joining his hands together.


    A through pass had been yed to Kaleno but before the ball could get to him, Adolf swooshed in from behind.


    "Oh, that''s a clever interception from Adolf," Jimmented.


    The center-back wanted to start up an attack while their opponents were a bit unsettled and quickly passed the ball to Edward.


    The yer behind Edward had already anticipated that he was going to pass the ball to him and that was why he quickly raced to the midfielder before the ball got to him.


    There was no space for him to turn or move with the ball as the yer was trying to muscle him off the ball so he decided to pass it to Ferran but the pressure being put on him now had caused the pass toe off as a sloppy one which was easily stolen by another Spree City yer.


    "That wasn''t a good pass," Steve said.


    "No, it wasn''t even close."


    The yer quickly passed the ball to the right Midfielder who didn''t waste time to roll it to Kaleno who was racing toward Jonas.


    Jonas looked really determined to shut him out but the winger wasn''t even nning on getting past him as he quickly lobbed it into the box for Felix who was racing in there with Aima and Adolf.


    "Oh, this looks promising."


    The ball flew right past Adolf to Felix''s feet and without trying to do anything special, the striker pushed the ball toward the goalpost.


    Dave was glued to the spot as the ball rolled past him into the from the bottom right-hand corner.


    "It''s a goal! It''s a goal! Spree United has gotten the opener, Felix Nunez extends his goal record against Dave Richards and Unique FC as a team."


    Felix didn''t do that much of a celebration as he just pointed both of his fingers upstairs while his teammates rushed to him.


    Dave had a devastated look on his face and he had turned his gaze down now with his hands on his waist.


    ''I couldn''t even keep up the quest for at least five minutes.'' He said subconsciously as he stared at his system screen expecting that quest failed message to appear anytime soon, but after a minute nothing popped up.


    ''What''s going on Catherine?'' He asked. ''Felix just put the ball past me.''


    <Why don''t you raise your head and see for yourself>


    "Huh?" He muttered as he raised his head to see that about four Spree City yers were gathered around the referee.


    "I don''t know what they are trying to convince him for because the linesman had his g up there," Steve said.


    "To go check VAR, that''s certainly what they are asking him to do," Jim said.


    The referee didn''t seem to have listened to anything the yers said as he blew his whistle and pointed toward the goalpost before pointing toward Spree City''s side.


    "It''s official, that goal won''t count," Jim said.


    "Yes," Dave said with an excited tone to his voice.


    <I know it''s not exactly a second chance but you should see it as that and be more careful now>


    "Second chance," Dave muttered.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 64 Shocking Saves

    "Yeah, he was offside," Jim said with his eyes fixed on the screen in thementary room which had a paused footage of Felix''s foot being a few inches offside just before Kno crossed that ball.


    "They are going to have to try again," Steve said.


    The match had entered the twentieth minute now and still, there has been nothing from both sides so far.


    Mateo has been looking for a way to break up their defense and y the ball through to anybody in a nice position but so far all his attempts have proved futile.


    The left winger received the ball from Ferran and after trying to confuse the right back marking him and get past him without being exactly sessful, he passed the ball to Fred.


    Fred feigned shooting at the yer in front of him before rolling the ball back to Ferran with a backheel pass.


    Ferran didn''t wait for the ball to get close as he raced toward it and lobbed it to Merino on the right wing.


    Merino ran forward deep into the area and when he couldn''t get rid of the yers trying to take the ball from him, he quickly cut back and crossed the ball into the box.


    Fred was in the right spot at that exact time and rose the highest to meet the ball with a header.


    "Header!"


    The ball went straight toward the goalkeeper who couldn''t deal with it as the ball bounced on his shoulder and fell off right in front of the goalpost.


    "Nice save but it''s not cleared yet."


    Mateo happened to be the closest Unique FC yer at that time but there were also two Spree City defenders close to the ball.


    All three yers rushed toward that ball but the two defenders seemed to have underestimated what Mateo could do as the left winger slid toward the ball before one of the defenders could kick it out.


    The defender had kicked his leg instead as the winger fumbled the ball into the back of the.


    "Fumbled into the, it''s a goal!" Jim eximed.


    Mateo quickly got up from the floor and raced toward the sidelines to celebrate the goal as his teammates rushed toward him.


    The crowd was going wide now as they didn''t expect Mateo to put that away like that.


    "To be honest Jim, I never expected him to put that away," Steve said.


    "Me too, I never expected him to slide but if it''s a goal Unique FC needs, Mateo Smith would do anything to get it," Jim said.


    ''Yes! Yes! Yes!'' Dave screamed inwardly as he raised his hand in celebration of that goal.


    <If I were your coach, I would switch to a defensive style of y and then you guys can find ways to turn defense into attack because those guys look really dangerous whenever they''re attacking>


    ''Yeah, but I think coach knows the right thing to do after now.''


    "Unique FC are now ahead after a remarkable goal from Mateo Smith in the twenty-second minute, there''s still a lot of time left before we go, will there be a response from Spree City?"


    Spree City were still in possession of the ball after the kick-off and so far they weren''t looking desperate to do anything.


    The right Midfielder received the ball from the right back and with Edward quickly racing toward him, he rolled it back to the center back who had gotten closer to him now.


    The center-back passed the ball to the central midfielder who quickly sent the ball to Kno.


    Kno had a lot of yersing his way to try and get the ball from him and that had caused him to pass the ball to the attacking midfielder who was running toward the eighteen-yard box.


    The attacking midfielder moved forward a little before passing the ball to Kno.


    Kno did some leg-overs in front of Jonas before quickly getting past the left back with a nutmeg.


    "Oh, Kno''s through here," Jim said.


    Kno didn''t waste time in crossing the ball to the attacking midfielder who was at the edge of the box.


    "Something could happen here," Stevemented.<sub> </sub>


    The Midfielder brought the ball down with his chest but before he could do anything, Adolf was already upon him and had almost dispossessed him of the ball.


    The midfielder was able to hold his ground though as he quickly turned and passed the ball to Felix just before being brought down by Adolf.


    "It''s Felix!"


    Felix raced toward the ball at the edge of the box and sent it flying toward the left side of the goalpost.


    Dave dived toward the ball at the right time and with both of his hands, he pushed the ball out for a corner kick.


    "What a save!" Jim eximed. "Dave Richards stepping up to stop what would have been a wonderful goal."


    Adolf quickly rushed toward the goalkeeper and hugged him as soon as he got up from the floor as a few other teammates gathered around him.


    That was a very crucial save and it was something they had to be grateful for.


    Felix was staring at Dave now with a stunned expression on his face.


    The moment he started racing toward that ball, he was confident that it was a goal, it has always been that way but something had changed today.


    "Dave Richards was again proving that his current form is not a fluke," Steve said.


    Emma was sitting in the stand with a ck face cap on her face, after witnessing that save from Dave, a smile appeared on her face before she began to write down something on her jotter.


    "Spree City have a corner kick now, one of their favorite set pieces, will they be able to conjure up something from this one?" Jim said.


    A midfielder had stepped up to take the freekick now and all he was waiting for was the referee''s whistle.


    It didn''t take long before the referee blew his whistle. He hesitated for a while before crossing the ball into the eighteen-yard box.


    "They all have their heads up for a clearance or a possible goal," Steve said.


    Felix used Aima''s shoulders to thrust himself up and nod the ball toward the top right-hand corner.


    "Header!"


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    Dave knew hitting the ball out was risky and trying to catch it was also risky for someone like him but he had something to make catching it less risky.


    He dived toward the ball and with both of his hands, he caught it before dropping to


    the floor.


    "What a save!" Jim screamed.


    Felix couldn''t believe what just happened as he stared at Dave with a shocked expression on his face.


    The goalkeeper didn''t have time to stand around as he quickly ran toward the edge of his box and sent the ball flying to Mateo who was open on the left wing now with only one yer in front of him.


    "Oh, this looks dangerous!" Steve eximed.


    Mateo was good in one-on-one dribbling situations so getting rid of the yer with a nutmeg wasn''t that hard for him and right now he was racing toward the goalkeeper with nobody around the area to stop him.


    "Oh, Mateo''s through and it''s a one-on-one situation here."


    ***


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 65 Poor Defense

    "He''s one on one!" Jim screamed.


    Mateo ran straight toward the goalkeeper who was alreadying out to try and stop him and that was just what he needed, as soon as the goalkeeper was off his line he lobbed it toward the top right-hand corner.


    "Mateo!!"


    The goalkeeper jumped up trying to get a hand to it but his efforts proved futile as the ball went over him and bounced on the line before falling into the goalpost.


    "Goalllll!!!!" Jim screamed as the guest fans broke into cheers and chants.


    Mateo ran to the side screaming and then did a slide with his whole body before his teammates got to him and began to fall on his body.


    "It''s that Dave and Mateobination again, we saw itst week in the match against Spree United, and we''re seeing it again today," Jim said.


    "What were they thinking leaving their back line open like that?" Steve asked.


    "They didn''t leave it open, Jamie was there to prevent anything like that from happening from the right but I guess Mateo was too hard for him to handle," Jim said.


    "Yes," Dave said with a feeling of satisfaction and a smile on his face as he sat down in front of his goal post.


    ''Second career assist.'' He said subconsciously before looking up to the sky.


    <Second career assist, that''s nice really nice but you know you still have an important quest toplete>


    ''I know Catherine, I don''t have a two megabytes memory.''


    <I was just saying in case there was any chance that you did>


    ''Hey.''


    "He didn''t have any assistsing into this season but afterbining with Mateo Smith for the second time this month he now has two career assists," Steve said.


    "Certainly this match didn''t start in the way that I expected, it is Spree City zero Unique FC two," Jim said.


    The match had once again kicked off after that goal with Spree City trying their best to keep the ball away from Unique FC and find a way to at least pull one back before going in on the break.


    Off course, they had lost the ball a couple of times and during those times Unique FC had pushed forward with the ball.


    They got two good chances during those attacks, they weren''t clear-cut chances but they were good enough to get two more goals.


    The first one was a lobbed pass to Fred at the edge of the box, yers wereing toward him from behind so he went for an overhead kick which flew over the bar.


    The second chance was a cross from Jonas on the left wing, the cross got fumbled out and fell to Ferran at the edge of the box, the midfielder didn''t have a good enough space to shoot so he yed it through to Merino who was making a run into the box now.


    Merino had over-calcted the amount of shot power that he was going to need to get the ball into the and when he hit it, the ball flew way over the bar.


    "Oh, that was too much," Jimmented.


    Spree City had also gotten their chances but it was three chances, two good chances, and one clear-cut chance.


    The first one was from Felix from outside the box, it was a really good ball ced toward the left side with a little elevation but it was an easy save for Dave who dived toward the ball and with the help of his ball ma got hold of it.


    If it was the old Dave, there was a chance that that ball would have been fumbled into the or pushed out for a rebound.


    "Another nice save from Dave Richards," Jim said.


    ''You''re not getting this ball past me, Felix.'' Dave said subconsciously before getting up and rolling the ball to Norman on the right wing.


    The second chance was even better, Kno had crossed the ball to their left winger Torres who was at the edge of the box on the left wing.


    The winger faked a shot to get rid of both Norman and Aima before shooting at the top right-hand corner.


    "Torres!"


    Dave happened to be there at the right time because if he wasn''t he wouldn''t have been able to do anything, he jumped high and with both of his hands, knocked the ball over the bar for a corner kick.


    "What a save!" Jim eximed.


    "I have to say, Jim, Dave is the reason why Unique FC are still leading, this match should have been leveled by now," Steve said.


    "Yeah, he''s turning into something," Jim said.


    Spree City''s best chance came from the corner kick which Jamie had gotten in a good position to head but Dave was there to deny as he had his hand out to deny him.<sub> </sub>


    The ball hit his hand and bounced on the bottom right-hand crossbar before rolling off toward Torres.


    The left winger could have easily put that away as the goalpost was empty at that time but his shot hit the bar and rolled out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, my, how did he miss that?"


    <Wow, now you''re starting to make them be under pressure whenever they want to shoot at your goal post>


    ''Is that what happened?'' Dave asked, getting up from the floor.


    <If it''s not then there was no way he could have missed that goal, you''re doing great so far>


    ''I know.'' Dave replied before catching the ball that was thrown at him. ''But I wish they could minimize the way those ballse in, at least until the second half.''


    [ 39/100 Energy ]


    [ 40% stamina remaining ]


    The match continued and had entered the Forty-third minute when Ferran lost the ball in the process of crossing over to their opponent''s side.


    "That was clumsy from Ferran," Jimmented.


    The central midfielder raced toward the goal post with the ball before passing it to Kno on the right wing.


    "Spree City are trying to do something here," Steve said.


    Kno yed the ball through before quickly running past Jonas to meet it at the other end.


    "Oh, he''s gotten past Jonas."


    Kno raced further down the wing with the ball as Jonas chased him down trying to stop him but before he could do anything the winger crossed the ball into the eighteen-yard box.


    The ball was nodded back by Adolf and was falling toward Felix who didn''t even wait for the ball to hit the floor as he sent the ball flying toward the right-hand corner.


    "Felix!"


    Dave was glued to the spot as the ball flew past him and smashed on the crossbar.


    "Oh, it''s hit the crossbar!"


    "Yeah, but it''s not out yet," Steve said.


    The ball rolled off toward the side with Torres and Norman being the closest yers to it.


    The two raced toward the ball but Torres got to the ball first and with some neat body movements, he got rid of Norman and was now open on goal.


    "Surely this is a goal!" Jim eximed.


    Torres slotted the ball toward the bottom left-hand side of Dave''s goalpost, the goalkeeper dived toward the ball and tried to reach it with his ball ma but the ball seemed to be too out of reach for the skill to reach it.


    "It''s a goal! They''ve finally pulled one back!" Jim eximed.


    There wasn''t much of a celebration from Torres as he just stood there and lifted his hand to the skies before his teammates began to gather around him.


    ''At least it wasn''t scored by Felix.'' Dave said subconsciously as he picked up the ball. ''Oh, screw that.'' He added before angrily kicking the ball into the.


    <Don''t worry, you''ll get your clean sheet one day>


    ''I know but I was feeling it in this match.'' He replied before slowly sitting down on the floor.


    "With just two minutes left on the clock, Spree City has finally pulled one back," Steve said.


    "Unique FC has been poor throughout the match with Dave stepping up to make a good number of saves, if the defense doesn''t pick up in the second half then this match is going to take on a whole new look even with Dave''s heroics," Jim said.


    "I agree."


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 66 Disorganized

    The first half had finallye to an end with the score still one goal to two.


    Right now Unique FC yers were in their locker room where Norman was telling them something.


    "You guys have really tried in this match, we have the lead and that''s something to be happy about," Norman said. "Dave, the whole defense, the midfield, and the forwards you have all tried but the defense has the lowest performance out of all three positions."


    "Just say it, coach, we''ve been horrible defensively and if it weren''t for Dave, I''m not sure if we would be able to boast of a halftime lead," Adolf said.


    "Yes, our defense has been horrible defensively and there have to be changes tactically and yer-wise," Norman said, looking directly at Adolf.


    "Do what you have to do, coach," Adolf said with a nod.


    After talking to the team about other things, it was now time for them to start making their way back into that pitch for the second half.


    "And now the yers are matching into the pitch to kick off the second half of the game," Jim said.


    While the rest of the yers were making their way into the pitch, Dave stopped on the sidelines.


    [ 86/100 Energy ]


    [ 90% stamina remaining ]


    <You see how well your stamina and energy recovery have improved?>


    ''Yeah.''


    The goalkeeper was really d to see his stamina and energy bars at high numbers going into the second half, they had never been this high going into the second half of a match since he got his system.


    He turned back to look at the stands and as soon as Emma had spotted him looking that way, she started waving at him.


    He returned the wave with a smile on his face before turning his gaze back to the pitch.


    [ +2 stat point added to dexterity ]


    [ Dexterity: 25 ]


    "Looks like there''s going to be two changes from Unique FC," Jim said.


    Both wingbacks from Unique didn''t look anything close to promising during the first half so Norman had decided to bring them both out before the second half kicked off.


    Norman Kole came off the thirty years old Luis Roberto and then Jonas Blue came off for Rnd Ryle whose name was being changed.


    "Last week''s yer of the week, saved a goal that Sandro still can''t believe didn''t score and came on in the second half to score thete equalizer against Litno FCst Saturday," Jim said.


    "Besides those beautiful moments, he has also been a crucial left back for Unique FC, with his wonderful interceptions, wonderful passes, and great gamey," Steve said.


    The referee blew his whistle as Fred quickly passed the ball to Minino who didn''t waste time in rolling it back to Luis Roberto.


    "Forty-five minutes more to determine what the oue of the match will be," Jim said.


    Unique FC were hoarding the ball here as it had been seven straight minutes without any yer from Spree City touching the ball.


    "Spree City had the higher possession by just two percent going in on the break but it looks like Unique FC wants to change that in the second half," Jim said.


    The ball was passed to Roberto on the right wing and the right back pushed forward a little before crossing it to Edward on the left midfield position.


    Edward quickly passed it to Ferran who pushed forward a little before passing it back to Edward.


    The left midfielder''s path was blocked here so he had no option besides passing it to some behind him.


    He rolled the ball back to Rnd who didn''t waste time in crossing it to Minino on the right.


    "Minino."


    Minino trapped the ball with his feet and didn''t waste in setting Merino up with a through ball.


    Merino got on the ball, found Fred in space, and quickly crossed the ball to him.


    "Oh, this looks promising."


    Fred was totally unmarked at the edge of the box with two defenders heading toward him now.


    He was as calm as ever as he trapped the ball and slotted it toward the bottom left side, the keeper dived toward it but he couldn''t get to it.


    "Fred!" Jim screamed. "That''s a goal, Unique FC has gotten their third."<sub> </sub>


    "No, I think it''s an offside," Steve said.


    The linesman had his g up and the referee who had clearly seen the offside.


    Fred''s celebration was pointless as the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the spot before pointing to their side.


    "Yeah, that was clearly offside, that won''t count," Jim said.


    "Don''t worry you''ll get it next time," Mateo said and patted Dave on his back before jogging backward to his position.


    The free kick was yed short to Jamie who didn''t waste time in crossing it to Kno.


    Instead of going straight through his wing, the winger decided to cut in through the middle.


    "Looks like he''s afraid to go through Rnd," Jim said with a chuckle.


    Kno raced forward a little before crossing the ball into the box but he seemed to have overhit.


    "Oh, that''s not going to get to anyone," Jim said.


    Everyone including Dave thought that ball was going over until it banged on the crossbar and fell into the.


    "What the heck!" Jim eximed.


    ''What just happened?'' Dave said with a pondering look on his face as he stared at the ball that was now sitting in the.


    The referee blew his whistle and pointed to the kick-off spot as Kno and his teammates took off to the sidelines with screams of joy.


    "That''s a goal, I thought that ball was going out," Steve said.


    "So did everyone else, look at the baffled looks on the faces of Unique FC yers, they are on leveled terms again," Jim said.


    "How did that ball go in?" Dave muttered with his hands ced on his waists.


    <In situations like this you should always follow the ball, I thought you already knew that by now>


    Dave let out a deep sigh before he picked up the ball and threw it toward the kick-off spot.


    "They are leveled again with a lot of time left in the game, this is starting to look like a fierce battle between both sides," Jim said.


    The referee blew his whistle as Fred passed the ball to Minino who quickly rolled it back to Ferran.


    Ferran got away from the defender trying to take the ball from him with some neat footwork before passing the ball to Luis Roberto who had covered up on the left wing now.


    Roberto got the ball and tried to dribble past the yer heading toward him but that had gone terribly wrong as the yer quickly muscled him off the ball before passing it to Torres who was running into the free left wing now.


    "Oh, that''s terrible from Roberto," Stevemented.


    "Yeah and that could be costly," Jim said.


    Torres raced toward the goalpost as Aima and Adolf tried to cut him out but that was exactly what he wanted as he got closer to the box before squaring the ball to Felix with a low cross.


    Felix slid toward the ball in an attempt to get into the goalpost but Rnd had gotten there first with his own slide which had gone terribly wrong.


    The left-back hit the ball in the process of getting it out of there and the ball flew straight through the middle while Dave had already dived toward where he knew Felix was going to ce the ball had he gotten to it first.


    "Oh, no it''s an own goal," Jim said.


    "No," Rnd said with a frustrated look on his face before crashing down on the floor.


    "Why does this keep happening?" Dave said, mming his hand into the ground.


    "It''s only been two minutes since that equalizer and now Spree City are leading for the first time since the match kicked off," Jim said.


    "Unique FC are looking really disorganized here and if they fix themselves up quick, this match isn''t going to end well for them."


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter.


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 67 Taste Of Humiliation

    The clock was showing sixty-seven minutes as Unique FC yers passed the ball around in their own half trying to draw out their opponents and see if they would get something done.


    "The match has been pretty quiet so far, two wasted chances from both sides and nothing else," Jim said.


    "Yeah, Spree City have switched to a defensive style of y now that they have the lead, something Unique FC should have done while they were still leading," Steve said.


    "I think Unique FC have been ying well so far, especially their attackers but they''ve just been making those mistakes, mistakes like the ones they''ve made are not good for any team especially when ites from the defenders." Jim expressed.


    Unique FC received the ball from the right side of the midfield.


    "Minino."


    Minino pushed forward with the ball before taking off.


    "Looks like he wants to go on a sprint," Jim said.


    The midfielder ran forward with the ball and just before crashing into the left back quickly heading toward him, he passed the ball to Ferran.


    Ferran got away from two yers with some neat footworkbined with his speed before passing the ball to Merino who was open on the right wing now.


    "That was beautiful from Ferran," Jimmented.


    Merino quickly cut inside the box before finding Mateo who was open on the left.


    "Unique FC are looking dangerous here," Steve said.


    Merino passed the ball to Mateo before the defenders could get to him.


    Mateo got his foot on the ball and with a backheel pass sent it back to Rnd who was heading toward him now.


    "Oh, this looks promising for Unique FC," Jimmented.


    Rnd was in a good position to shoot with yers rushing toward him but he decided to pass the ball to Ferran who was open at the edge of the box.


    Ferran received the ball with his right foot and stretched it further into the box before firing a shot toward the goalpost.


    "It''s Ferran!" Jim screamed.


    The goalkeeper was glued to the spot as the ball flew past him and banged on the top right-hand crossbar before falling over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, no, it hit the post."


    Everyone supporting Unique FC had almost jumped up when Ferran fired that shot but just as it hit the bar and fell out for a goal kick they all let out loud gasps.


    "Oh,e on," Ferran said with a devastating voice before crashing down on the floor and covering his face with his hands.


    "Hey,e on, you''ll get it next time."


    The midfielder removed his hands from his face to see Mateo standing over him with his hands stretched toward him.


    "I just hope it doesn''te toote," Ferran said before grabbing his hand and getting pulled up by him.


    "We''re ying better, we just need to take our chances well," Mateo said.


    "Yeah," Ferran said with a nod.


    "The sides should have been leveled now, that was a terrible miss from Ferran," Steve said.


    "Yeah, he''s usually good from those positions but that one went wrong, it was close and the keeper was glued to the spot, he wouldn''t have been able to stop that if it had gone right," Jim said.


    "Tell Ferran and the others, if you get any chance from outside the box, shoot, you must not always reach the box," Norman said to Minino who was standing in front of him at the edge of the sidelines now.


    "Okay, coach," Minino said before quickly making his way to Ferran.


    Spree City were in possession of the ball and it looked like all they were trying to do was pass it around their own half and stop Unique FC yers from getting possession of the ball. At least that''s what it looked like to Unique FC yers, their coach, and a lot of their fans.


    The second Jamie found Kno in space, he yed a long grounded pass to him.


    "Kno."


    Kno knew it was going to be hard getting past Rnd so he passed the ball to their central midfielder before racing past Rnd to receive the elevated pass from him but before he could do anything, Adolf swooped in from nowhere and stole the ball before quickly passing it to Dave.


    "That''s one nice way to win the ball," Jim said.


    Dave trapped the ball with Felix quickly racing toward him but the goalkeeper didn''t bend to pick the ball or make any attempt despite the calls for the ball from his teammates.<sub> </sub>


    He waited until Felix got closer before he turned and with a three-sixty rotation got the ball past him.


    "What did Dave just do there?" Jim said with an amazed tone to his voice.


    "That was nice Jim but I think it was too risky given the fact that they are already one goal behind," Steve said.


    Dave quickly passed the ball to Rnd as soon as he got rid of Felix but just as the ball left his feet he was brought down by the striker under a nasty challenge.


    [ -5 HP ]


    "O." He let out a soft groan before crashing to the floor.


    The referee blew his whistle and quickly rushed to the spot to show Felix a yellow card.


    "Why would you do that? He had already passed the ball to Rnd and you purposely went ahead to tackle him" Adolf said with a furious look on his face as he headed toward Felix.


    "What are you going to do about it?" Felix muttered with a smug look on his face as he didn''t seem to be fazed by the way Adolf was looking at him.


    "That was a nasty challenge given the fact that Dave had already cleared the ball before it came and I think the yellow card is well deserved but I don''t get what the whole ruckus is about," Jim said.


    Aima and Luis Roberto were following the referee around now asking him to show Felix a second yellow card because they thought he deserved it.


    "Hey, you two cut it out," Torres said, stepping in between the two who had their heads joined together with furious looks on their faces.


    "You''re just lucky he''s okay," Adolf said before turning his gaze to Dave who was sitting on the floor now.


    "I think Dave is okay and he''s getting up now," Jim said.


    "Yeah, that tackle didn''t look that rough and I don''t understand why Felix went for it because he''s picked up his fifth yellow card now which means that he will be missing the next match," Steve said.


    Dave''s ankles felt a little limp after getting up but after a little jumping, he got rid of the feeling.


    <You know that was really dangerous, he could have dispossessed you of the ball and scored or that tackle could have ended terribly for you>


    ''I know but it was nice to give him a taste of all the humiliations he''s been doing to me.''


    The game had resumed with Roberto running down the wing with the ball now.


    He passed it to Ferran who didn''t waste any time in passing it to Edward.


    Edward moved forward as he scanned the area and that was when he spotted Mateo leaving his wing and heading toward the middle.


    He lobbed the ball to the winger but he wasn''t the only one who had left his position.


    Jamie rose high to stop the ball before it got to Mateo and seeing what the right-back was trying to do, Mateo jumped up to stop him.


    Jamie had won the aerial duel and just a few seconds after pushing forward with the ball, Mateo dropped to the floor.


    "Hey!" Ferran screamed at the referee while pointing at Mateo.


    There was no foul but he had to stop the game so that Mateo could receive attention for whatever had happened to him.


    Fred and Ferran were the first to get to him and you could say they were quite shocked by what they were seeing.


    His face was covered with blooding from his nose and mouth.


    "Hey! Tell the medical team to get over here!" Fred yelled to Merino who was the closest person to the sidelines.


    "Oh, no things aren''t looking good for Unique FC here, Mateo Smith is down here with his whole face covered in blood," Jim said.


    ? Emma was jotting something down on her jotter when she heard that.


    She quickly raised her gaze to see lots of yers gathered around her brother in the area.


    "Mateo." She gasped.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 68 Escaped Again

    The medical team seemed to have gotten Mateo''s bleeding nose but nothing could be said about his mouth yet as it was stuffed with cotton wool.


    The referee had not resumed the game yet as he was waiting to see if Mateo would return to the pitch soon or if Norman would make a change.


    "You should wait for the bleeding in your mouth to stop or you cane off, that''s the best thing to do." The female who was squatting in front of him said.


    The winger didn''t seem to agree to that as he murmured something through the cotton wool in his mouth and shook his head before getting up from the floor and running back onto the pitch.


    "Hey, the cotton wool." She said but there was no response from Mateo who was already halfway into the pitch.


    The fans were d to see Mateo on the pitch after what had happened to him and you could tell how excited they were by the way they were pping while chanting his name.


    "Mateo Smith is back on the pitch, that''s good news for them," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but what''s with the cotton wool in his mouth?" Steve asked.


    "To stop the bleeding in his mouth maybe," Jim answered.


    "If he''s still bleeding then why return to the pitch?"


    "That''s the fighting spirit, he knows his teammates need him and he''s not going to let a little wound in the mouth prevent that," Jim said enthusiastically. "And besides I don''t see Normanining."


    Norman wasn''tining because he didn''t see any reason to, the medical staff hadined to him about the way Mateo ran off and he told them to let it go.


    During the little period, Mateo was out of the pitch, Norman had made two changes to the squad.


    Aima had been brought off for Pirlo while Edward had been brought off and reced by Alex Totti.


    The Spree City manager made three changes during that period, one in his midfield and two in his defense.


    With Mateo back on the pitch now, the referee resumed the game with a ball drop which Ferran had quickly stolen and passed back to Rnd.


    "I''m just d he''s okay," Dave muttered under his breath.


    <You should be>


    The clock was showing just one minute remaining before the match entered the nieth minute and Spree City were still leading.


    They were with the ones with the ball now and it looked like they were trying to get forward and get one more goal as they were aware that that wouldpletely break Unique FC yers.


    The official with the board raised his board as soon as the time hit the nieth minute. The board had the number nine disyed on it which meant that nine minutes had been added to the match after the ny minutespletion.


    "Nine minutes of extra time and Unique FC are still behind," Jim said.


    The left midfielder was moving toward Edward with the ball and after trying to confuse him, he passed the ball to the central midfielder close to him.


    The central midfield passed the ball to the Right midfielder who passed it to Kno and then Kno passed it to the other central midfielder who had switched to the role of an attacking midfielder now.


    The midfielder got on the ball and feigned shooting at Pirlo before pushing the ball to the side and passing it to Torres.


    Torres looked up to find someone but he had been a bit slow with his decision-making as Luis Roberto knocked the ball off his feet with a tackle and Rnd swooshed in from behind to make an interception before the ball got to Felix.


    "I''ve got to say, Jim, they''ve really turned up their defense after conceding that own goal," Steve said.


    "Yeah, that has been their problem since the start of the match but it seems like they fixed it a littlete," Jim said.


    Rnd quickly received the ball back from Ferran after passing it to him as the midfielder was being heavily marked.


    Rnd had been so keen on getting the ball forward that he left his wing position and was now in the central midfield position.


    The left-back scanned the area before crossing the ball to Merino who wasn''t exactly free on the right wing.


    The wing forward trapped the ball and with a swift turn got away from the yer trying to stop him.


    He tried to cut through the middle but there was no way for him so he yed the ball back to Minino who didn''t waste any time in lobbing it to Mateo who had been quiet since he returned to the pitch with cotton wool in his mouth.


    "Crossed over to Mateo," Jim said.


    Mateo trapped the ball to find two yers heading toward him.


    The winger feigned passing the ball to Ferran before quickly making his way past both yers with some neat footwork and ball positioning.<sub> </sub>


    "He''s away."


    There were still yers in the box ready to stop him but the winger didn''t look like he was going to pass the ball.


    One of the center backs quickly rushed toward him and tried to bring him down with a tackle but he wasn''t going to let that happen as he pushed the ball to his right leg with his left leg and quickly got away from the defender.


    "He''s taking them all on, Mateo''s still going," Jim said with an enthusiastic voice.


    Hebined his speed with his skill to get away from thest defender in front of him and get into enough space to shoot toward the goal.


    "Somebody stop him!" The goalkeeper yelled.


    The left-back plus a couple of other yers were rushing toward the winger to try and stop him but he had already sent the ball flying toward the bottom left side of the goalpost.


    "Mateo shoots!"


    The goalkeeper dived toward the ball but he had miscalcted the elevation as the ball rolled from below his hands into the back of the.


    "Mateo scores!" Jim screamed. "Finally, he''s gotten that equalizer!"


    His teammates didn''t even wait for him to reach the sidelines as they caught up to him down right at the edge of the box.


    "The fans are going wild here, that was a marvelous goal," Jim said, he just didn''t know how to describe it.


    "That was some neat work from him there, it was risky to take on the yers like that but it paid out well for him and his team in the end," Steve said.


    "Yes, yes, yes!" Dave screamed from his goalpost.


    He had been waiting for this moment and he was d that it had happened with just four minutes of added time left.


    <And once again you guys have escaped a defeat with ast-minute goal>


    Emma didn''t jump up with the rest of the fans after witnessing that goal but it put a bright smile on her face and she couldn''t help the feeling of pping in celebration of the goal.


    With the celebration over now, it was time for her to return to what she was writing but before she could write anything, her phone began to vibrate in her handbag.


    She opened her handbag and brought the phone out to check who was calling her only to see the word Boss disyed there as the phone continued to vibrate.


    "Why is she calling me now?" She muttered before clicking the answer option.


    "Hello, ma."


    "Hello Emma, How''s everything going so far?" A feminine voice asked from the other end.


    "Fine, everything''s going fine, great." She said, nodding her head nervously.


    "Okay, have you decided which of the yers you''re getting an exclusive from after the match?"


    "Exclusive? Ummm¡­."


    "Let me give you options, you can choose from either Dave Richards or Mateo Smith."


    "Ma¡­."


    She wasn''t even given the time to say what she wanted to say as her boss had ended the call.


    "Exclusive with either my boyfriend or brother." She muttered.


    The referee blew his whistle three times to signal the end of the match with the scoreboard showing three goals to three.


    "What a day this has turned out to be." She muttered with a sigh before picking up her handbag and getting up from her seat.


    ***


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 69 Last Level

    With Just two minutes of added time left, Spree City yers passed the ball around trying to find the space and chance to do something, but before they could do anything, the referee blew his whistle thrice to signal the end of the match.


    "There you have it, ny minutes ofpetitive football plus a few more minutespleted," Jim said. "It started well for Unique FC with Mateo Smith putting them ahead with a fumble in front of the goalpost and then doubling the lead with a setup from Dave Richards.


    "Torres managed to pull one back for the hosts before halftime and thening into the second half Kno scored the equalizer with a confusing ball. It didn''t take long for them to take the lead after that equalizer as Rnd Ryle mistakenly put the ball into his goalpost while trying to clear a low cross from Torres.


    "It could have ended with Unique FC on the losing side once again but Mateo took on the whole defense with just six minutes of added time left before the match came to an end."


    "That means they have finally broken Spree City''s winning streak on them and Mateo Smith has finally gotten his first hat trick of the season," Steve said.


    The match had ended about five minutes ago and the yers from both teams were already leaving the pitch but Dave was still standing at his goal post with a bright smile on his face.


    It wasn''t a win but getting a draw against Spree City who have been bullying them for seasons was something to be happy about but that wasn''t the only reason why he was smiling.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ Prevent Felix Nunez from scoring ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ Instant level up ]


    [ Level up ]


    [ Congrattions, you are now level 3 ]


    [ +3 stat points received ]


    [ +1 skill point received ]


    [ Congrattions, you have unlocked a goalkeeper attribute ]


    [ Check attributes to see that attribute unlocked ]


    Dave did as he was told and clicked the attribute tab.


    [ Goalkeeper Attributes ]


    [ Shot stopper ]


    [ Level: 01 ]


    ''Shot stopper.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    <Yeah>


    ''I know what goalkeepers who are tagged shot stoppers do in matches but does the attribute do anything special for me, like the skills does?''


    <You''ll have to use it to find out>


    ''Use it, how?''


    <You''ll have to activate it first>


    ''Okay.'' Dave replied as he tried to activate the attribute the way he activated his skills but it didn''t seem to be working. ''Why isn''t it working?''


    <You can''t activate your attributes outside an official football match so you''ll have to wait till the next match to use it>


    ''Oh, that''s great.'' Dave said before he started to walk off the pitch. ''


    Mateo was the man of the match as expected and he was the one supposed to speak in the post-match interview but he had gone down the tunnel as soon as he picked up his award and now Adolf had to be the one to do the interview.


    Dave walked into their locker room to see Mateo and some of his other teammates pulling off their shirts.


    "Hey, did they force you to do the interview?" Mateo asked as soon as he spotted Dave.


    "No, Adolf is doing it," Dave said walking closer to him and sitting down on the bench beside him.


    "Okay, well, he is the captain isn''t he?"


    "Mateo."


    The youngster heard someone call his name from the entrance and turned to see the assistant coach standing there.


    "Hey, any problem?" He asked.


    "Someone''s here to see you." The assistant coach said. "A reporter."


    "I knew they woulde for me." He muttered. "I can''t really run from this one can I?"


    "No," The assistant coach said, shaking his head. "But you should put on some clothes first, all of you."


    "Why? Is the reporter a female?" Mateo asked.


    "I don''t think he would havee here to tell you first if it was a male," Ferran said.


    "Yeah, it''s a female reporter." The female reporter said.


    "Okay," Mateo said, sliding his hands into the jacket that had been sitting on his thighs. "A female reporter is better anyway."


    "Okay." The assistant coach said before leaving.


    <Are you sure that''s not Emma?>


    ''I don''t know but there''s a chance that it''s her, she''s still here and she is a female reporter.''


    Mateo had his gaze on the entrance1 waiting for the female reporter and just as she walked in, a shocked expression appeared on his face.


    "Emma." He muttered.


    She was putting on a ck skirt and short-sleeved pink blouse and to top it off she had on ck heels, a ck cap, and a small pink handbag hanging over her shoulder.


    "Hello, Mateo." She said walking closer to him.


    "When did you be a reporter?" Mateo asked.


    "Yesterday, I got the job, yesterday." She said,


    "And you didn''t tell me?" He said, turning his gaze to Dave.<sub> </sub>


    "I was thinking about the match and it slipped my mind," Dave said.


    "So the first footballer you want to interview is your little brother, that''s so sweet," Mateo said with a smile on his face.


    "Ummm.... actually I was given the option to interview you or someone else." She said looking around.


    "At least you chose me ahead of the person."


    "I chose you because you scored a hat trick and won the man of the match award." She said,


    Mateo stared at her for a while before turning his gaze to the side and turning it back to her again.


    "Okay, just ask your questions." He said.


    "Can I sit down?" She asked turning her gaze to Dave who was sitting beside Mateo.


    "Sure," Dave said quickly getting up from the seat and walking to his locker to take out his stuff.


    "Hey, can I ask you for something first?" Emma asked after sitting down on the bench.


    "What?"


    "For the meantime just forget that we''re siblings and answer my questions like it was just any reporter asking them." She said,


    "Okay," Mateo said with a nod.


    "Cool."


    Dave was taking out his clothes from his locker when his post-match rewards popped up on his system screen.


    [ Match rewards ]


    [ Match result: Draw ]


    [ Five crucial saves: +50 exp ]


    [ Assist(+1): +20 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded (03): 0exp ]


    [ Match rating: 8.0 ]


    [ -10 exp ]


    [ Total match exps: +60 exp ]


    ''Why did I lose one exp?''


    <You lose ten exps from your match exps after any match that ends in a draw>


    ''Really? And how many exps will I lose after losing a match?''


    <You''ll have to lose a match to find out>


    ''Okay, I just hope I don''t lose the whole exp.''


    [ yer Profile ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ yer Level: 3 ]


    [ 89/100 HP ]


    [ 90/300 EXP ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Goalkeeping Skills ]


    [ Double jump: level(01) ]


    [ Ball ma: level(01) ]


    [ Goalkeeping attributes ]


    [ Shot stopper: level(01) ]


    [ 55/100 Energy ]


    [ Unused stat points: 3 ]


    [ Skill points: 1 ]


    [ Physical Status ]


    [ Strength: 21 ]


    [ Dexterity: 25 ]


    [ Endurance: 17 ]


    <You''vee a long way Dave>


    ''Yeah, but which level is thest, does this thing even have ast level?''


    <Last level?>


    ''Yeah.''


    <Well you''ll have to keep going to find out but you should know that everythinges to an end eventually>


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 70 Goal Contributions Leaderboards

    It took up to ten minutes for Emma to finish her interview with Mateo and by that time, Adolf and the rest of the team who were outside were in the locker room now, Norman was also in the locker room now.


    "I guess I should start leaving now." She said slowly getting up from the bench. "Thanks, Mateo."


    "No problem," Mateo said.


    She slowly turned to leave and had almost run into Ferran who was heading toward Mateo at that time.


    "Sorry." She said even though she didn''t run into him.


    "It''s okay," Ferran said. "Emma Smith right? Mateo''s big sister and Dave''s girlfriend."


    "Yeah, but I am here as a reporter, not his brother or his girlfriend." She said,


    "I know, I''m...."


    "I know who you are, what type of sports reporter would I be if I didn''t know who you were?" She said. "You''re Ferran Phil the midfield dynamo."


    "Umm..yeah," Ferran said with a nod. "I heard about what happened to youst week. How''s your shoulder?"


    "It''s okay, it''s healing just fine." She said,


    "Okay, that''s good news," Ferran said.


    "Yeah, I should get going now." She said before quickly making her way toward the exit.


    She turned and waved at Dave before leaving.


    With the match done and all the yers back in their locker room, it was now time for them to start heading back to Unique City.


    Securing a point against Spree meant they were just two points away from the conference league spot but there was a chance that Lesica United could either steer clear of them with three extra points or one extra point tonight as they were going to be facing Zilo FC.


    They were already clear of Troham United with two points after they lost their match against Junami Unitedst night.


    The yers, coaching staff, and the medical team made their way into the team''s ne and as soon as they were all on their seats with their seatbelts strapped around them, the ne took off.


    Mateo was busy going through his phone to find something that should have been updated after the match that had concluded about an hour ago.


    "Hey, look I''m fourth in the race for the league''s golden boot now," Mateo said after bringing up what he had been searching for.


    "Let me see," Dave said drawing closer to see.


    Rnd Hills was leading the race with a total of thirty goals, in second ce was Litno FC''s Zen with twenty-six goals, third ce was upied by a Dynamo FC yer, an attacking midfielder named Frank James with twenty-four goals while the fourth position was upied by Mateo with twenty-three goals.


    He was in the fifth position while Felix was in fourthing into the match that just ended but now Felix had dropped to the fifth position with twenty goals, and the rest of the yers below had less than twenty goals.


    "This race for the golden boot is quite tight," Ferran said from behind. "There''s a chance that you can win it."


    "I want to believe that but we only have four matches left and while I will be trying my best to score more goals during thosest four matches, these guys will also be doing the same thing," Mateo said.


    "I never said it was going to be easy but it can happen," Mateo said. "Do you mind checking the assist leaderboard?"


    "Sure," Mateo said before clicking the assist tab for the leaderboard to switch to that of assist.


    "Another ymaker award loading," Mateo said after seeing Ferran on top with fifteen assists.


    "Yeah, but Zen is hot on my trail," Ferran said with his gaze on the second-ced Zen who had twelve assists so far and while they were looking at it, the assists turned to thirteen.


    "Waooh," Mateo said with a shocked expression on his face. "He just gave an assist."


    "Like I said, he''s hot on my trail," Ferran said.


    "Then we have to make sure he doesn''t catch up."


    <I know it''s toote this season but next season is going to be the start of a new era>


    ''I hope so.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    It didn''t take long for them to arrive at the airport given the fact that the distance between Unique City and that side of Spree wasn''t that far.


    The yers got down from the ne and got on the bus which took them back to the Wondamino stadium where they picked up the rest of their stuff before heading back to their various rooms.<sub> </sub>


    The goalkeeper parked his car in his usual parking spot and got down from it before slowly making his way toward the door.


    He stopped in front of the door and was about to open it when he started hearing footsteps approaching him from behind and turned to see that it was who he thought it would be.


    "Hey," Emma said with a smile before she quickly got closer to him and wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace.


    "It''s been a long day for both of us hasn''t it?" Dave said.


    "Yeah." She said, drawing her head back to look at his face.


    The two stared at each other for a few seconds before Dave broke out of the hug to open the door.


    "So how was your first day at work?" Dave asked moving toward the couch.


    "You saw for yourself." She said following him.


    "Yeah," Dave said before throwing his bag on the couch and crashing on it. "But I want to know how you felt about it."


    "It was nice." She said,


    "You see, sports reporting is nice." He said.


    "I never said it wasn''t."


    "Okay, so who was the other person that you could have chosen to interview instead of Mateo?"


    "You," Emma said.


    "Be serious Emma." He said.


    "I''m serious, it was you." She said, "You had the second-best rating in the match didn''t you?"


    "So you would have interviewed me if I had gotten the best rating?" Dave asked.


    "No."


    "Why not?"


    "Because I can get that exclusive with you anytime I wish to." She said,


    "Oh, that makes sense," Dave said with a nod.


    "Exactly." She said before pulling out her jotter from her pocket. "Now, I''m going to go upstairs and professionally organize this." She said before leaning closer to kiss him.


    "Okay," Dave said before she turned and quickly made her way upstairs.


    After about one minute after she had gone upstairs, he brought out his phone from his pocket to check some things.


    He scrolled through the Google News page and it didn''t take long before he found an article rting to the match that had just been concluded.


    "Dave Richards denies Felix Nunez from extending his goal record against him." He read out the title of the article.


    The article was short but reading it was really nice for him.


    He scrolled through the page and found a lot of articles talking about one thing or the other from the match.


    He skipped most of the articles until he found one which didn''t have anything to do with the match but it had something to do with a hot matching up tonight in Spain.


    "El sico." He muttered as he looked at the cover page of the article which had a picture of Ciro in Barcelona''s home kit lifting his hand in celebration and Fernandez who was in Real Madrid''s white jersey doing the same celebration.


    "Two hours to the El ssico," Dave muttered with an excited voice.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 71 Footy Wears

    Emma was busy working on herptop in the room on the table by the side when Dave suddenly appeared at the door, she saw him but she pretended like she didn''t and continued doing what she was doing.


    Dave stood there and watched her for a while before slowly making his way to the bed.


    He stood beside the bed and stared at her trying to get a reaction from her and when he couldn''t get any reaction from her, he let out a sigh before slowly sitting down on the bed.


    "What do you want?" She asked, finally giving in to his temptation.


    "Nothing." He said, shaking his head.


    "Really? Because you''re acting like you want something." She said,


    "It''s just that I haven''t seen you be so busy before even while cooking." He said.


    "If you want to say something like that, you should be more specific," Emma said.


    "Huh?"


    "You haven''t seen me be this busy in your house before but since I''m finally moving in, you''re going to start seeing it, a lot." She said,


    "A lot," Dave muttered. "You mean like two hours a day?"


    "It depends." She said, turning her gaze back to herptop. "I''m working Dave, you sitting there looking at me is distracting."


    "Okay, I''ll leave." He said slowly getting up from the bed.


    "Good." She said with a smile.


    Dave took about five steps toward the door before quickly turning back to her.


    "Is your interview with Mateo the only thing you''re writing?" He asked.


    "No, it''s not the only thing I''m writing." She said after letting out a sigh. "I also have to write a report about the important aspects of the match and send it to my boss before 8:00 PM."


    "Okay," Dave said, moving closer to her.


    <I thought you were leaving>


    "Just to be sure, my saves were important aspects of the match right?" He said looking at herptop''s screen which had lots of words already written on the writing space.


    "Well, that depends on if you''re going to leave or not." She said,


    "Okay, I''m leaving but first." He said before kissing her and then quickly making his way to the door. "El ssico is starting soon anyway."


    Emma stared at the exit for a while with a smile on her face before letting out a sigh and returning her gaze to herptop''s screen and continuing from where she had stopped.


    The goalkeeper made his way downstairs and looked at the clock to see that the time was 6:37 PM.


    "That''s still a lot of time before the match starts," Dave muttered before making his way to the couch on crashing on it.


    <If you are as bored as you im then I suggest you go to your gym and do some exercise>


    ''I''ve already done enough exercise for today Catherine, I just want something fun to do in the meantime.''


    <You want something fun to do when one of the main sources of entertainment is hanging right in front of you>


    ''I said something fun to do, not watch.''


    <Okay, go find it then, I can''t help you>


    Dave let out a deep sigh before turning his gaze to the television screen where a match from Bilbeth league two was currently streaming.


    After watching it for a while without any hint of interest in his eyes, he pulled out his phone from his pocket.


    He unlocked the phone and was about to tap one of the app icons when it suddenly began to vibrate.


    "Who''s calling me now?" He muttered as he waited for the caller''s name to appear and it didn''t take long before the name ''rk'' appeared there.


    He didn''t hesitate to pick up the call before cing the phone against his ear.


    "Hey, rk, what''s up?"


    "I''m good Dave, you?" rk asked as his voice resounded through the phone''s speaker.


    "I''m okay," Dave said.


    "I watched your match today, nice performance, you''ve managed to grab your second career assist in the same season."


    "Thanks but it wouldn''t have been possible without Mateo," Dave said.


    "Yeah, the kid''s slowly turning into a phenomenal," rk said. "Thatst goal with the cotton wool in his mouth was ice cold."


    "Yeah."


    "I hope he''s okay."<sub> </sub>


    "Yeah, that was just a little wound in his mouth, he''s okay," Dave said.


    "Okay, that''s good."


    "So, did you just call to check on me or there''s something else?" Dave asked.


    "There''s something else, something important," rk said.


    "What?"


    "What do you think of sponsorship deals?" rk asked.


    "Is that even supposed to be a question, rk? You know I''ve always wanted to have sponsors."


    "Okay, what do you think of a sponsorship deal with footy wears?" rk asked, being more specific this time.


    "Footy wears?" Dave said with a confused expression on his face.


    "Yeah, footy wears."


    "I¡­. haven''t heard of them."


    "Well, they are apany that produces different kinds of footwear and clothing just like Adidas, only that they are smaller and have their base here in Bilbeth," rk exined.


    "Okay, footy wears, why are you telling me about them?" Dave asked.


    "Because they want a sponsorship deal with you," rk said.


    As soon as those words left rk''s mouth, Dave had gone mute for a while.


    "You''re not serious." He muttered into the phone.


    "I''m dead serious, they contacted me yesterday to talk about it, check your email, they said they sent an email to you too," rk said.


    "Apany wants a sponsorship deal with me," Dave muttered as he was still finding it hard to believe.


    "I''ve already booked a flight to Unique City for tomorrow," rk said.


    "You''reing over?"


    "Yeah, so that we can clearly go over the whole thing and you can make your decision," rk said.


    "Okay."


    "Check that e-mail and see what it''s saying, I''ll call you to check on you before heading to the airport by noon tomorrow," rk said.


    "Okay," Dave said before he ended the call.


    He sat there wondering what this footy wearspany was going to be like and if they had sponsorship deals with any other yers or any of the world''s superstars in the game.


    <With Nike and Adidas in existence I don''t think they would have any of the superstars on their sponsorship list but that''s just my opinion you can get a better answer if you search it on Google>


    "Yeah." He muttered before picking up his phone again. "Footy wears." He muttered as he typed the words in the search bar."


    After typing the words, he clicked the search button, and the information he needed popped up.


    "Wow, they''ve been around since 2005." He said as he read the information disyed on his phone''s screen.


    While he was reading, he began to hear footstepsing down the staircase and slowly turned his gaze there to see Emma.


    "Hey," Dave said.


    "Hey." She said,


    "Are you done?" He asked.


    "Yeah." She said with a nod.


    "Cool," Dave said with a smile on his face. "Now we can spend some time together."


    "Yeah, before that." She said, raising a ne with a blue heart-shaped crystal. "Is this yours?"


    ''I forgot to give that to her.''


    "Is this yours?" She asked again.


    "Ummm¡­..not exactly." He said with an awkward expression on his face.


    *****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 72 Six Kilometres Quest

    "You got me a beautiful ne like this and you didn''t even bother to give it to me," Emma said before sitting down beside him on the couch.


    "I was going to give it to you and then¡­"


    "What?" She asked, turning her gaze to him.


    "I forgot." He said.


    "Is this the gift you were getting me at the mall?" She asked.


    "Ummm¡­yeah, that''s it." He said with a nod.


    "And then you forgot to give it to me."


    She wasn''t exactly buying what he was selling here.


    "I''m sorry." He said grabbing the ne from her. "Let me put it on you."


    She stared at him without moving and she didn''t have a pleased look on her face.


    "Come on babe."


    "Okay." She said with a sigh before turning her back to him.


    The goalkeeper opened the ne and put it around her neck before locking it.


    "It looks nice on you." He said after stretching his head to take a look at how it looked on her.


    "Yeah." She said, touching the heart-shaped crystal on the ne. "Thank you."


    "Anything for you." He said.


    "So, what are you doing?" She asked, looking around.


    "Waiting for the El ssico to start, we have less than an hour left now." He said after turning his gaze to the wall clock.


    "Okay."


    "Have you submitted it to your boss?"


    "Yeah, I''ll have to get to work tomorrow to find out her thoughts on it." She said.


    ______ ______


    The El ssico had started and for almost forty-five minutes now, Dave had been watching the match with Emma.


    The clock in the match was showing forty-two minutes with the scoreboard showing the number one on both sides.


    Fernandez had been the one to open the scoreline after finishing from a rebound after fifteen minutes Vasquez had equalized with a beautiful header from a corner kick which Ciro had taken.


    The time was entering the forty-fourth minute and FC Barcelona were starting an attack on their opposition''s defense now.


    "FC Barcelona are still pushing, they usually don''t start up direct attacks like this but they seem to be desperate for a goal." Thementator said.


    Andreas Frednado received the ball from Pedro and with a flick and swift turn, he was able to get past the yer that was marking him and was racing down the pitch now.


    "That was some neat turn from Frednado."


    He knew he couldn''t do it all so he had to pass it to Lelemar at some point.


    Lelemar didn''t take the left wing but instead, he decided to cut through the middle before passing the ball to Ciro.


    "Ciro."


    Ciro received the ball from outside the box, got past the yers that were marking him with a dummy before releasing the shot from that far out.


    "Ciro!!"


    The shot flew toward the top right-hand corner as Real Madrid''s goalkeeper dived toward it but he wasn''t able to get his hand to it as the ball struck the crossbar before falling into the back of the.


    "They wanted a goal before halftime and they''ve got it!" Thementator screamed as the yers all clustered around Ciro.


    The first half hade to an end with Barcelona still in the lead.


    The second half was really tight with Barca doing everything possible to stop Los ncos yers from getting through and they seeded, until the eightieth minute.


    A midfielder received the ball and crossed into the box for Dennison to finish it with a beautiful overhead kick ced at the top left-hand corner where Frank Anderson couldn''t properly deal with it.


    "Oh, what a goal! Dennison''s finally got the equalizer!"


    The right winger pulled off his shirt and started running to the side with his teammates chasing him and the guest fans were beginning to run wild.


    FC Barcelona yers couldn''t believe it, they had almost secured the win but Dennison had just shattered their goaling into this match.


    The match continued with both sides trying to get a winner but ended up wasting a lot of chances and after ying for about twenty-seven minutes, the match finally came to a conclusion.<sub> </sub>


    "Oh, what a match that was, there''s a reason why it''s called the El ssico, we just witnessed that." Thementator said. "The match ends with FC Barcelona one, Real Madrid one."


    As soon as thementator said that, Dave slowly turned his gaze to Emma with a smug look on his face.


    "What?" She asked after noticing the weird way he was looking at her.


    "And you told me the Manchester Derby was better." He said.


    "Yes, the Manchester Derby is better in the sense that it doesn''t need two of the best yers to ever grace the field to hype up the match." She said,


    "The El ssico has always been a thing, even before Ciro joined Barcelona and Fernandez joined Real Madrid," Dave said. "El sico wasn''t created because of them.


    "That''s true but the match wouldn''t be receiving as much hype as it is receiving today if it weren''t for those two." She said, "El ssico is better than the Manchester Derby at the moment because of Ciro and Fernandez but let''s see what happens after they leave."


    "That''s not happening anytime soon but we''ll see," Dave said getting up from the couch. "I''m going to go grab myself a drink, do you need anything?"


    "Umm¡­no." She said, shaking her head.


    "Okay." He said before making his way to the kitchen.


    It took about three minutes before he returned with a drink in his hand and just as he dropped it on the table to adjust his pants a little, Emma grabbed it and began to drink it.


    "Hey, I thought you didn''t need anything," Dave said with a shocked expression on his face.


    "And you believed that?"


    "Why wouldn''t I? You said you didn''t need anything."


    "Well, go grab yourself a new one because this one''s mine now." She said before taking a sip from the drink.


    Dave stared at her for a while with a shocked expression on his face before he finally let out a sigh and got up from the couch.


    Emma waited until he was about to enter the kitchen before she dropped the ss on the table and broke intoughter.


    "Yeah, keepughing," Dave said, sounding a little bit annoyed before making his way into the kitchen.


    _______ ______


    Another day, another two liters of bottled water consumed on the spot, Dave was in the kitchen once again during the early hours of a new day and after he was done with his first quest, he let the container drop to the floor as always.


    [ Daily questpleted ]


    [ Drink two liters of water ]


    [ +5 exp received ]


    [ 95/400 exp ]


    With that done, he quickly made his way outside before Emma would wake up ande downstairs.


    He didn''t take off immediately as he slowly walked down to the road while discussing something with Catherine.


    ''How Long do you think it will take me to run six kilometers?''


    <Judging by your current physicality, I''m going to say thirty-five minutes>


    ''I''m sure I can do it in under thirty minutes.''


    <Really?>


    ''Yeah.'' He replied with a nod.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Complete six kilometers in not more than twenty-five minutes ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +20 exp ]


    [ +2 stat boost to strength ]


    [ +2 skill points ]


    ''Nice, now I have a quest on it.'' He said with a smile on his face.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 73 Crossbar Challenge: Trying Again

    [ Quest Failed ]


    Dave was breathing heavily as he stopped just before he could run into the highway.


    He ced both of his hands on his knees while he was panting and after a few seconds, he raised his watch to see that the timer had stopped at twenty-nine minutes.


    <You were close, really close>


    "You call four minutes off really close," Dave muttered.


    <Yeah, it didn''t hit thirty so it''s close>


    ''Why did I even think I couldplete six kilometers in under twenty-five minutes?'' He thought, getting up on his feet fully.


    <Well, you did it under thirty minutes and your energy didn''t even fall that much, that''s something>


    [ 37/100 Energy ]


    "Yeah, something," Dave muttered before he turned and slowly began to walk back from where he hade from. "Six Kilometers walk, I didn''t even think of that before I decided to run six kilometers."


    Dave had gone out for his run by 6:00 AM and approaching his house now he checked his watch to see that the time was 8:07 AM now.


    "Two hours seven minutes." He muttered before stopping in front of the door.


    He opened the door expecting to see Emma somewhere around the area but his expectation had been cut short as she didn''t seem to be in the kitchen or living room.


    He turned to head upstairs as he believed that he would find her there but just before he took the first step, he spotted something on the dining table.


    He slowly walked to the table and picked up the piece of paper and when he opened it, he saw that there was something written on it and he knew who that handwriting belonged to.


    ''I don''t know where you went, leaving your phone behind, if you find this note then that means I''ve already left for work, there''s something in the fridge if you''re hungry.'' He read the note subconsciously.


    "I forgot that she has to go to work every day apart from weekends now." He muttered, mming his palm into his face.


    <You have to go to work too, you have a training session this morning remember>


    "You don''t have to remind me."


    The goalkeeper quickly made his way upstairs to brush his teeth and after that, he came downstairs and took his food out of the fridge.


    He microwaved it because it was already cold and just as he sat down to eat, his phone began to vibrate on the table where he had dropped it.


    It didn''t take before Emma''s name popped up as the caller.


    "Hey, babe." He said after picking up the call and cing the phone against his ear.


    "Hey, are you back from wherever you went?" She asked.


    "Yeah, I was about to start eating before you called." He said.


    "Okay, where did you go?"


    "My morning run of course, where else would I go by six in the morning," Dave replied.


    "I know you went for your morning run, but where did you go after that?" She asked.


    "Nowhere, just my run." He said.


    <Just tell her what changed, you''re dragging the conversation>


    "Really? So you need an hour plus toplete two kilometers now."


    "Ummm.....I didn''t run two kilometers today."


    "Huh?"


    "It was six kilometers, that was the reason why I was out for so long," Dave exined.


    "Six Kilometers?" Emma said, sounding surprised. "Hope you didn''t pass out on the way."


    "I know you don''t think of me as a tough guy bute on its just six kilometers."


    "Yeah, just six kilometers," Emma said. "I only called to make sure you were back home."


    "Well, that has been confirmed," Dave said.


    "Yeah, I have to go now."


    "Wait," Dave said before she could click the end-call button.


    "What?"


    "How''s work going?"


    "Well, I''ve only been here for a few minutes but everything''s going well so far."<sub> </sub>


    "And the article you submitted, did your boss like it?" He asked.


    "She hasn''t called me to say anything about it yet but she''s going to call me anytime soon now, I just hope she likes it."


    "She will," Dave said.


    "I hope so." She said, "I have to go now, have a nice day."


    "You too babe." He said before she ended the call.


    He quickly ate his healthy breakfast before making his way to his private gym toplete hisst daily quest.


    Their training was starting by 11:00 AM so he had roughly enough time to train in the gym before heading to the stadium.


    [ Daily questpleted ]


    [ Spend two hours in the gym ]


    [ +20 exp received ]


    [ 125/400 exp ]


    With hisst daily quest done, the goalkeeper went upstairs and took a quick shower before making his way down the staircase.


    He was putting on Unique FC''s ck jacket which had the webnovel logo embedded on its chest side and the ck silky sports trousers.


    He arrived ten minuteste to training but that wasn''t a problem as the coach and coaching staff were yet to arrive.


    He decided to catch up with his teammates for a while, especially Ferran and Mateo for the meantime.


    "Yeah, that goal was sick," Mateo said. "I didn''t expect him to shoot from that far out."


    "He always does the unexpected," Ferran said.


    "Yeah, too bad the match had to end in a draw Barcelona were better in both halves," Dave said.


    "Yeah but Real Madrid will always be Real Madrid, they don''t really care about ball possession but with the little they can get against a team like Barcelona, they make sure to use it well," Ferran said.


    "So, they are still leveled on points now," Mateo said.


    "Yeah, but Barcelona are still on top of the table with the higher goal difference," Ferran said.


    The three continued talking about other leagues, yers, and matches until Norman and his coaching staff arrived.


    He talked to them about thest match, the things he noticed, and the ways he ns on fixing them, and then he talked about their next match which was going to be taking ce in their stadium tomorrow against Lave City.


    After that, he went on to talk about a few other things before the training session officially kicked off.


    They started with the ruining ofps before switching to the routine stretches and then the strategic training.


    The yers were doing rondos now as Dave kicked five balls toward the goalpost.


    He ced the balls in rows just a little distance away from the eighteen-yard box, the same spot where he had tried something like this before.


    <Crossbar challenge>


    ''Well, it''s not exactly a crossbar challenge if there''s no one to challenge it''s just crossbar practice unless the system can turn into a challenge again.'' Dave replied as he slowly stepped back.


    <The system gives you quests in situations that it deems worthy of turning into quests, I''m not the one that gives the quests>


    ''You''ve said that before but sometimes it feels like you''re the one in charge of that.'' Dave replied, moving toward the balls now.


    <I''m not>


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Hit the crossbar twice in five tries ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +15 exp ]


    [ +3 skill points ]


    "Yeah." He muttered as he drew back his right foot and kicked the first ball in the row aiming for the crossbar.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 74 Good Deal

    "Oh,e on," Dave said in frustration as he watched the ball fly past the crossbar.


    <That was really close>


    ''I don''t care about how really close it gets, I just want it to hit the damn crossbar.''


    He took a few steps backward before closing up on the second ball and with a kick, he sent it flying toward his target.


    He watched the ball as it flew toward the crossbar and smashed on it before falling over.


    "Yes!" He said with an excited voice.


    <That''s one out of two, I think you''re off to a good start>


    The next two balls had flown past the crossbar without touching it but they had bothe really close to hitting it.


    "Off to a good start." He muttered before biting his lower lip.


    <You were off to a good start until you missed those two and now it''s one out of four>


    ''You don''t need to remind me of that.''


    He stared at thest ball on the floor and took a deep breath before closing his eyes.


    He pulled his leg back and kicked the ball with less short power and more precision.


    The ball came the closest to hitting the crossbar this time but it didn''t touch it and fell behind the goalpost.


    Dave let out a deep sigh before slowly sitting down on the floor.


    [ Quest Failed ]


    <You just need a little more practice>


    "Hey, that was a really good kick."


    Dave turned to see Mateo approaching him with a ball in his hand.


    "Yeah, but I would have loved it to hit the crossbar," Dave said.


    "At least you''re starting to get the hang of it," Mateo said before throwing the ball up.


    He stopped the ball from hitting the floor with his right foot and jogged it for a while with both feet before he sent it flying toward the crossbar.


    The ball flew straight toward the goalpost and mmed on the top right-hand crossbar before falling over.


    "Waooh," Dave said in amazement.


    "It''s a little something I''ve been trying to perfect, to be honest, I didn''t expect it to hit the crossbar." He said.


    "You have really good aiming with your right foot especially."


    "You also have good aiming, if not you wouldn''t have been able to set me up for those goals, you just have to keep practicing to get better, I''m still practicing to get better," Mateo said.


    <Exactly>


    After about four hours, the training for the day hade to an end and now it was time for them to start heading back to their various homes.


    Dave and Mateo were thest yers to enter the locker room.


    The goalkeeper walked straight to his locker, opened it, and brought out his phone to see that he had gotten seven missed calls from rk.


    ''Oh, dear.'' He said subconsciously as he picked up the phone.


    He was about to call him when his phone began to vibrate with an iing call from rk.


    "Hello." He said after quickly picking up the call and holding up the phone horizontally instead of cing it against his ear.


    "Hi, Dave, I''m on my way to your house now," rk said as his voice resounded from the phone''s speaker.


    "Okay, I''m at the stadium but we just ended the training session so I''m heading there right now," Dave said.


    "Okay," rk said before ending the call.


    "Was that rk?" Mateo asked, heading to him now, the call was on loudspeaker so he heard some of the things rk had said from the other end.


    "Yeah, he wants to discuss something important with me, I have to go," Dave said before quickly making his way out of the room.


    He made his way to his car as soon as he was outside and he didn''t waste any time in starting the engine and zooming off as soon as he entered the car.<sub> </sub>


    It didn''t take him long to arrive at his destination and after parking his car in his normal parking spot, he got down from it and walked toward his front door to see rk standing there.


    "Hey," rk said with a little wave as soon as he spotted him.


    "Hey," Dave said, walking up to him.


    "Is Emma not around because I''ve been knocking for quite a while now and there has been no response?" rk asked.


    "Yeah, she''s not around, she works for UCPD now," Dave replied before opening the door.


    "Oh, yeah, I forgot she had that appointment this Monday. I''m d she got the job."


    "Me too," Dave said before walking into the house.


    The goalkeeper walked straight to the kitchen to bring drinks for the both of them while rk walked to the couch and sat down there.


    It didn''t take long before Dave returned with a bottle of wine and two ss cups.


    "So, have you read that email?" rk asked as Dave went on to fill the second ss cup.


    "I forgot to tell you," Dave said before picking up one of the filled cups and handing it to him.


    "Tell me what?" rk asked, taking the drink from him.


    "I didn''t see any e-mail." He said before picking up his own ss and taking a sip from it.


    "Did you check your spam folder?"


    "Now that you''ve mentioned it, I realize that I didn''t check it." He said before slowly pulling out his phone from his pocket and checking his spam folder. "Oh, there it is."


    "Let me see," rk said, reaching for the phone.


    Dave handed him the phone and after properly going through it, he turned his gaze to him.


    "Okay, it''s saying the same thing." He said before dropping his ss of wine on the table.


    "Let me see," Dave said, taking the phone from him.


    He slowly read the contents before turning his gaze to rk.


    "Well, they didn''t drop much details about the contract and stuff." He said.


    "Yeah but I''ve already contacted them and they''ve dropped the details for me, they are giving you a pretty good offer if you ask me."


    "Before I make any decisions, I want to know how many yers they have sponsorship deals with," Dave said.


    "They have a lot of yers under their wings across Europe and beyond, they also have a lot of popr yers working with them," rk exined.


    "Give me a name or names."


    "Rnd Hills, Alphonso De Lena," rk said.


    "Wait, Alphonso, De Lena, Arsenal''s goalkeeper?"


    "Yeah, that one," rk said. "You should also know that they are one of the official sponsors of AC Mn."


    "You can''t be serious," Dave said, shaking his head.


    "I am," rk said before he brought out his phone from his pocket and yed a video. "See for yourself." He said, handing Dave the phone.


    Dave took the phone from him which currently had amercial video ying on it.


    The video had almost all the AC Mn teams in it and they were promoting Footy Wears'' products.


    "Wow." He said after the video ended with Footy Wears'' logo which was a blue circle with two boots crossed against each other in the middle.


    "They may be smaller than Adidas and Nike but that doesn''t mean they are as small as most people would think and they are offering you sixty-five thousand euros per week," rk said.


    <That''s a pretty good deal>


    "I agree," Dave muttered with a smile on his face.


    ***


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 75 All Eight Balls?

    After talking about the sponsorship deal for a while and deciding when they were going to head to the ce toplete the deal, they started talking about something else.


    "So, how''s life at From?" Dave asked before he sat down beside him on the couch.


    "Moving to a new city has never been easy for me but I''m trying to adapt," rk said.


    "Okay, that''s nice."


    "You guys areing to Frono on Saturday right to face Frono FC right?"


    "Yeah," Dave said with a nod. "Will you be there?"


    "Well, that depends on how busy I will be at that time but for now I have nothing nned so I''ll likely be there," rk said before refilling his ss with the red wine.


    "Okay, we have four matches and we have to make sure we don''t lose any of them to remain in the race for the conference league spot."


    "Your form has been awesome recently, the midfield has always been great with Ferran and the attack has also been good although shaky sometimes but the biggest problem in the team is the defense," rk said.


    "Yeah, we''ve talked about that."


    "The center backs are trying, especially Adolf but the wing-backs have been really poor. They made a lot of mistakes in thatst match, especially Jonas, I don''t know what''s happening to him, his form has been very poor recently."


    <Karma probably>


    "I''m just d there''s someone like Rnd on the team, he''s been way better than Jonas, once he was brought in, he shut off all their attacks from his side," rk said.


    "There''s a reason why he won the yer of the week," Dave said.


    "The defensive problemes mainly from the wings but with little space left to finish thesest four matches there''s always going to be rotations so Norman has to find another way to fix the problem if you guys are going to qualify for the conference league spot." rk opined.


    "I hope he finds an effective one, I''m just d thesest four teams are not that strong," Dave said. "Lave City, Frono FC, Zilo FC, and Lesica United."


    "Yeah, but Unique FC isn''t a strong team either," rk said.


    <He''s right about that>


    "And even if the team was strong, big teams get trashed by small teams sometimes."


    "Yeah," Dave said.


    "You shouldn''t underestimate anyone."


    "I''ve been in terrible form for a long time now, why would I underestimate anyone? We even lost against Lave City in the away leg."


    "Another reason why you shouldn''t underestimate them," rk said before taking down the little content left in his cup. "So, how''re things going with Emma?" He said changing the topic.


    "Fine, things are always fine between us," Dave said with a shrug.


    "That''s not what I meant."


    "Huh?"


    "I was talking about your ns, the proposal, have you done it yet?"


    "Oh," Dave said. "I haven''t done it yet, but I''ve bought the ring."


    "What''s holding you?" rk asked.


    "I want the season toe to an end first." He said. "Do you know any ce that will be perfect for it, I want it to be special?"


    "I know a certain special space," rk said before his lips slowly curved up to form a smile on his face.


    ______ _____


    After talking about a few more important and unimportant things, rk left to meet up with his flight and after a few more minutes of lying on the couch, Dave had gone outside to train.


    He pushed his ball ster outside with the bag of balls hanging around his neck.


    He was going to practice with his ball ster today but before that, he was going to practice hitting the crossbar.


    He lined up all eight balls just in front of his doorstep because that was where he was going to be shooting from today.


    He expected to see a quest pop up on his screen because that was quite a distance away from the goalpost but nothing came up.


    <Don''t me me><sub> </sub>


    ''I''m not.''


    He drew back his leg and kicked the first ball which flew straight toward the crossbar and banged on it.


    "Yeah." He muttered.


    The second one also hit the crossbar, the third one missed, the fourth and fifth ones were on target and then he missed thest three.


    ''That''s four out of eight.''


    <I guess the system had its reason for not giving me any quest>


    ''Because I would have smashed it.''


    <Exactly> Catherine said. <The system gives you quests in tough situations, do you think you will get a quest to keep out all the balls in level one of that ball ster, something that you can effortlessly do at your current level?>


    ''So I get quests so that I can fail them.''


    ? <Given the fact that you have alreadypleted a lot of quests, that''s not the reason, the difficult quests are to push you to improve just like you''re improving your long ball uracy now>


    Dave didn''t say anything as he walked toward the goalpost and began to pick up the balls.


    After picking them all up, he carried them to the ster.


    <I thought you were practicing hitting the crossbar>


    ''Yeah, but I need to check something.'' Dave replied as he filled the balls into the ster.


    After filling the balls into the ster, he closed it up before standing up to look at the controls.


    He was supposed to click the level four button because thest level hepleted was level three but he decided to skip it and click level five.


    <Desperate for a quest I see>


    ''Not just any quest, a good quest with juicy rewards.''


    <Juicy rewards means tough quest>


    ''I know.''


    The goalkeeper adjusted his gloves and clicked the start button before making his way to his goal line.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Keep out all eight balls ]


    [ Quest Rewards ]


    [ +50 exp ]


    [ +3 skill points ]


    [ (+10) Energy upgrade ]


    ''All eight balls?'' Dave thought with a shocked expression on his face.


    <Told you so>


    The first ball shot out from the ster toward the top left-hand corner, Dave was glued to the spot as the ball flew right past him and fell into the back of the.


    [ Quest failed ]


    "Oh,e on," Dave said in frustration before crashing to the floor.


    <Like I said before, told you so>


    ***


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.


    Also, if you''re enjoying the novel so far, please drop a review, I just need two more reviews to get a rating.

 Chapter 76 Intense Training

    "I''m just going to try again." The goalkeeper said after stopping thest ball which was shot directly at him.


    He gathered all the balls around him and quickly made his way to the ball ster.


    <I told you it was going to be a tough quest>


    ''You don''t have to keep telling me that.''


    <Why don''t you try level four? You may get a lower quest that you''ll be able toplete>


    ''No.'' The goalkeeper replied before getting up on his feet and clicking the number five button and the redrge start button.


    After clicking the buttons, he quickly made his way back to his goal line.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Keep out seven of the balls ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +30 exp ]


    [ +1 skill point ]


    [ (+5) Energy upgrade ]


    ''It reduced the requirements.''


    <And the rewards too>


    The first ball was shot out toward the bottom left-hand corner as the goalkeeper quickly dived toward it and pushed it out before it could hit the floor and bounce into the goalpost.


    He quickly got up on his feet after keeping out that one to get ready for the next one.


    The next ball was shot out after fifty seconds and this one was aimed toward the left side, it wasn''t top or bottom but it was ced really far away from him.


    He dived toward the ball as soon as it was shot out and with the tip of his glove, he pushed the ball off the goalpost so that it hit the crossbar and rolled off.


    <You have ball ma remember>


    ''I know, I didn''t need it to make that save.''


    The third ball was shot out after the time wasplete and this one was aimed directly toward him but it was elevated in such a way as to confuse him but that goal from Kno in thest match had taught him a lot.


    He followed the ball with his eyes and just like he suspected, it was going to fall into the but he was there to push it over with both of his hands.


    <If you had been this decisive in that match, that goal wouldn''t have gone in>


    The fourth ball was an easy save for him as it was shot toward the lower right side and all he needed to do was stick his leg out and block it.


    <Four out of four, impressive>


    The fifth one was ced toward the top left-hand corner, this was a situation that required a certain skill to take care of.


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    He dived towards the ball and with the help of his ball ma, the ball was pulled toward his glove and which made tipping it over the bar easier.


    "Five out of five." He muttered before slowly getting up from the floor.


    <You''re doing great>


    The sixth ball was also easy for him to save given the fact that it was ced toward the right side and wasn''t even stretched that far enough to stress him.


    <Six saves in a row, just one more>


    ''Yeah, just one more.''


    He expected the seventh ball to be ced somewhere tough like the angles but the ball was shot directly at him and all he needed to do to take care of it was pull his leg back and kick the ball but that had gone terribly wrong.


    He kicked the ball expecting it to fly low and hit maybe his front door but he seemed to have underestimated the power of his shot and how small those balls werepared to the standard ones used in official matches.


    The ball flew straight toward the ss window to his room upstairs and smashed through it shattering and breaking the ss in the process.


    "That wasn''t what I expected." He said with an awkward expression on his face.


    Nevertheless, he didn''t bother to go upstairs to bring the ball and clean the mess that he just made even after saving thest ball which was also an easy catch for him.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ You have sessfully kept out seven of the balls ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +30 exp received ]


    [ +1 skill point received ]


    [ (+5) Energy upgrade ]


    [ 155/300 exp ]


    ''You should have just given me the first quest you damn system.''


    <Maybe you would have failed it if you have gotten it>


    ''You just witnessed me keep out eight balls, if I had gotten that same quest, I would have clearlypleted it.''


    <That''s what you think>


    ''What do you mean?''<sub> </sub>


    <Never mind>


    ''Okay.'' Dave replied.


    [ 65/105 Energy ]


    ''So, that''s what the energy upgrade is about.''


    <Yeah, the more your energy upgrades, the more energy you will be able to save and the more energy you''re able to save, the more you canst in tough situations>


    ''Okay, is there any other way I can upgrade my energy apart from earning it through quests like this?''


    <Stat points work on it>


    ''They do?''


    <Yeah, try it>


    ''Okay.''


    [ +1 stat point added to energy ]


    [ Energy has received a (+1) upgrade ]


    [ 65/106 Energy ]


    ''I think I''m going to keep my stat points to my physical stats and leave the energy upgrade to the rewards from quests.''


    <I was about to suggest the same>


    Dave had entered an intense training mode given the fact that Emma wasn''t home and there was no way for him to go at the moment.


    He trained with the ball ster for a way but for some reason, he refused to go further after level five.


    After training for a while with the balls, he switched to physical training in the form of push-ups, squats, sit-ups, and stretches.


    Physical training wasn''t exactly his thing and because of that, by the time he was done, his body was covered in sweat, he was breathing heavily and his energy had gone down low.


    [ 15/106 Energy ]


    But that was good given the fact that he had gotten some rewards for his hard work.


    [ Your training has paid off ]


    [ +2 stat points added to strength and endurance ]


    [ +1 stat point added to dexterity ]


    [ Physical Status ]


    [ Strength: 23 ]


    [ Dexterity: 26 ]


    [ Endurance: 19 ]


    "I think I''m done for today." He muttered before making his way to the door.


    <The sun is almost gone anyways>


    He stood in front of the door and was about to open it when he heard footstepsing from the side and quickly turned his gaze there to see Emma approaching him from there.


    "Hey." He said with a smile on his face as soon as he saw her.


    "Hey." She said before looking at him from head to toe and then turning her gaze to thewn which had balls scattered all around it.


    "I see you''ve been training intensively." She said,


    "It was the only useful thing I could do," Dave said before opening the door for her to walk in. "So how was work today?" He asked before shutting the door.


    "Work was fine," She said with a nod as she moved toward the staircase.


    "And the article, did your boss like it?"


    "Ehhh.... she had a problem with some parts of it but she liked the rest." She said slowly making her way upstairs.


    "Okay."


    "I need to go get changed and you should go take a shower." She said before making her way upstairs.


    "Yeah, I really need it." He muttered.


    <You do realize that you never recovered the ball from that ss window you broke>


    "ss window," Dave muttered with a horrid expression on his face.


    "Dave!!" Emma yelled from upstairs.


    "Uh, oh."


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.


    Also, if you''re enjoying the novel so far, please drop a review, I just need two more reviews to get a rating.

 Chapter 77 Catherine?

    The room had pieces of ss almost everywhere,rge ones and little bits, and most of them were on the bed.


    Emma was still finding it hard toprehend how something like this could have happened, she was staring at the bed with a baffled expression on her face


    "What were you thinking, aiming for the window?" Emma asked as Dave stood at the entrance holding a broom.


    "It was a mistake," Dave said, walking closer to her.


    "Mistake? When did the window turn into your goalpost? I thought it was down there on thewn."  She said pointing at the spot where the window used to be.


    "I didn''t aim for the window, I was training with the ball ster and decided to clear an easy ball with my foot but that went terribly wrong and that''s how that happened."


    "Just give me the broom." She said with an annoyed voice before stretching his hand toward him.


    "Okay," Dave said, handing her the broom.


    She took the broom from him and began to gather the sses together with it.


    "Let me get the ones on the bed," Dave said heading toward the bed.


    "No," Emma said to stop him before he could get there.


    "Huh?"


    "I can handle this myself and besides don''t you think you should be calling some people right now?" She said,


    "Some people." He muttered before the idea clicked in his mind. "Oh, yeah, the window installment people." He said bringing out his phone from his pocket.


    "You should go do that downstairs."


    "Is there anything wrong if I do it here?"


    "Not exactly but please go downstairs."


    She sounded calm but Dave could sense that little hint of annoyance in her voice.


    "Okay." He said before he slowly made his way to the door.


    <You could have clearly avoided this by doing all these things the moment it happened>


    ''I know but I forgot.''


    <We both know that is a silly excuse>


    Dave didn''t reply as he slowly walked to the couch and crashed down on it before raising his phone to his view.


    Emma was already done with cleaning up everything by the time Dave returned to the room, the room now looked like nothing ever happened there but the window was still there as a proof that something did happen.


    "Have you called them?" She asked as soon as she spotted Dave at the entrance.


    "Yeah, but they''re noting?" He said, folding his lips with an awkward expression on his face.


    "What? Why?"


    "Umm...the installment team is off duty at the moment but they will be returning tomorrow." He said walking closer to her.


    "Are they the only ones you know?"


    "No, but they are the only ones who wille by this time, the other ones I know are miles away in Supreme." He said.


    "So what are we going to do now?" She said with a worried expression on her face. "We can''t sleep in a room without a window."


    Dave didn''t say anything as he slowly walked to the area and closed the opening with therge curtains.


    "Curtains will do the trick." He said.


    "Curtains can''t protect you from the cold, bats, and thieves," Emma said, sitting down on the bed.


    "Thieves," Dave muttered. "We can sleep in the guest room."


    Emma let out a sigh before making her way to the door.


    "Just make sure to lock the door aftering out." She said before walking away.


    ''There''s no way anyone would notice and try to break into the house through here right?''


    <It''s possible depending on how they''re monitoring your house, the ce was robbedst week remember, so don''t rule out the possibility>


    The goalkeeper pulled the curtains to make sure there was no way anyone would see anything and after that, he made his way to the switch and turned it off before leaving the room and locking it from outside.


    ''I hope nothing bad happens but just to be safe.''


    He made his way to the room where he had dropped some of his gym equipment upstairs and brought out a few of the heavy ones which he used to block the door.<sub> </sub>


    "That should do it." He said looking at the pile of equipment in front of the door.


    Before dropping the equipment in front of the door, he made sure to bring out all the things that he was going to be needing tonight and important things that needed to be kept safe and transferred them to the guest room, he also brought out things he knew Emma was going to be needing for the night.


    He went and took his bath like he was supposed to before making his way downstairs to eat dinner with Emma.


    Only a few words were exchanged between the two during their meal and after that, it was now time to go to bed.


    "Wow, you seriously blocked the door with all those things, I haven''t even changed yet," Emma said as soon as she saw all the things he had used to block the door.


    "That''s a safety precaution and for changing, let''s just get to the room first," Dave said, pulling her along with him.


    The guest room was a littlergepared to his room and it had tworge beds which could amodate two people each.


    Looking at the bed on the right, Emma could see her pink pajamas lying there.


    ? "You just assumed that that was what I wanted to wear tonight." She said, picking up the pajamas.


    "That''s your favorite pajamas, what did you expect me to bring, your exotic gown?"


    "Very funny babe," She said before she began to unbutton her shirt.


    It didn''t take her long to finish unbuttoning the shirt and pulled it off to reveal the white singlet she was putting on.


    "Get changed, I''ll be over here," Dave said before he walked to the bed on the left and jumped down on it.


    Hey on his back before bringing up his phone to check something but his eyes kept trailing off toward Emma who was still getting changed.


    "What?" She asked after putting on the pajama trousers.


    "Nothing," Dave asked, shaking his head.


    "Okay." She said before sitting down on the bed. "I think it will be nice if we sleep separately tonight don''t you think?"


    "Yeah, sure." He said with a slowed-down voice.


    <If only she knew what you really wanted to say>


    "Sure?" Emma said, sounding a bit confused. "I mean goodnight." She rephrased her words before lying down on the bed and covering herself.


    "Goodnight," Dave said before turning to the side. "She wants to sleep on the other bed, that''s okay." He muttered.


    He brought his phone back to his gaze and was about to start scrolling through it when he felt two arms wrap around him, he didn''t need to turn to know who it was.


    "I didn''t mean that."


    "I was hoping you didn''t." He said before turning to her with a smile on his face.


    The two talked about some things for a while before Emma had fallen asleep with her arms wrapped around him and her head on his chest.


    Dave watched her sleep while listening to her little peaceful snores and after a while, he too had fallen asleep.


    Just twenty minutes into his sleep, the goalkeeper found himself in apletely white area that he couldn''t exactly make anything of.


    "What is going on?" He said with a confused expression on his face as he looked around.


    He expected Catherine to say something about his current situation but there was nothing from her.


    He thought this was just her being silent and decided to walk down a little to see if he could see anything reasonable.


    He walked a few distances before he spotted someone.


    "Hello." He said, getting closer to the person but there was no response.


    He got closer to see that the person happened to be a red-haired female dressed in a ck suit.


    "Hello." He called again and this time the female turned for him to see her face.


    She had an oval face with nice-looking brown eyes, a small but cute nose, and beautiful small lips.


    "Hello, Dave." She said,


    As soon as he heard that voice, he realized that it sounded just like a voice that he had been expecting to hear in his head for quite a while now.


    "Catherine?" He said with a stunned look on his face.


    ***


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 78 Control Over My Dream

    "So this is what you look like," Dave said as he walked down the endless white space with the voice he used to hear in his head who was now a human figure.


    "I don''t have a human figure but in your mind, I can have one," Catherine said.


    "Okay, so you can take a human figure in my mind." He said.


    "Yeah, but it''s all up to you." She said,


    "What do you mean?"


    "I am like this because this has been the way you have always pictured me," She said.


    "You''re kidding right, because I don''t remember picturing you as a person."


    "That''s what you think, but you do it without even realizing it," Catherine said.


    "Huh?"


    "You know I used to have ck curly hair just like Emma until the day Emilia showed up and it suddenly turned red because you seemed to like her hair better than Emma''s."


    "My mind does all these things and I don''t even know about it."


    "You do, you just think you don''t, right from the first day you heard my voice in your head, you began to form a picture of what I would look like as a person and it reflects."


    "How is this even possible, how am I able to see you if you can only take a human figure in my mind, am I in my mind?" He asked with a confused expression on his face.


    "Sort of."


    "Huh?"


    "You''re in the subconscious state of your mind, this is what your mind pictures every time you fall asleep, an endless white space for some people it can be an endless dark space," Catherine exined.


    "Are you sure because I''m pretty sure this is the first time I am seeing something like this after falling asleep?"


    "Because you''re not meant to see it until you start dreaming," Catherine said.


    "Then why am I seeing it now?" He asked.


    "Because I want you to." She said,


    "Why?"


    "Because there''s a lot that you can achieve with your mind." She said,


    "You''re confusing me."


    "Humans as a race have always limited the things that they could do with their mind, you want to be a better goalkeeper but getting better at what you do doesn''t only rely on physical stats only, there''s a lot that you can do with your mind but you just don''t know it yet."


    "Just go straight to the point Catherine."


    "Human dreams work based on imaginations, those imaginations can either be self-imposed or they can be imposed by an external force, humans never have proper control of these forces while they are asleep, they don''t even have control of the one from them but with the help of your system, you now have control over your dreams."


    "What do you mean I have control over my dreams?" Dave asked.


    "Let me show you an example of the external force I was talking about." Catherine said, walking ahead of him."


    The goalkeeper had an amazed look on his face as he watched the whole area begin to change until it had turned into arge stadium.


    "How did you do that?" He asked, looking around from the middle of the pitch where he was standing.


    "I am an external force and just like I said, the external force can impose imaginations on you and cause you to dream about something, that''s why some people get strange dreams sometimes," Catherine exined.


    "Like nightmares."


    "Yeah, like nightmares," Catherine said before turning to face him.


    "So, why did you bring me to a stadium?"


    "To train of course." She said,


    "Is it necessary?" He asked. "I mean this is my dream so any training I do here won''t improve me physically."


    "That''s true," Catherine said, walking closer to him. "But if you had been listening carefully you should have heard when I said that bing the best in what you do isn''t all about physical stats."<sub> </sub>


    "Do you care to exin more?"


    "Training in your dream will not improve your stats in any way but it can improve your expression, your reaction, and teach you a lot of other things which you will find outter," Catherine exined.


    "Experience is something you gain from living your life every day and doing the things you do, you can''t get that from dreams," Dave said.


    "That''s true for other humans, not you Dave," Catherine said.


    As soon as she said that, the stadium began to get noisy as people were beginning to troop into the stands and before Dave knew it, the stands had gotten filled up.


    "What the?" Dave said, looking around the now filled-up stadium.


    "You have full control over your dream Dave, that means you can gain as much experience as you want but for now, I''ll be your guide," Catherine said before snapping her hand.


    As soon as she snapped her hand, the goalkeeper found himself in front of the crowd but he wasn''t alone, he was lined up with his teammates and they were all in their orange home jerseys while he was in the ck jersey.


    "Mateo." He called.


    "Not now dude, they''re singing the anthem," Mateo said without even turning his gaze to him.


    "This is insane." He muttered to himself.


    As soon as those words left his mouth, everything paused as he spotted Catherine walking toward him from the bench area.


    "I''ve never felt so much awake in a dream before, this is insane," Dave said, looking at her.


    "Because your mind has always been limited just like everyone else''s but with the help of your system, that has changed." She said,


    "You said I have control over things here right?"


    "Yeah."


    "But I don''t feel like I''m in control of anything." He said.


    "You don''t have to feel anything, all you have to do is imagine it and it will happen," Catherine said.


    "Imagine." The goalkeeper said looking down at his blue boots and just as he was looking at them, the boots suddenly turned red. "Waooh."


    "See."


    "That was awesome."


    "Now back to the experience I want you to get," Catherine said.


    Dave wanted to say something but before he could say it Catherine had vanished and everything had resumed but now he was no longer lined up with his teammates, he was now in between the sticks with his teammates standing in their wings on their side of the pitch while the other team yers were also standing on their side, the yers were putting on white jerseys.


    "We are just waiting for the referee''s whistle for the game to be on the way," Jim said.


    As soon as he said that, the referee blew his whistle to signal the beginning of the match.


    A yer from the opposite side had quickly rushed toward Fred as soon as the whistle was blown but before he could get to him, the center forward passed the ball to Minino.


    "We are on the way to determining the oue of what could be the greatest night in the history of Unique FC," Jim said.


    "It could go both ways, it could be the greatest night in their history or it could end as what would have be the greatest night in their history because I don''t think Real Madrid is going to make it easy for them," Steve said.


    "Real Madrid," Dave muttered.


    "Yeah, Steve, we''ll have to watch and see if Unique FC will be able to dethrone the current champions of Europe," Jim said.


    "Champions League final," Dave said with a wide smile on his face.


    He has never been in a UCL match before and despite this being just a dream, he was beginning to get that feeling of excitement he knew he would get in his first-ever champions league game.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 79 How?

    It had only been five minutes since the match began and so far, there had been no shots on the goalkeeper''s goalpost as his teammates were still with the ball.


    ''I just hope we have a better defense here,'' Dave thought.


    ''It''s your world, you can make the defense better.'' He heard Catherine say in his mind.


    ''I know, but it wouldn''t make any sense if I make the defense strong enough to stop their deadly attacks, that wouldn''t be fun for me.''


    ''And not only that, you wouldn''t be able to get the point that I want you to get from the match.'' Catherine said.


    Dave didn''t reply immediately as the match continued.


    The ball was yed to Mateo from Ferran but before Mateo could do anything, someone closed up on him from behind and muscled him off the ball.


    "Oh, Kovatic has taken the ball from him," Jim said.


    Kovatic raced down the right wing with the ball before passing it to the central midfielder in the middle.


    The yer got past Aima with a little touch of skill and pace and now he was racing toward Adolf.


    Adolf got ready to stop him, but before the midfielder could get to him, he passed the ball to Asensio who was making his way down the right wing.


    Asensio waited for the ball to get to him before flicking it into the box from above with a neat touch.


    "That''s a neat cross from Asensio," Jim said.


    "Yeah, and that could be costly given the fact that Adolf is off his line now," Steve said.


    Norman tried to stop Fernandez who was already in the box now but he couldn''t do anything as the striker brought the ball down with his chest and kept it away from him with a swift turn.


    Jonas raced toward him to try and stop him with a slide but he was toote as he mmed the ball toward the bottom left-hand corner.


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    With his skill activated, Dave dived toward the ball to try and stop it, but the shot was just too powerful for his ball ma skill to do anything.


    "Goal!!!!!" Jim screamed. "Fernandez Hernandez has gotten the first goal of the match."


    The match continued with Real Madrid totally controlling the game and preventing Unique FC yers from doing anything meaningful on their side.


    They didn''t really care about ball possession, their main goal was to get the ball forward always and that was what led to the many counterattacks Unique FC had faced so far.


    The second half concluded with Fernandez scoring one more goal with a beautiful header.


    It didn''t take long for the second half to kick off because Dave wanted it to start immediately so there really wasn''t any break.


    The team looked more confident in the second half with Dave making a lot of saves to deny Real Madrid yers from scoring the third goal.


    "These guys can''t give me a break." The goalkeeper muttered after catching a powerful shot that had been shot from outside the box.


    He tried to set Mateo up with one of those long balls of his but Kovatic swooped in from behind and stole the ball before it could get to him.


    "That guy''s a serious problem for Mateo," Dave muttered.


    Kovatic stealing the ball from Mateo had led to another attack and this time, it was Fernandez who had shot from outside the box.


    "Fernandez!" Jim screamed.


    The ball flew straight toward the top left-hand corner and hit the crossbar before falling into the back of the.


    All this happened while Dave was glued to the spot.


    "Oh, what a goal!" Jim eximed. "Real Madrid has gotten their third and Fernandez has gotten his hat trick!"


    Ferran, Mateo, Carlos, and the rest of those on the team who could get forward had been quiet throughout the match.<sub> </sub>


    Mateo had gotten close to scoring twice but one of the shots had gone wide and the other two had been easy saves for the goalkeeper.


    The match continued after that wonderful goal from Fernandez.


    Unique FC as usual began to hoard the ball trying to draw Real Madrid yers out but it ended in them losing the ball from a mistake.


    "Oh, this looks promising," Steve said.


    Kovatic was racing toward the goal post with the only yer avable there to stop him being Norman.


    Alphonse was racing down the left along with Kovatic and seeing him, an idea popped into the midfielder''s mind.


    He passed the ball to him before making the run through to receive the ball inside the box but before he could get the ball under control and shoot, Jonas closed up on him from behind and brought him down under a careless challenge.


    "Oh, that''s not good," Jim said.


    The referee blew his whistle before rushing toward Jonas to show him a yellow card.


    "This is a very good chance for Real Madrid to increase their lead, they''ve got a penalty kick," Steve said.


    Fernandez had stepped up to take the penalty kick as always and with the striker already on a hat trick, this could be his fourth goal of the game.


    ''I know this is not real but I am really nervous right now, penalty kicks make me nervous especially when it''sing from someone like him.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    ''That''s good, the more real you make it feel the better the impact it will make on you.'' Catherine said.


    "This could be Fernandez''s fourth goal in the match and that would mean that this will be his first time to score four goals in a Champions League match," Jim said. "Can Dave Richards stop him?"


    The referee blew his whistle as Fernandez slowly stepped back and let out a deep sigh before racing toward the ball.


    He was about to kick the ball when his body suddenly turned into pixels and vanished.


    "Huh?" Dave said with a confused expression on his face.


    After the yer vanished, the ball turned into pixels before vanishing before the rest of the yers began to turn into pixels before vanishing along with the fans in the stand and then everything else around him.


    "What''s going on Catherine?" Dave asked as he watched everything around him disappear.


    "You''re waking up." Catherine appeared beside him to say. "It could be that you''re naturally waking up or something''s forcing you to wake up?"


    Just as she said that the stadium vanished before his body began to turn into pixels until he was gone.


    His consciousness had returned to his body now as he could feel Emma''s finger tapping on his forehead.


    He slowly opened his eyes to see her over him.


    "Hey." He said with a smile. "Good morning."


    "Good morning." She said, "What''s up with you today?"


    "What do you mean?" He asked.


    "You are always up before 6:00 PM but what''s up with today?" She asked.


    As soon as she said that, the goalkeeper quickly picked up his phone and tapped it to see that the time was 7:07 AM.


    "How?" He muttered. "I wasn''t even there for more than an hour."


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 80 Under The Radar

    "What are you talking about?" Emma asked, looking at him with a strange expression on her face.


    "I was in this strange dream and I wasn''t even there for more than an hour but...."


    "Maybe you''ve slept for a long time before you started having the dream." She said,


    "Yeah, maybe," Dave said.


    There was a moment of silence between the two as they stared into each other''s eyes.


    "You have a morning run toplete," Emma said, without breaking eye contact with him.


    "I think I''ll skip it for today." He muttered before pulling her down on his body.


    "I have to get to work Dave." She said with a slow and low voice.


    "You still have a lot of time left." Dave said and just before she could say anything else, he locked her in a passionate kiss."


    She wanted to resist not because she wanted to but because she knew that she didn''t have a lot of time left just like he had said.


    She gave into the kiss for a minute before quickly pulling away from it and getting up from his body.


    "What''s wrong?" Dave asked.


    "Nothing''s wrong." She said, shaking her head. "It''s just that you''re wrong."


    "Huh?"


    "I don''t have a lot of time left, I have to be at work before 8:30 AM and I only have one hour left to make breakfast and get ready, doing this will mean that I''ll get to workte." She said getting up from the bed.


    "I can help you with breakfast."


    "No." She said moving toward the door. "But do you know what you should do instead?"


    "What?" Dave asked.


    "Call the window installment people." She said before leaving through the door and closing it.


    "Yeah, I should do that." He said before bringing his phone up to his view.


    ______ ______


    ''So you''re saying that time moves really slow whenever I am in my dream like that.'' Dave said subconsciously as he opened the door to his room.


    <Yeah, that''s why one hour in there turned into the whole night>


    ''So I was awake all night ying a match against Real Madrid.''


    <Your subconscious was ying a match against Real Madrid while your body was resting that''s why you don''t feel tired>


    ''Okay, but I have to be considerate of how much time I spend there if one hour can sun up to about seven hours.''


    <Yeah, you should>


    He scanned the room with his eyes to see that everything was still the way he left them which meant that nobody had broken into the housest night.


    After confirming that nothing had happened in the roomst night, he carried the pieces of gym equipment back to the room where he was keeping them.


    "I''m skipping the run for today but I cannot skip this quest." He said with his gaze fixed on the fridge in the room.


    He walked to the fridge and opened it to bring out his special two liters of bottled water.


    It didn''t take him long to consume the whole content; he dropped the container on the floor as usual.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ Drink two liters of water ]


    [ +5 exp received ]


    [ 160/300 exp ]


    He didn''t want to disturb Emma so he waited upstairs for her to finish what she was doing in the kitchen.


    He was lying on his bed going through his phone when Emma entered the room.<sub> </sub>


    "Hey, breakfast is ready if you''re hungry." She said before making her way to the wardrobe.


    The door blocked him from seeing anything as she quickly pulled off her clothes and turned to face him with a brown towel tied around to see that he was still on the bed and was facing her now.


    "You''re not hungry?" She said,


    "No, I am hungry, it''s just that I''m more hungry for something else." He said looking at her from head to toe.


    "Go downstairs and eat, maybe that hunger for something else will go away." She said before making her way out of the room.


    <Humans>


    _____ ____


    Inside the Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt Germany, the president of Eintracht Frankfurt along with other members of the club were all gathered in the meeting room to talk about a lot of things.


    The team''s manager was part of the meeting today as one of the main focuses of the meeting was going to be transfers and with him being the coach, they wanted to hear his opinion.


    "I heard that Zinin is considering a move out of Barcelona this summer, he''s a good winger, and adding him to the squad will really boost our attack." The coach said, looking directly at the president who was sitting opposite him at the other end.


    "Are you sure he wants to move because I haven''t heard anything like that?" The president asked.


    "He hasn''t made it public yet but I have a very reliable inside source." The coach said.


    "Okay." The president said.


    "Is his contract expiring this season or he just wants to leave?" One of the board members asked.


    "He will have one year left in his contracte this summer."


    "And what''s his release use?"


    "A hundred million euros." The coach said.


    "That''s quite a lot." Another board member said.


    "For a yer like Zinin, it''s not, he was a sensation back at Dortmund and he''s been doing great   the few minutes that he gets to y for Barcelona, the reason why he wants to leave is that he ys the same position as Ciro and that makes it hard for him to get any ying time."


    "We are not making any decisions yet but we''ll keep him under our radar." The president said.


    "What about a goalkeeper?" The only female in the meeting asked. "Gerdino is retiring next season so we''ll need a recement goalkeeper as his backup also wants to leave at the end of the season."


    "Do you have any suggestions?" The president asked, turning his gaze to the coach.


    "There are a lot of choices but I think Dave Richards will be a good option." The coach said.


    "The one from Unique FC?" One of the board members asked.


    "Yeah, him." The coach said.


    "You know that his performance has been poor right?" The female said


    "Yeah, but I''ve been following histest matches and he''s been improving." The coach said.


    "A few lucky performances doesn''t make him a good goalkeeper." The president said.


    "Those performances weren''t lucky, but you''re right, he isn''t a good goalkeeper yet." The coach said. "I''m not asking you to dere any interest in him, just keep an eye out for him in the future, he''s a very young yer and has a lot of room for improvement."


    "You should also send scouts to monitor to make sure we''re not making a mistake." Another member of the board said.


    "Yeah, send scouts." The coach said.


    "Okay, Jonah, we''ll put him under our radar, that''s the only promise I will be making for now." The president said.


    "That''s the only promise I need, for now, thank you." The coach said.


    ***


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 81 At All Costs

    With Emma already off to work, Dave was once again home alone, today''s training session was starting by noon so he had a lot of time left before the training kicked off.


    He had gone to his gym to train a few minutes after Emma had left and after two hours and some minutes, he returned to the house.


    [ 180/400 exp ]


    He brought out his phone from his pocket to see that the time was 10:40 AM.


    "I still have a lot of time left before I have to head to the stadium." He muttered before making his way up the staircase.


    The first thing he did was take a shower so that it wouldn''t be a problem for him when the time starts getting closer.


    By the time he was done washing up and putting on his clothes, the time was already 11:10 AM.


    "Fifty minutes more." He said before heading toward the table in the living room to pick up his car keys.


    There was nothing for him to do in the house so his best option was to head to the stadium to start early training before the others arrived.


    He arrived to discover that the parking lot was empty as expected but just as he parked his car and got down from it, another car entered the area, it was a ck Audi RS7 and there was only one person in the squad who owned a car like that.


    The car stopped just beside Dave''s Toyota Rav4 before the door opened for Ferran to step down from it.


    "Dave." He said, walking closer to the goalkeeper.


    "Mate wasn''t joking when he said you have a serious habit of over-punctuality," Dave said after the two shook hands.


    "You can''t me me, I don''t really have anything to do all day besides training, anding here is a big part of it," Ferran said.


    "Oh, I see," Dave said with a nod.


    "Now, let''s go inside and see if we can get ahead with a few drills before the others arrive," Ferran said before quickly walking off toward the entrance to the stadium.


    "Yeah," Dave said before following him from behind.


    Ferran had started his training by running a fewps round pitch and after watching himplete the first and second one, Dave decided to join him on the third one.


    Afterpleting a few moreps, they switched to stretches and after that, Ferran picked up a ball and began to jog it.


    ''This will be a really good time to practice hitting the crossbar.'' Dave thought before making his way to the piles of balls to pick up five balls.


    He dropped the balls in the usual spot where he had dropped the other ones to make sure that he got the quest.


    He got the quest just like he expected but just like the previous attempts, he failed the quest as he had managed to hit the crossbar only once.


    "Why is this so hard?" He said, gritting his teeth in frustration.


    <Why don''t you forget about the quest and get closer, that''s the only way that you can increase your uracy before trying a distance like this>


    Dave didn''t listen to her and tried toplete the quest again but just like his previous attempts he had failed the quest and this time without even hitting the crossbar once.


    "You have good uracy, your precision''s just not good enough."


    The goalkeeper slowly turned to see Ferran standing there with two balls in his hands.


    He threw the first ball up and jogged it for a while before he sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    The ball flew straight toward the top right-hand corner and smashed on it before falling over.


    "I''m not surprised," Dave said.


    "I know you''re not, anyone can do it." He said before dropping the other ball on the ground and trapping it under his boot. "I noticed you''ve been trying hard to hit that crossbar more than once since the past few training sessions, are you nning on taking free kick duties off me and Mateo''s hands?''''


    ''''No, I just want to improve my uracy.''''<sub> </sub>


    ''''Long ball uracy?''''


    ''''Yeah, that,'''' Dave said.


    ''''It looks more like you''re trying to improve your shot precision to be able to score goals from way outside the box,'''' Ferran said.


    ''''Scoring goals is good for the team isn''t it?''''


    ''''Yeah, but inasmuch as goalkeepers can score goals in certain situations, it is not their job on the pitch,'''' Ferran said. ''''I understand that you''re training yourself to be a good ball-ying goalkeeper and improving in that area would be useful for you in the long run but what Unique FC needs at the moment needs a shot-stopper and sweeper keeper to stop all those shots and prevent deadly prations.''''


    <He may have gotten you wrong on how frequently you''ve been practicing it but he''s right>


    ''''I''m not saying you should stop trying to improve your ball-ying ability, I love how you have been able to provide Mateo with two important assists, I''m just saying that you should focus on what is really important as a goalkeeper.''''


    ''''I understand what you''re saying Ferran and I can assure you that I''m focusing more on improving my shot-stopping ability,'''' Dave said.


    ''''Okay, that''s good,'''' Ferran said with a nod.


    ''''So do you want to test me out from the penalty spot?'''' He asked, pointing toward the goalpost.


    ''''Sure,'''' Ferran said before kicking up the ball on the floor to catch it.


    <What happened topleting the quest at all costs?>


    ''I''lle back to that at the end of this training session.'' Dave replied, moving toward the goalpost


    ''''They''re going to start arriving any moment now,'''' Ferran said before dropping the ball on the kick-off spot.


    He took two steps away from the ball before quickly closing up on it to send it flying toward the right side of the goalpost.


    Dave correctly guessed where he was going to kick the ball but he was wrong in thinking that the ball was not going toe with any form of elevation as he dived toward the bottom right side of the goalpost while the ball zoomed past him from above and fell into the back of the.


    ''''I see you want to develop the habit of over-punctuality that Ferran has.''''


    The two turned their gaze toward the tunnel to see Mateo who was heading toward them now.


    ''''I don''t think it''s a bad habit,'''' Dave said.


    ''''I never said it was,'''' Mateo said. ''''I''m just wondering how long you will be able to keep it up.''''


    ''''Not for long,'''' Dave said, shaking his head. ''''This is a fluke.''''


    ''''I knew it,'''' Mateo said before shaking Ferran''s hands and bumping shoulders with him, after that, he walked to Dave and repeated the process.


    It didn''t take long before the other yers began to arrive and just before the time hit 12:15 PM, Norman and everyone else that made up the coaching staff were avable on the pitch.


    As always, he talked to them about a few things concerning the uing match and the training focus before the training session officially kicked off.


    The training session was a short one just like Norman said and had onlysted for two and a half hours before the yers returned to their locker rooms to get informed on the match tactics and the yers who were going to be starting.


    After that, the yers were allowed to return home, and just as they were doing that, Dave had returned to the pitch.


    He walked straight to the balls he had ced in rows in the normal spot before going down the tunnel.


    "Just like I said Catherine, I mustplete this quest at all cost." He muttered with his gaze on the goalpost.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 82 Free Kick Shootout

    Dave let you out a deep sigh after watching thest ball out of his five tries fly over the bar without hitting it.


    [ Quest Failed ]


    <I don''t want to say it, but you''re wasting your time>


    "No, I''m not," Dave muttered before he quickly rushed to the piles of balls and picked up five balls.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Hit the crossbar twice in five tries ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +15 exp ]


    [ +5 skill points ]


    He didn''t want to listen to whatever Catherine was saying as he slowly took four steps backward before closing up on the first ball in the row and aiming it toward the top crossbar.


    The ball flew toward the crossbar and hade really close to hitting it but unfortunately, it failed to hit.


    ''That was really close.''


    <Just like the other ones>


    For the second one, he only took two steps backward before closing up on the ball and kicking it toward the goalpost.


    The ball flew straight to the middle of the top crossbar and smashed on it before falling over.


    "Yes." He muttered in excitement.


    The third ball had alsoe close to hitting the crossbar from the angle, but unfortunately, it had failed to hit it.


    He was now down to two balls.


    <Let''s say you also fail this one, are you going to continue?>


    "What did you hear when I said at all costs?" Dave said as he closed up on the fourth ball and instead of using the side of his foot like he had done with the other ones, he decided to tip it.


    The ball flew toward the goalpost from the side and for a second it looked like it was going to fly past it until it suddenly curved and smashed into the side of the crossbar.


    Dave stared at the crossbar with a stunned look on his face, he knew he could do it but he couldn''t believe that he had just done it.


    "I finally did it." He muttered before falling to his knees. "I finally did it but why isn''t the questplete message popping up?"


    <The quest said twice out of five tries, you''ve only hit it twice out of four tries>


    ''Yeah, that''s right.'' He replied before quickly getting up on his feet.


    He took the shot with the same technique that he had used on the fourth one but he wasn''t lucky this time as the ball flew past the crossbar from above and it didn''t even get as close as the first one got but that didn''t matter.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ You have sessfully hit the crossbar twice in five tries ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +15 exp received ]


    [ +5 skill points received ]


    [ 195/400 exp ]


    [ Skill points: 7 ]


    ''Seven skill points that means I can unlock that double stamina skill now.''


    "Nice shots."


    Dave quickly turned back to see Mateo approaching him.


    "Thanks." He said.


    "You wanted some extra training time after starting early with Ferran, trying to increase your work rate I see."


    "Well, a better work rate means better productivity and I really need better productivity," Dave said.


    "Yeah, and the productivity is showing quite well in your case," Mateo said with a nod.


    ____ ____


    Dave got home by 3:50 PM to rest for a while before heading back to the pitch by 6:00 PM to get ready for the match which was kicking off by 7:30 PM.


    The first ce he went to as soon as he entered the house was the couch, he crashed down on it before bringing out his phone from his pocket.


    He scrolled through his normal social media space before he found an article rting to their uing match.


    ''Unique FC versus Lave City, will Dave Richards be able to put up a show like he has been doing recently?'' He read subconsciously.


    "I''ll try my best, but I hope Dave Richards will be able to put up a show." He muttered.


    Before 5:00 PM, he was already ready for the match, he was dressed in Unique FC''s orange jacket and sports trousers as he made his way down the staircase.


    He expected Emma to be back by this time but for some reason, she wasn''t back yet.


    He walked to the couch and dropped his bag there so that he could open it and check if everything that he was going to be needing was there and intact but just as he was about to open the bag, his phone began to vibrate in his pocket.<sub> </sub>


    He brought out the phone to see Emma written there as the name of the caller.


    "Hey, babe." He said after picking up the call and cing the phone against his ear.


    "Hey, how are you?" She asked from the other end.


    "I''m okay, you?"


    "A bit stressed out but I''m fine." She said, "Where are you now?"


    "Home but I''m about to start heading to the stadium." He replied.


    "Okay, I just want to let you know that I won''t be returning home now but I''ll be at the stadium before the match kicks off, this is Unique FC''s home match so I''ll be there as an official reporter."


    "That''s great, you also get to the post-match interview on the pitch right after the match right?" Dave asked.


    "Yeah," Emma replied.


    "Cool, I''ll see you there then."


    "Yeah." She said before ending the call.


    "Official reporter." He muttered before turning his gaze to his bag.


    He arrived at the parking lot with his car to see that there were a lot of cars already parked there which meant that a lot of his teammates were already in the stadium.


    Just before walking into the stadium, he checked his watch to see that the time was 6:07 PM.


    The first person he met in the hallway was Mateo who was heading in the opposite direction.


    "Hey bro." The winger said, raising his hand for a fist bump.


    "Hey," Dave said. "Where are you heading to?"


    "Coach is busy with your dad in his office at the moment so I want to grab myself a snack in the meantime," Mateo said.


    "Okay," Dave said before the two continued their walk in their separate ways.


    He got to the locker room to see that his teammates were all dressed in their training outfits.


    It didn''t take long for Norman to show up after he had changed into his training kit.


    He talked to them and tried to give them a sense of motivation for the uing match.


    After that, the yers made their way to the pitch to start the Pre-Match warm-up before Lave City yers arrived.


    "Let me try a power shot," Mateo said as he dropped the edge of the box and slowly moved back.


    Dave had sessfully kept out two of his first shots and that was why he was going to try and add more power to his shots.


    The winger raced toward the ball and drilled it toward the bottom left-hand corner with a tremendous amount of shot power.


    Dave dived toward the ball, but it was just too fast, even for his ball ma as the ball rolled into the back of the before he could get his hand to it.


    "Yes."


    "Nice shot," Dave said, getting up from the floor. "Can you take the ball a little further away from there now and try from that far out."


    "Sure," Mateo said before he kicked the ball.


    The ball rolled until it stopped a little distance away from the edge of the box.


    "Hey, guys, why don''t we all try a turn-by-turn free kick shootout on Dave?!" Mateo turned to the rest of his teammates and yelled.


    "I''m in," Ferran said, moving toward the area.


    "Me too," Rnd said.


    "Sure," Minino said with a shrug.


    It didn''t take long before seven yers gathered on the spot for the free kick shootout.


    "I''m going first," Mateo said before rolling the ball a little to the left side which was his best side for taking free kicks.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Keep out all eight balls ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +20 exp ]


    [ +2 stat points ]


    [ +1 skill point ]


    "Oh, yeah." The goalkeeper muttered with a smile on his face.


    *****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 83 Be Careful

    Mateo, Ferran, Merino, Rnd, Minino, Edward, Roberto, and Adolf.


    All eight yers were gathered in front of Dave''s goalpost to see how well Dave was going to do in keeping their shots from that spot out.


    Mateo was the first to take his shot, he aimed it toward the right side of the post with a little elevation.


    If he had kicked that ball with more added power, it would have been really difficult for Dave to save but the ball had already been yed and all Dave did was dive toward it and with both of his hands, he caught it before it could go any further.


    "Nice save," Mateo said.


    "Thanks," Dave said before getting up and rolling the ball toward them.


    "Alright, Dave," Roberto said as soon as the ball stopped right in front of him. "Let''s see if you can keep out my shot."


    Dave adjusted his gloves properly as Roberto slowly took three steps backward before racing toward the ball with a shot drilled toward the left side not too far from where the goalkeeper was standing.


    That was an easy save for Dave as all he did was stick his leg out to prevent the ball from flying into the back of the.


    "My turn," Edward said, stepping up toward the ball.


    If a long ball specialist was ever needed to rece either Ferran or Mateo it would be between Edward and Minino given the fact that both midfielders were quite good with free kicks.


    Edward only took a step backward from the ball before raising his leg and kicking it from where he was standing.


    The ball flew straight toward the top left-hand corner as Dave rushed toward it and tipped it over the bar before it could fly into the goalpost.


    "Nice save," Edward said with a little p as he was quite impressed by the way he had run toward the ball a little before diving toward it instead of diving toward it from where he was standing, if he had done that, then making that save would have been impossible.


    The next person was Rnd, the youngster wasn''t much of a free kick taker but he tried his best.


    He floated the ball directly over Dave and it looked like it was going, it really looked like it was going out and Dave knowing what would happen if the ball went out without him touching it quickly jumped up and made its journey over the bar faster.


    <Your stamina improvement is great>


    ''I know, right.''


    [ 83% stamina remaining ]


    "I have to say, Dave, you''ve really surprised me with the saves you''ve made so far," Minino said, moving toward the ball. "But let''s see if you can save mine."


    "Yeah, let''s see," Dave muttered, adjusting his gloves.


    Minino''s shot was quite a deadly one aimed toward the top left-hand corner right at the angle.


    Dave dived toward the ball and it looked like his hand wasn''t going to reach it until...


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    With his hand really close to the ball just before it could fly into the, the ball got pulled closer to his glove for him to push it over the bar.


    "Woahhh!!" Was the exmation that hade from most of them that were standing there including Minino who had taken the shot.


    Dave was breathing quite heavily as he slowly got up from the floor.


    Making a save like that had made quite a blow on his staminapared to the other saves he had made.


    [ 76% stamina remaining ]


    "How did he suddenly be so good?" Jonas muttered from where he was standing with a pondering look on his face.


    Adolf gave the goalkeeper some time to cool off before he stepped up to take his own shot.


    "Not much of a free kick taker but here goes nothing," Adolf said before racing toward the ball and drilling a shot toward the bottom left-hand corner.


    Dave dived toward the ball with both hands and just to be on the safe side, he used his ball ma.


    The shot wasn''t carrying much power so he was able to catch it with the help of his ball ma skill.


    "Nice save," Adolf said with a smile before giving him a thumbs up.


    Now it was time for thest person, the deadliest free-kick taker in the squad, Ferran Phil.


    "How well can you save a power shot, Dave?" Ferran asked as he moved closer to the ball.


    "Is that necessary?" Dave asked with a horrid look on his face.


    <The boss always has a deadly special move>


    "Yeah, you need to learn how to stop it if we''re going to beat a team like Supreme United one day," Ferran said before taking two steps backward.


    He quickly closed up on the ball and with a power shot, he sent it toward the top right-hand corner.<sub> </sub>


    Dave dived toward the area just before the ball just before it could get closer as he had already timed where he was going to ce it but the problem now was that he had not jumped high enough to get his hands to it.


    He wasn''t going to get his hands on it until he decided to use something that he had been trying not to use in front of people.


    [ Double jump activated ]


    Just before he could start falling, he was pushed up by an invisible force from below and was now able to get to the ball in time to push it over the bar with both hands.


    After making that save and crashing to the floor, he slowly got up and turned to his teammates to see that almost all of them were looking at him with strange expressions on their faces.


    "How did you do that?" Minino asked, walking closer to him.


    "Do what?" Dave asked.


    "That jump thing, it looked like you were about to fall then you suddenly got pushed up again." He said.


    "No, that wasn''t what happened," Dave said, shaking his head.


    "Then what happened?" Edward asked.


    "I jumped up and made the save, that''s what happened," Dave said.


    "Yeah, but it looks like you were pushed up a little bit to reach the ball," Rnd said.


    "Yeah," Roberto said.


    "Hey, guys," Adolf said quickly, stepping up to the area before things got out of hand. "You saw something, I saw it too, but he said he didn''t feel anything and nothing happened, so leave him alone.


    "Whatever we saw may have been our eyes ying tricks on us."


    "I didn''t see anything," Mateo said, raising his hands.


    "You see, so you guys should stop arguing about what you saw and go continue your training, our opponents will soon be here."


    "Correction, they are here," Rnd said, looking toward the tunnel area.


    After saying that, he quickly made his way to the area to catch up with someone before the rest of the yers began to leave one by one until it was just Mateo, Ferran, and Adolf standing in the area.


    Adolf turned his gaze to the goalkeeper and stared at him for a while before walking off toward the sidelines.


    "I''m going to go dehydrate myself," Mateo said walking off the area.


    "It''s hydrate," Ferran said.


    "Yeah, hydrate myself." Mateo turned to him to say as his cheeks had gone red in embarrassment after realizing what he had said. "Why would I want to dehydrate myself?" He said with a little chuckle before quickly making his way out of the area.


    After he was gone, Ferran turned his gaze to Dave, who still hadn''t moved from where he was standing.


    "Whatever you did there was cool I have to say, I don''t know how you did it but I know what I saw and I only have one thing to say to you, just be careful." The midfielder said before he turned and began to walk away from the area.


    After he was a few distances gone, Dave let out a sigh of relief before crashing to the floor.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ You have sessfully kept out all eight balls ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +20 exp received ]


    [ +2 stat points received ]


    [ +1 skill point received ]


    [ 215/400 exp ]


    Completing the quest was nice but what had just happened with the skill and his teammates had changed his mood to the extent that he just couldn''t feel excited about it anymore.


    ''This is why I have been avoiding using this skill, is there even any way of using this skill without people noticing and getting suspicious about it?''


    <I have been expecting that question for quite a long time now>


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 84 Quest Failed Loading

    Lave City yers had arrived with just fifty minutes left before the match began and after training on the pitch for about thirty minutes, all the yers from both teams made their way down the tunnel to get ready for the match.


    Emma was already on the pitch with a microphone in her hand just like she had said and just as Dave was about to walk past her, she waved at him with a smile on her face.


    Dave returned the wave before heading down the tunnel.


    "Do you know him?"


    Emma almost jumped up in fright at the way his male Co-worker had sneaked up on her from behind.


    "I''ve told you to stop sneaking up on me like that Matthew." She grumbled.


    "Sorry," Matthew said, scratching the back of his head.


    "That''s what you always say and you will still say it after doing it again." She said,


    "I promise this is thest time." He said.


    "I hope you''re not one of those people that doesn''t understand the meaning of making a promise and goes around breaking them."


    "No, I''m not." He said, shaking his head.


    "Okay."


    "So, do you know him?" He asked again.


    "Of course, I know him, every Unique FC fan knows who he is," Emma said.


    "I meant personally, I noticed you were smiling in a way when you saw him."


    "Yeah, he''s my boyfriend." She felt a little hesitant to say that.


    "Boyfriend?" Matthew said as he felt a stinging pain in his heart. "I thought you were single."


    "Why would you think that I was single?"


    "I don''t know, I just thought you were single." He said.


    "Oh, I see."


    "So, that''s why you wrote all those nice things about him," Matthew said.


    "No, Matthew, I wrote all those nice things about him because he deserved them," Emma said before walking away from him.


    In the locker room, Unique FC yers were all sitting on their seats as Adolf stood in the middle to give them a little word of encouragement before the match kicked off.


    "We are all fighting for the same thing here, yes we had a rough start to the season but through our will and determination to fight, we have steered clear of the relegation spot and are now in a good position to fight for the UEFA Conference League spot.


    "We haven''t gotten this close to qualifying for a Europeanpetition in three years but I believe we can do it this season, Lesica United are three points ahead of us after drawing their match against Zilo FCst night, they also have the higher goal difference but I believe we still have the chance to qualify, the question is, do you believe?" He asked, looking at all the yers.


    "I believe," Mateo said before the rest of the yers began to join in.


    "Say it like you mean it!" Adolf yelled.


    "We believe!" The whole team chorused.


    "Again!"


    "We believe!"


    "That''s the spirit." The captain said with a nod. "Now I know we lost ourst match against Lave City but that one goal was a result of the mistake from my defense and although the defense may not be better now, we all can agree that we have apletely reformed goalkeeper between the sticks, our midfield is great and our attack is good, all we need to do is find a way to break them and we''re good. Now let''s go out there and win this match!"


    "Yeah!" The yers screamed as they all got up from their seats and began to make their way out of the locker room.


    "If he can speak like this before a league match like this, I wonder how he''ll speak before we head to the pitch to y a final," Mateo said as he walked down the hallway with Dave.


    "We''ll have to get to a final and see," Dave replied.


    Unique FC yers were putting on their orange jerseys with the ck dotted designs while Dave was putting on the in green jersey.


    Lave City yers on the other hand were putting on red jerseys with yellow stripes while their goalkeeper was putting on a in red jersey.


    "Wee to our viewers from all around the world, we are all set for another night of entertaining football live from the Wondamino stadium," Jim said. "My name is Jim Waterson and joining me today to offer expert analysis and opinion is Mr. Steve Jefferson."


    "Thank you, Jim, it is really an honor to be here once again to share my opinions on the match alongside you," Steve said.<sub> </sub>


    The yers were all lined up in front of the fans as the Unique FC anthem was yed and after that, the yers went around to shake each other.


    Dave and the other yers were standing by the side now as Adolf and Lave City''s captain made their way to the referee for the coin toss.


    "Unique FC are ying the four-three-three formation as always, with Rnd, Adolf, Pirlo, and Harry in defense, Edward, Ferran, and Minino in midfield, and Mateo, Fred, and Merino in the attack," Jim said.


    "He''s finally everyone we know can impact the match in a positive way for them," Steve said.


    That was the main reason why Dave seemed so motivateding into the match, with Ferran and Mateo starting, he knew they had a very good chance of winning.


    After the coin toss, both teams moved to their side, Unique FC moved to the left side while Lave City moved to the right side as the hosts were going to be the ones to start the match with the kick-off.


    Dave stood in his goal line and did a few jumps before something popped up on his screen.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Keep a clean sheet ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +100 exp ]


    [ +2 upgrade to any chosen stat ]


    [ New skill will be made avable ]


    "Clean sheet." He muttered.


    <This could be your chance to get your first career clean sheet>


    The referee blew his whistle to signal the beginning of the match as Fred quickly passed the ball to Minino.


    "And we''re on the way," Jim said.


    Fred made a quick run down the middle as the ball was passed to Ferran who was going to attempt something here.


    Ferran received the ball and without wasting time, he lobbed it to Ferran who just needed to get the ball under control and run past one more defender to be through on goal.


    "What are Unique FC attempting here?" Jim said.


    Unfortunately, Fred failed to bring the ball under control as it was quickly stolen by the yer in front of him.


    "Oh, that didn''t quite work out the way they nned it," Steve said.


    "No, it didn''t," Jim said.


    There was no space to start an attack but despite that, Lave City had a deadly n up their sleeves that they needed to quickly execute.


    The ball was yed to the right midfielder who passed it to their attacking midfielder before making his way past Edward to receive it at the other end and now he had the space to do what he wanted to do.


    He drilled a low pass to their center forward who was at the edge of the box and with a swift turn, the striker got rid of Pirlo and made his way into the box.


    "Oh, this looks promising."


    He was about to shoot on goal when Adolf quickly brought him down with quite a careless challenge causing the referee to quickly blow his whistle.


    "Oh, it''s a foul, it''s a penalty," Jim said.


    "The referee hasn''t made the decision yet but I think that happened at the edge of the box," Steve said.


    About five Unique FC yers had all gathered around the referee to try and change his mind about that decision but despite all their talks, the referee walked away from them, blew his whistle, and pointed to the penalty spot for a penalty kick against them.


    "Oh, it''s a penalty kick," Jim said.


    No card was shown to Adolf but the referee had made his decision on the oue of his tackle.


    "Quest failed loading," Dave muttered before letting out a deep sigh.


    ***


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 85 Taking Them All On

    There was a little bit of tension in the air as Lave City''s striker Kim stepped up to take the penalty kick.


    Dave had never saved a penalty kick in his career and facing one again was making him really nervous.


    "Lave City have been given the advantage to take the early lead here, can Kim make proper use of this massive opportunity?" Jim said.


    "Kim has converted eighty percent of all the penalty kicks he has taken this season, let''s see if he can use this one to boost his percentage score," Steve said.


    The striker stood over the ball with his hands ced on his waist while Dave did a little jumping in the middle of his goal line to ginger himself just like Catherine had suggested.


    The referee blew his whistle as Kim slowly removed his hands from his waist and took two steps backward.


    <You can do this Dave>


    The striker quickly raced toward the ball and drilled it toward the bottom right-hand corner.


    "Kim!"


    Dave dived toward the ball and blocked it with the whole of his hands causing it to roll away from him a little bit.


    Lave City yers along with Unique FC yers raced toward the ball to do what they were supposed to do to it but before any of them could get closer, Dave stretched his hands and pulled the ball closer before covering it with his body.


    Unique FC fans were going wild now after witnessing Dave make an important save like that.


    "Unbelievable, Dave Richards has denied Kim the chance to give his team an early lead," Jim said.


    "I think Kim underestimated him a bit there, I don''t think there was that much power behind that shot," Steve said.


    "Yeah, but it''s still a wonderful save from Dave Richards," Jim said.


    "Yeah, a very wonderful save."


    Dave had started a counter-attack after making that save by quickly throwing the ball to Ferran but the ball had ended up flying over the bar after Fred was set up to score.


    "Oh, that was a really good chance but it''s flown over the bar," Jim said.


    That was a very good chance, Merino floated the ball to him from the right wing to finish off with a volley at the edge of the box but he ended up sending it wide.


    The match had entered the eighteenth minute now and still, there has been nothing from both sides but Unique FC were the ones controlling the game as always, that penalty kick was the closest Lave city havee to scoring so far.


    Adolf sent the ball back to Dave after almost losing the ball to an aggressive Lave City yer.


    Dave trapped the ball as the yer left Adolf and was heading toward him now and this time he wasn''t alone.


    He feigned shooting at the yer heading directly toward him before passing the ball to Rnd on the edge of the box.


    "I think Dave Richards is bing more confident with the ball in his feet," Jim said. "If it was before, he would grab that ball and throw it to any of his teammates closest to him but he''s doing things like this in front of his goal post now."


    "Yeah and don''t forget that he sessfully attempted a dribble on Felix Nunez right in front of his goalpost, it was nice seeing him do that to someone like Felix but that was a very risky attempt," Steve said. "What if his dribble had failed?"


    "Yeah, that was very risky but I hope we can see more risk takings from this newfound Dave Richards," Jim said.


    Edward was with the ball now and after checking and seeing that he couldn''t go forward, he passed the ball to Rnd who had left his wing to cover up a little in the middle.


    Rnd didn''t waste any time sending the ball to Minino with a long ball after receiving it from Edward as all the other yers seemed to be upied with their markers.


    Minino received the ball with a neat trap before getting past the yer heading toward him with a nutmeg that he wasn''t expecting in any way.


    "Oh, that''s neat from Minino," Jim said.


    Minino now had a little bit of space to run down the wing and after running a bit, he passed the ball to Merino just before he could reach the eighteen-yard box.


    Merino tried to get past the yer marking him but the yer didn''t seem to be letting him through as everything he had tried had failed, he was lucky to still have the ball.


    "Makimi is trying everything possible to make sure Merino doesn''t get past him," Jim said.


    Minino had gotten closer to collect the ball from Merino just before he almost lost it to Makimi.<sub> </sub>


    "Mininoes to the rescue."


    Minino lobbed the ball to Mateo who was making a run inside the box but before the ball could get to the left winger, a yer rose high to block it with a header but his timing was a little bit off as the ball grazed past his head and fell off heading toward the sidelines.


    Mateo quickly rushed toward the ball and got to it before it could roll past the sidelines.


    He found Ferran making a run toward the edge of the box and quickly drilled the ball to him with a well-ced low pass.


    "Mateo to Ferran."


    Ferran got his foot on the ball and with a little pace, he got past the two yers heading toward him to create enough space to shoot from outside the box.


    "Ferran!!" Jim screamed as the midfield pulled his leg back and sent the ball flying toward the top left-hand corner with a powerful shot.


    The goalkeeper dived toward the ball at the same time but there was no point in doing so as the ball banged on the crossbar and fell over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, dear, it''s hit the crossbar," Jimmented.


    "That was so close Jim, I thought it was going in," Steve said.


    Ferran stared at the particr spot of the crossbar for a while before letting out a deep sigh.


    "That was really close," Dave muttered.


    <If he had controlled his shot power that ball should have been in the back of the but there''s a chance that the goalkeeper could have saved it>


    ''Yeah, I''ve learned that power shots are harder to control but harder to save while shots with controlled shot power are easier to control but they are also easy for goalkeepers to save.'' Dave replied.


    <Exactly>


    ''But I think has good control over his power shots, people miss sometimes even with controlled shots.''


    Rnd had dispossessed Lave City''s right winger of the ball after the yer tried to take him on one on one.


    "I wouldn''t have tried that in a situation like that if I were Oveira," Jim said.


    Rnd quickly pushed the ball through the middle before passing it to Ferran who found Mateo making a run down the left wing.


    He passed the ball to the winger who quickly got rid of the midfielder heading toward him with a dummy.


    "That''s nice from Mateo," Jim said.


    For the second yer, the winger pushed the ball toward the left wing before quickly pushing the ball back to his right foot to make his way down the middle.


    "Mateo''s still going."


    The third yer was deleted with a nutmeg as he zoomed past the yer after that before he couldy a hand on him.


    "He''s still going, he''s still going!" Jim eximed.


    The yer in front of him and the one behind him both ganged up on him and tried to pull him down and dispossess him off the ball, the guy behind him was literally pulling his shorts.


    They seeded in pulling the youngster down but he didn''t let his legs leave the ball as he turned toward the goal post with the ball on his feet and quickly got back up on his feet.


    "Unbelievable! He''s up and through on goal now!" Jim eximed.


    The striker was through on goal at the edge of the box now and all he needed to do was release the shot in the ce that he knew was going to be tough for the goalkeeper to make a save from and it would be a goal.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 86 A Ball Magnet

    Mateo was about to release the shot when a yer quickly rushed in from the side and brought him down with a very dangerous tackle, yes he had touched the ball but that tackle was careless as Mateo was rolling on the floor now.


    The referee blew his whistle before quickly rushing toward the yer to show him a yellow card.


    Ferran was the first person to rush toward Mateo to check on him while their other teammates had gathered around the referee to convince him to show the yer a second yellow card and send him off.


    "Oh, that''s a terrible challenge from Naim Tilli," Jim said.


    The game was paused as the medical team made their way to the pitch to see what they could do about Mateo''s current situation.


    "Whatever Naim did to him, it must have been really painful because he was rolling on the floor before Ferran got to him," Steve said. "I hope he will be able to continue though."


    "What just said now is the wish of every Unique FC yer in this stadium, the yers, the fans, none of them wants to see him leave with an injury," Jim said. "Taking him off could impact the game in a way that wouldn''t favor them."


    After a little work on his leg, the young winger slowly sat up on the floor before slowly getting up back on his feet.


    "Are you sure you can continue?" Ferran asked.


    "Yeah, it''s just a little sprain, I''ll be okay." He said before taking a limping step forward and with the next step, his walking had almost returned to normal.


    The fans burst into apuse and cheers of joy after seeing that Mateo was back on his feet and wasn''t being carried off the pitch.


    Naim had a bit of a disappointed look on his face after seeing Mateo back on his feet, his tackle wasn''t just aimed toward stopping Mateo from scoring, it was also aimed toward injuring him and putting him out of the match as he believed that that would reduce the problem they were going to be facing in defense but things hadn''t gone as he nned.


    "Mateo Smith is back on his feet, that''s good news for the yers and fans," Jim said.


    "I''m so d he''s okay," Dave muttered before letting out a sigh of relief.


    With Mateo back on his feet now, it was time to resume the game starting with taking the freekick from the foul which had happened at the edge of the box.


    As always, Mateo and Ferran were talking among themselves to find out who was going to take the corner kick.


    "You take it, my legs are a little bit sore after that tackle so it''s best if you take it," Mateo said after Ferran suggested that he should take it.


    "Okay," Ferran said before slowly moving toward the ball.


    "That''s a really close spot for a freekick, I don''t think Ferran will have any problem converting this," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but he''s missed spot-kicks from that close before so you never can tell," Steve said.


    Lave City dropped a wall of four yers in the spot the referee had marked for them inside the box as Ferran stood over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    After making sure that the wall was okay and that there was nothing going on in the box between the yers, the referee drew back before blowing his whistle.


    Ferran stared at the ball for a while before letting out a sigh and taking two steps backward.


    He quickly closed up on the ball after that and sent the ball flying toward the top left-hand corner with a neat flick.


    The goalkeeper was glued to the spot as the ball flew over the wall of yers and that ball would have hit the back of the if only it had not hit the crossbar before falling over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, no, crossbar again!"


    Ferran had a devastated look on his face as he watched the ball fly off until it hit the floor outside the pitch.


    "This is the second time Ferran Phil''s hitting the crossbar tonight and surprisingly enough, they had both been on the same spot," Steve said.<sub> </sub>


    "You''ll get it next time," Mateo said before patting him on his back.


    The match had entered the thirty-fifth minute now and still, there had been nothing from both sides.


    Unique FC had gotten two good chances which had both been wasted by Mateo.


    The first chance came from a back pass from Ferran after he had seeded in shifting the goalkeeper to the right side of his goalpost and now all Mateo needed to do was slot the ball into the from the open left side of the post but his shot had gone wide although it hade really close to rolling into the back of the.


    The second chance also came from a pass from Ferran, it was a cross to be specific.


    He got the ball under control with his chest before drilling it toward the goalpost with his right foot before it could hit the ground but that had been an easy save for the goalkeeper as the ball had gone directly toward him.


    "There was no way he would have been able to stop that shot if he had put it away from him toward the angles or close to them," Jim said.


    "Yeah, it looks like Mateo seems to be a little bit disoriented after that tackle, I sure hope he gets his shooting boots straight before it''s toote," Steve said.


    With the clock entering the forty-fourth minute, Unique FC were leading an attack but Merino had broken the flow of what the team were trying to do by pulling a careless shot from outside the box.


    "Oh, that''s not troubling anyone," Jim said.


    With almost all the Unique FC yers on their side of the pitch, the Lave City goalkeeper knew that this was the perfect time to start a counter-attack.


    He quickly threw the ball to Kim who quickly made his way past Ferran to meet the ball and now he was running through the middle with nobody in his way.


    "Oh, Unique FC are in trouble here," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but not exactly," Steve said.


    Luckily for the team, Luis Roberto had not left his position to join the attack and now, he was the only person who had a better chance of stopping Kim.


    He didn''t quickly rush toward the striker as he wanted to cautiously deal with the situation and avoid any costly mistakes.


    Kim raced toward the defender and just as he got closer to him at the edge of the box, he shifted away from him a little before releasing the ball toward the goalpost with a powerful shot.


    "Kim!"


    The ball was heading toward the top left-hand corner at full speed as Dave quickly dived toward it.


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    With the help of his skill, he was able to catch the ball with both hands before crashing down to the floor.


    "Oh, what a save!" Jim eximed. "What is Dave Richards turning into, a ball ma?"


    "Ball ma," Emma muttered from where she was sitting before opening her jotter and writing down something on it.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 87 Deadlock Broken

    The referee blew his whistle two times to signal the end of the first half as the yers immediately stopped what they were doing and put whatever they were nning to do on hold before making their way toward the tunnel.


    "And that''s the end of the first half," Jim said. "Both teams have put in great effort to get a goal but their finishing has let them down so far, the closest chance for a goal was the penalty from Kim which Dave Richards didn''t have any problem stopping."


    "This is the first time since thest two seasons that Unique FC are ending the first half of a match without conceding any goal, some would say they are starting to look tough but I would say it''s been all Dave Richards so far," Steve said.


    "Yeah, if he had not saved that kick from the penalty spot, they would have been one goal down by now," Jim said.


    Right now, Unique FC yers were in their locker room where Norman was trying to figure out how his yers had wasted so many chances in the first half.


    <I think they''re ying well, Ferran should have scored two goals by now if he had taken his chances well and Mateo''s finishing seemed to have taken a hit too after that rough challenge against him>


    ''Yeah.''


    "Ferran, Mateo, Fred, Merino, I don''t know what''s going on but it seems you guys have forgotten where the goalpost is, all those chances and you let them go to waste," Norman said. "If we had the same Dave we had at the beginning of the season up to the middle, we would be losing this match by now."


    <True>


    "Their defense isn''t that hard to break, you''ve certainly been finding the gaps but it''s like you just don''t know where to score, start aiming for the goalpost, and remember that this match ys a role in determining if we would make that conference league spot," Norman said before turning his gaze to Minino. "And you, don''t always pass the ball short to Ferran or Merino, try to upset them a little by ying long balls into the box from far out and Fred, I want you to be there to finish or you can justy it back to any of the wingers or Ferran."


    "Okay, coach." Minino and Fred said in unison.


    After talking to them about a few other things which needed to be improved in the second half, he left the locker room to allow them a little rest with no talking before the second half kicked off.


    "The yers have gotten enough rest, and it is now time to resume what has been a very tight game so far," Jim said.


    The yers were apuded by the fans as they matched into the pitch for the second half of the match.


    "Unique FC have been more deadly in possession and in front of goal and if they can just work on their finishing, I''m certain they will get a goal or two before the end of the match," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but if Lave City also ups their game, that''s going to be hard, let''s just hope this half doesn''t end in a goalless draw," Steve said.


    After all the yers were on their side in their different positions, the referee blew his whistle for Lave City to start the match from the kick-off spot.


    They passed the ball around in their own half as Unique FC yers tried to take the ball from them.


    "We are on the way in the second half here, which side will be the first to break the deadlock?" Jim said.


    It had been five minutes since the match had begun and so far, no Unique FC yer had touched the ball.


    "Lave City trying so hard to keep hold of the ball," Steve said.


    "Yeah, but all they''ve done so far is pass it around in their own half," Jim said. "They need to get it forward and draw Unique FC yers out if they want to do something meaningful."


    The left midfielder received the ball from one of the center-backs and after pushing forward a little, he crossed it over to their right forward but that hadn''t gone as he nned as Rnd quickly intercepted the ball with a high jump and brought it down with his head.


    "Nice interception from Rnd and now it''s a scramble between David and Ferran," Jim said.


    The ball had fallen toward the central midfielders from both teams and after a tussle from the both of them, Ferran emerged victorious with the ball before passing it back to Adolf who had gotten closer to him.


    "Ferranes out on top with the ball."


    Adolfid the ball off to Merino who passed it back to Ferran before Ferran sent it to Mateo.


    Just like that, the string of passes had begun and Lave City yers knew it was going to be a long time before they got possession of the ball again, that is if Unique FC decided to dy their attack.


    Merino''s n to break the defense had failed as he quickly yed the ball back to Fred before the defenders got to him.


    There were a lot of yers blocking the striker''s view of the goalpost before he received the ball and knowing that a shot wasn''t going to work, he decided to pass the ball to Mateo.


    "Mateo."<sub> </sub>


    Mateo tried to find someone in the box but looking at the way Fred was being marked, he knew he wouldn''t be able to do anything so he passed the ball to Edward who in turn sent it back to Rnd.


    Rnd rolled the ball along with him while he moved forward knowing that a yer was making his way toward him, he had something up his sleeves.


    He used the speed of the yer that was heading toward him against him as he quickly zoomed off past the yer and was now heading down through the middle.


    "That''s wonderful from Rnd Ryle," Jimmented.


    Rndid off the ball to Ferran just before he could get to him but he didn''t stop there as he continued running toward the edge of the box.


    "I think this is one of those Unique attacking moments from Unique FC," Stevemented.


    Ferran returned the ball to Rnd after the wingback had gotten to the edge of the box.


    There were yers rushing toward him to try and dispossess him but before they could get to him, he found Mateo open at the edge of the box on the left side and yed a short pass to him.


    "Mateo."


    Mateo didn''t even think twice about it before pushing the ball toward a little with the tip of his left boot and then curling a shot toward the top left-hand corner with his right foot.


    "Mateo!" Jim eximed.


    The goalkeeper dived toward the ball just as it zoomed past him but it didn''t look like he was going to get his hand to it.


    Nevertheless, that wasn''t a problem as the ball banged on the crossbar before falling toward a Lave City yer to make the clearance.


    "Oh, no, it hit the crossbar."


    "Crossbar, crossbar, crossbar," Dave mumbled before punching the right crossbar of his goalpost.


    That clearance had gone toward the right and just before it could fly off to the sidelines, Minino got hold of it and quickly pushed it forward.


    "Try to upset them a little with long balls from far out." The midfielder muttered before sending the ball into the box.


    "Minino''s sending the ball back into the box, he''s saying it''s not over," Steve said.


    Ferran happened to be the one in a good position to get the ball but he wasn''t alone as Naim Tilli was directly behind him.


    The two rose high to meet the ball but Ferran had mistimed the elevation of the ball as Naim was the one who got his head to the ball but his header had gone in the wrong direction.


    He sent the ball toward his own goalpost as it bounced on the floor before rolling into the goalpost from the bottom right-hand side while the goalkeeper was glued to the middle.


    "Goallllllll!!!!! It''s finally in the back!" Jim eximed with very high enthusiasm.


    "That was a very terrible mistake from Naim," Steve said.


    The goal hade from a mistake but a goal was a goal and every goal needed to be celebrated.


    Instead of running off to the sideline to celebrate the goal, the yers crossed their arms around each other and formed a circle right in front of their opponent''s goal post while they watched with devastated looks on their faces most especially Naim who was sitting in front of the goal post now while biting his lower lip in anguish.


    Of course, their fans were going wild, yes it was an own goal but it would have happened if Minino had not yed the ball into the and Ferran had not put pressure on Naim like that.


    "Unique FC have finally gotten the first goal of the night from a terrible mistake from Naim, will they be able to hold on to this lead and possibly extend it or will Lave City have something to say about that goal, the clock is showing fifty-seven minutes so there''s a lot of time left to do a lot of things."


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 88 Defending The Lead

    The clock was showing sixty-two minutes now and the scoreboard was still Unique FC one Lave City Nill.


    So far Lave City have been quiet with Unique FC still dominating the game, every attempt to get forward had been intercepted and stopped by Unique FC yers before it could turn into something that they couldn''t contain.


    "Unique FC are defending with prowess here, even the midfielders are stepping back to defend in certain situations," Jim said. "They are putting everything on the line to make sure their goal isn''t canceled by an equalizer."


    "I''ve never seen Unique FC look so good in defense," Steve said.


    The ball was thrown to Lave City''s right winger after Edward sent the ball out for a throw-in while trying to recover it after losing it.


    "Littebaski," Jimmented as soon as the winger got his foot on the ball.


    He passed the ball to the central midfielder who quickly passed it to the left midfielder.


    Minino was heading toward him to take the ball from him but before he could get to him, the left midfielder crossed the ball to Littebaski who was making a run down the right wing now, but he still had Rnd to deal with.


    The winger tried to dribble his way past Rnd but it resulted in him getting pulled down and the referee had no option but to blow his whistle for a foul.


    "Bad challenge from Rnd but I don''t think he deserves to be shown a card," Jim said.


    He wasn''t the only one as the referee had only given him a little verbal warning about the way he had pulled Littebaski down but there was no card shown.


    The referee drew the line for Unique FC to form their wall close to the edge of the box as the foul had happened close to the sidelines.


    "A close free kick for Lave City, will they be able to conjure up something with this one?" Jim said.


    Littebaski was the one who had stepped to take the free kick.


    "Hey, keep your eyes peeled and focus on the left, I''ll be on the right in case anything goes wrong," Adolf said after getting closer to Dave.


    "Okay." The goalkeeper said with a nod before the captain made his way to the right crossbar.


    The referee blew his whistle as the winger stared at the ball for a few seconds before taking about four steps backward.


    "Littebaski," Jim said as the winger quickly raced toward the ball.


    He sent it flying toward the top left-hand corner and with that side being where Dave had put seventy-five percent of his focus, it was a good thing for him.


    "Littebaski!"


    Dave dived toward the ball and it looked like he wasn''t going to get to it for a second until....


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    The ball was too fast for his level one ball ma to have a major effect on it but the ma had seeded in pulling it a little closer for him to tip it over the bar with the tip of his glove.


    "Oh, what a save!" Jim eximed. "Dave Richards turning up to save Unique FC once again."


    "Where did this guy get this from?" Steve said. "Watching him from the beginning of the season to the middle and now that the season ising to an end, it''s like they are two different goalkeepers, he stood shots like his hand''s a ma, his punching has improved and most importantly he can read balls efficiently now."


    "I don''t know about you but that''s the version of Dave Richards I want to be seeing week in week out," Jim said.


    With the ball out for a corner kick, it was now time for both team managers to make their substitutions.


    Norman had chosen to make three substitutions, Edward was brought off for Unique FC''s number twenty-seven Roger David, he hasn''t been getting much ying time but Norman wanted to give him a chance today.


    Pirlo was brought off and reced by Aima while Fred was taken off for Fredinho.


    "Dave may have made a wonderful save but the danger is still lurking as Lave City get their first corner kick of the night," Jim said.


    One of the midfielders had stepped up to take the corner kick and after hearing the referee''s whistle, he hesitated for a while before curling the ball toward the far end of the box.


    "Kim!" Jim screamed as the striker rose high above every other yer to meet the ball with a header.


    Dave was glued to the middle as the ball was sent flying toward the right side of the post but luckily for him and the whole team, Adolf happened to be there at the right time to clear the ball with a header.


    "Oh, what a save!" Jim eximed. "The super captain has done it again."


    The ball had fallen toward Luis Roberto who didn''t waste time in sending the ball toward Fredinho down the middle to start up a counter-attack but he seemed to have overhit the ball a little as the goalkeeper stepped out of his box to take the ball before the striker could get to it.


    "Wonderful decisiveness from Zeno," Jim said as the goalkeeper quickly passed the ball to his closest teammate before quickly making his way back to the goalpost.


    "This match should have been leveled by now if it weren''t for that save from Adolf, it didn''t look like Dave was going to make a save there," Steve said.


    <That''s why it''s called a team match>


    "Thank you, Adolf," Dave said.<sub> </sub>


    "I don''t think there''s any need for that, everything we''re doing here is for ourselves, the team, and the fans," Adolf said before running off down the middle.


    ''Yeah, but you don''t know that you just saved my quest.''


    The clock was showing three minutes left before the standard ny minutes werepleted and so far, Lave City had not been able to get that equalizer and prevent the loss that wasing their way.


    Their central midfielder who hade in as a substitute was with the ball in the middle now with Ferran heading toward him from behind but before Ferran could get to him, he quickly passed the ball to the left midfielder who in turnid it off to the left winger.


    The left winger was facing Luis Roberto now and was trying to confuse the wingback with leg overs but the wingback wasn''t the only one he was trying to confuse.


    He feigned shooting toward the goalpost before quickly passing the ball to Littebaski who quickly got rid of Rnd with a snake bite and was now through on goal.


    "He''s through!"


    Yes, he was true but he wasn''t alone as Dave had quickly gotten close to him with a knee slide, and out of Instinct with a little mix of nervousness he tried to lob the ball into the goalpost but that didn''t go as he nned as the ball smashed on the goalkeeper''s face and flew up.


    "Dave Richards, stepping up again but it''s not over yet."


    Getting hit by the ball had affected one of his eyes but the goalkeeper didn''t care as he sprang up and caught the ball before Littebaski could get to it with his head.


    With the ball in his hands, he crashed to the floor and covered it up with his body.


    "Dave Richards, denying Littebaski once again," Steve said.


    ''Aww, my eye.'' Dave winced subconsciously with his gaze down and his eyes closed.


    "That ball hit him on his face, that''s why he''s still down," Steve said.


    "Hey, are you okay?" Rnd squatted down beside him to ask.


    Dave didn''t reply for a few seconds before he slowly lifted his head to show his slightly sour left eye.


    "A little pain in my eye but I''m okay." He said, slowly getting up from the floor.


    "You should get that eye checked on once this match is over," Adolf said.


    "Yeah, I should." He said, touching the area with one of his fingers.


    With seven minutes of added time remaining, Unique FC yers knocked the ball around the pitch as Lave City yers began to desperately chase the ball but the hosts seeded in keeping the ball away from them for seven minutes, it was one of their specialties after all.


    The referee blew his whistle thrice to signal the end of the match as Mateo quickly kicked the ball up and caught it before quickly making his way toward his teammates who were all gathered around Dave now.


    "Nice saves bro." Luis Roberto said.


    "We finally got the win and it''s all thanks to you," Ferran said.


    "Thanks, you guys were also good, blocking all those dangerous shots and making attempts, I just did my part of the job," Dave said.


    "Yeah," Adolf said.


    "So, this battle of a match has finallye to an end, both teams fought really hard but Unique FC did well to keep their advantage from a mistake safe and I would give seventy percent of the credit to Dave Richards for those wonderful saves," Jim said.


    Lave City yers walked off the pitch while Unique FC yers walked toward the stands with the fans screaming and apuding them, Dave didn''t join them yet as he wanted to check something first.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ You have sessfully kept a clean sheet ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +100 exp received ]


    [ +2 stat upgrade avable, please choose the stat you wish to upgrade ]


    [ A new skill is now avable ]


    Dave had a bright smile on his face as he stared at the new skill but that wasn''t the only reason why he was smiling, there were still more rewards toe for keeping his first clean sheet.


    ***


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 89 Post Match Interview

    The atmosphere was filled with excitement as the fans were really happy to see their team keep their first clean sheet of the season.


    In every match they had yed this season, they had conceded one, two, or more goals but finally but they have prevented Lave City from scoring against them throughout the ny minutes plus added time of the match


    "It''s not just about Unique FC keeping their first clean sheet of the season, this is also Dave Richard''s first ever clean sheet as a goalkeeper, he''s finally gotten his first career clean sheet, he must be overjoyed," Steve said.


    "Who wouldn''t be?" Jim said. "Alright, that marks the end of our broadcast tonight, we''ll now join the fans as they make their way home and we''ll see you next time, thank you."


    Dave had been given the man of the match award as deserved and now it was time for his post-match interview as Emma had just finished talking to Kim who was heading down the tunnel.


    "So." She heard Matthew''s voice behind her as soon as Kim had left and slowly turned to face him. "You''re going to interview your boyfriend."


    "Yeah," She said with a smile. "I don''t know why but I feel a little nervous about it."


    "Do you want me to do it?" He asked, reaching for the mic in her hand.


    "No." She said quickly, pulling her hand back. "I think I know why I''m feeling nervous." She said, turning her gaze toward Dave who happened to be talking with one of the coaching staff.


    "So, tomorrow''s training will be during the evening." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah." The man replied with a nod.


    "Hello," Emma said as soon as she got closer to the two. "I don''t mean to interrupt but you have something to deal with."


    "Oh, yeah, the interview, right?" Dave said.


    "Yeah," Emma said before she slowly wrapped her hands around his arm and pulled him closer to the area. "Please just act like it''s any other reporter interviewing you and don''t do anything stupid."


    "Why would I do anything stupid, I know this is official and nothing to be joked with?" Dave said.


    "Okay, I''m d to hear you say that, now get in position." She said before making her way to her spot while Dave slowly walked up in front of the spherical board which had the names and logos of all of Unique FC and Bilbeth Premier League''s sponsors embedded on it and of course the league''s logo which was a well designed silver ball with little blue lines stretched out of it to illustrate the shot power.


    "So, Dave, your team somehow found a way to beat Lave City, how do you feel about the victory?" She asked, pointing the mic toward him.


    Dave hesitated for a while as if he was trying to gather his words before he began to speak.


    "How am I supposed to feel about it? Everyone feels excited about winning a match so that''s the same for me, my teammates, the management, and of course the fans too." Dave answered. "We lost the away leg one goal to zero so it''s nice to have theme to our home and lose to us the same way we lost to them."


    "Okay," Emma said. "This match puts you guys on level points with Lesica United but they are still in eighth ce which is the conference league spot because they have the higher goal difference, they have a match tomorrow which will determine if they''ll stir clear of you guys with more points or stay where they are. What do you think, do you think you guys have a chance to make the conference league spot with just two matches left?"


    "We''ve talked about it in the locker room, and I''ve thought about it a lot, this is the closest the team has gotten to qualifying for a Europeanpetition in a long time, we all want to qualify for thepetition and you can see that we are all giving out best in any way we can."


    "Okay, on to the next question, a lot of people have been talking about your recent form and how you''ve saved your team during thisst period of the season, can you please tell us the secret to this newfound form because looking at your performance during the beginning to the middle and now the season is ending, there''s a very big difference, what''s your secret?" She asked.


    "Well, I realized that I have been cking off so I got serious and began to implement hard work in my life, that''s how I got better and I hope I''ll keep getting better." The goalkeeper said.


    "Okay, but is that just it?"


    "No." He said, shaking his head. "My girlfriend has also been a source of motivation for me, she encourages me to keep pushing when I don''t feel like it, I''m so d I have someone like her in my life."<sub> </sub>


    Hearing him say that, a warm smile suddenly appeared on her face.


    "But she''s not the only one, my best friend in the squad Mateo Smith has also been a source of inspiration and motivation to me just like his sister," Dave added.


    "Okay,st question now, this has been a wonderful night for you given the fact that you got the first clean sheet in your career and also your first man of the match award. How do you feel about these little aplishments and to whom do you dedicate your man of the match award?"


    "I feel ted to have finally made these aplishments in my career as a goalkeeper, I know this may sound funny to some but I am more excited about the clean sheet and would still be happy if they had given the award to someone else." He expressed.


    <Are you sure about that because you were the best man on the pitch today by far and giving the award to someone else would have been a daylight robbery>


    "And to whom would you like to dedicate the award?"


    "To myte mother who yed a major role in making my career a sess and also my girlfriend who reminds me so dearly of her and has be a solid part of my life," Dave said.


    "You never told me I reminded you of your mother." She said before quickly covering her mouth as she didn''t know when the words escaped her mouth.


    "You do." He said with a smile on his face.


    "You don''t have to answer that." She said gritting her teeth.


    "Oh."


    "That would be enough for today, Dave." She said before turning off the microphone and turning to face Matthew who was standing a little distance behind her.


    "Okay, I''ll see you at home," Dave said before making his way toward the tunnel.


    "That was some interview," Matthew said after getting closer to her.


    "What? The part about you reminding him of his mother?"


    "Yeah, is there any way to erase that part?"


    "This is the twenty-first century Emma, that video was streamed live to every sports tform avable," Matthew said.


    "Yeah, that was a stupid question." She said, pping her face with her palm.


    "Can I see my post-match rewards now?" Dave said as he walked down the hallway.


    <Sure>


    [ Victory Rewards ]


    *****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.

 Chapter 90 Superior Skill

    [ Victory Rewards ]


    [ Six crucial saves: +60 saves ]


    [ Goals conceded (0): +50 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 8.9 ]


    ''I was rated nine point zero by the official system and eight-point nine here.''


    <Yeah, they were close but this is your correct rating>


    ''Fifty exp for each clean sheet kept, that''s nice.'' He said subconsciously as he entered the restroom.


    <Exp obtained from keeping a clean sheet is not constant and depends on the difficulty of the match and your contribution to keeping the clean sheet>


    ''Okay, so I will get a higher exp for keeping a clean sheet against a team like Supreme United.''


    <Yeah but if your team''s defense bes so tough in the match to the extent that you''re only able to make as much as one save, your exp will still be low>


    ''Okay.''


    [ 425/400 exp ]


    [ Level up ]


    [ Congrattions, you are now level 4 ]


    [ +3 stat points received ]


    [ +1 skill point received ]


    [ Skill points: 9 ]


    ''I have a lot of skill points now.''


    <And stat points too, plus you have those stat points ready to be used on a particr stat>


    [ Please choose a stat to assign stat points to]


    All stats are important but I think dexterity is my most important stat as a goalkeeper.


    [ +2 stat points added to dexterity ]


    [ Strength: 23 ]


    [ Dexterity: 28 ]


    [ Endurance: 19 ]


    ''Now it''s time to check out this new skill.''


    [ Equipped skills ]


    [ Double jump: level (01) ]


    [ Ball ma: level (01) ]


    [ Avable but locked skill ]


    [ Double stamina ]


    [ Focus ]


    ''That''s a really strange name for a skill.''


    <You think?>


    Just like the other skills, this one didn''t have any description of what it was all about so he had to guess it because Catherine wouldn''t tell him anything about it either.


    ''I''m guessing it enhances my focus in some kind of way.''


    <You''ll have to unlock it to find out>


    ''No, I''m unlocking double stamina first.''


    [ (-3) exp ]


    [ You have sessfully unlocked double stamina ]


    ''I still have six skill points left, that should be enough to unlock this focus skill right?''


    <Why don''t your try and see for yourself?>


    [ You have insufficient skill points to unlock this skill ]


    [ Unlocking focus requires (+7) exp ]


    ''Seven skill points!'' The goalkeeper screamed inwardly.


    <It''s written there>


    ''Ball ma only costs two skill points, double stamina three skill points, why is this skill costing seven skill points?''


    <Because of the quality, the higher the skill point required the higher the quality of the skill>


    ''So, this focus skill is far better than the ones I already have unlocked.''


    <Every skill is important because they are all required for different things but focus is superior whenpared to them in their different aspects>


    ''So what does the focus skill do?''


    <Not working, I advised you to unlock it and find out but you didn''t listen><sub> </sub>


    ''One skill point left to be able to unlock it, that won''t be so hard to get.''


    <Yeah>


    ______ ______


    After checking out his system, he returned to the locker room to meet up with his teammates who were quite in a joyous mood.


    He joined them in their victory celebration and took selfies with a lot of his teammates along with his man of the match award before making his way home.


    He arrived home by 10:30 PM and quickly made his way to the door as soon as he stepped down from his car and locked it.


    He was certain that Emma was going to be there because he had wasted a lot of time at the stadium after that interview.


    He knocked on the door thrice and after a few seconds, the door was opened by Emma who was putting on a brown robe now.


    "What took you so long?"


    "I was with my teammates," Dave said entering the house through the small space there as she was blocking the entrance with her body.


    "Of course, I know you were with your teammates, what were you guys doing that took you so long to get back, were you even checking the time?"


    "Obviously, we were celebrating our win against Lave City which marks a five-match unbeaten run for us, it''s our longest run since the start of the season," Dave said as he walked to the kitchen while she followed him.


    "Oh, yeah, you guys have gone five matches unbeaten now, I guess I can''t me you for that." She said standing at the entrance to the kitchen. "But you have to understand that I was worried."


    Dave didn''t reply immediately as he opened the fridge and took out a fifty centiliter bottled water before walking closer to her.


    "Of course, I like that you worry about me." He kissed her on her cheek before making his way to the couch in the sitting room.


    Emma watched him until he sat down on the couch and opened the bottled water.


    The highlights of the match which had just concluded were showing on the television now and Dave was watching it to see the saves he had made and rate them from a viewer''s point of view.


    He still had his gaze on the television when Emma got closer to him and instead of sitting down beside him on the couch, she stood there and stared at him like he was some stranger.


    "Is there a problem?" He asked before slowly turning his gaze to him.


    "No," She shook her head before sitting down on the small table.


    "What is it?" Dave asked as he was certain that there was a problem now.


    "It''s just that..."


    "What?"


    "You said I reminded you of your mother." She said,


    "Yeah, I said it because it''s true," Dave said. "I see you still have what happened at the stadium in mind, you know it''s funny how you told me to act professional and then you end up being the one to mess it up."


    "You shouldn''t have answered the question." She mumbled. "I got carried away because you''ve never told me anything about your mother and then you straight up say that I remind you of her in an interview."


    "Oh."


    "Why didn''t you tell me before?"


    "I don''t know," Dave said, shaking his head. "I was about to tell you one time before you almost crashed into another car and sent my heart on a marathon race."


    "Oh, that day." She said with an awkward expression on her face.


    There was a little moment of silence between the two before Emma decided to say something.


    "So, what was she like, your mother?" She asked.


    "Like you."


    "I know you said I reminded you of her but there''s no way I can have all her qualities, there has to be things that make her unique to you." She said,


    "Yeah, you''re right, there are quite a lot of things that make her unique to me."


    The goalkeeper was interrupted by Emma''s watch which had started beeping loudly now.


    "I''ll be back." She said before getting up from the table and quickly making her way upstairs.


    "Okay," Dave muttered as soon as she was out of sight before rxing on the couch.


    ''What a day this has turned out to be.''


    <You know you''re forgetting something right?>


    ''Huh?''


    <Open your system and check your tabs>


    ''Okay.''


    He opened his system and went through his tabs to see that there was a new tab with a red dot above it to indicate that there was an unchecked message there.


    ''Achievements.'' He said subconsciously before clicking the tab.


    Looking at the messages disyed on his system after clicking the tab, a smile suddenly appeared on his face.


    ''More rewards.''


    *****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.


    Two days left before the month ends, if you want a six-chapter update on the 1st of December then drop your golden tickets.

 Chapter 91 Career Info And Records

    [ Achievements ]


    [ Congrattions on keeping the first clean sheet in your career ]


    [ Congrattions on winning the first man of the match award in your career ]


    [ You will receive a few rewards for these achievements ]


    [ Rewards ]


    [ Inventory has been unlocked ]


    [ Career info and records have been unlocked ]


    [ You will now receive (+10) exp for every training sessionpleted with your teammates ]


    ''These aren''t exactly the kind of rewards I was expecting.''


    <What were you expecting, a plus five skill points reward?>


    ''Exactly.''


    <It''s not a questpleted reward and instead of saying the rewards aren''t good enough why don''t you check them out?> Catherine said. <You can start with the CIR tab above>


    ''Oh, a new tab.'' Dave said subconsciously as he spotted the CIR tab which was circled above and just like Catherine suggested, he decided to check it out.


    [ Career info ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ Age: 21 ]


    [ Height: 187 cm ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Strong foot: right ]


    [ Developed qualities: Shot stopper ]


    [ Developing qualities: Sweeper Keeper, ball ying keeper. ]


    [ Current Team: Unique FC ]


    [ Status: Starter ]


    [ Market value: €10,000 ]


    [ Matches yed: 75 ]


    [ Goals: 0 ]


    [ Assists: 2 ]


    [ Shots faced: 98 ]


    [ Goals conceded: 75 ]


    [ Saves made: 23 ]


    [ Penalties faced: 17 ]


    [ Penalties saved: 01 ]


    [ Clean sheets: 01 ]


    [ Career average rating: 5.9 ]


    [ Awards ]


    [ Man of the match: 01 ]


    [ Trophies: 0 ]


    [ Records set/broken: none ]


    ''Waooh.''


    Dave had a stunned look on his face as he ran his gaze through all the information that had just popped up on his screen.


    ''When I saw career info and records I didn''t expect it to be like this.''


    <I could tell>


    ''Everything is pinpoint urate, the market value, the market value, I''m not so sure about the career average rating though.''


    <Well, if the other info you have seen is urate then it has to be urate too but don''t worry, it will increase as you perform better in future matches>


    ''I know.'' Dave replied. ''I have a question?''


    <What?>


    ''How will the system know when my market value increases or falls because that''s not decided by me and I may not even know untilter?''


    <I cannot go into details in answering that question but the system in a certain special way so it will definitely find out even before you do and update it here>


    ''Of course, you can''t go into details.'' Dave replied. ''That answer wasn''t satisfying in any way.''


    <I''m sorry but I answered it at least>


    ''Vaguely, like you always do whenever I ask you questions about how the system works in certain ways.''


    There was no response from Catherine as Dave went on to exit from his Career info page.


    ''I don''t see any tab for the inventory.'' He said subconsciously with his gaze on the top sides of the achievements page.


    <Go to the main page>


    ''Okay.'' He replied before exiting to the main page to see that the inventory tab had appeared just beside the achievements tab.


    [ Wee to your inventory ]


    [ 0/2 slots upied ]<sub> </sub>


    ''Only two slots avable.''


    [ You will unlock one slot per each level up ]


    ''I see, so how does this inventory work?''


    <Try touching anything and saying the word in, subconsciously or anyhow you want to say it>


    ''Okay.'' Dave replied before reaching for the empty container on the table. ''In.''


    As soon as he thought of the word, the container disappeared and now he could see it in his inventory.


    [ ? slots upied ]


    ''Waooh.''


    <The inventory is for keeping things that you may forget, like your boots or gloves, snacks, or anything at all>


    ''I can clearly see that, it''s awesome.'' He replied. ''So how do I get this thing out of the inventory?''


    <Exactly>


    ''Huh?''


    <Thest word you said in your question>


    ''Oh, out.''


    He didn''t realize that Emma was already on her way down the staircase before saying the word and she had stopped moving as soon as she saw the container drop to the floor from his hand.


    He paused as the way she was staring at him now was making him think that she had clearly seen what had happened there.


    ''She saw it.''


    <I don''t she did>


    ''Then for what other reason would she be looking at me like that?''


    "So dropping water bottles on the floor after finishing them has now be a habit for you," Emma said before continuing her walk down the staircase.


    ''She didn''t see it.'' His subconscious voice sounded a bit disappointed.


    "I wake up every morning, walk to the kitchen, and always find an empty container lying around on the floor." She said as she walked up to him and picked up the container. "Did you decide to unlearn everything you know about recycling?"


    "I don''t think I''ve ever learned anything about recycling," Dave said with his hand ced on his chin.


    "Even if you haven''t, it says throw in the bin." She said pointing at the illustration on the container.


    "Yeah, but I have you to do that for me don''t I?" Dave said with a smug look on his face.


    She let out a sigh before she turned and made her way to the kitchen where she threw the container in the bin beside the back door before making her way back to the living room.


    "You were about to tell me about your mother before I left to attend to some work-rted issue." She said as soon as she sat down beside him on the couch.


    "Was it your boss?"


    "No, Matthew."


    "Matthew?"


    "Yeah, he''s my colleague in the sports department, football specifically, he wanted to ask me a few questions about work and then a few other questions that didn''t have anything to do with work." She said,


    "Okay."


    "So what were you saying?" She said before rxing her head on his thighs. "About your mother." She added before adjusting herself so that she was looking at him from below now.


    Dave didn''t say anything for about thirty seconds before letting out a sigh.


    "My mother was the biggest push I ever had in my life. When I was six, I told her I wanted to be a goalkeeper just like my grandpa, and from that day she began to do everything possible to make sure that my dream came true. My father wanted to be a midfielder just like him or a winger and didn''t support my idea of bing a goalkeeper. That''s one of the reasons why I''m d I had a mother like her.


    "She yed a big role in my path to bing a professional goalkeeper, sometimes I would feel like cking off, normally I have this bad habit of cking off."


    "I''m aware," Emma muttered with a little nod.


    "She would always encourage me to go to training even when I didn''t feel like it, her words always acted like fuel to my spirit, and after she left us for a better ce, I began to ck off again, not getting over her death fast enough was one of the main reasons why I drew back into my habit of cking again and even after convincing myself that I was over it, I just couldn''t pull myself out of the habit until I met you."


    As soon as thatst part left his mouth, a smile appeared on Emma''s face.


    "That''s why I said you remind me so much of her although you don''t have much of her energetic and wholesome vibes." He said before looking down at her with a smile on his face.


    <You know she''s not the main reason why you''re out of your cking habit now>


    ''Do you want me to tell her about the system?''


    <No>


    ''Then she is the main reason why I am out of my cking habit.'' He replied before leaning closer to kiss Emma''s soft pink lips just like she wanted him to.


    _______ _______


    Just twenty minutes into his sleep, the goalkeeper found himself in the endless white space, and just like he expected, Catherine was there.


    "You''re putting on sses now, nice." He said with a nod while looking at the pair of nice-looking sses she was putting on now.


    "I won''t be surprised if you buy your girlfriend sses and force her to put them on," Catherine said.


    "I can buy the sses but I''m not sure I can force her to put them on," Dave said. "So what''s for training tonight?"


    "You have unfinished business."


    As soon as those words left her mouth, the stadium began to return, the stands, the fans, Unique FC yers, and Real Madrid yers and now he was standing in the middle of his goal line with Fernandez standing over the ball which was sitting on the penalty spot.


    "Unfinished business," Dave muttered.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.


    I would love to have anyone who could help me properly organize my discord channel for the novel, the server''s avable but I just don''t know how to properly organize it.

 Chapter 92 A Certain Level Of Control

    After saving that penalty kick from Kim, he was less nervous about penalty kicks but facing a penalty kick against someone like Fernandez would sure get him riled up but given the fact that this was happening in his dream, he wasn''t exactly feeling any pressure and in fact, He felt a little confident that he could stop Fernandez from scoring.


    The referee blew his whistle as Fernandez slowly took three steps backward before racing toward the ball.


    He sent it flying toward the left side while Dave dived toward the right side.


    "Oh, Dave''s gone the wrong way and that''s a goal!" Jim eximed as Fernandez raced toward the sidelines to do a knee slide with his teammates quickly heading toward him and the crowd screaming in joy.


    "Sometimes I can''t help but feel surprised by how real a dream can feel," Dave said as he looked around the full stadium with his hands on his waist.


    ''There''s that carefree attitude of yours again, if this was a real match you would have a devastated look on your face by now.''


    "That''s the difference Catherine, it isn''t a real match and no matter how much I try, I don''t think I can feel bad about conceding a goal in my dream especially when it came through someone like Fernandez from the penalty box," Dave said.


    ''You have to make it feel real if you want to get the point behind the match, this is a Champions League final and although it''s in your dream, you should treat it like one that''s the point of the whole exercise.'' Catherine said.


    "I''ll try," Dave said, looking around once again.


    The match had resumed after his conversation with Catherine in his subconscious mind.


    Unique FC had kept the possession for a little while before attempting an attack which resulted in them losing the ball.


    "Oh, that was a terrible mistake from Mateo," Jim said.


    The ball was stretched to Asensio from the box and all he needed to get rid of Jonas was pace with a little touch of skill.


    "Wonderful dribbling from Asensio," Stevemented.


    Asensio couldn''t run into the box and shoot because he had Adolf blocking his way, but there''s always a better option.


    He found Fernandez in the box and although he was being marked by Aima, who crossed the ball low to him.


    Fernandez found his way past Aima to get to the ball and send it flying toward the top left-hand corner with a single touch.


    "Fernandez!" Jim eximed.


    Dave dived toward the ball and managed to get the tip of his left glove on it but that wasn''t enough to stop the shot as the ball smashed past his hand and fell into the back of the.


    "Of course, he''s put it away, that''s why he is what he is!" Jim screamed enthusiastically.


    Fernandez didn''t even get the chance to leave the spot as his teammates quickly gathered around him and pulled him down right there inside the box.


    "Come on." He sounded a little frustrated as he sat down on the floor.


    His main reason for being like that wasn''t the goal, sure he was a little upset about the goal but the main reason why he was upset was that he tried using his ball ma and it didn''t work, if the skill had worked, he was certain he would have ended up pushing that ball out.


    "Does my system not work in my dream?" He asked as everything that was going on paused for the moment.


    "It''s your dream, you can bring anything to live here," Catherine said as she slowly appeared in front of him. "You can make anything happen."


    "Then why didn''t my ball ma skill work when I tried to use it?"


    "You didn''t let me get to the but part."


    "But part?" Dave said with a confused expression on his face.


    "Yeah, it''s your dream quite alright but you wouldn''t have control over it like this if it weren''t for the system," Catherine said. "And for that, I have a certain level of control over things here."


    "You''re the one that stopped the skill from working." He said in realization.


    "Nice guess." She smiled.


    "Why would you stop my skill from working?"


    "So that you can stop depending on them all the time." She said, "Yes they are part of who you are now but you don''t have to be fully dependent on them, your stats are good now and you''re still improving, you can be a top-ss goalkeeper even in the absence of these skills."


    "But they are part of who I am now so why wouldn''t I depend on them?" Dave asked.


    "Because they will disappoint you in certain situations and then you''ll have to depend on your normal abilities as a goalkeeper."


    "Disappoint me, you mean like fail to work?"


    "Yes." She spelled out.


    ______ ______


    "Well, the only way that Unique FC''s current squad is by a miracle." The goalkeeper muttered as he slowly opened his eyes. "We tried our best."


    <Yeah, you tried your best by conceding two goals>


    ''It''s not my fault that our defense wasn''t able to keep up and two of the goals were even own goals.''


    He picked up his phone from the little cupboard below and checked the time to see that the time was 4:55 AM.


    ''And I''ve only been in there for thirty minutes.''<sub> </sub>


    He tried to get off the bed but just as he made a little move, Emma pushed her body closer to his and tightened her arms around him.


    "Where are you going?" She muttered with a sleepy voice and for a second there Dave thought she was awake until he took a closer look at her and listened carefully to see that she was still fast asleep.


    He slowly removed her arms from his body before slowly slipping out of the bed to avoid waking her up.


    After sessfully getting off the bed, he slowly made his way out of the room.


    ''In my mind, it feels like I''ve only been asleep for thirty minutes but I don''t feel like going back to sleep again.'' He said subconsciously as he walked toward the room where he had dropped his backup freezer.


    <Because you''ve gotten enough rest and besides it''s almost 5:00 PM, you might as well start your day early>


    [ Daily questpleted ]


    [ Drink two liters of bottled water ]


    [ +5 exp received ]


    [ 30/500 exp ]


    As usual, he let the container drop on the floor to join the other five that were lying around the corners, they were there because Emma rarely visited this room.


    After taking care of his easiest quest, he turned his gaze to the side where his light lifts were sitting on the metallic bench.


    "An early two hours in the gym will be nice."


    The time was 5:05 AM as he pulled up the door to his garage with the pair of light lifts in his hands.


    He started his training with the lifts and then moved to the exercise bench for some good stretches before moving to the exercise balls.


    He made sure to test out all the equipment in the gym and was running on the treadmill now as the time hit 7:05 AM.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ Spend two hours in the gym ]


    [ +20 exp received ]


    [ 50/500 exp ]


    "Woahhh, I feel awesome." He expressed as he ran on the treadmill for a few more minutes before turning it off. "Now onto thest part of my daily quest."


    He made sure to pick up his running boots before heading to his gym and after putting them on now, he quickly made his way to the road.


    "I feel like I canplete that six Kilometers quest now." He muttered.


    <The quest wille>


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Complete six kilometers in not more than twenty-five minutes ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +30 exp ]


    [ +2 stat boost to endurance ]


    ''What happened to the two skill points reward?''


    <I don''t know but look on the bright side, at least you got an exp increase>


    ''I wanted the skill points.''


    <Justplete the quest, you''ll get them another time>


    ''Of course, I''llplete the quest but I''ll need a little more help.''


    [ +4 stat points added to Dexterity ]


    [ Dexterity: 32 ]


    <Again> Catherine said as he quickly zoomed off well prepared to smash the quest although he wasn''t getting any skill points.


    ***


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.


    One more day left for the month to end.

 Chapter 93 A Skills Huge Drawback

    His watch was showing twenty-four minutes thirteen seconds as he stopped running just before he could run into the highway.


    He was breathing heavily now, running six kilometers under twenty-five minutes was really draining given the fact that he had run it like he was running a race to make sure that hepleted it before his timer went past twenty-five minutes.


    There was a bench by the side so he made his way toward it and sat down on it to catch his breath.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ You have sessfullypleted six kilometers in not more than twenty-five minutes ]


    [ Quest Rewards ]


    [ +30 exp received ]


    [ +2 stat points added to endurance ]


    [ 40% stamina remaining ]


    [ 60/105 Energy ]


    <Your energy seems to be quite robust this morning, it seems to be dropping at a lower rate than before>


    ''Yeah, and all those stat upgrades on my dexterity are really paying off.'' Dave replied with his gaze on his stamina bar.


    <Yeah, but if you run back at the rate at which you ran to get here, your stamina will be exhausted before you get back so it''s better if you just walk back while your stamina replenishes or you could jog lightly>


    ''That was an option until I unlocked double stamina.'' Dave replied as he slowly got up from the bench.


    [ Double stamina activated ]


    [ Doubling current stamina ]


    [ 80% stamina remaining ]


    ''Only eighty percent?''


    <The name of the skill is clearly double stamina>


    ''Yeah, but I expected way more than what I am seeing now.''


    <What the skill doubles are the stamina you have avable when you activate it that''s why your stamina bar went up from forty to eighty>


    ''Oh, I should have used it from the start.''


    <It wouldn''t have worked>


    ''Huh.''


    <Double stamina only works when your stamina goes below fifty-one percent so the highest boost you can get from it is refilling your stamina back to a hundred percent once it hits fifty>


    ''So I can''t get more than a hundred percent stamina?''


    <No>


    ''That''s okay, eighty percent stamina is more than enough to get me back home on time.'' The goalkeeper replied before zooming off at full speed.


    _____ _____


    "What happened?" He muttered in between his panting as he quickly crashed down on thewn.


    [ 10% stamina remaining ]


    <I tried to warn you but you had already activated the skill>


    ''Warn me about what, I can''t even exin what just happened, I''m supposed to have more than twenty percent stamina remaining.''


    <Yeah but Double stamina also means you lose two stamina percentages with each decrease that''s why your stamina is that low now, you can''t use double stamina for things like running six kilometers>


    "You could have warned me before I took off, if you had told me, I would have just walked back home and this would have never happened," Dave muttered.


    <Are you sure you would have listened? I think experience is the best teacher so I let you learn from it sometimes>


    ''Yeah, best teacher, it''s not like it''s a big deal anyway, all I have to do is rx here and in the next ten minutes, I will have enough stamina to walk properly and not get someone worried.''


    <Uh....I don''t think so>


    ''Huh?''


    <You recover one stamina percentage per minute while you''re properly resting in a lying position but while double stamina is active, you only recover one stamina percentage every five minutes under the same conditions><sub> </sub>


    ''What?'' Dave screamed inwardly.


    <I tried to warn you>


    ''So, in the next ten minutes, I will have only two stamina percentages recovered.''


    Dave didn''t really believe it when Catherine first said it until he checked his stamina bar to see that his stamina had not increased since he was lying there and had just entered eleven percent now that he was looking at it.


    ''How long does this skillst?''


    <Why don''t you check for yourself?>


    [ Double stamina ]


    [ Status: Active ]


    [ Duration left: 15 minutes ]


    "I think I will justy here for a while and wait for that time to run out." The goalkeeper said before slowly closing his eyes.


    He didn''t want to fall asleep but sleep was one force of nature that no one had any proper control over.


    He found himself in the white space with Catherine there as Usual but she was standing quite a distance away from him.


    "I fell asleep." He said with a sigh. "A few seconds of ying here would be nice though."


    He was about to take a step forward when the whole ce began to shake violently, knocking him off his feet in the process.


    "Hey, wake up! Wake up!"


    Those were the words he heard as his body began to disintegrate and once he was gone, he quickly shot his eyes open to see Emma standing over him with her hands on both of his shoulders.


    "Hey." He said with a sore voice before slowly sitting up on the floor.


    "So you find thewn morefortable now," Emma said with a questioning look on her face.


    Dave could tell that she was ready for work given the fact that she was putting on a ck skirt, and a white blouse with a pink jacket, she was putting on a pair of pink heels and the scent of her vani plus coconut perfume was stronger on her body now.


    ''How long have I been out?'' He thought before checking his watch to see that the time was 8:34 AM now, he had slept off around 8:12 AM and for him, it felt like a few seconds until he was woken up by her.


    "I thought you were still out on your run which you left super early for but it turns out you were having the time of her life out here." She said, crossing her arms.


    <I think she wants answers>


    "I was out running and when I returned I was so tired that I didn''t know when I crashed down here and slept off," Dave exined.


    "The door''s only a few meters away from here, you could have clearly made it inside the house," Emma said, pointing back and forth between him and the door.


    "I don''t think so." He said, shaking his head.


    Emma stared at him without saying anything as she stared back at her with a goofy smile on her face.


    "You look really pretty today." He said after taking another look at her from head to toe.


    "Thanks." She muttered with a smile before checking her watch. "I guess I''m going to arrivete at work today."


    "Don''t me me, you would have already been at your workce if you had just ignored me," Dave said, raising his hands in innocence.


    "And then you''ll wake up to find yourself underground surrounded by a trillion ants and ready to be used as ant food." She said before leaning closer to him to kiss him. "Bye babe."


    Dave had a baffled look on his face as he watched her quickly make her way out of the area.


    "Ant food?" He muttered. "There''s no way ants can lift me right?"


    <Given the fact that ans can lift two times their own weight, arge number of them can>


    ''Okay, let''s just stop it there.'' He replied before slowly getting up from the floor.


    [ 27% stamina remaining ]


    "What a way to start the day getting hit massively by a drawback from a skill I thought was going to be a game changer for me." He muttered as he slowly made his way to the door.


    ****


    We''ve finally hit our mass-release goal, special thanks to Synocean, Azure Leapordking, and Mud104 for all the gifts and golden tickets and to everyone else who has been supporting the book.


    Expect six chapters tomorrow.

 Chapter 94 Battle For Spots

    [ 105/105 Energy ]


    [ 49% stamina remaining ]


    His energy hadpletely filled up after eating his meal and his stamina was almost filled up halfway.


    At ten percent stamina, his legs felt really weak and ording to Catherine, the only reason why his legs remained steady to some extent while walking was that his energy had not fallen below thirty yet, if his energy had fallen to the same level as his stamina then walking would have been really hard for him until he recovered both of them to a good number while resting.


    He let out a sigh as he dropped the tes in the sink before making his way to the freezer to grab a bottle of water.


    "Training starts by 3:00 PM." He said before turning his gaze to the wall clock which was reading 9:20 AM now.


    <You still have a lot of free time left to do a lot of things and train too>


    "Yeah, train too," Dave muttered before making his way to the couch and slowly sitting down on it.


    <Aren''t you nning to train today?>


    "What? The gym sessions and twelve kilometers weren''t good enough for you?"


    <I''m just saying that in the next one hour you will be back in top shape and you should put all those energy and stamina to good use>


    ''I will but I think I''ll need two hours instead of three.'' He replied before returning his attention to the television screen.


    The Bilbeth Premier League weekly was currently showing with Michael, Jonah, and Caitlin present in the room as the sports pundits.


    "So, we have two matches left for the league to be concluded and while some teams have already imed certain positions, others are still fighting for certain spots," Michael said. "Supreme United are three points clear of Dynamo FC just three points which means that there''s a chance that Dynamo FC could swoop in from behind to win the league. What''s your take on this guys?"


    "Yeah, the chance is there but given the fact that teams Supreme United are going to be facing for thest two matches are Lave City and Zetero United, I think they''ve already won the league," Jonah said.


    "Lave City beat them in their own home two goals to zero at the beginning of the season, Rnd couldn''t even get past their defense," Caitlin said. "I''m not saying they''re going to win again because Supreme United looks stronger than ever now but the match is going to be tight and I can see Supreme United dropping a few points and giving Dynamo FC the chance to close up a little."


    "Like a draw?" Michael said.


    "Yeah, a draw," Caitlin said with a nod.


    "I understand you wanting Dynamo FC to close up on the red supreme''s because Dynamo''s your home town but you seem to be forgetting that Dynamo FC will be facing two tough teams which they lost to at the beginning of the season, Zilo FC and Spree City and there''s a big chance that they could drop all three points in both matches given the way they are currently." Jonah articted.


    "Yeah, Dynamo FC seems to have been struggling in theirst six matches, their victories have not been solid at all," Michael said. "Unbelievable things happen in matches sometimes, things that no one expects to happen but so far I think Supreme are winning the league, they are three points clear of Dynamo and they have the better advantage judging by how they are ying currently and thest two teams they have to face."


    "Yeah, they have the better advantage but just like you said, unbelievable things happen sometimes," Caitlin said with a shrug.<sub> </sub>


    "Okay, that was for the underdogs of the league which are once again battling for the top spot at thest minute but the top spot isn''t the only spot worth battling for. Unique FC are currently in a heated battle with Lesica United for the conference league spot, after their win against Lave Cityst night, they are now on level points and Lesica United''s match against Spree City tonight will determine whether they will steer clear of them or remain where they are. What are your thoughts on these guys?"


    "Lesica United are still ahead of them with the higher goal difference so they still have the advantage although they''ve been in bad formtely," Jonah said. "If they win against Spree City then they are going to restore their advantage but if they lose or draw then things are going to get difficult for them."


    "Unique FC have surprised meing into thisst few matches left before the season ends, especially Dave Richards, at the start of the season to the middle he was like the worst goalkeeper in the league, and thening into theirst five chapters he turned into a different person," Caitlin said. "He was the best goalkeeper in the leaguest week and was in the team of the week nominations and has been the best goalkeeper so far this week, he kept his first clean sheet inst night''s match against Lave City and also got his first man of the match award.


    "I know a lot of people have been saying that his performance is a fluke but he''s kept it up for four straight games, that should be enough to tell us that he''s finally starting to be the goalkeeper the fans want him to be. I think Unique FC has a chance of qualifying for the conference league if they keep up their current form and make an improvement in their defense."


    "Yeah, their defense is their major weakness in every match, their attack is good with Mateo constantly causing problems from the left and Merino always making dangerous crosses into the box but their midfield is the best part of the game, the midfield trio of Minino, Ferran and Edward is the best they''ve had in years." Michael opined.


    "Yeah," Jonah said with a nod. "Unique FC will be taking on Frono FC in their home tomorrow while Lesica United will be taking on Spree City tonight, I want to hear your thoughts on these games."


    "Unique FC are in very good form currently, five-match unbeaten run and although Frono FC are not to be underestimated given the fact that Unique FC have failed to win any of theirst seven matches against them, Frono FC have won five while two ended in draws," Caitlin said. "You know I visited their talisman and striker Darwin Shaw this Sunday for an interview."


    "You did? Why didn''t you tell us?" Jonah inquired as he had not heard anything about it until now.


    "Well, I just did." She said, "I wasn''t nning on revealing the contents of the interview until tonight."


    "Oh, I see," Michael said. "Did you ask him about the match against Unique FC?"


    "Of course I did." She said before picking up the small remote control on the table and pointing it at therge screen by the side.


    "You have the video," Jonah said.


    "I''m just going to skip to the part where we talked about the uing match." She said,


    After skipping to the part she yed the video.


    In the video, the two were sitting opposite each other on the couches in a nice-looking living room.


    She had her long ck hair tied back unlike the way it was now and Darwin was putting on a white cap to go with his white shirt and short drip.


    "So, Darwin, yourst match for the week will be against Unique FC here in Frono given the fact that Unique FC are in good form with Dave Richards constantly turning up to save his team, how do you and your teammates n on approaching the match?" She asked.


    "The same way we always do?" Darwin replied abruptly. "We''ve been doing it and it''s been working for a while, of course, they''ve been trying recently but I can assure you that I will get that ball past Dave Richards just like I did in the away leg and we will win the match."


    As soon as those words left his mouth, Dave felt a sharp stinging pain in his heart, the confidence with which he had said that seemed to have annoyed him to an extent.


    "Challenge epted Darwin, challenge epted." He muttered with his hands joined together.

 Chapter 95 Keep Your Opinions To Yourself

    It had been about ten minutes since Emma arrived for work and she had quickly gotten to work on herptop.


    Of course, there was a whole PC set sitting on her desk but she preferred to work on herptop.


    The room was veryrge with lots of desks scattered around the area for the various workers in various departments.


    It was normal to have those working in the same departments stay close to each other to make things easier in the office, that was why Matthew''s desk was right beside hers but he wasn''t there.


    She knew he had already arrived for work judging by the fact that his monitor was on and he had already begun to type something on it.


    "I wonder where he went." She muttered before slowly turning her gaze to the side.


    "Hey."


    She quickly turned her gaze to the other side to see Matthew standing there with both of his hands stuck into his pocket and a smile on his face.


    "Hey, where have you been?" She asked. "I''ve been here for like ten minutes and you were nowhere to be found."


    "I was with Miss. Nelly." He said pointing backward.


    "Oh, why did she call you?"


    "Last night''s interviews and articles, she just wanted to talk to me about a few minor things that needed changing," Matthew said.


    "Okay."


    "She wants to see you."


    "Huh?"


    "She wants to see you, Emma." He repeated. "And before you ask me why, I just want to say that I don''t know but you should go answer her fast."


    Emma didn''t say anything as she stared toward her office while Matthew made his way to his desk.


    ''Why are you so frightened all of a sudden? It''s probably just to change a few things.'' She thought to herself before slowly getting up from her seat.


    She adjusted her skirt by pulling it down to her knees a little and then made sure her jacket was buttoned properly.


    The ce was open and was quite arge office because of the constant summoning of all staff so Emma didn''t have to go through knocking to get into the office.


    A blonde haired quite young-looking woman was sitting behind the desk in the office, she had little bags under her eyes to indicate that she had not been getting enough sleep and as always she had a cup of coffee beside her to keep her going.


    She slowly raised her gaze to look at Emma as soon as she entered the room and seeing who it was, a smile suddenly appeared on her face


    Emma wasn''t going to be fooled by that smile ever again because that was how things had startedst time.


    "I heard you wanted to see me, Miss. Nelly." She said as she walked closer to stand in front of her desk.


    "Emma Smith, right?"


    "Yes, ma''am," Emma replied with a nod.


    She didn''t say anything else for a while as she slowly went through what was written on the paper that she was holding.


    That silence alone was making Emma''s heart sink deeper and deeper inside.


    "So." She said before putting the paper down. "I read the report you wrote aboutst night''s match and the catchy title you picked out."


    "You think it''s catchy?" Emma said, trying hard to hide the surprised expression she had on her face.


    "Of course, Unique FC''s ball ma." She said with a nod. "You must have felt really proud of yourself to give your boyfriend such a nice nickname."


    This was one of the things she had been avoiding and wanted to avoid given the fact that she was working in the sports department football specifically and Dave was a professional footballer.


    She didn''t want her to find out about her rtionship with Dave or her brother as she knew it was going to lead to her being biased with her writing.


    Miss. Nelly had just dropped one on her but she was going to keep herposure and answer her in the best way she could.


    "I didn''t write it because he''s my boyfriend, I would have done the same if it was another person in that position."  She said,


    "Would you have also written the article like this if it was another person in the position?"


    "Is there anything wrong with the article?" Emma asked with a confused expression on her face.


    "All I''m seeing here is I know, I think and I believe, you were told to write an article about the match not give us your opinion on what you think, know, or believe will happen in the future, that should be left as a question and then you leave the fans to know, believe and think." Miss. Nelly asked. "You''re free to think whatever you think will happen but nobody asked for it here, keep it to yourself. I believe you have the draft with you, of course, you have the draft with you, I want you to quickly rewrite the whole thing and I want you to keep your opinions to yourself this time."


    "Okay, ma''am." Was the only thing Emma could say as she couldn''t think of anything to counter what she had just said, she was right in a lot of ways, she had let personal feelings get in the way while writing the article without even realizing it until now.


    "I''m sorry about what happenedst night in the interview." She said just before she stepped out through the exit.


    "If you''re thinking that''s the way I found out about your rtionship then you''re wrong." Miss. Nelly said.


    "Of course, it''s not." She muttered before making her way out of the area.


    ______ _____


    Dave had finally stepped outside after spending two hours indoors just like he said.


    [ 105/105 Energy ]


    [ 100% stamina remaining ]


    He felt like he had just woken up from sleep, he didn''t usually feel this way but he felt like he needed a way to expel all this energy.


    <A few rounds of intense training would do the trick>


    ''I know, I just wish the system would give me a really good physical quest with very nice rewards, I feel like I could do a hundred push-ups and still have a lot of energy left in me.''


    <You did not just say that>


    ''Yes, I did, I know I can do it.'' He said before jumping up a few times right in the middle of thewn.


    <The thing is that you do not know the implications of what you just said>


    ''Implications?'' Dave replied with a confused expression on his face.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Complete a hundred push-ups in one go ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +60 exp ]


    [ +10 upgrade to energy ]


    [ +5 stat points to strength ]


    ''Hey, I was just joking, the rewards look nice but I don''t think I can do a hundred push-ups in one go, I''m going to have to fail this one.''


    <I don''t think you will like the implications of that>


    ''Implications?''


    [ Failure toplete the quest will attract punishments ]


    [ Punishment ]


    [ -15 deduction to all stats for six months ]


    [ Only one skill will be avable in matches ]


    [ Skills will not level up until punishment duration is over ]


    [ Punishment duration: six months ]


    Looking at the messages that had just popped up on his screen, Dave had quite a horrid look on his face.

 Chapter 96 Tedious Quest

    "Fifty-seven." The goalkeeper muttered with a groaning voice as he slowly pulled himself up again with shaky hands. "Fifty-eight."


    He was sweating profusely now as the sun was beginning to get intense on the spot he had chosen and he couldn''t shift to a ce with a little shade because that would result in him getting punished by his system for six straight months.


    "Sixty-five." He muttered as he slowly pulled himself up with his shaky hands.


    Catherine had been quiet so far in his period of struggling as she didn''t want to cause him to lose focus.


    The goalkeeper was breathing quite heavily now and the shaking of his hands seemed to have increased now that he had less than twenty more push-ups toplete the quest and escape getting punished.


    "Eighty-five." This time he was gritting his teeth as he pulled himself up.


    [ 35/105 Energy ]


    <Just a few more to go> Catherine said to give him a little sense of determination and also remind him that it was almost over.


    ''Ny!'' He screamed inwardly as he bit his lower lip while pulling himself up.


    The goalkeeper was getting way slower now as every ounce of energy he had was slowly disappearing.


    [ 15/105 Energy ]


    "Ny-five." He muttered as he pulled himself up to count ny-six but just as he was pulling himself up, he got stuck in the air as he didn''t seem to have the strength to pull himself up again.


    ''I don''t think I can do it, Catherine, I''m on myst legs.''


    <You''ve made it so far, if you had decided to give up before getting to fifty that would have been okay because you had not even started then but now you just have five push-ups left, just four push-ups to avoid these punishments, and get rewarded instead>


    ''Just five push-ups left.'' He gritted his teeth before pulling himself up with whatever strength he had left toplete the ny-sixth push-up.


    He continued that way until he was down to hisst one,


    His body was covered in sweat with the muscles in his hands and legs looking like they were going to burst out anytime.


    "Just one more!!" He screamed as he used all that was left of his strength to pull himself up. "One hundred." He muttered before crashing onto the floor.


    [ 1/105 Energy ]


    He was breathing heavily as expected with his hands covering his face to prevent the sun from blinding him.


    <I knew you could do it>


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ Congrattions, you have sessfullypleted a hundred push-ups and escaped getting punished ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +60 received ]


    [ Energy has received a (+10) upgrade ]


    [ +5 stat points added to strength ]


    "Please tell me there won''t be any more quests like this?" He muttered under his breath.


    <If you learn not to challenge the system, then there won''t be any more quests like this>


    ''Challenge the system?''


    <Yeah, you made reference to getting a physical quest from the system with good rewards before saying you could do a hundred push-ups, you may not have done it intentionally but to the system that was a challenge>


    ''And the punishments were to make sure Ipleted the quest.''


    <Yeah, you should be more careful of what you say while making references to receiving a quest, you''re lucky you got a quest>


    ''Yeah, apart from quests like this, are there going to be any other quests with punishments?''


    <Well, that depends on the importance of the quest and how much influence you have inpleting it but I don''t think you''ll be getting another quest like that anytime soon unless you make another mistake just like the one you made today>


    [ 12/115 Energy ]


    ''I think that actual punishment of a quest has covered every other training I wanted to do.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he slowly got up from the floor. ''And I have seeded in almost expelling all of my energy.''


    <You know you''re quite lucky you made that little upgrade on your energy if not you would have passed out before you got to a hundred>


    ''And then wake up to punishment messages.'' He replied as he staggered toward the door.


    <Yeah and that would have been really bad>


    Dave didn''t say anything as he made his way into the house and made his way to the kitchen to grab himself a ss of chilled water.


    After drinking to his fill, he dropped the ss cup in the sink before making his way up the staircase and straight to his room.


    "My hands and legs feel like busted balloons." He muttered as he walked into his room.


    <How exactly do you know what busted balloons feel like?>


    ''Don''t ask me.'' Dave replied as he walked straight to his bed and crashed down on it.


    <Humans and their weird metaphor>


    The goalkeeper brought his phone out of his pocket to see that the time was 1:50 PM which meant that he had an hour and ten minutes to get to the stadium for the evening training session.


    [ 15/115 Energy ]


    "I feel so tired." He muttered.


    <Like you should but you''ll be back to normal with proper rest and of course some foodter>


    "I think I''ll just close my eyes and get a little rest before heading to the stadium." He said before slowly closing his eyes.


    For him, it was just a few seconds before he found himself in a dark endless space.


    "So, it''s the endless dark space for me today." He muttered while looking around the area.


    He expected to see Catherine around the area but for some reason, she wasn''t there.


    "Maybe she''s somewhere down there." He said to himself before he began to walk down the area.


    He had only walked a few distances when he began to hear little voices in his head and he couldn''t make anything of them until¡­


    "Wake up!" A deep voice screamed in his head as arge red skull quickly popped out from nowhere in front of him causing him to quickly spring up from his bed.


    <Finally>


    "What happened?" He asked, looking around the area. "I was in a dark¡­."


    "I don''t know what happened Dave> Catherine said, cutting him short. <But you should start heading to the stadium fast>


    "Why? I''ve only been asleep for twenty seconds." The goalkeeper said but then he realized that time moves way slower in his dreams.


    He quickly picked up his phone to check the time and looking at the time disyed on the screen now, a horrid look had suddenly appeared on his face.


    The time disyed on his phone''s screen was 3:40 PM which meant that he was already forty minuteste to training and he had not even washed up from that tedious exercise yet.


    ****


    I know I promised six chapters today but my writing schedule took a serious hit yesterday due to some personal issues and although I can still release six chapters today, the update will be veryte.


    Just hang on to these two chapters and wait for the six chapters tomorrow. Sorry for the dy, it wasn''t intentional.

 Chapter 97 Let Off Lightly

    There were about neen cars already parked in the parking lot as he drove his car into the area.


    He parked his car in one of the spaces left and stared off through the ss for a while before opening the door and stepping down from the car.


    "Of course, everyone''s here." He said before mming the door shut. "I''m an hour and twenty minuteste."


    <Instead of trying tofort yourself with sentiments, I think you should head to the pitch fast before you be two hourste>


    Dave didn''t reply to her as he slowly walked toward the entrance, he wasn''t acting like someone who was arrivingte for training.


    <I thought you were supposed to be walking way faster than this>


    ''What''s the point of rushing when you''re already an hour pluste?''


    <So that you don''t add more minutes to your tardiness>


    ''Doesn''t really make any difference.''


    The goalkeeper arrived at the pitch to see his teammates doing rondos and as soon as one person spotted him, all of them turned their gaze to him including Norman and the rest of the coaching staff.


    ''This is one of the reasons why I hate arrivingte for any event at all, I hate it when everyone stops what they are doing just to look at me like I''m some kind of anomaly.''


    Norman walked closer to him before he could step into the pitch to exchange a few words with him.


    "Hey." The coach said before he put his arm around his shoulders and turned around with him. "How''re you doing?"


    "I''m okay," Dave said.


    "Are you sure because your temperature seems to be a little high?"


    "It is?" Dave said before quickly cing his hand on his neck to feel his temperature. "I feel okay."


    "Okay, I thought you were sick," Norma said. "You know training started a long time ago right?" He added before slowly removing his arms from his shoulders.


    "I know, I overslept."


    "Oversleeping isn''t actually a good reason for arrivingte for training, you know there are punishments for arrivingte for training right?"


    "I know," Dave said with a nod. "I understand."


    The goalkeeper was about to turn and start heading to the pitch when Norman pulled him back.


    "This is your first time arrivingte for training so I''ll let you off lightly, but you have to promise that it won''t happen next time, you''re starting to be an important part of the team, and cking off won''t do you any good."


    <cking off, if only he knew that you did a hundred push-ups a few hours ago>


    "Thanks, coach, I promise it won''t happen again," Dave said sounding ted for the first time since he woke up and found out that he waste for training.


    "Good, now let''s go continue training, I think you''ll be essential for this part." He patted him on the back before heading toward the pitch while he followed from behind.


    "An hour pluste," Jonas said as Dave walked past him. "That should be equivalent to a month''s fine."


    "Hey, bro what''s up?" Mateo said as soon as Dave got closer to him.


    "Hey."


    "I called you like seven times after arriving here, but you didn''t pick up, what happened?"


    "If I told you, you wouldn''t believe me," Dave said.


    "Just tell me, we can work on the believing partter," Mateo said.


    "Okay, I did a hundred push-ups at a go."


    "You did what?" Minino had been standing by the side and was clearly hearing what they were saying, what Dave had just said came as a shock to him and he wasn''t the only one.


    "You''re joking right?" Ferran popped up from Mateo''s behind to say.


    "Do I look like I''m joking, I felt like I was going to die after doing it, I managed to make my way to my room and after crashing on my bed, I slept off."


    "That''s why you''re arriving now," Rnd said.


    "What the heck led you into doing a hundred push-ups at a go!?" Mateo asked with a baffled expression on his face.


    "I can do fifty at a go but hundred, I''ll need something very big to motivate me, a good deal maybe," Fred said.


    "Or a punishment," Dave muttered.


    "A hundred push-ups will drain anyone," Ferran said. "I have to say I''m surprised to hear that you were able to do it."


    "I don''t even do up to thirty push-ups," Mateo said. "I run a lot though."


    "Okay, guys let''s do the volley practice we talked about." Norman blew the whistle hanging around his neck before pping his hands to call the attention of the yers.


    "Get in the post, Dave," Mateo said before quickly making his way toward the right corner kick spot area where Norman was standing.


    "Mateo''s going to be the one crossing the ball in from here," Norman said, rolling the ball a little closer to the edge of the box but he didn''t reach the edge.


    "Fred, you''ll be going first, edge of the box." The assistant coach said pointing at the curved part of the box. "You''re already in the goalpost Dave, good."


    "Ready, Fred?" Norman asked looking at the striker.


    "Yeah," Fred said with a nod.


    "Okay, go Mateo." He said before blowing his whistle.


    Mateo didn''t say anything as he slowly pulled his left foot back and quickly curved the ball toward Fred.


    Fred waited for the ball to get closer before he pulled his right foot back and sent it flying toward the bottom right side of the post.


    The shot power behind his volley wasn''t that great so it was an easy save for Dave as he dived toward the ball and pushed it out before it could fly into the goalpost.


    "Nice save." Fred gave him a thumbs up before walking back to the others so that Fredinho could step up for his turn.


    Dave expected to receive a quest for this training exercise but so far nothing had popped up on his screen.


    Fredinho''s volley was sent toward the top left-hand corner and although there was a chance that he could have saved it, the goalkeeper was glued to the spot as the ball fell into the back of the.


    All the yers had a go with the only yers who were able to put the ball into the being Fredinho, Merino, Luis Roberto, Minino, and Mateo. Ferran''s shot had gone wide from the right top side.


    For the next round, Ferran was going to be the main crosser and unlike the first round, there were going to be two defenders in the box ready to stop the ball before it gets to the yer whose turn it was to take the volley.


    The ball sessfully flew into Dave''s quite a lot of times in this round and most of them hade from deflections from either Pirlo or Aima as they were the two defenders in the box.


    "Alright boys, that will be enough for today," Norman said before picking up the ball. "You guys should be here by 10 AM tomorrow so that we can talk about the tactics and the yers that will be starting the match."


    With the sun almost gone from the sky, Norman had brought the training session to an end and while the yers were heading down the tunnel, a certain yer had made his way to the coach to ask him a question that he had in mind since Dave arrived at the stadium.


    "Hey, coach." He said after getting closer to Norman.


    "Hey, Jonas, is there a problem?"


    "No, not really, I just wanted to know what kind of punishment you gave to Dave, you should have announced it to us but for some reason but I''m guessing you didn''t want to disrupt the training session."


    "I didn''t announce his punishment because I didn''t give him one," Norman said.


    "Wait, you let him off lightly?" The left-back said with a stunned look on his face.


    "I have a policy of letting anyone off lightly the first time they do anything wrong, I didn''t punish you the first time you arrivedte for training so why should I punish him on his first time?"


    Hearing him say that, the left back felt like a dagger had just been driven into his heart, this wasn''t what he was expecting.

 Chapter 98 Hectic Day

    "You''re just lucky this is your first time." Mateo patted him on his back before walking off toward the car.


    "Or else it would have been a month''s fine of fifty Euros every day." He muttered before heading off toward his car.


    ''I thought I was supposed to be getting ten exps forpleting training sessions now?''


    <You joined the training session veryte, if you had arrived on time, you would have gotten the reward, that''s your punishment for arriving>


    "I''ve been getting punished in a lot of different ways since today." He muttered before letting out a deep sigh.


    He unlocked the car with his car keys and opened the door before checking his watch to see that the time was 6:22 PM.


    He arrived home after a few minutes drive and after getting down from his car, he checked his watch to see that the time was 6:31 PM.


    ''Emma''s not going to be home until eleven so it''s going to be another lonely night for me in a long time.'' He said subconsciously as he made his way to the door.


    He unlocked the door with his keys and opened it to find Emma in the living room.


    She was sitting on the couch with the ne Dave gave her in her hands.


    "Hey." She turned to him and said as soon as he entered the house.


    "Hey, I thought you were supposed to be at Spree for the match tonight," Dave said, moving closer to her.


    He was really surprised to see her there.


    "Yeah, but that''s not going to work anymore." She replied with her gaze still on the ne she was holding.


    "Why not?" Dave asked before sitting down beside her on the couch.


    "I don''t feel like going anymore."


    "Why?" Dave asked, moving his face closer to hers, he could tell she was upset about something.


    There was no response from her as she kept rolling the blue crystal in the ne around in her hands.


    "Hey," Dave said before gently grabbing her jaw and turning her face to his. "You know you can tell me anything right?"


    She stared at him for a while before bringing her gaze down in a way that made him remove his hand from her jaw.


    "Can you promise something?" She asked before raising her gaze to look at him.


    "As long as it''s reasonable, sure." He said with a shrug.


    "Okay, if at any point in your career, you start declining in performance like every yer does or you have a terrible performance and then youe home and sees an article focusing mainly on bantering how poor your performance was or has been and then you find out that it was written by me promise me that you won''t feel mad about or let it affect you in any negative way."


    "Is that why your mood is like this?" Dave said before pping his right palm into his face and letting out a littleughter.


    "I''m talking about something serious here." She grumbled.


    "Sorry, it''s just that you never cease to amuse me in your little ways." He said. "Of course, I know the implications of your job and I know you have to write based on what you see, honestly I wouldn''t be mad if you write something like that about me, as long as it''s just talking about how bad I really performed then it''s okay, I started receiving banterings from the media from the first day I yed a full ny minutes from Unique FC.


    "Just don''t let them draw you into their corruption and strategies of using popr yers to make money."


    "So you won''t feel bad if I banter you in an article?" Emma said ignoring thest sentence he made.


    "I know you would never banter on me no matter how bad I perform so it''s nothing to feel bad about, it''s your job anyway and I''m starting to get used to banterings." He replied.


    "Thanks, babe." She said,


    "Something like this shouldn''t cause a smile drought your face." He said before using his hand to draw her lips wide to create a smile on her face and just as he removed his hands from her face, she was already smiling for real.


    "You''re the best." She said before wrapping her arms around him.


    "You too." He muttered.


    "So how was training today?" She asked, staring directly into his eyes.


    "Short but fun."


    "Oh, a short training session." She said,


    "No, I arrived reallyte, an hour plus."


    "An hour plus?" She said with a surprised look on her face. "What were you doing?"


    "Sleeping."


    "Sleeping? We slept earlyst night and I found you sleeping on thewn before leaving for work. What is going on with you? I can''t believe you fell asleep again."


    "Today was quite hectic in a lot of ways but I''m d I managed to pull through. You may not know it buting home to find you here while you''re supposed to be at Spree is quite thepensation for all I''ve been through today." He said.


    "What have you been through today?"


    "You wouldn''t believe me if I told you." He said.


    "Just tell me, we can work on the believing part after that." She said,


    "No, you would never believe it."


    She was about to say something before he quickly pressed his lips against hers causing her to swallow her words.


    The two were locked in a passionate kiss as she caressed his chest while he caressed her thighs and after about five minutes of kissing, she slowly pushed him down on the couch before unbuttoning her jacket, pulling it off, and throwing it on the floor.


    With her jacket off her body now, she was now wearing only her white blouse which was exposing her cleavages a little.


    She was about to pull off the blouse when Dave''s phone began to vibrate in his pocket.


    "Wait," Dave said before bringing her phone out of his pocket. "It''s my dad." He said with a sigh.


    "You should answer it," Emma said slowly, bringing her blouse down before getting off his body.


    Dave stared at the screen of his phone for a while, to be honest, what he wanted to do was cut the call and continue what he had in mind at first was decline the call and continue what he was doing but he made a mistake by telling Emma that it was his dad and now that she had told him to answer it, he was finding it hard to decline the call.


    "Dave." She called as the goalkeeper had been staring at the screen without picking up the call.


    "Fine." He muttered as he picked up the call before getting up from the couch and heading toward the kitchen. "Hello, Dad."


    "Hello, I''m speaking to Dave Richards right?" He heard a voice that he could clearly tell didn''t belong to his fatter.


    "Yeah, who are you?" Dave asked.


    "My name''s Joshua Watson, I''m your dad''s assistant."


    "And my dad told you to call me and tell me something that I don''t care to know."


    "No, I made this call on my own, your dad was just involved in an ident on Unique''s highway, he was rushed to the Central Hospital a few minutes ago."


    "ident?" Dave said with a horrid expression on his face.


    He thought his hectic day had ended on a fine note and now this was happening.


    ****


    The remaining four chapters will be updatedter.

 Chapter 99 Worried

    Scrolling through his phone while the car sped down the road he could see that a few sports pages had already posted the news about what just happened to his father.


    "Hey, are you okay?" Emma turned her gaze to him to ask after taking a left turn into the highway.


    "I''m worried." He replied after taking a deep breath.


    "Me too but he said he''s okay right?" She said before turning her gaze back to the road.


    "He said he doesn''t actually know but the doctor said he''s okay for now."


    "I hope it''s not something too much." She said before pushing her foot down on the elerator.


    She parked the car in one of the parking spaces in the parking lot before the both of them quickly got down from the car and made their way straight into the hospital.


    "Hey, I remember you two." The female receptionist said as soon as he spotted both of them heading toward them.


    "Of course you do," Emma muttered.


    "Dave Richards and Emma Smith right?"


    "Look, I appreciate the recognition but I really need to see my father right now.


    "I know, just go down the first hallway and then take a left turn to the casualty ward, room number." She directed.


    "He''s in the casualty ward." Emma gasped.


    "Thank you," Dave said before grabbing his girlfriend by her arm and quickly making his way to the hallway.


    "Your dad''s still alive if you need the information." The receptionist said before the two disappeared into the hallway.


    "He''s in the casualty ward," Emma said as the two walked down the hallway ignoring the nurses and a few patients in the area.


    "It was a serious ident, this shouldn''t surprise you," Dave said.


    It didn''t take long for the two to arrive at the area to see Joshua sitting on the bench outside.


    He had gotten up to meet the two as soon as they got closer to him.


    Joshua was a pale-looking man slightly shorter than Emma, the only thing quite distinctive about him was his perfectly trimmed facial hair.


    "Joshua right?" Dave said as the two shook hands.


    "Yeah," Joshua said with a nod.


    "How''s my father?" He asked pointing back at the door which had the number three tag above it with his thumb.


    "I don''t know, the doctor''s supposed to be out here anytime soon now," Joshua replied.


    "Anytime soon?" The goalkeeper said before quickly turning toward the door and walking toward it.


    He had never felt this tense since the day his mother was rushed to the hospital from home.


    He was about to try and pull the door open but before he could ce his hand on the door, it was quickly pushed open and almost hit him in the face.


    If he hadn''t jumped back in time, that door would have hit him in the face for sure.


    "Doctor," Dave said as soon as he spotted the man in a white long coat with a stethoscope over his neck, obviously.


    "Dave Richards I suppose." The Doctor said before slowly closing the door after stepping out of the room.


    "How''s my Father?" He asked abruptly.


    "First of all, you need to calm down because there isn''t any need for you to panic." The Doctor said. "The only serious injury your father sustained was a fractured femur so he''s okay."


    "Thank God." Emma breathed a sigh of relief.


    "Can we see him?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Sure." The Doctor replied. "But you''ll have to wait for the nurses to finish what they are doing, once they are done you can go see him but I can''t guarantee he will be seeing you tonight."


    "What do you mean?" Dave asked.


    "He''s unconscious and I''m not sure he will be waking up anytime soon but he''s in a good condition." The Doctor said.


    "Okay," Dave said.


    "Thanks, Doc," Emma said after getting closer to the two.


    "Emma." The Doctor said with a smile. "How''re you doing?"


    "I''m fine Doc."


    "That''s good, I have some other things to attend to, I have to go now." The Doctor said before turning to leave.


    "Sure." She said,


    Just before leaving the area, the Doctor seemed like he remembered something that he forgot, and quickly made his way back to the area.


    "Hey, Dave." He said just as he got closer to the goalkeeper.


    "Yeah?"


    "My six-year-old sort of turned into your biggest fan for the past couple of days now."


    "Oh," Dave said.


    This was something he would really smile about but for some reason, the feeling wasn''t the way he expected it to be.


    <He already told you that your father''s okay>


    "So, do you mind signing a ball for him before you leave, tomorrow''s his birthday and I think I may have just found the perfect surprise for him?"


    "Sure," Dave said with a nod.


    "Okay, thanks." The Doctor said with a bright smile on his face before quickly making his way out of the area to attend to his duties.


    Emma noticed that Dave was constantly returning his gaze to the door when the Doctor was speaking with him and looking at him now that the doctor had left, he still had his gaze on the door.


    She took one step forward to get the closest she could get to him before slowly cing her head on his arm.


    "He said he was okay." She whispered to him.


    She could tell by the way he was looking at the door that he wasn''t exactly satisfied with what the Doctor said and was still worried.


    "I know." He muttered. "But I can''t help but worry."


    Hearing him say that, a smile suddenly appeared on her face.


    "I understand."


    It didn''t take long before the door was pushed open for two female nurses to make their way out of the room.


    "You can see him now." One of them said before the two walked out of the area leaving the door open for them.


    Dave didn''t waste any time in quickly making his way into the room to see his father lying on his back on the bed with his left leg tied up with bandages.


    Both of his arms were partially covered with bandages and the right side of his forehead also had bandages ced on them.


    Dave walked closer to him as Joshua and Emma watched from behind.


    He could hear him breathing from where he was standing so that wasn''t hard to check.


    "I''m just d you''re alive." He muttered with his gaze fixed directly on him.


    After waiting for about thirty minutes to see if he would wake up, the two had decided to leave and maybee back tomorrow, that was the way Dave had put it.


    Joshua had left way earlier after confirming that he was alive himself to take care of important matters.


    He had met up with the Doctor in the reception area to sign that ball just like he said he would.


    "Thanks, Dave." The Doctor said with a bright smile on his face. "This is going to be a birthday that he won''t be forgetting."


    "It''s my pleasure." The goalkeeper said before making his way to the elevator with Emma.


    The two got outside of the building and throughout their short walk to the car, nothing was said between them.


    Emma got in the driver''s seat as she was going to be the one driving them home while Dave got in the front seat.


    "You know I thought you hated your father after what happened the first day I met him at the house but after seeing you get worried about him like this, I''m convinced that you genuinely care about him." She expressed as soon as he entered the car and shut the door. "You guys just have a few issues to sort out."


    "I wouldn''t want to see my father get hurt, he was a good father but...."


    "But what?" Emma asked.


    "Forget it, just drive."


    "Dave."


    "Just drive!!"


    She was quite stunned by the way he had yelled at her and after a few moments of silence, she let out a deep sigh before starting the engine and after properly reversing to get out of the parking spot, zoomed off into the highway.


    ****


    Three more chapters processing....

 Chapter 100 He Was An Obstacle

    Nothing was said between the two throughout their drive home and after driving the car into Dave''s parking spot and parking it there, she quickly got out of the car leaving the car keys there for him.


    Dave watched her walk toward the house through the ss window before pulling the key out from the ignition switch.


    <It''s nice to see her seriously mad at you for change> Catherine said as the goalkeeper walked toward the door.


    ''This isn''t the first time.''


    <Didn''t you hear me? I made sure to stress the word seriously>


    He wasn''t really in the mood to argue with anybody at all so he chose to ignore her.


    He stared at the door for a while and was about to push it open when his phone began to vibrate in his pocket.


    "Mateo." He muttered after quickly pulling the phone out of his pocket and checking the name of the caller. "Hello."


    "Hey, bro, how''re you doing?" Mateo asked as his voice resounded through the phone''s speaker although it wasn''t that loud as the audio setting wasn''t on loudspeaker.


    "I''m okay, you?"


    "Same," Mateo replied. "You know I was just sitting on my bed scrolling through Facebook when I saw a shocking post, I thought it was one of those fake news to draw attention until I began to see more of the posts so I just wanted to¡­."


    "It''s true," Dave said. "If you''re talking about my dad''s ident then it''s true."


    "What the heck? How did it happen?"


    "He lost control while driving and went off the road before crashing on the fenced walls of the Melino''s restaurant," Dave exined.


    "Oh, that''s ghastly, I heard he was taken to the Central Hospital, is he okay?"


    "Yeah, we''re justing back from the hospital, he sustained a few serious and not that serious injuries but he''s okay."


    "Okay, that''s good news," Mateo said, letting out a little sigh of relief.


    "Yeah."


    "I''m just d he''s okay," Mateo said. "Are you going to watch the Lesica United match?"


    "I don''t think so," Dave said, shaking his head.


    "Okay, I''m not watching the match but I''m following the scores, and Spree City currently have a one goal lead, if they can keep the lead and win the match that''s good news for us."


    "Yeah," Dave replied.


    "Felix has twenty-one goals, just two more goals before he catches up to me," Mateo said.


    "Of course, he''s the goal scorer."


    "Yeah, I just want them to secure this win against Lesica."


    "Me too."


    "Alright, bro, I have to go now, you can maybe update me on your father''s situation in the morning."


    "I don''t think I will be the one doing the updating," Dave said.


    "Yeah, I have to go now, bye."


    He had ended the call as Dave slowly slid his phone back into his pocket before turning his gaze to the door once again.


    He opened the door and entered the house expecting to see Emma in the living room, but she wasn''t there.


    "Today had almost ended on a fine note." He muttered before making his way to the kitchen. "I guess it was meant to end as a bad day for me." He added before pulling the freezer open.


    He stared at the huge two liters containers on the lower part before raising his gaze and picking the smallest bottled water in there which was just fifty centiliters.


    He quickly took down the contents and through the container on the floor before making his way toward the staircase.


    He walked up to the staircase and ran his gaze from the first step before letting out a sigh.


    He climbed the stairs and made his way to his room to find Emma lying on the bed facing the other side with that nket covering her body.


    She heard his footsteps when he entered the room but she didn''t bother to turn and instead continued doing what she was doing with her phone.


    Dave didn''t say anything as he slowly walked to the bed and slid into the nket beside her.


    He justy there and stared at the ceiling for a few minutes before slowly turning her gaze to her.


    "Hey." He called but there was no response from her. "I''m sorry for yelling at you like that back there."


    "It''s not just about the yelling." She said after turning her phone over on the bed. "What is so hard about telling me why the rtionship between you and your father is like this?"


    "Everything," Dave said.


    "Everything?"


    "Yeah, I told you my mother yed a big part in who I am today, do you want to know what role my father had?"


    "Yeah, what role?"


    "An obstacle, he acted as a big obstacle to me."


    "How?" She said before turning around to face him. "How was he a big obstacle to you?"


    "That''s the problem, Emma, I just can''t talk about it, he was an obstacle quite alright but I just can''t talk about all the things that made him one, just thinking about it makes my heart ache in anger and the worst part is that he has never asked me to forgive him for any of those things, he doesn''t even remorseful about them."


    "He did horrible things to you," Emma muttered, staring at him. "I understand why you don''t want to tell me now but he''s still your father and I''m d you still see him like that."


    After saying that, she pulled closer to him for a cuddle before slowly pulling the nket off her body to get up from the bed.


    "Are you hungry?" She asked.


    "Yeah," Dave replied.


    "Okay, there are some fruits in the freezer, let me see what I can do with them." She said before making her way out of the room.


    <Just as I expected, it wasn''t going tost for a minimum of one hour>


    ''Shut up.''


    After having their lunch together, the two went straight to bed as they both had busy schedules tomorrow.


    They cuddled on the bed while talking about a few things before they finally fell asleep with his arms wrapped around her.


    Just about twenty minutes into his sleep, Dave found himself in the endless white space again with Catherine standing in front of him looking just like he saw herst time.


    "Hey, Cat, what''s for experience training today?"


    "A cat is a feline, why would you refer to me as one, do you want to make me look like one now?"


    "No, Cat''s just short for Catherine like I call Emma Emm sometimes."


    "Oh," Catherine said. "I don''t think I like it anyway."


    "Don''t worry you''ll get used to it." He said. "So what''s for experience training today?"


    "Focus." She spelled out and just like that, the whole ce began to change into a stadium.


    He watched as the whole ce transformed into a stadium simr in size to the Wondamino stadium.


    While he was still looking around, a goalpost appeared behind as two balls came flying toward him from nowhere at the same time.


    He didn''t know exactly how to react at that time as both balls flew past him and fell into the back of the.


    "How am I supposed to save two balls at a time?" He asked before turning his gaze to look at the balls in the goalpost.


    "You were only supposed to save one," Catherine said as her voice resounded around the area.


    "Huh?"


    ***


    Two more to go¡­

 Chapter 101 Morning Time Together

    "Pick the balls up." She said,


    "Okay," Dave said before getting closer to the balls and picking them up. "I''ve picked them up now what?"


    "One of them has a tiny green-shaped crystal on it."


    "Green crystal?" Dave said as he began to turn both balls around until he found the Green crystal on the one he was holding in his left hand. "I''m guessing this is the one I have to save."


    "Yeah, now get in your goalpost," Catherine said as both balls quickly disappeared from his hands and appeared at the edge of the box.


    "I rmend Ciro Martinez and Kyle Pellegrini from Paris Saint Germain," Dave said.


    "As you wish," Catherine said as Ciro immediately appeared in front of one of the balls while Kyle appeared in front of the other ball.


    Ciro was putting on his Barcelona jersey as expected while Kyle was putting on his PSG kit with the number nine written on the back of it below his name.


    Kyle Pellegrini was a ck footballer who liked to shave his head clean, unlike Ciro, he had a huge body.


    He had turned into one of the most formidable strikers known in the world since his move from Roma to Paris Saint Germain.


    "Cool." Dave nodded with a smile on his face after seeing both yers appear before him.


    "Focus."


    As soon as those words left Catherine''s vocal system, both yers drew their legs back and sent the balls flying toward his goalpost.


    Kyle''s ball was easier to save as it had gone toward the right side of his post with a little elevation while Ciro sent his own flying toward the top left-hand corner of his goalpost.


    He dived toward Kyle''s ball and caught it before it could fly into the.


    "Caught it." He said as he began to roll the ball around to see if he could find the green crystal but after rolling it around for a few seconds, he realized that he caught the wrong ball.


    "Wrong ball," Catherine said as he turned his gaze to see Ciro''s ball rxing on the with the green crystal part exposed.


    "How do you expect me to find and save a ball with a small green crystal on it while it is flying toward me at a speed that makes it impossible to see the crystal ?" The goalkeeper said before kicking the ball he was holding far to the other side of the pitch.


    "You focus, focus on both balls with both of your eyes and you''ll find the one with the crystal before it gets closer to you," Catherine said.


    "You make it sound so easy."


    "It''s not easy, but with constant practice and following my instructions, it will get easier."


    The training continued with Dave mostly catching the wrong ball from either of the two yers and failing to catch any of the balls sometimes.


    He had been training for an hour plus now and so far he had only been able to catch the right ball twice.


    "You''re not focusing," Catherine said as both balls flew past him.


    "What''s there to focus on?" He said before crashing down on the floor. "I don''t really get the point of this training or how it''s going to help me in a real match."


    "A lot of things have hidden meanings behind them," Catherine said.


    "This one doesn''t look like it has one," Dave said slowly getting up from the floor. "At least I caught two of them, now send me back before I wake upte and miss the training session."


    After saying that, his body slowly began to disintegrate until his consciousness returned to his body and he opened his eyes.


    He reached for his phone on the small cupboard and pushed the power button to see that the time was 5:28 AM.


    At some point during their sleep, Emma had slipped away from his hands meaning that he didn''t have to go through his daily routine of slipping away from her today.


    ''This still feels weird, my body says I''ve gotten up to seven hours of sleep but in my mind, it feels like I''ve only been asleep for less than two hours.'' He thought after sitting up on the edge of the bed.


    <Just so you know, you don''t have to train in your dream every night, all you have to do is turn off the feature and you''ll sleep and dream just like every other human>


    ''There''s a feature?''


    <Yeah, right here>


    [ Total dream control ]


    [ Status: Active ]


    ''Cool.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before getting up from the bed.


    He walked down the corridor while checking the live score app on his phone, he wasn''t checking the app for any other reason than Lesica United''s matchst night.


    On seeing the final score of the match, he had a very bright smile on his face as he quickly made his way down the staircase.


    "Spree United two, Lesica United one, yeah!" He said with an ted voice.


    <You guys are on level points now>


    ''Yeah, and if we win tonight''s match, we''ll steer clear of them and qualify for the conference league.'' Dave replied before making his way to the kitchen toplete his daily quest.


    [ +5 exp received ]


    He dropped the container on the floor as usual before making his way outside toplete hisst daily quest for today as he was nning to skip one.


    ''I think just two kilometers will do today.'' He said subconsciously after stepping into the road.


    With his stats improved, he was able toplete two kilometers in under twelve minutes without breaking a sweat and if he had gone faster, he would havepleted it under eight minutes.


    Two kilometers no longer exhausted him like before, so he turned and began to jog back as soon as hepleted it.


    [ 88% stamina remaining ]


    That was the amount of stamina he had left as he walked into the house after his morning run.


    <Are you sure you want to skip the gym today? There''s still a lot of time left>


    ''Yeah, if I spend two hours in the gym now, I''ll be done by 7:50, and by then Emma would already be ready to head to work.''


    <So, you''re skipping your gym session because of her?>


    ''Yeah.''


    He got to the room to find Emma still sleeping on the bed.


    He slowly walked to the bed and just as he was about to get on it, she slowly turned toward him and blinked her eyes a few times before opening them.


    "Hey," Dave said, smiling at her.


    "Hey." She said before rubbing her eyes with her hands and then stretching her hands while yawning. "Good morning."


    "Good morning," Dave said.


    "It''s be rare to wake up and see you these days that I seem to have forgotten how much I love waking up and seeing your face first." She said before slowly sitting up on the bed. "Don''t you have morning exercises to attend to, awn to sleep on maybe?"


    "I''m done with my morning exercises," Dave said, smiling at her.


    "You''re done, when did you wake up?" She asked with a baffled expression on her face.


    "5:30," Dave said.


    "5:30? She said tapping the screen of his phone twice to wake it. "It''s 5:58 now."


    "I skipped the gym."


    "Why?"


    "Because I want to help you out today and also spend some quality morning time with you today."


    "Really?" She said with a bright smile on her face.


    "Now let''s go, you don''t want to arrivete for work today do you?"


    "No."


    "Good, now let''s go." He said before grabbing her arm and quickly making his way out of the room with her.


    ***


    Last chapter of mass release loading....

 Chapter 102 Pregnancy Alert

    With Dave helping her to get things done, including breakfast, it didn''t take long for them to finish up everything, he even helped her get ready for work, and now the two were having breakfast together downstairs.


    The wall clock was showing the time to be 7:34 AM so she still had enough time left to have a little breakfast chat with him.


    "So, Spree City beat Lesica Unitedst night and you guys are level on points now but they are still topping the group with the higher goal difference." She said before taking a sip from her cup of coffee.


    "Yeah, Dave said with a nod."


    "You guys have to win against Frono tonight to overtake them but they''ll still have the lead if they win against Razid FC unless you guys can find a way to close the seven goals gap in the match against Frono FC."


    "We just have to try our best to get a win against Frono and then hope they lose or draw to Razid FC."


    "It could go your way but football is full of surprises." She said before taking a sip from her cup of coffee.


    "You will be in Frono tonight right?"


    "Why not?" She said, "Matthew would want to take a break of his own since I decided to take a breakst night."


    "Okay," Dave said.


    There was a little moment of silence between the two before Emma decided to say something.


    "You know this moment is turning out to be a crazy one." She said,


    "How?"


    "Umm¡­" She trailed off to take a sip from her coffee before dropping it on the table. "I usually see my period between the twenty-fifth to twenty-sevenths of every month but today''s the twenty-eight and I¡­haven''t seen it."


    The expression on Dave''s face changed to that of a slightly confused person as soon as she said that.


    "You''re saying that you missed your period." The goalkeeper said.


    "I don''t know, maybe it''s just a slight dy or I''ve missed it but I''ll know at the end of the day." She said casually.


    "And if you don''t see it at the end of today?"


    "That means I''ve missed it." She said,


    "And missing it means¡­."


    "That I''m pregnant."


    <And pregnancy means babies> Catherine said.


    Emma had a smile on her face as she raised her cup to take another sip from it but the same couldn''t be said for Dave whose heart was racing now as he had mixed feelings of excitement and nervousness.


    _____ ____


    Dave arrived at the stadium at the same time as most of his teammates and right now, they were all in the locker room to listen to what Norman had nned for the uing match.


    "Before I start, I believe all of you must have heard what happened to the president Mr. Tom Richards and for those who don''t know yet, he was involved in a car identst night and was immediately rushed to the Central Hospital, fortunately, it wasn''t that serious and he only suffered a few injuries and a broken leg."


    None of the yers seemed surprised to hear that as all of them got the informationst night.


    "The president is recovering fine but I don''t think he will be back for a few months so the vice president will be filling in his role in the meantime."


    After giving them the information on what happened to the president and his current situation just like he was supposed to, he moved on to reveal the formation and tactics he had nned for the match.


    He used the little blue discs on the board to form a four four two formation which was the formation he had nned for the match.


    "Four four two," Mateo muttered. He didn''t look impressed.


    "I chose this formation because we are going to need an extra man in the midfield, Frono FC''s strengthes mainly from their midfield so we''re going to try and beat them at their own game, cut out all possible through balls and reverse them."


    "Okay, but isn''t there supposed to be an attacking midfielder?" Edward asked, looking at both of the discs in the middle representing two central midfielders.


    "I know Ferran always takes the role of an attacking midfielder whenever we use this formation," Norman said, pulling one of the discs to drop it in front of the other one before returning it to the middle. "But we''re going to use this formation to confuse and then in the second half when they least expect it, we''ll switch to four three one-two, that''s four four two B."


    "Okay, starting eleven?" Adolf asked.


    "Dave in between the sticks as always, Norman in right back, Aima and Adolf in the center back, and Rnd in left back.


    Jonas didn''t have a pleasant look on his face after seeing Rnd getting chosen ahead of him once again to start a match.


    "In midfield, starting from the right we''ll have Minino, Ferran, Edward and Harry then our two center forwards will be Fred and Fredinho," Norman said.


    "It''s the bench for me today," Mateo muttered.


    After going through the other tactics of the match with the yers, it was now time for them to head to the pitch and have a short training session before going home to get ready for their trip to Frono.


    Dave was walking toward the goalpost with a clearly upied mind, his mind was so upied that he didn''t hear Mateo calling his name from behind until the winger caught up to him.


    "Hey, what''s up? You''ve been acting like there''s something bothering you since you got here, is it your dad?" Mateo asked after pulling up in front of him.


    "No, it''s not that," Dave replied.


    "Then what is it?"


    "I don''t know if I should tell you this."


    "Tell me what?"


    "I think Emma''s pregnant." He said.


    "You think she''s pregnant or she''s pregnant?" Mateo asked.


    "We don''t know for sure but she was supposed to see her period on any day in thest three days but she hasn''t seen it until today."


    "Oh," Mateo said with an awkward expression on his face.


    "She said that if she doesn''t see it before the end of today then she would be seventy percent sure that she''s pregnant."


    "And you''ve been acting like this because you''ve been thinking about it all day," Mateo said.


    "Why wouldn''t I? I know it''s something good but I don''t think I''m prepared to have a child at least not yet."


    "Nobody is ever fully prepared for anything no matter how much you prepare, if she turns out to be really pregnant, just do the little preparations you can do, and everything will be alright," Mateo said, cing his hand on his shoulder. "Besides there''s a chance that it may just be a false rm given the fact that she hasn''t done the pregnancy test."


    "Yeah," Dave muttered.


    "So calm down, we have a match to win, we don''t need you thinking about something like this in the middle of the match." He patted him on his shoulder before walking off toward Ferran.


    "I''m about to be an Uncle." The winger muttered after walking a little distance away from him.


    <He''s right, upying your mind with something like this during the match could be costly>


    ***


    That''s thest chapter of the mass release, my little token for helping me hit 100+ GT.


    This week''s goal: 1000+ privilege unlocks= Five chapters mass release on any day between 20-25th of January.

 Chapter 103 In It Together

    The ball came flying toward the goalpost from thirty yards out, there wasn''t much elevation as the ball was heading toward the bottom right side of the goalpost.


    Dave dived toward the ball and with both of his hands formed into fists, he punched the ball out before it could fly into the goalpost.


    The shot had been yed by Minino who was jogging his way to him now.


    "Nice save." The midfielder said just as he got closer to him.


    "Thanks," Dave said, adjusting his gloves.


    "Hey, Dave, Minino, think fast."


    The two quickly turned to the side to see the ball from Mateo heading toward them from above.


    The first thing Minino''s instinct had told him was to jump up and put the ball into the back of the with his head while Dave''s instinct had told him to jump up and hit the ball out as he was in a really good position to get to the ball before Minino, he was off his goal line.


    The two jumped up to do exactly what their instincts had told them to do, Dave had gotten to the ball first well because he was in a better position and he was the one using his hands but Minino had almost gotten to the ball at that same time and in the process of hitting the ball out, he palmed him on the face.


    "That''s not good," Mateo muttered as Minino fell to the floor and quickly put his face down.


    "Hey, are you okay?" Dave quickly got on the ground beside him to ask with a concerned look on his face.


    "Yeah, but I think you broke my nose," Minino mumbled before slowly bringing up his head to reveal his nose which was bleeding from both sides.


    "Your nose is bleeding," Dave said.


    "As expected." The midfielder said before wiping off the blood spilled on his nose with one of the fingers on his left hand. "But don''t worry, it''s nothing serious."


    Mateo had made his way to the first aid kit to grab a tissue box before heading to Minino who was still sitting on the floor.


    "Here." He said, handing him the tissue box.


    "Thanks." The midfielder said before taking the tissue box from him.


    He wiped the blood off his nose before pulling out another piece of tissue which he put into his nose holes to reduce the bleeding.


    "You know this was your fault right?" Dave said shooting Mateo a piercing stare.


    "No, if you had decided to let him have the header or he had decided to leave the ball for him this wouldn''t have happened," Mateo said.


    <He has a point>


    "Yeah, but you didn''t cross the ball for one of us to act like he didn''t care did you?" Minino said.


    Mateo stared at him for a few seconds before replying.


    "No, I didn''t." He said, shaking his head.


    After a few more training drills, the training session had finallye to an end and the yers made their way back to their homes to get ready for their trip to Frono.


    The training session was a short one just like Norman said and had onlysted for two hours.


    Dave arrived home by 1:30 PM and after parking his car in his normal parking spot, he got down from the car and quickly made his way to the door.


    He made his way upstairs after entering the house and on reaching his room, he dropped his backpack on the bed before making his way to his closet which was on the left side of his room.


    He opened the closet to reveal another backpack simr to the one he had just dropped on his bed sitting on the wooden tform attached to the wall.


    The only difference between the backpack he was holding and the one on his bed was that this one had thin red lines running down its hand sides and it seemed to be a little bigger.


    He sat down on his bed and unzipped the bag to see that he had forgotten to take out his man of the match award after getting home from hisst match.


    The man of the match award differed from league to league and that of Bilbeth Premier League resembled the golden boy award, the only difference was that it was smaller and was silver colored instead of gold.


    He brought out the award from his bag and stared at it for a while running his fingers around the ball part of the award.


    <Better awards wille if you keep pushing>


    ''I know.'' He replied before getting up from his bed.


    He walked toward the small cupboard in the room and dropped the award there before picking up the backpack on the bed.


    That was his training backpack so he needed to transfer some things from there to his match day backpack.


    All the yers were expected to be at the stadium before 4:00 PM so that they could start their trip to Frono.


    They were expected to arrive at the Frono Da Best stadium by 5:30 PM to settle down for the match which was starting by 7:30 PM and in order to get there on time, they needed to leave by 4:20 PMtest because unlike Spree, Frono was quite a distance away from Unique City and would take about fifty minutes for them to get there by flight.


    Dave didn''t waste any time in getting ready and was now making his wear downstairs putting on a ck jacket with a pair of ck pants which looked like jeans but they weren''t jeans and a pair of white sneakers with ck designs.


    Just before heading toward the door, he brought out his phone from his pocket to dial someone up.


    Emma was making her way toward the restroom area when her phone began to vibrate in her hand.


    She stopped in the corridor to pick up the call before cing the phone against her ear.


    "Hey, how are you?" Dave asked.


    "I''m okay, you?" She replied.


    "I''m okay too." He said.


    "I''m guessing you''re at home getting ready to head to the stadium so that you guys can start your trip to Frono." She said,


    "Yeah, that''s correct," Dave said, forcing a smile on his face.


    "And you''re calling to check on me." She said,


    "Yeah."


    "Or you just want to know if I''ve seen my period yet."


    <She knows it>


    "Yeah, have you¡­Ummm¡­seen it?" He asked.


    Asking her questions about things like this makes him feel really awkward.


    "No." She replied.


    "Oh."


    "I think I''ll do a pregnancy test if I get home to confirm things." She said, "I guess you''ve been thinking about what I told you in the morning all day."


    "Not exactly all day but yeah, I''ve been thinking about it a lot."


    "Hey, listen to me, I know you''re nervous and so am I as this would be a first experience for me if this turns out that way but do you know why I''m not that nervous about it?"


    "Why?"


    "Because I''ve got you and we''re in this together, you''re not in it alone, you have me." She said, "That should clear up your mind a little unless you no longer want to be with me."


    "Of course, I want to be with you." He said abruptly.


    "Then stop acting like you''re the one who has to deal with everything if I turn out to be pregnant."


    "Okay." He said with a sigh.


    "You should be heading to the stadium now, you have a match to win." She said,


    "Yeah, see you there."


    "See you there." She said before he ended the call.


    After bringing down the phone, Emma heard something behind and slowly turned to see Matthew standing a little distance away from her.


    "I was heading to the restroom." He said as soon as she saw him.


    "You heard all that didn''t you?" She said, rolling her eyes.


    "Yeah¡­." Matthew said with an awkward expression on his face.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If we can hit 1000+ privilege unlocks before the end of this month, I''ll do five chapters mass release on any day between the 20-25th of January.

 Chapter 104 No Skill Points

    <I''m d you made that call> Catherine said as Dave stepped outside of the house before closing the door. <Those annoying thoughts are less now>


    ''You know your voice in my head is annoying most of the time.'' Dave replied as he moved toward his car.


    <There''s a feature to turn me off if you want to>


    ''I''ll think about it after the match.'' He said subconsciously before opening the door.


    He threw his backpack to the other seat before getting into the car and quickly reversing into the road before zooming off toward the Wondamino stadium.


    He was one of the first yers to arrive but it didn''t take long for the other yers to arrive and after everyone was there, they all got on the bus which was their ride to the airport.


    It didn''t take them long to arrive at the airport where the team''s private ne was already waiting for them.


    They got on the ne as fast as they could before and just a few seconds after the step had retracted and the door closed, the ne ran down itsne before zooming off into the sky.


    As always, Mateo and Dave were sitting together but the two weren''t having any conversation as they were both on their phones.


    Mateo had wired earphones in his ear so he couldn''t really hear anything that was going on around him.


    It was only after a few minutes that he hade across something that he thought Dave needed to see.


    "ssic Darwin Shaw." The left winger said.


    "Huh?" Dave said, turning his gaze to him.


    Mateo disconnected the headphone from his phone before turning the screen of the phone to Dave so that he could see and hear what it was saying.


    It was the video of the interview between Caitlin and Darwin Shaw.


    "Yeah, I was watching BPL weekly yesterday and she yed the video," Dave said before turning his gaze away from the phone and turning it back to his phone.


    "You''ve already seen the video?"


    "Yeah," Dave said with a nod.


    "What do you think about what he said?" Mateo asked.


    "I don''t know." The goalkeeper said with a shrug. "We''ll just have to wait till the match starts to see if he can keep to his words."


    "Yeah," Mateo said before plugging his headphone back into his phone.


    It took up to forty-eight minutes before their nended at Frono airport and without wasting time, the yers along with the coach and other staff made their way down from the ne.


    Given the fact that the Frono Da Best stadium was about a twenty minutes walk from the airport, they were going to need a ride to get there but that wasn''t a problem as Frono FC''s bus could be seen entering the area a few minutes after they had stepped down from the ne.


    With the bus, they were able to get to the stadium in less than six minutes, anding down from the bus now, they could see that there were a lot of fans in the area waiting for them to arrive.


    The time was 5:50 PM when they arrived


    The fans were screaming the names of the yers as they made their way into the stadium and for the first time ever Dave could hear his name among the screams.


    He signed the jersey of a young girl who had asked for it and after that, there were a lot of other people asking for his autograph so the security officers quickly made their way to the area to block them off before things got out of hand.


    "You really like signing autographs," Mateo said as soon as the two stepped inside.


    "You can''t me me." The goalkeeper muttered with a shrug.


    The yers along with Norman were taken to their locker room by one of Frono FC''s staff and as soon as he was gone, the yers began to change into their training kits.


    Their training jerseys were ck with three long orange stripes but the shorts were just in ck.


    Dave was also putting on the kit but instead of shorts, he was putting on trousers.


    He was sitting beside Mateo tying his boots when the winger suddenly dipped his hand into his backpack and brought out a pair of nice-looking silver boots.


    "You bought new boots?" Dave said as soon as he spotted the boots.


    "Not exactly, I just signed a sponsorship deal with Adidas so they gave me the boots." He said, showing him the Adidas logos on the side of the boots.


    "Wow."


    "Adidas makes nice boots," Ferran said showing them the Adidas logos on his red boots which he was putting on now. "Wee to the family Mateo, why didn''t you tell me earlier?"


    "Well, it only happened yesterday and I was nning to tell you guys with the boots." He said.


    ''I didn''t know Ferran was an Adidas athlete.''


    <You should pay more attention to what they are wearing especially the boots>


    "Wow, Mateo''s now an Adidas athlete," Jonas said before turning his gaze to Dave. "Which one are you under Dave?"


    Dave ignored him as he brought out his boots from his backpack and dropped them on the floor before he began to remove his sneakers.


    "That''s going to haunt him for a long time." Mateo bent down to whisper to the goalkeeper.


    <You''ve ignored him a lot of times but I think this one hit him hard>


    After putting on their training kits, the yers made their way to the pitch where Frono FC yers were already training.


    One of Frono FC''s yers made his way toward the area as soon as he saw the yers walking into the pitch.


    A yer named Rodriguez Seth, Frono FC''s right winger.


    "Hey, guys." He said as soon as he stopped in front of Ferran, Mateo, and Dave.


    "Hey, Seth," Mateo said.


    "Wee." The winger said with a smile.


    Seth and Mateo had gotten quite close since the day the neen year old was subbed in against Frono FC, they weren''t that close but they were close, and Set really liked the youngster.


    "Thank you," Mateo said.


    "I''m looking forward to a fun match," Seth said.


    "It''s only going to be fun if we beat them." Darwin popped up from behind Seth to say. "Hello, Ferran, Mateo, and of course Dave."


    "Darwin," Ferran said.


    "I heard they are calling you the ball ma now," Seth said, turning his gaze to the goalkeeper. "No, I saw it in an article online by Emma Smith."


    "That''s a cool de," Mateo said.


    "Well, I hate to break it to you ball ma but maic forces don''t work in the Front Day Best so you''re going to have to figure out something else," Darwin said. "See you guyster." He added before running back to the rest of his teammates.


    ''We''ll see.''


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Match quest number: 01 ]


    [ Prevent Darwin Shaw from scoring ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +60 exp ]


    [ +1 stat points ]


    [ +2 Energy upgrade ]


    Dave was d that he had gotten the quest but he had a little problem with the rewards.


    ''Catherine.'' He called.


    <Yeah>


    ''Aren''t skill points supposed to be part of my reward?''


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


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 Chapter 105 Early Lead

    The clock was showing 6:40 PM on therge screens all over the stadium as the yers from both teams were still training on the pitch with the stands slowly getting filled up with fans.


    "Hope you''re not still worrying about what you told me earlier today?" Mateo asked as he nodded the ball way up and Luis jumped up and caught it with both of his hands before it could fly past him.


    "No, I don''t think there''s anything to be worried about," Dave said before throwing the ball to him from the top.


    "Yeah."


    The winger got his head ready for the ball and as soon as it got in range, he sent it back to the goalkeeper, and this time he had to dive to the right before he could catch it with both of his hands.


    "Nice catch."


    Dave didn''t say anything as he slowly got up from the floor before throwing the ball back to him.


    The Pre-Match warm-up continued until 6:55 PM when the yers were given the signal to head back to the dressing room and get ready for the match.


    The yers quickly made their way down the tunnel to go get ready for the match.


    In Unique FC''s dressing room, they were currently putting on their ck jersey with orange polka dots while Dave was putting on a in lemon-colored jersey.


    Adolf had talked to his teammates like he always did to try and give them a sense of motivation and bring out the spirit of determination in them. It wasn''t as intense as the one before the match against Lave City but it was still good.


    After giving his speech, Norman had something to say to them before they started heading toward the tunnel.


    "Alright boys, we all know that this is a very important match for all of us and we have to win it to make sure that Lesica United doesn''t give us a three points gap again." He said. "The best we can do for ourselves is to secure a win and hope that they draw or lose against Terrevile United, but if we win and they win them that means we''ll have to y ourst fixture which will be against them like a final.


    "The only way that we can be sure of having ast fighting chance is by winning this match and I know we haven''t been able to beat them in seven matches but this time is different, I believe we have a better team and I believe you guys can deliver a good result just like you have been doing recently."


    Those were some nice words to give the yers a little morale boost before they made their way to the pitch.


    The yers lined up in the tunnel alongside Frono FC yers who were putting on a jersey diagonally divided through the middle as a mix of red and ck, their shorts also had the same design.


    It didn''t take long before the yers matched into the pitch each of them apanied by a child mascot.


    "Wee to our viewers from all around the world, my name is Jim Waterson, and joining me to provide expert analysis and opinion as always is Mr. Steve Jefferson," Jim said as the yers lined up in front of the pitch.


    "Thank you, Jim, it''s an honor to be here once again to deliver my opinions alongside you," Steve said.


    "This is a decisive match for Unique FC who are currently leveled on points with Lesica United who lost two goals to one against Lesica United, they need to win this match to create an advantage for themselves in their race for the UEFA conference league spot," Jim said.


    "Unique FC have failed to beat Frono FC in theirst seven encounters losing five of them and drawing just two," Steve said.


    "Maybe this could be the night that they break Frono FC''s unbeaten record on them given the fact that they are in better form at the moment," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but Frono FC have surprised us a lot of times. I won''t be surprised if they manage to pull something up," Steve said.


    The yers were standing all over the pitch now as both captains walked to the referee.


    "Unique FC are switching to the four four two formations with Norman, Aima, Adolf, and Rnd," Jim said.


    "Seems like Rnd Ryle is slowly beginning to be Norman''s first choice," Steve said.


    "The youngster has been phenomenal in the few matches he has yed for the club this season and he always turns up any time he starts, I don''t think it''s surprising to see Norman starting him ahead of Jonas," Jim said.


    "Yeah."


    "We have four midfielders upying the midfield position now, Minino, Ferran, Edward, and Harry," Jim said. "I expected to see either Mateo Smith or Christian Merino in that front two but it turns out Norman is going for both of his strikers, Fred and Fredinho."


    "This formation worked for them against Ronino FC, let''s see if we''ll see the same against Frono FC," Steve said.


    "As always, Frono FC are ying the four three one two formation."


    "That''s four four two B," Steve said.


    With the match about to kick off, Unique FC moved to the right side of the pitch while Frono FC moved to the left side, the hosts were going to be the ones to start the match."


    ''Can I use my shot-stopper attribute in this match?'' Dave asked subconsciously as he walked toward his goalpost.


    <No>


    ''And you won''t tell me why, just like you refused to say anything during thest match.''


    <This match isn''t worth the trouble>


    ''Trouble?'' Dave replied. ''Does using it have a drawback like the double stamina skill.''


    <You could put it that way but not exactly>


    ''If I can''t use the attribute in every match then what''s the point of it being an attribute to me?''


    <Your attributes require strategy, you need to have a strategy when using them and you need to be smart when using them or else they will backfire, if you activate that attribute in this match, this would not be an enjoyable first half for you> Catherine said. <You''ll do well with just your physical abilities and skills in this match>


    ''If I can''t use it in this match then in which match can I use it?''


    <I''ll tell you but you can go ahead and use it if you want to, I''m not stopping you>


    Darwin Shaw was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly rolled the ball to the midfielder close to him.


    "We are on the way."


    Frono FC were keeping the ball in their own half in the meantime while looking for a way to break through Unique FC.


    "Tom Richards, Unique FC''s president was involved in a car ident but fortunately for him, he was rushed to the central Hospital on time and is currently recovering as per multiple sources," Jim said.


    "I''m d he''s okay, who knows how the team would have been affected if something worse had happened to him, especially Dave Richards," Steve said.


    "Oh, that''s a sloppy pass from Ahmed," Jim said.


    Frono FC had managed to make their way into Unique FC''s half and Ahmed had tried to y a pass to Darwin but the pressure put on him by Ferran had made his pass sloppy and easy for Rnd to intercept.


    Rnd didn''t waste time in sending the ball to Edward who pushed forward with it a little before sending it back to Rnd who was speeding down the left wing and there was no one close enough to stop him.


    "Unique FC are trying to build up something here," Jim said.


    Rnd cut into the middle to avoid a yer that was moving toward him at full speed and had almost stopped his movement with a tackle.


    "That''s nice from Rnd."


    The left-back found Fredinho in the box and sent the ball to him with a neat pass.


    "Fredinho."


    Fredinho received the ball inside the box at the left area of the goalpost and did a quick leg over to try and deceive the defender marking him before pushing the ball a little to the left with his left foot before he sent it flying toward the goalpost with his left foot.


    "Fredinho!" Jim eximed.


    The goalkeeper tried to hit the ball out but the shot was quite a tricky one as it hit the crossbar and bounced on his arm before falling into the back of the.


    "Fredinho! Goalllllll!!!!" Jim eximed as the striker raced to the sidelines and did a sliding celebration with his teammates running after him. "Just five minutes into the game and they''ve gotten the first goal of the night."


    The fans burst into screams of joy as the number one appeared beside Unique FC''s crest on the scoreboard.


    ****


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 Chapter 106 Deflection

    Three minutes after the match kicked off.....


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Quest number: 02 ]


    [ Make four one-touch catches in the match ]


    [ Quest Rewards ]


    [ +1 skill point ]


    [ +50 exp ]


    [ +1 upgrade to all stats ]


    ''Finally, a skill point reward although it''s just one but one is all I need to unlock that skill.''


    The goalkeeper wasn''t really paying attention to Unique FC''s attack until he began to hear goal chants and quickly raised his gaze to see his teammates gathered around someone on the sidelines.


    "Yes!" The goalkeeper eximed with an ted voice.


    "I wasn''t expecting that but for the first time this season, Unique FC have taken an early five minutes all thanks to brilliant y from Rnd and wonderful finishing from Fredinho," Jim said.


    "The striker hasn''t yed many matches this season because of Goerge Neville being the direct backup for Fred but he has performed quite exceptionally and with George out on injury, he''s getting a little more ying time," Steve said. "That''s his fifth goal of the season."


    With his teammates walking back to their side of the pitch now, Fredinho cheered the fans on one more time and blew a kiss toward them before turning to follow his teammates.


    The match had resumed a few minutes after that wonderful goal from Fredinho and right now they were being super careful.


    ''Dave didn''t just improve, their team has gotten better and that left back, we have to find a way to stop him.'' Darwin thought as he yed the ball short to Seth. ''That Mateo isn''t even in the match yet and they still managed to score against us.''


    "Seth''s still with the ball here," Jim said.


    Harry rushed toward the right winger to try and dispossess him off the ball but with a neat snake bite, the winger quickly got rid of him and was racing down the right wing now.


    "Woah, that was harsh on Harry," Jim said.


    It didn''t take long for Rnd to close up on the winger but he didn''t look fazed and continued his run toward the left back and just before he could get to him, he rolled the ball back to the midfielder behind and then zoomed past Rnd to receive the ball back from his teammate.


    "That''s a clever move from Seth and now he''s got a clear sight of the goalpost," Jim said.


    Yeah, he had a clear sight of the goalpost from that far out and a lot of fans thought he was going to shoot from that far out but he had a better idea.


    Darwin was making a run toward the edge of the box at that time as the winger feigned shooting at the goalpost before passing the ball to him.


    Darwin raced toward the ball and without even trapping it, he sent it flying toward the left side of the goalpost with a little elevation.


    "Darwin!"


    Dave dived toward the ball at that exact time and with the tip of his right glove, he was able to push it off for Norman to get his foot on it and make the clearance.


    "What a save!" Jim eximed.


    Rnd quickly made his way to pat him on his back, that was a very crucial save.


    "I said in an interview yesterday that after that humiliation from Supreme United, Dave Richards has turned into something else, he is starting to be a very important part of Unique FC," Steve said. "A lot of people thought his performances were fluke but he''s still making his point that he is not putting up a fluke performance he is showing us the part of Dave Richards that we have never seen before."


    "Yeah."


    The cleared ball had been won by Fred in an aerial duel but he couldn''t move forward due to the number of Frono FC yers in the area so he passed the ball to Ferran who in turn sent it to Harry on the left side of midfield.


    Harry covered the little space he had before passing the ball to Ferran who was slowly moving through the middle.


    Ferran trapped the ball under his foot before he looked up and spotted Fred who was making a run into the box, the midfielder pushed the ball a little before sending it to Fred from over the top.


    "That''s a deadly pass from Ferran."


    The ball flew toward Ferran with a defender right behind him and without even waiting for the ball to hit the floor, the striker sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    "Fred!"


    The ball went straight toward the top right-hand corner and smashed on the crossbar before falling off for a goal-kick.


    "Oh, it hit the crossbar," Steve said.


    Steve stared at that particr part of the crossbar and bit his lower lip before he turned and began to walk back to his side of the pitch.


    The clock was showing fifty-four minutes now with Frono FC leading an attack on Unique FC''s goalpost.


    Seth passed the ball to the attacking midfielder who was at the edge of the box, the yer feigned shooting at Aima before stretching the ball away from him to slot it toward the right side of the goalpost but there was no need for Dave to do anything as Rnd was there at the right time to block the shot.


    The ball hit his body and rolled out for a corner kick as the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the spot for a corner kick.


    "That was a nice block from Rnd," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but now they''ve got a corner kick to deal with," Steve said.


    Seth was the one who had stepped up to take the corner kick as the yers from both teams flooded the eighteen-yard box.


    The referee blew his whistle as the winger hesitated for a while before he raced toward the ball and sent it flying into the eighteen-yard box.


    Harry rose high above every other yer to meet the ball with a clearance header but his clearance wasn''t that far enough as it fell to the feet of Darwin at the edge of the box.


    "Good clearance by Harry."


    Adolf quickly ran toward the striker and tried to bring him down with a tackle but the striker moved a little to the right with the ball to avoid the tackle before he sent the ball flying toward the left side of the goalpost.


    Dave dived toward the ball at the right time but he had made a mistake by being so quick to dive.


    Aima happened to be in the way as the ball smashed on his head and rolled into the goalpost through the middle and there was nothing Dave or any Unique FC yer in the area could do about it.


    "Darwin shoots! Darwin scores!" Jim eximed as Darwin quickly took off to the sidelines with his teammates quickly following from behind.


    "I''m sure Dave would have saved that if it had not deflected on Aima but that''s football for you, things like this happen and nobody sees iting," Steve said.


    "With just a few minutes left to go in on the break, they''ve finally gotten that equalizer."


    Dave had a devastated look on his face as he sat down beside the crossbar.


    The goal wasn''t the only reason why his face was looking like that.


    [ Quest failed ]


    <It wasn''t your fault>


    ***


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 Chapter 107 Massive Chance

    "And that marks the end of the first half," Jim said as soon as the referee blew his whistle twice to signal the end of the first half.


    "Unique FC would have been happy to go in on the break with that lead but Frono FC kept pushing and atst they finally got that equalizer," Steve said.


    "Yeah, although Unique FC have had more of the ball, Frono FC have been the more pressing side, they didn''t give the guests any breathing space and their efforts paid off atst although it may havee from a mistake."


    Unique FC yers didn''t look happy about that equalizer as they made their way down the tunnel.


    The yers were all sitting on the benches in the locker room while Norman was standing in front of the board with a marker in his hand.


    [ Quest failed ]


    [ Darwin Shaw has scored against you ]


    Dave has been staring at that message since it appeared on his screen.


    Felix Nunez was a way more formidable striker than Darwin Shaw, Darwin Shaw only had eleven goals this season including the one he just scored.


    He denied Felix Nunez from scoring against him in every way possible but it had only been the first half and Darwin Shaw had already scored against him.


    <It''s not your fault> Catherine said. <It was a deflection, there was nothing you could do about it>


    ''I know, I''m just a little upset that he''s going to brag about how he managed to keep his word of scoring against me after the match.''


    <Don''t worry about that all you have to do is try your best to prevent them from scoring in the second half>


    "We''ve been doing great but we need to find a way to stop a way to close the gaps in the defense," Norman said, circling all the spaces in their defense. "And also find a way to stop Rodriguez Seth, he''s our main problem."


    After taking the yers through on the tactics and the ways they could stop Seth, it was now time for them to make their way back to the pitch.


    "The yers are emerging from the tunnel now as the second half of the match is about to kick off," Jim said as the yers made their way into the pitch.


    "Although Unique FC have had the most ball possession in the first half their defense has been quiteckluster in defending against Frono FC''s attacks and their frontline still has that problem of finishing, so far I think Frono FC has been the better side," Steve said.


    "I agree but let''s see how this half is going to turn out and see which side is going to go for the winner," Jim said.


    The referee blew his whistle for Unique FC to start the match from the kick-off.


    They kept the ball away from Frono FC yers for the first five minutes without really making any attacking moves.


    "Minino," Jim said as Harry crossed the ball over to Minino on the other side.


    Ahmed was quickly making his way toward the midfielder at that time so he quickly passed the ball to Edward who also had a yer heading toward him at that time.


    He had space to pass the ball back to any of the defenders but he had a better idea.


    He held the ball and waited for the yer to get closer before he quickly turned and got away from him heading down the middle at full speed.


    "Nice turn from Edward and he''s on the way," Jim said.


    The midfielder raced down the middle with the ball, he got away from two more yers with abination of his pace and neat footwork before passing the ball to Harry on the right wing.


    "That was nice from Edward."


    Harry received the ball with a neat touch and pushed forward with it a little before passing it to Fredinho who was upying the left-wing position now.


    The striker tried to dribble his way past both of the yers who were marking him and he had almost lost the ball in the process so he had no other choice than to pass it to Edward who quickly sent it to Ferran with a back heel pass.


    "Ferran."


    Ferran feigned shooting at the yer in front of him to shift the ball a little to the side to find space for shooting but before he could fire the ball toward the goalpost, Darwin appeared from nowhere and pulled him down under a nasty challenge.


    It was more of an intentional push than a tackle.


    "Oh, that was rough," Steve said.


    The referee blew his whistle and quickly rushed to Darwin to show him a yellow card.


    "That''s well deserved."


    "Darwin Shaw has just picked up his fifth yellow card which means that he will be missing Frono FC''sst match of the season," Jim said.


    The push didn''t really affect Ferran in any way, the midfielder had gotten up from the floor as soon as the referee blew his whistle and stopped From FC from moving forward with the ball.


    "Unique FC now have a freekick at the edge of the box, this is a massive opportunity for them," Jim said.


    Ferran stood over the ball to take the freekick as the referee marked a line inside the box for Frono FC to keep their five-men wall.


    After watching them set up their wall and making sure nothing suspicious was going on in the box, the referee jogged out of the box before blowing his whistle.


    "Come on Ferran, you can do it," Mateo muttered from where he was sitting with his fingers crossed.


    "Ferran Phil has sessfully converted five out of the seventeenth freekicks he''s taken this season, let''s see if he can add another one to the list," Jim said.


    Ferran took a deep breath before slowly taking two steps back.


    "It''s Ferran!" Jim eximed as the midfielder quickly closed up on the ball and quickly sent it flying toward the goalpost with his right foot.


    The goalkeeper dived toward the ball as it flew toward the top right corner of the goalpost but there really was no reason to dive as the ball hit the crossbar and fell over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, he''s missed it, he''s missed it."


    Ferran had both of his hands on his waist as he stared at the goalpost for a while before letting out a deep sigh.


    "That was a really good chance to take the lead once again but it looks like it wasn''t meant to be," Steve said.


    The match had just entered the sixtieth minute and so far Unique FC have been keeping Frono FC at bay.


    The closest the hosts hade to scoring was a shot from Seth which hit the crossbar and rolled out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that was so close."


    The game was quickly resumed by Dave who didn''t waste any time in passing the ball to Rnd.


    Rnd pushed the ball forward a little before he decided to switch to the other side of the pitch.


    He flew the ball over to Minino but the midfielder wasn''t alone as Ahmed quickly made his way to the area and engaged him in an aerial duel.


    Ahmed had won the aerial duel but it resulted in Minino falling on the floor and it didn''t look like he was getting up.


    There were calls for a foul from his teammate but the referee acted like he wasn''t hearing them and continued y.


    "Minino''s on the floor but y continues," Jim said.


    Ahmed pushed the ball forward a little before passing it to Darwin who didn''t waste any time in sending it to Seth.


    Seth maneuvered his way past Rnd with the ball and was through on goal.


    "Oh, Seth and he''s through on goal," Jim said.


    Rnd had acted on Instinct and grabbed Seth on his arm before pulling him down along with him before the right winger got further away from him.


    The referee was close to the area and had clearly seen that so he didn''t waste any time in blowing his whistle for a foul.


    "He''s been pulled down in the box and it''s a foul, it''s a penalty," Jim said.


    Unique FC yers clustered around the referee to try and convince him to overturn that decision.


    "You can go check VAR, that''s not a foul," Adolf said.


    The referee wasn''t listening to what they were saying as he quickly broke free from them before blowing his whistle and pointing at the penalty spot.


    "It''s a penalty," Jim said.


    "Rnd grabbed him and pulled him down without making physical contact with the ball so that''s definitely the right call."


    The ball had been dropped on the penalty spot and after a little talk between Darwin and Seth, Darwin stepped up to take the penalty kick.


    "Darwin Shaw has stepped up to take the penalty kick," Jim said. "He''s converted all of the seven penalty kicks he''s taken this season, let''s see if he can add this one to the list."


    ''Come on Dave, you stopped Felix''s penalty kick, you can stop this one.'' Dave thought to himself.


    The referee made sure all the yers were standing behind Darwin before he blew his whistle.


    "That''s the whistle, this is a massive chance for Frono FC to take the lead," Jim said as Darwin stared at the ball for a while before taking three steps backward.


    ***


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 Chapter 108 Unfair Decision

    Darwin took three steps backward and looked up to make eye contact with the ball before he quickly leaped toward the ball and sent it flying toward the bottom right side while Dave dived toward the left side of the goalpost.


    "He''s sent the keeper the wrong way!"


    As soon as the ball rolled into the back of the, Darwin took off toward the corner kick spot as his teammates chased him from behind and the fans burst out with screams of joy.


    "What would you expect from a dead ball specialist?!" Jim eximed. "He''s put his team in front."


    Dave had a frustrated look on his face as he picked up the ball and kicked it into the pitch.


    "Unique FC took the lead early on in the first half and now they are one goal behind after a well-taken penalty kick from Darwin to extend his perfect penalty record this season," Steve said.


    "Come on guys, we still have close to thirty minutes left in the match, we can''t lose this match, we have to at least get a draw," Adolf said to his teammates who were all in the area now. "This is a setback but we''ve suffered the same setback twice this season and managed to pull through and I know we can do it again."


    ''Yeah, but you''re forgetting that we suffered a simr setback against them in the first leg and we weren''t able to pull through.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    <Hey, be positive, this team is betterpared to that one, haven''t you been seeing the differences?>


    ''I know but I can''t be positive when I know that both of the yers up front have been wasting chances, chances that Mateo or Merino could have easily finished, it''s the sixty-fourth minute Norman doesn''t want to bring them on yet.''


    Norman was standing on the sidelines watching everything and after witnessing that goal from the penalty spot, he didn''t have a pleasant look on his face.


    "Should I tell the two wingers to start warming up?" His assistant who was also standing beside him asked.


    "Yeah," Norman said.


    The match resumed as Fred quickly passed the ball back to Ferran who quickly passed it back to Adolf before Darwin got to him.


    "Sixty-seven minutes on the clock right now, will it be enough for Unique FC to get an equalizer or will Frono FC just extend their lead?" Jim said.


    "I think Norman has finally decided to bring on Mateo Smith and Christian Merino, the two are currently warming up on the sidelines."


    "Mateo Smith, Unique FC''s magic man, I''m pretty sure the oue of the match would have been different if he had started," Jim said.


    "I agree."


    Rnd rolled the ball back to Dave before Seth could get to him and without wasting time, the goalkeeper sent the ball to Norman who pushed forward with the ball before sending it to Ferran with a low long pass.


    Ahmed quickly closed up on the midfield Dynamo to try and dispossess him of the ball but he didn''t even flinch as he used his back heel to nutmeg him before making his way past him to receive the ball at the other end.


    "Waooh, Ferran just took out his anger on Ahmed," Jim said.


    The crowd had gone wild for a few seconds after noticing that incredible disy from Ferran.


    He pushed further down with the ball before lobbing it into the box toward Fredinho.


    One of the defenders who had the name Lobo and the number three written on the back of his jersey rose high to meet the ball but his arm had gotten in the way in the process and the ball bounced on it before falling to Fredinho''s foot.


    "Handball!" Fred and Edward yelled before raising their hands but Fredinho didn''t care as he quickly shot the ball toward the goal post but it went flying over the bar instead.


    "Hey, that was a handball," Ferran said quickly making his way to the referee and before the official knew it almost all the Unique FC yers in the area had gathered around him but they weren''t the only ones.


    "Yeah, that was a handball but it looks like the referee is having a hard time making a decision," Jim said. "I don''t think the handball was intentional so the decision could go either way."


    "Yeah, but it looks like he''s going to check VAR now," Steve said.


    The yers waited on the pitch as the referee made his way to the VAR monitor to check what was the oue of the handball.


    "That''s definitely a hand ball, a penalty," Mateo said as he adjusted the hands of his long-sleeved jersey.


    With y stopped in the meantime the two wing forwards were getting ready toe on.


    After about seven minutes of checking VAR, the referee made his way back to the pitch.


    He blew his whistle and pointed at Frono FC''s goalpost before pointing toward Unique FC''s side of the pitch.


    "No penalty, Unique FC definitely won''t be happy about that decision," Jim said.


    "Seriously?" Ferran said, looking at the referee with a stunned look on his face.


    "Corrupt VAR." Mateo pouted as he made his way toward the official with the substitution board.


    "Looks like Fred Miles is going to being off for Mateo Smith," Jim said as the official raised the board to show the number nine in red and the number ten in green.


    There was no reaction from the crowd whatsoever as Fred quickly made his way out of the pitch.


    Mateo gave him a fist bump and patted him on the back before quickly making his way into the pitch.


    The youngster received a standing ovation as he jogged toward his position.


    "Mateo Smith is on the pitch and you can tell just by the reaction that the fans are really happy to see him there," Jim said.


    The official raised his board again to show the number twelve in red and the number sixteen in green.


    "Harry Norman will be the one to make the way for Christian Merino," Jim said.


    As soon as Merino entered the pitch, Norman raised his hand to do the substitution sign which he made sure that all his yers saw.


    ''Finally switching to four three three.'' Dave sighed inwardly.


    With the substitutions done for both teams, it was now time for the game to resume.


    "That should have been a penalty," Dave muttered as he hadn''t quite gotten over that decision by the VAR.


    <Just let it go, there''s a high chance that you guys are going to get an equalizer now>


    Frono FC yed the ball in toward their right midfielder and the ball had gotten to him.


    He brought it down with his chest and was about to turn with it when Mateo swooshed in from nowhere and stole the ball.


    "That''s one way to steal the ball," Jim said.


    Mateo passed the ball to Ferran as they were a couple of yers in his way.


    "Minino," Jim said as soon as Minino received the ball from Ferran.


    The midfielder tried to push forward with the ball but there was no way so he passed it back to Norman Kole who didn''t waste time in passing the ball to Ferran.


    "Ferran."


    Ferran moved forward with the ball before finding Merino at the edge of the box.


    Merino received the ball and quickly crossed it low to Mateo who was on the same line as him on the other side.


    "Mateo."


    Mateo received the ball and moved clear of Logo with a quick one-two before passing it back to Merino who quickly passed it back to him after he had maneuvered his way past two defenders.


    "Mateo''s still going on and he''s through on goal."


    Jim wasn''t exaggerating when he said that. Mateo had the ball at his feet now with the goalkeeper being the only one standing in his way.


    "Mateo!!!" Jim eximed as the winger fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    ***


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If we can hit 1000+ privilege unlocks before the end of this month, I''ll do five chapters mass release on any day between the 20-25th of January.

 Chapter 109 Turning The Tides

    "Mateo shoots! Mateo scores!"


    The winger offloaded a shot toward the bottom right side of the post where the keeper couldn''t deal, he dived toward the ball but he couldn''t get his hand to it on time as the ball rolled into the back of the.


    "Unbelievable!" Jim eximed as the winger took off to the sidelines and was pulled down by Merino on the way before his teammates began to fall on his body.


    "Unique FC''s magic man has done it again, that''s magisterial!"


    The fans were screaming and pping in joy even some of the opposing fans were pping after witnessing that goal from Mateo Smith.


    "Mateo! Mateo! Mateo!"


    That was what the fans were chanting.


    "They''ve finally gotten that equalizer and still have enough time to push for a winner all thanks to their boy wonder," Steve said.


    "Yes!" Mateo yelled after getting up from the floor, then he turned and waved to the fans before making his way back to their side of the pitch so that the match could continue.


    "It''s been less than three minutes since he entered the pitch and he put up a nice effort to get the equalizer, that''s how big of an impact Mateo Smith can be for Unique FC whenever he is on the pitch," Jim said. "That''s his twenty-fourth goal of the season."


    The clock was showing seventy-eight minutes now as Darwin stood over the kick-off spot waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    "Yes," Dave muttered under his breath. "We just need to go for the winner now."


    <I told you it was going to happen soon>


    ''Yeah, that''s karma for unjustifiably denying us that penalty kick.''


    [ Quest 2 ]


    [ Progress ]


    [ One touch saves: ? ]


    <You still have to make three more one-touch saves toplete the quest and I don''t see that happening>


    ''As long as we get the win, I don''t care.''


    The referee blew his whistle as Darwin quickly passed the ball to the yer closest to him.


    "The game has resumed, this battle of a game both sides are on leveled terms now, let''s see which side can get the win before the final whistle.


    Frono FC didn''t try to attempt one of their instantaneous attacks and decided to take a different approach to attack one that Unique FC always used, passing the ball around and drawing out the yers to create spaces for them to initiate their attacks.


    Seth received the ball on the right side of midfield and quickly got past Edward with a neat body feint before passing it to their attacking midfielder who didn''t have exactly any idea of what to do with it and quickly passed it back to Seth before Ferran could get to him.


    "Gives it back to Seth."


    Seth found Darwin making a run into the box and attempted to cross the ball to him but he seemed to have overhit it as the ball flew straight toward Dave''s goalpost and the goalkeeper didn''t have any problem jumping up and catching it.


    "Oh, he overhit it," Jim said.


    "Over here, Dave!" Norman screamed from the right side of the defense area as Dave quickly rolled the ball to him and he didn''t waste time in crossing it over to Mateo who was running down the left wing.


    The right-back was quickly rushing toward Mateo at the same time the ball was heading toward him but the young winger wasn''t afraid as he waited for the ball to get within the range of his right foot before he lobbed it over the defender and quickly ran past him to trap it under his feet at the other end.


    "Waoooh! That is exquisite from Mateo Smith!" Jim eximed.


    Of course, the crowd would go wild after witnessing something like that especially when it wasing from Mateo Smith.


    "He''s through here," Steve said.


    Yeah, he was through but there were still two defenders who were going to get in his way very soon so he needed to do something to offload them.


    Fredinho was running into the box at the same time so he passed the ball to him.


    Fredinho understood what he was trying to do and quickly passed the ball into the box in the exact spot he wanted it.


    The winger raced toward the ball as the goalkeeper raced toward him, there was no doubt who was going to get to the ball first as he got to the ball and sent it flying into the goalpost right through the goalkeeper''s legs.


    "Goal!!!!!!" Jim eximed as a smile appeared on the winger''s face before the winger pointed upward with both of his index fingers before his teammates began to gather around him.


    "Frono FC yers cannot believe it, they are behind again!"


    "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Dave eximed before jumping up to hit the top crossbar with both of his palms.


    "It''s unbelievable, Mateo Smith with a brace in less than five minutes," Steve said.


    You could tell by the tone of his voice that he was quite stunned.


    Emerson, Frono FC''s goalkeeper was really frustrated as he picked up the ball and kicked it into the pitch.


    "The tides have turned once again, it is Frono FC two, Unique FC three."


    The clock was showing eighty-five minutes now as Frono FC were yet to get any good chance to get an equalizer.


    "Just five minutes left of normal time and the hosts are still behind, if Unique FC manages to keep them at bay for the rest of the match it will mean that they have broken their unbeaten run against them," Jim said.


    The left winger who had the name Axiel written on the back of his jersey with the number eleven written below it received the ball from Ahmed and feinghed shooting at Aima before passing the ball to Darwin who tried to find a way through the middle before passing the ball to Seth on the right wing.


    "Seth," Jim said. "And he''s got Rnd on him.


    Seth tried to confuse Rnd with his very fast leg overs but Rnd seemed to be keeping up so he stretched the ball toward the sideline area and controlled it to stop it from rolling past the line but before he could do anything else, he was brought down by the left back.


    The referee didn''t hesitate to blow his whistle for a foul but no card was shown to Rnd because the challenge wasn''t worth a card.


    "That''s a foul."


    Unique FC''s four-man wall was quickly set up as Seth stood over the ball.


    "Can Frono FC conjure up something from this one?" Jim said before the referee blew his whistle.


    Seth let out a deep sigh before he closed up on the ball before he quickly closed up on the ball and quickly floated it over the wall and into the eighteen-yard box.


    Darwin rose high above every other yer to meet the ball with a header.


    "Darwin!"


    The ball was sent toward the top left-hand corner and luckily for Dave, he managed to be a little closer to the area.


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    He quickly dived toward the ball and with both of his hands, he was able to catch the ball before it fell into the goalpost.


    "Ball ma Davees to the rescue!" Jim eximed as the goalkeeper crashed to the floor with the ball in his gloves.


    Darwin had a shocked expression on his face as he stared at the angle he had sent the ball for a while before turning his gaze to Dave who was still on the floor.


    ***


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


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 Chapter 110 The Day Mateo Smith Destroyed Frono FC

    "That could have been Darwin Shaw''s hat trick of the night but Dave Richards did so well to deny him," Steve said.


    Unique FC fans in the stands were apuding the goalkeeper after witnessing that wonderful save from him and some of them were even chanting his name now.


    Frono FC yers had returned to their side of the pitch as Dave had hugged the ball for quite a while so there was no way they could start a counter attack but that wasn''t necessary given the fact that they were still leading.


    This was all part of Dave''s time-wasting technique.


    After a few minutes of hugging the ball on the floor pretending to be somewhat hurt, the goalkeeper got up from the floor and rolled the ball to Rnd.


    <Nice save>


    ''Thanks.''


    [ Progress ]


    [ 2/4 one-touch saves ]


    <Two more to go>


    ''With eighty-nine minutes on the clock.'' Dave replied, looking up at the clock.


    Seven minutes had been added to the time after it hit ny minutes and in the third minute of that added minute, Unique FC won a corner kick on the right corner-kick spot.


    "Unique FC have been gifted a wonderful opportunity to double their lead with four minutes of added time left before the matches to an end," Jim said.


    Ferran stood over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle as the yers from both teams ran around in the box.


    It didn''t take long before the referee blew his whistle as Ferran closed his eyes and opened them before crossing the ball into the box.


    The ball was nodded back by Ahmed and fell to Mateo''s feet at the edge of the box.


    "Clearance but it''s fallen to the feet of Mateo Smith now," Jim said.


    Two defenders quickly rushed toward the winger to try and bring him down with a tackle but he quickly stretched the ball a little to the left with his left foot to avoid them before drilling it low toward the goalpost with his left foot.


    "Mateo!"


    The goalkeeper dived toward the ball but it wasn''t enough to take care of it as the ball deflected on the tip of his gloves and hit the crossbar before falling into the goalpost.


    "Oh, my goodness! He''s done it again!" Jim eximed as the winger took off to the sidelines to do a sliding celebration with the fans chanting his name.


    "They have surely won the game now," Steve said.


    "Yeah!!" Ferran yelled as he rushed toward Mateo and fell on his body along with his other teammates.


    Dave couldn''t help himself as he rushed to the area to join his teammates to celebrate the goal.


    "He''s going home with the match ball now, that''s his second hat trick of the season and also his second career hat trick," Steve said.


    "I told you guys not to be too fast in defending against him!" Emerson yelled at his teammates. "He''s been using your fast-defending techniques against you, was that so hard to figure out?"


    "How are we supposed toe back from two goals in a short amount of time?" Ahmed muttered.


    "There''s no way," Seth said before turning his gaze to Unique FC yers. "They''ve already won the match, the mistake has already been made."


    "I think after tonight, this game will go down in history as the day Mateo Smith destroyed Frono FC," Jim said.


    The game resumed with a minute of added time left and just before that time could be exhausted, Frono FC won a freekick right at the edge of the box as Seth was brought down under a nasty challenge from Jonas that resulted in him getting shown a yellow card.


    The referee was supposed to end the match but he decided to wait for Frono FC to take their free kick.


    "Whatever the oue of this freekick may be it won''t matter as Unique FC will still emerge victorious," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but it can be a boost of stats to someone," Steve said.


    Seth stood over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he raced toward the ball and floated it over the wall of yers toward the top right-hand corner.


    Dave was glued to the spot as the ball hit the crossbar and fell over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, he''s missed it," Jim said.


    The referee blew his whistle twice to bring the game to an end as Unique FC yers, coach, staff, and fans began to jump up in jubtion.


    Seth quickly made his way to Mateo as soon as the match was concluded.


    "Hey, congrats." He said as soon as he stopped in front of the young winger.


    "Thanks, you guys fought hard but I guess today was our day," Mateo said.


    "Yeah, I knew you were going to score but I never expected you to score thrice," Seth said.


    "I found the spaces and used them to my advantage."


    "Yeah, do you mind a shirt swap?" Seth requested.


    "Sure, I was even about to ask you," Mateo said before quickly pulling off his shirt as Seth pulled off his.


    The two exchanged their shirts and shook hands with a little brotherly hug before parting ways.


    At some point, it looked like Unique FC had no chance of winning the match but with the introduction of Mateo Smith and Christian Merino, things seemed to have turned around and in no time, the team''s magician turned the tides with a wonderful hattrick." Jim said. "The match ends Frono FC two, Unique FC four."


    The match ball was handed to Mateo by one of the officials just as he walked out of the pitch and then walking further down, he was handed the man of the match trophy before he was taken toward the board to take the official man of the match photo.


    [ Quest failed ]


    Dave received the message as he walked down the tunnel but he didn''t care and continued his walk down the tunnel with a bright smile on his face.


    "Nice saves bro."


    "You were really clutch today."


    The goalkeeper was greeted by his teammates and the staff as he made his way toward the locker room.


    "I would really love to continue seeing this version of Dave Richards," Norman said before giving him a pat on his back.


    Dave entered the locker room to find his teammates singing songs of celebration, the win was worth the celebration given the fact that they would automatically qualify for the UEFA conference league if Lesica United loses their match tomorrow.


    He joined them to sing and after a few minutes of singing, the yers began to pull off their kits and that was when Mateo entered the room with his awards and Seth''s shirt in his hand.


    "Hey, I thought you were supposed to be doing the post-match interview," Dave said.


    "Don''t worry, Merino''s doing it." He said before walking closer to the bench to drop the things he was holding.


    "When will you ever do a post-match interview?" Ferran said with his phone in his hand.


    "I was going to do it but Merino was already doing it before I finished taking my official man of the match photos." The winger said, pulling off his boots.


    "You were really clutch tonight," Dave said.


    "Thanks and you too." He turned his gaze to him before turning it back to his boots.


    "Hey, Mateo, do you know that you just broke a Bilbeth Premier League record?" Ferran asked, turning his gaze to the winger.


    He was going through his phone and that was when he came across the information.


    "What record?" Mateo asked.


    "Fastest hattrick," Ferran said before turning his gaze back to his phone. "The record was previously held by Ricky Gates, hepleted a hattrick against Terrevile City in thirty-one minutes. You just broke that record today by scoring a hattrick against Frono FC in seventeen minutes."


    "You didn''t just break it, you broke it with a great margin," Minino said.


    "Yeah," Ferran said.


    "I think tonight will go down in history as the day Mateo Smith destroyed Frono FC," Dave said with a smile on his face.


    ***


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 Chapter 111 Lucky Goals

    Norman was so happy after watching his team make such a wonderfuleback and get the win that he went around shaking and hugging all the yers in the locker.


    "Nice performance, Dave." He said before hugging the goalkeeper.


    "Thanks, coach," Dave said.


    "Mateo," Norman said, turning his gaze to the winger with a bright smile on his face.


    While Norman and also two other men from the coaching department were congratting the yers on their fine performance, Emma entered the room but she wasn''t alone as Matthew happened to be standing right beside her.


    Dave had spotted both of them as soon as they entered the room because he was sitting on his seat and happened to be facing that area at that time.


    "Hey," Emma said, gesturing for him toe closer.


    There was no hesitation as Dave quickly got up from his seat and walked toward.


    "Hey, what''s up?" He said as soon as he stopped in front of her. "I hope I''m not the one you want to interview today."


    "No." She replied before turning her gaze to Matthew. "This is my colleague Matthew, the one I told you about."


    "Oh, yeah," Dave said slowly, turning his gaze to him.


    "She didn''t mention but we''re also friends," Matthew said before offering his hand for a handshake.


    "Really?" Dave said before epting the handshake.


    "Ummm¡­.can I talk to you for a few seconds?" She asked raising her watch to her view to check the time.


    "Is there anything wrong?"


    "No." She said shaking her head. "I just want to talk."


    "Okay, what about your interview?"


    "Don''t worry, Matthew will take care of it."


    "Yeah, I will," Matthew said with a nod.


    "Okay." The goalkeeper said before she grabbed him by his arm.


    "Hey, sis," Mateo said with a little wave before the two could leave the room.


    Emma didn''t say anything and just returned the wave before pulling Dave out of the room along with her.


    Nothing was said between the two for the first sixty seconds as they slowly walked down the hallway which was filled with staff and a few Frono FC yers and reporters too.


    "So what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Dave asked to break the silence. "And what''s with that look on your face?"


    "What look?" She asked, before stopping and turning her gaze to him.


    "That look right there, it''s that look of disappointment and sadness." He said. "What''s wrong?"


    She didn''t speak for a while before letting out a deep sigh.


    "I''ve seen my period." She said.


    ''Wow, that''s great!'' The goalkeeper wanted to say but the fact that she didn''t seem happy about it had stopped him from saying it.


    "You wanted to be pregnant?" He muttered.


    <It''s obvious>


    "Of course." She said. "And do I need to exin why?"


    <You two have not been on the same page for the past twenty-four hours>


    "Hey,e here." He said before pulling her closer for a hug. "I think this wasn''t the best time and it wasn''t meant to be, not yet."


    "Maybe." She muttered.


    "Dave."


    The goalkeeper pulled out from the hug and turned to see Frono FC''s goalkeeper, Emerson Malkary.


    "What a coincidence to run into you here with your¡­.."


    "Wife," Emma said.


    "I didn''t know you were married," Emerson said.


    "Not yet."


    "Soon," Emma said.


    "Okay, but I thought we weren''t supposed to have anyone of her gender in this area."


    "She''s a reporter," Dave said.


    "Oh, I see," Emerson said. "I''m guessing you already know my name."


    "Yeah, it''s Emma, Emma Smith," Emma said, aware that he was asking for her name.


    "Okay, nice to meet you, Emma," Emerson said.


    "The pleasure is all mine."


    "Are you in any way rted to Mateo Smith?" He asked.


    "Yeah, he''s my little brother." She said.


    "Oh," Emerson said with a nod. "I couldn''t see it before but you have some of his features."


    "I know." She said.


    "Ummm¡­." The goalkeeper said, before dipping his hand into his pocket to bring out his phone. "Do you mind taking a picture of me with him?"


    "Sure." She said before taking the phone from him.


    "Hope you don''t mind?" He said after moving closer to Dave.


    "Not at all," Dave said, shaking his head.


    ______ ______


    After arriving back at Unique City, Dave drove his way home and made his way straight to the door aftering down from his car.


    He raised his watch to his gaze to see that the time was 11:50 PM.


    ''We wasted a lot of time there.'' He said subconsciously before pushing the door open.


    He opened the door to see that the lights in the living room were still dimmed.


    "Is she not back yet?" He muttered before turning the lights on.


    The living room was empty but just as he took a step forward, he heard a sounde from the kitchen.


    He slowly walked to the area and let out a sigh of relief after he saw that Emma was the one who had mmed the freezer shut to create the sound that he heard.


    She was putting on her red robe and had a ss of juice in her hand by the time he saw her.


    "Wee." She said, before taking a sip from her ss of juice.


    "When did you get back?" He asked.


    "About forty minutes ago." She said before quickly finishing the content in her ss and dropping it in the sink.


    "Let me help you with that." She said after walking closer to him and taking his bag off his shoulder. "I''ll be upstairs."


    "Okay," Dave said before turning to watch her make her way upstairs. "I''ll be there soon."


    The goalkeeper let out a sigh before making his way to the fridge to grab a bottle of water and after grabbing the bottle of water, he made his way to the couch and sat down there.


    ''Can I see my post-match rewards now?'' He requested before taking down some of the contents of the water.


    <Sure>


    [ Victory Rewards ]


    [ Three crucial saves: +30 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded (02): 0exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.5 ]


    ''I only got thirty exps from all the opportunities I was given in that match.''


    <You said you were okay as long as you guys win>


    ''I know, but it still pains me a little bit that I couldn''tplete those quests, especially the one about stopping Darwin from scoring.''


    <Those goals were lucky goals, he didn''t really beat you to score any goals in the match, he was just lucky>


    ''I guess so, but that won''t stop him from bragging about it whenever he''s asked about it.''


    <What''s there to brag about? They lost the match>


    While he was talking with Catherine, his phone began to vibrate in his pocket and after quickly pulling it out from his pocket, he discovered that the caller was Ferran.


    "Hey, Ferran." He said after picking up the call and cing the phone against his ear.


    After saying that, the goalkeeper was quiet as he listened to what the midfielder had to say.


    "Okay, that''s a nice idea, we''ll be there." He said before ending the call.


    ****


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 Chapter 112 Its Going To Be Intense

    Dave slowly opened his eyes to the bright rays of the early morning sun passing through the little part of the window that they forgot to cover with the curtain.


    For the first time in the past three days now, he felt like his mind had actually rested with his body and that was because he decided to turn on the feature that allowed him to have control over his dream before sleeping.


    He picked up his phone from his usual spot and pressed the power button for the screen to turn on and for him to see that the time was 6:47 AM.


    After checking the time, he dropped his phone back on the cupboard before turning to face Emma who slowly opened her eyes at that exact moment.


    "Hey." He said with a smile on his face.


    "Hey." She said,


    "Hope you slept well?"


    "Yeah." She said before raising both of her hands to stretch herself. "What about you?"


    "I''ve never slept better." He said.


    "Aren''t you going for your morning run?" She asked.


    "I will, but since none of us is going to work today, why don''t we just sleep in longer." He said before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer.


    After spending about thirty minutes sleeping in, the goalkeeper made his way downstairs,pleted his first daily quest, and dropped the container on the floor as usual before making his way out of the house toplete his daily run quest.


    "I''ll just do two kilometers today." He muttered before taking off.


    It didn''t take him long to get there and without even checking the questpleted message, he turned around and started heading back.


    [ Daily questpleted ]


    [ Run two kilometers daily ]


    [ Quest reward ]


    [ +10 exp received ]


    [ 205/500 exp ]


    He stopped in front of the door to read the message before opening the door to find Emmaing down the stairs with a piece of paper attached to a rectangr cardboard and a pen in her hand.


    "Right on time." She said before quickly making her way to him.


    "For what?" Dave asked with a confused expression on his face.


    "We don''t have to go to work today but we have other things we have to do so I''m creating schedules for them to make sure nothing falls out of ce." She said, "You returned from your morning run right on time." She added before tickling the box beside the morning run on her schedule note.


    "What other things did you write down there because I don''t remember making big ns for today?"


    "We have to go see your dad in the hospital, you promised to take me out for lunch and then we''ll have to go to that dinner Ferran invited you to." She replied.


    "Oh, I did make big ns for today." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah, you should hit the gym for your gym session while I get something ready for breakfast." She said before making her way to the kitchen.


    Afterpleting his two-hour daily gym session, he returned to the house to have his breakfast with Emma and after that, the two made their way upstairs to get ready to head out by noon.


    After about forty minutes of getting ready, they could be seen making their way down the staircase.


    Dave was putting on a blue T-shirt to go with his matching blue shorts and blue canvas while Emma was putting on a white short-sleeved shirt to go with her ck jeans trousers, ck boots, and the ck handbag that was hanging over her shoulder.


    Dave was a bit slow with his steps as Emma had already gotten to the car while he was still walking toward the area and that was because he was on his phone.


    "Are you driving or...."


    Before she could finish saying what she wanted to say, Dave threw the bunch of keys to her and she didn''t have any problem catching it.


    During the drive to the hospital, nothing was said between the two as Dave seemed to be focused on whatever he was doing with his phone.


    He was going through the league tables in all of the leagues in Europe and right now, he had just entered Bilbeth Premier League''s table.


    Supreme United were still leading and were still three points clear of Dynamo FC as both teams had won their matchesst night and this time Dynamo FC had gotten a convincing win by beating Zilo FC four goals to nothing while Supreme United only beat Lave City with one goal.


    ''Supreme United are champions once again.'' He said subconsciously.


    It was certain, now that they had won their match against Lave City, they had the higher goal difference so even if they lost theirst match of the season, they would still be the league winners unless Dynamo FC finds a way to score eight goals against Spree City without conceding any goals.


    <It can happen but the chances are pretty low>


    ''Yeah.''


    After checking out the other teams above them in the table, his gaze had fallen on his team now.


    Unique FC were currently in eighth ce, they had forty-nine points now with sixty goals scored and forty-seven goals conceded which meant that they had thirteen goals difference meanwhile Lesica United had forty-six points with Sixty seven goals scored and forty-three goals conceded which meant that they had twenty-four goals difference and winning their match tonight would mean that Unique FC would have to y theirst match of the season against them like it was a final, that is if they really want to qualify for the UEFA conference league.


    "It''s going to be intense." He muttered.


    "What?" Emma asked, turning her gaze to him before turning it back to the road.


    "If Lesica United wins their match against Razid FC then it''s going to be a big sh against them on Tuesday, a must-win match for us and for them it''s going to be a must-draw or a must-win." He said.


    "Yeah, and those kinds of matchese with a lot of pressure," Emma said.


    "I know, although I''ve never been in any situation like that before," Dave said.


    "It''s going to be okay," Emma said. "Lesica United are going to y their match tonight and nobody knows if they are going to win or lose and even if they win, I know and I believe you guys can beat them."


    "They destroyed us four goals to nothing in their home earlier this season," Dave said.


    "That team and this current team is very different, yes it''s still the same yers with no one leaving and just one new addition but something''s changed and that''s you guys are on a six games unbeaten run." She said, "Mateo''s way better now,st night''s match confirms it but that''s not even the best part."


    "What is the best part?" Dave asked.


    "You guys had ordinary Dave then but right now, Unique FC has ball-ma Dave and he is going to turn up like he has been doing in this unbeaten run." She said with an enthusiastic voice.


    "Thanks babe."


    ****


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 Chapter 113 Everytime

    It didn''t take long for the two to arrive at the hospital and after parking the car in one of the parking spaces in the parking lot, they stepped down from the car.


    Dave was a bit hesitant to make a move toward the hospital as he stood beside the car staring at the building while Emma had already taken about five steps toward the building before realizing that he had not made any move yet.


    "Hey," She turned back to him to say. "Are youing?"


    "Uh.....Yeah." He said with a nod before making his way to her.


    "You looked a little lost out there, is everything okay?" She asked just as they entered the elevator.


    "Yeah," Dave said with a nod. "Of course everything is okay."


    "Okay." She said with a nod before pushing the number four button in the elevator.


    After about twenty seconds of silence, while they were being moved upstairs, Emma recalled that she had missed something.


    "How could I forget?" She said with a disappointed tone before mming her palm into her forehead.


    "What?" Dave asked.


    "I was supposed to bring flowers for him." She said.


    "Flowers," Dave muttered.


    <Like you care>


    "Yeah, flowers." She said, "We have to go downstairs and see if there''s any shop in the area where I can buy roses."


    She reached for the buttons and was about to push the buttonbeled with the number one when Dave suddenly grabbed by her arm and pulled her back.


    "That won''t be necessary." He said.


    "Why not, it''s not like we''re runningte or something?"


    "I think I saw something like a flower booth in the reception area thest time we came here." He said.


    "You saw a flower booth?" She said with a surprised expression on her face.


    "Yeah," Dave said with a nod.


    "You''re sure that you saw a flower booth?"


    "Yeah."


    A ding sound was heard as the elevator stopped moving and the door opened for them to walk into the reception area.


    "Over there," Dave said, pointing to the right where there was a flower booth filled with various kinds of flowers.


    "Oh, you were right." She said, sounding relieved.


    "What, you thought I was making it up?"


    "No, I just thought you saw something else and mistook it for a flower booth." She said, still looking at the flower booth. "I guess they''ve decided to make it easier for people like me who easily forget things like this."


    She didn''t waste time in making her way to the area to buy a bunch of roses before they began to make their way to the area.


    The two arrived at the area at the exact time the doctor was making his way out of the room.


    "Dave." The Doctor said with a smile as soon as he spotted the goalkeeper.


    "Doc," Dave said before shaking hands with him.


    "How are you doing?" The Doctor asked.


    "Good, I guess." The goalkeeper said.


    "And,  Emma." The Doctor said, turning his gaze to her.


    "Doc." She said before epting his handshake.


    "How''re you doing?"


    "Good, you?"


    "I''m good too." He said.


    "How''s he doing?" She asked.


    "I think the right word to use here is superb." He said. "He''s doing great and he will be very happy to see you two."


    "Of course, he will," Dave muttered.


    "That''s good news," Emma said.


    "I guess I should allow you to go see him now." He said before moving out of the way.


    "Yeah," Emma said before the both of them moved closer to the door.


    "Um...Dave." The Doctor called just before they could enter the room.


    "Yeah," Dave said before turning to face him.


    "My son was really d when he found out that you signed the ball for him, he called it the best birthday present ever." He said with a smile on his face.


    "I''m d he enjoyed his birthday." The goalkeeper said.


    "All thanks to you." The Doctor said before turning and making his way out of the area.


    Tom had a bright smile on his face as he watched the two enter the room and slowly made their way to him, of course, Emma was the one in front.


    "Hey, " She said as soon as she got close enough to him.


    "Emma." He said with a bright smile on his face.


    "I brought you flowers."  She said before handing him the bunch of roses she was holding.


    "Thanks, my dear." He said before taking the flowers from her and taking a quick sniff from them.


    "Dave." She turned her gaze to him to say before gesturing for him to get closer.


    "How''re you doing, Dad?" He asked after getting closer to him.


    <If I didn''t know you and  had ess to your thoughts,  I would have said that he was her father and you were just a stranger>


    ''I''ve always been a stranger to him since the day I made that decision.'' He replied.


    "I''m recovering well, son," Tom replied. "Doctor Francis said you guys came to see me the day two nights ago."


    "That''s true," Dave said.


    "I couldn''t see you because I was unconscious." He said.


    "Yeah, but we''re d you''re recovering now," Emma said.


    "I know," Tom said before turning his gaze back to Dave. "You guys defeated Frono FC and ended their unbeaten run against us."


    "Yeah," Dave said.


    "Congrattions, you''re finally finding your form as a goalkeeper." He said.


    "Like you thought I never would."


    As soon as those words left his mouth, Emma quickly turned her gaze to him as she was a bit shocked to hear that from him.


    "You know, I''m always wishing the best for you."


    "If only that was half true," Dave said.


    "It can''t be half true because it''spletely true." He said, covering up his emotion with a smile. "Mateo Smith was superbst night, if he keeps up this wonderful performance his market value is going to get a rapid increase, we should convince him for a renewal and increase his release use don''t you think?"


    ''Unbelievable, changing the topic to talk about his business as always.''


    "I think that''s something you should discuss with the members of your board, not me," The goalkeeper replied. "I think we''ve checked up on him enough, let''s go." He said, turning his gaze to Emma.


    "Dave." She called to try and calm him down but there was no calming down there.


    "Let''s go." He said, almost raising his voice at her before turning and making his way out of the room.


    She turned her gaze to Tom and let out a sigh before making her way out of the room to catch up with Dave.


    __________ ___________


    She knew best to just leave him alone as she drove the car and he didn''t even bother to say anything to her as he had his arms crossed while looking out through the window.


    <Do you always have to end up this way anytime you have a conversation with your father?>


    Dave didn''t reply to her and continued looking outside until his phone began to vibrate in his pocket.


    "Who the heck is calling me now?" He muttered under his breath before dipping his hand into his pocket and bringing out his phone which had the name rk disyed on it now.


    ***


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 Chapter 114 The Dinner Party (01)

    "Hello,  rk,"   Dave said after picking up the call and cing the phone against his ear.


    "Hey, Dave, what''s up?" rk asked as his voice resounded through the phone''s speaker.


    "I''m okay."


    "Okay," rk said. "I heard about what happened to your father, sorry I didn''t call earlier. Is he okay?"


    "Yeah, we''re justing from the hospital now," Dave said.


    "Okay, that''s good news."


    "Yeah, is that why you called?"


    "Yeah, it''s part of the reason why I called but it''s not the main reason."


    "So, what''s the main reason?" Dave asked.


    "Um....I just finished talking with the director of footy wears and he wants to meet up with you on Wednesday at Lospeno so that we can properly talk about things."


    "Wednesday''s a good meeting choice given the fact the seasones to an end on Tuesday."


    "Yeah," rk said. "You''re supposed to be there before noon, I''ll text you the addresster and let you know if anything changes before the day."


    "Yeah," Dave said.


    "Tell Emma I said hi."


    "Hi, rk," Emma said but he wasn''t going to hear her as the call had already ended.


    "So, you''re going to Lospeno on Wednesday." She said after taking a turn into the less busy road that led to their house.


    "Yeah." He muttered.


    "Lospeno''s a very beautiful city, do you know that?" She asked. "I''ve been there once with my dad, there were lots of beautiful ces to go and see, have you been to Lospeno before?"


    <That''s a very silly questioning from her>


    "Yeah, I''ve been to Lospeno before," Dave said.


    "Really?"


    "Yeah, to y a match against Lospeno FC."


    "Of course, I know you''ve been to Lospeno to y a match." She said, rolling her eyes. "I was asking if you''ve ever been  there for any other reason, like a visit or any other reason."


    "No," Dave said, shaking his head. " I don''t move around that much."


    "Yeah, you don''t." She muttered before returning her attention to the road to see that they were close to the house now.


    After driving a little closer, she stopped right in front of the path leading to the garage.


    "Do you want to grab something or should I keep moving?" She asked, turning her gaze to Dave.


    "No," Dave said, shaking his head.


    "Okay." She said before zooming off down the road.


    __________ __________


    Nothing was said between the two as they slowly ate their meal sitting opposite each other, a long spell of silence which Emma found quite ufortable and was about to break the silence when Dave sunk his hand into his pocket and brought his phone which had just begun to vibrate.


    "Coach." He muttered after seeing the name M. Norman as the name of the caller.


    He was a bit hesitant before picking up the call and cing the phone against his ear.


    "Hello, coach."


    "Hey, Dave, how''re you doing?"


    "I''m okay," Dave replied. "Is there any problem?"


    "No, not at all, I just wanted to know if you would like to apany me to the press conference tomorrow evening ahead of the match against Lesica United," Norman said.


    "Press conference." The goalkeeper muttered.


    "Yeah."


    <I''m not sure but you may get a reward for your first press conference>


    "Okay." He said.


    "Is that a yes?"


    " Yeah."


    "Good, enjoy your day off," Norman said before ending the call.


    "Is this going to be your first press conference or you''ve been to one before?" Emma asked as soon as he turned his gaze to her.


    "It''s going to be my first." He replied.


    "That''s nice." She said, smiling at him.


    ''You said I was going to get a reward for it right?"


    <I said I wasn''t sure>


    ''What do you mean you''re not sure.''


    <Attend the conference first>


    ''I won''t be happy with you if I don''t get any rewards.''


    <Again, it''s the system''s job to give quests and rewards I am only a guide>


    ''Sometimes you make it hard for me to believe that.''


    __________ ___________


    It was nighttime now and the couple were getting ready to head to Ferran''s dinner party.


    Emma was sitting in front of the mirror in the room applying a little makeup to her face while Dave was sitting on the bed already dressed up.


    "How many of your teammates did he invite?" She asked.


    "I don''t know but he said Mateo, Merino, Adolf, Minino, and Pirlo were going to be there, these were the only ones he mentioned."


    "Okay, and those that are married or have girlfriends will be there with their spouses right?"


    "Yeah," Dave said with a nod.


    "Okay, I''m just making sure I won''t be the only female in thepany." She said before picking up her eye pencil.


    "I know," Dave said before getting up from the bed and making his way to her. "I know it''s going to take you an hour plus to be through with whatever you''re doing here so, I''m going to be downstairs." He said before kissing her on her cheek and turning to quickly make his way out of the room.


    He was putting on in ck trousers with a white long-sleeved shirt with a pair of ck canvas with white soles and he had a nice looking silver-colored watch around his left wrist.


    Just like he said, it had taken up to one hour before Emma began to make her way down the staircase wearing a short sleeveless gown, the gown wasn''t that short though as it went a little further down past her knees.


    She had a pair of ck heels to go with her dress and a little purse that had silver-colored chains attached to them so that she would be able to hang it on her shoulder.


    "Wow," Dave said, slowly getting up from the couch and making his way to her. "You look so pretty in that dress."


    "Thanks." She said with a little blush. "You look nice too."


    "If we were heading to Ferran''s ce by foot, this would be a serious problem." He said, looking at her from head to toe.


    "Dave, stop." She said before hitting him on his shoulder as her cheeks were slowly beginning to turn red.


    "Okay." He said before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer for a kiss.


    "So, are you driving or am I going to be the one to do it again?" She asked after slowly releasing herself from his grip.


    "No, I''ll drive." He said before turning his gaze to the bunch of keys lying on the table.


    Ferran''s house was a twenty minutes drive away from their own house so it took them approximately thirty minutes to get there because of some slight dys.


    "Is this the ce?" Emma asked with her gaze on therge ck gate which the car was parked in front of now.


    "ording to the address, yeah," Dave said before picking up his phone and dialing Ferran''s number. "Hey, Ferran, we''re here."


    As soon as he dropped his phone, the gate automatically opened up for them and Dave slowly drove his car into the ce.


    "Wooah," Emma said with an astonished look on her face.


    "I never knew Ferran was living in such luxury," Dave said with a stunned look on his face.


    The area was quiterge and was surrounded by a lot of lights that made it hard for anyone to tell that it was nighttime in there but that wasn''t the best part.


    The building up ahead was spherically shaped with a nice exterior ss design and besides the building were two swimming pools with a little path running through the middle.


    <Nice ce>


    *****


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 Chapter 115 The Dinner Party (02)

    Ferran''s home was simply breathtaking and exquisite, Dave didn''t expect it to look like this, he was never expecting to see something like this.


    He parked his car in a space by the side before making his way down the car at the same time as E.


    The two looked around the area for a while before making their way toward the small path in between the swimming pools, the path that led to the spherical building.


    "He has a nice ce," Emma said before turning her gaze to the swimming pool on the right.


    "Yeah, a really nice ce," Dave said.


    Before the two could get to the building, the door was pushed open for Ferran toe out to wee them.


    "Hey." He said with a smile on his face as soon as he spotted them.


    "How''re you doing?" Dave asked before shaking hands with him and bumping shoulders with him.


    "As you can see, I look okay," Ferran said. "You look okay too." He added before turning his gaze to Emma.


    "Hi." She said,


    "You look good too." The midfielder said before offering his hand for a handshake. "You look stunning."


    "Thank you," Emma said before epting his handshake.


    "Over here." He said before making his way into the house for them to follow him.


    Entering what they expected to be the living room, they could see that it was an entirely empty space that looked like a basketball court only that there were nos.


    "This is my training space." The midfielder said as he walked toward the only door apart from the exit door in the area.


    "Training space?" Dave said.


    "Yeah, I like to do most of my training inside so I do it here." He said.


    "Oh, I see." The goalkeeper said with a nod.


    "But it looks like it''s going to serve as the space for our dinner party tonight, we were just about to set up the table before you guys arrived," Ferran said.


    "You and your wife," Emma said.


    Ferran turned to her and smiled before saying, "I''m not married."


    "Your girlfriend?" She said,


    "I don''t have a girlfriend either." The midfielder said.


    "Then who are you talking about?" Dave asked.


    As soon as he asked that question, the door was opened for Mateo to walk into the room with a white tablecloth in his hand.


    "Is this one good?" Mateo said before spotting Dave and his sister. "Hey, sis."


    "I was talking about him," Ferran said.


    "You''re already here," Dave said, walking closer to the winger.


    "Yeah, he arrived about thirty minutes ago," Ferran said.


    "I didn''t see your car," Emma said, looking at her brother.


    "That''s because it''s parked at the back," Mateo said.


    "Oh." She said,


    "Are we the only ones here or are there others inside waiting to surprise us?" Dave asked.


    "No, you guys are the second to arrive after him," Ferran said before pointing at Mateo.


    "Yeah, so is this tablecloth okay?" The winger asked, raising the white tablecloth.


    "Yeah," Ferran said with a nod.


    "Okay." The winger said before opening the door and pulling out the long table. "The chef''s almost done." He added before dropping the tablecloth on the table.


    "Good."


    "So, when are the others arriving?" Dave asked.


    "Soon." The midfielder said before making his way toward the door leading to his living room and the main part of his house. "You two can follow me if you need somewhere to sit down for a few minutes before we get everything set up."


    It didn''t take long for them to get everything set up and that was because Dave and Emma had decided to give them a hand.


    The long table was dropped in the middle of therge room with different kinds of delicacies on it and four bottles of wine in the middle beside the whole grilled chicken.


    There were about eight fifteen seats set up around the table which made Dave wonder if Ferran had invited as many of their teammates as he imed.


    "I think we''re set," Ferran said, rubbing his hands together.


    It didn''t take long before the other yers arrived but there weren''t as many as Dave expected.


    It was just Merino who came alone, Minino with his girlfriend, Edward with his girlfriend, Adolf with his wife, and Pirlo with his wife.


    "Is this everyone or are the other ones still on the way?" Dave asked a few minutes after they all sat down to eat.


    "Probably still on the way," Mateo said.


    "Yeah," Ferran said.


    After a few minutes of talking and getting to know each other, no other person had arrived and checking his watch, the goalkeeper could see that there were only five minutes left before the time hit 8:00 PM.


    "So, you''re a reporter." Adolf''s wife Amaya said with her gaze on Emma.


    "Yeah, a sports reporter," Emma said with a nod.


    "That''s nice."


    "That reminds me," Mateo said, turning his gaze to his big sister. "I saw your article, the one in which you Nicknamed your boyfriend Ball Ma."


    "Yeah, is there anything wrong with that?" Emma asked.


    "No, nothing''s wrong with that, I love the nickname." The winger said, shaking his head. "I just hope I also get a cool nickname soon."


    "I''ll think about it." She said with a cheeky smile on her face.


    "Are the others no longering?" Dave asked, looking at Ferran.


    "I don''t know, none of them have called or texted me to tell me anything," Ferran said.


    "Maybe, they''re having some kind of dy or something," Emma said. "I don''t think it''s toote for them to still make it."


    "Yeah," Merino said.


    "Did you invite Fredinho?" Dave asked with his gaze still on Ferran.


    "Umm...Yeah." The midfielder said with a nod.


    "Okay," Dave said before picking up his phone.


    "I have to say, Ferran, this dinner party is a really good idea for team bonding," Edward said. "And the food''s good too." He added before putting a piece of steak in his mouth.


    Dave had his attention on his phone now as he seemed to be typing something and after a few minutes of concentrating on his phone, he let out an inward sigh.


    <I thought he said yes>


    ''I think I''ll stop asking about the others for now.'' He said subconsciously before putting his phone in his pocket.


    They continued talking about what they were talking about, which focused mainly on things happening around Bilbeth until Ferran heard a beepe from his phone and quickly picked it up.


    "Oh, no." The midfielder said as he stared at the screen of his phone''s screen with a horrid look on his face.


    "What''s the problem?" Amaya asked but there was no response from Ferran who still had his gaze on his phone''s screen.


    "What''s wrong Ferran?" Dave asked.


    "Ferran!" Mateo called.


    "It''s only been ten minutes since the match kicked off and Lesica United are already two goals ahead of Razid FC." The midfielder revealed.


    "Two goals?" Adolf said with a shocked expression on his face.


    "Who are the scorers?" Mateo asked.


    "You mean scorer because both goals were scored by Okafor," Ferran said.


    "He''s back from injury?" Pirlo said.


    "Yeah," Ferran said with a nod.


    ***


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 Chapter 116 The Dinner Party (03)

    The yers did not have pleasant looks on their faces after finding out from Ferran that Okafor had returned from an injury that had taken him out of action for a whole month.


    "Why now? Why does he have to return now?" Pirlo said, mming his hand on the table in anger.


    "The dreadful Okafor is back," Emma said with a sarcastic voice before taking a sip from her ss of red wine.


    That little joke from her was enough to earn her piercing stares for all the men in the room including her boyfriend.


    "I shouldn''t have said that." She muttered before raising her ss against her mouth to avoid their gaze.


    There was a reason why finding out about Okafor returning to Lesica United''s squad had stirred up the yers.


    The thirty-two-year-old Nigerian footballer had only joined Lesica United from Brentford at the beginning of the season and seeing him in the attack during their first meeting of the season, Unique FC yers, fans, football pundits, and even Lesica United yers didn''t think he would be much of an attacking threat given his performance during his three seasons at Brentford until he went ahead to prove them all wrong.


    The yer went ahead to score three consecutive goals against Unique FC before assisting the fourth goal.


    Lesica United weren''t that great in the match but he was able to find spaces and create chances for himself to score before creating a chance for his teammate to get the fourth goal for the team.


    ''The guy just returned from injury and he''s already scored two goals in ten minutes.'' Dave said subconsciously as he felt a little chill run down his spine.


    <I''m sure Okafor doesn''t even know that he makes Unique FC''s stars panic like this but he will be really proud of himself if he finds out>


    "I just hope coach cane up with a very effective way to stop him," Adolf said.


    "Yeah," Pirlo said.


    "I know Okafor is a big threat considering what he did to usst time but I think you guys are overreacting," Mateo said. "He''s a great yer but you guys seem to be forgetting that we have improved since that match and although our defense is still sloppy, it''s better than before, we are on a six-match unbeaten run for crying out loud, if we can hold Spree City down to a draw, I''m sure we can do the same against them."


    "That''s the problem, a draw will not be enough if they win this match which I clearly see happening, and if it happens, we''ll have to win against them tomorrow to qualify for the UEFA conference league," Ferran said.


    "Then that''s what we''re going to do," Mateo said.


    "And you think they''re going to just sit back and watch us," Pirlo said.


    "No team sits back and watches their opponents win, no match is easy but I''m confident we can beat them, our defense has gotten better, our midfield is still evolving and I''m pretty sure we can get things done up front with the chances we''re given." The winger said, turning his gaze to Merino.


    "I like your sense of confidence Mateo but Okafor''s long-range shots are going to be a problem," Adolf said.


    "Why will that be a problem? We have ball ma Dave to deal with them." Mateo said, turning his gaze to Dave.


    "Took the words straight out of my mouth," Emma said.


    "Yeah, Dave can maybe deal with most of the shots but the most effective way to prevent anything from going wrong is to stop the shots from happening," Pirlo said.


    "Can''t you guys just wait till your training session tomorrow to talk about the different ways you n on stopping your yers?" Pirlo''s brown-skinned wife said.


    "It''s the dreadful Okafor effect," Emma said.


    "Yeah, this was supposed to be a dinner party, not a match tactics party," Amaya said.


    The men had gone quiet for a while as Ferran picked up his phone again and turned it on for a horrid look to appear on his face again.


    "Let me guess, Okafor justpleted his hat trick," Mateo said.


    "Yeah," Ferran said with a nod before putting his phone down. "But let''s talk about thatter."


    <This Okafor guy is really good>


    "Hey, babe." Emma leaned closer to him to whisper.


    "Yeah," Dave replied.


    "I need to use the restroom."


    "I don''t know where the restroom is, ask Ferran, it''s his house."


    "Uh¡­.okay." She said before getting off him and sitting back up in her seat. "Um¡­.Ferran."


    "Yeah," Ferran said, turning his gaze to her.


    "Do you mind taking me to the nose powdering unit in your house?" She asked.


    "Nose powdering unit?" The midfielder said with a confused expression on his face.


    "You know what she means," Amaya said.


    "Yeah, I do," Ferran said before getting up from his seat. "This way."


    <Nose powdering unit>


    "Nose powdering unit?" Merino muttered.


    "So, how many of you have yed tennis ball before?" Mateo stood up to ask before Ferran left the room with Emma.


    After about seven minutes, Emma opened the door and walked out to see Ferran standing in the same spot she left him with his back rxed against the wall. She was a bit startled when she saw him.


    "I didn''t know you were waiting for me." She said,


    "I brought you here, so I have to take you back." The midfielder said, walking closer to her.


    "I don''t think I would have had any problem finding my way back." She said with her gaze on the door they had entered the hallway through before turning it to see how long the hallway was and that was when she realized that it ran quite a distance down.


    ''This ce is huge.'' She thought.


    She didn''t notice how long the hallway was when they entered the area due to the feeling of her floodgates about to copse.


    "Are you sure about that?" Ferran said getting way closer to her.


    "Your ce is huge." She said, changing the topic.


    "Yeah, do you want me to maybe show you around?"


    She was standing so close to her now that she had to raise her gaze to look at him.


    "Won''t the others be worried that we''re taking too long?" She asked.


    "It won''t take long, trust me." He said before walking off further down the hallway.


    She was hesitant for a few seconds before she decided to follow him.


    _____ _____


    Back at the dinner party, Mateo''s idea of ying tennis ball was weed by his teammates who knew about it but had never gotten the chance to y it before.


    "So, this is going to be a two versus two game so I''m picking Dave as my teammate," Mateo said before turning his gaze to Merino. "Who are you picking?"


    "If Ferran was here I would pick him so I''m going to go with Minino," Merino said.


    ''I wonder what''s taking them long.'' Dave thought.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Defeat your opponents ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +30 exp ]


    [ +1 stat point to all stats including Energy bar ]


    ''No skill points again.''


    ***


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If we can hit 1000+ privilege unlocks before the end of this month, I''ll do five chapters mass release on any day between the 20-25th of January.

 Chapter 117 The Dinner Party (04)

    The rules of tennis ball were quite simple, just likewn tennis or table tennis, the ball was only allowed to bounce on your side once aftering through from your opponent''s side but instead of sending it back with just one hit after allowing it to hit the floor, the rule was quite different in tennis ball.


    The yers were allowed to touch the ball with every part of their body except their hands as much as they wanted before sending it back, as long as it didn''t touch the floor the second time everything was okay.


    Mateo with the help of Dave had set up the in the middle quite a distance away from the table where the women were still sitting with their attention on what they were doing.


    There were two types of tennis ball games just like they were two types of the normal tennis game and what they were going to be ying now was thewn tennis version well, because they had the space and the perfect floor for it and the materials required for it were avable.


    "Are you guys ready?" Mateo said as he bounced the ball on the floor while moving closer to Dave.


    "Yeah," Merino said with a nod before Minino, who was standing beside him, did the same.


    "Okay." The winger said before dropping the ball on the floor and trapping it under his foot. "We need an umpire, who''s going to be an umpire?"


    "I can do it," Edward said.


    "You know all the rules of the game right?" Mateo asked.


    "Yeah," Edward said with a nod.


    "Okay, umpire, are we good to go?" The winger said.


    "Of course."


    As soon as those words left his mouth, Mateo lifted the ball with his feet and quickly lobbed it over Merino and Minino who were a bit clueless.


    The ball flew over them and bounced on the floor before Merino quickly made his way to it and stretched his leg to get to the ball but he was toote as the ball bounced on the floor the second time and kept rolling further down.


    "That''s a cheeky move, Mateo," Minino said as Merino slowly got up from the floor.


    "I didn''t see anything wrong with it," Edward said before pointing to Dave and Mateo. "One point to them."


    "Even if you had gotten hold of that ball, how would you have controlled it?" Pirlo asked with his gaze on Merino who had returned to Minino''s side now with the ball under his feet.


    "That''s why I''m here, all he needed to do was hit it up for me to take over," Minino said.


    "You didn''t even follow him," Adolf said.


    "Because I knew he wasn''t going to get to it on time."


    "Enough talking, we have a game in progress," Edward said.


    Merino quickly lifted the ball with his feet and jogged it for a few seconds before sending it to Minino who touched it with his knee once before sending it over to the other side from the top.


    Dave quickly rushed to the ball and waited for it to bounce on the floor before he quickly closed up on it and sent it back to Mateo with a backheel flick.


    "Thanks, Dave," Mateo said as he caught the ball with his feet and began to jog it.


    He jogged it for a few seconds and flew it over to Dave as soon as he got closer.


    The goalkeeper gave the ball a few jogs before sending it back to Mateo who hit it up with a header and just as it got down enough for him to kick it, he sent it over to the other side with a smasher.


    The smash was quite an efficient one as it bounced on the floor and hit Minino on his head. He tried to get control of it once he saw iting toward his head but he seemed to have miscalcted everything as the ball hit his head and bounced on the floor the second time.


    Mateo quickly went for a double-high five with Dave as soon as the ball hit the floor the second time.


    "Two points to Dave and Mateo, zero points to Minino and Merino," Edward said with the appropriate gestures.


    "And I thought a side with a midfielder and a winger would do better than a side with a goalkeeper and a winger," Adolf said.


    "Yeah," Pirlo said.


    "It''s not over yet," Minino said.


    ''Why aren''t they back yet?'' Dave thought after turning his gaze toward the table area to see neither Ferran nor Emma was anywhere around the area.


    <Maybe she''s the one dying>


    _______ _______


    Ferran had taken Emma to one of the most special ces in his house, a ce of memories for the midfielder.


    The room was quiterge and almost didn''t have any form of furniture or temporary structure apart from the tworge trophy cabs standing by the side and looking ahead, on the wall was his jersey collection, he had all the jerseys that he had collected from different yers all over the world attached to the wall and in a very nice way to.


    He kept all the jerseys in rows ording to their numbers and the highest jerseys there were number tens followed by number sevens. Mateo''s number tens jersey was even there.


    "Wow," Emma said, moving closer to the jersey collection. "You''ve swapped shirts with Ciro Martinez before." She said with her gaze on Ciro Martinez''s Barcelona ck away jersey.


    "Yeah, it was back when I was still at Wolfsburg, it was a friendly match, I was brought in on the seventieth minute when we were already losing four goals to nothing." The midfielder said with a smile. "After the match, I went straight to him and asked for a shirt swap and he said yes, he''s a pretty nice guy."


    "Yeah," Emma said with a nod before turning her gaze back to his jersey collection.


    "The only jersey I really want to get now is Fernandez''s number seven jersey," Ferran said.


    "Why did you leave Wolfsburg?" Emma asked, ignoring what he just said. "You were once in the fourth-best league in the world and then you decided to drop to the eighth-best league in the world."


    "It wasn''t about the league," Ferran said, shaking his head.


    "Then what was it about?" She asked.


    "I wasn''t getting enough ying time, you would have known that if you were following German sports news." He said. "I spent most of my time on the bench for two seasons. I didn''t like it. Unique FC offered me an opportunity to build myself and make myself known to the world and I am taking that opportunity."


    "Okay."


    ''I guess spending time with yers other than Dave can help me gain some useful information.'' She thought.


    "So, do you want to take a look at my few individual awards?" The midfielder asked, pointing toward his trophy cabs.


    "Yeah, sure," Emma said with a nod after staring at the cabs for a little while.


    ****


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 Chapter 118 The Dinner Party (05)

    There were two cabs in the room, therger one which could contain about eighty awards empty while the smaller one was filled with various kinds of awards but the award that filled up the cab mostly were Bilbeth Premier League''s man of the match awards.


    There were two Bilbeth Premier League''s yer of the month award which was a golden illustration of a yer kicking a ball and six ymaker awards which was an illustration of a yer holding a ball, there were also two Bundesliga man of the match awards.


    Emma looked at the awards and she didn''t need to ask as she already knew what the awards were for.


    "Are you saving this one for your Ballon d''Or, UEFA best yer, and bigger awards?" She asked after turning her gaze back to the bigger trophy cab.


    "A Ballon d''Or is a long shot, I have a better chance with the ymaker awards but I''ll be d to win one." The midfielder said.


    "You''ll get your chance but it won''t be in this league," Emma said.


    "I know."


    "I think we should start heading back to the others now, Dave must be wondering what''s taking us this long?" She said moving toward the exit.


    "Wait," Ferran said, grabbing her by her arm before she could go far. "There''s one more ce I need to show you."


    "But we''ve already wasted a lot of time." She said,


    "Trust me, you''ll love it." She said before making his way out of the room pulling her along with him.


    _______ _______


    "One point to Minino and Merino," Edward said pointing at Minino after Dave failed to control the ball after a tricky bounce and it hit the floor again. "They are now two points behind Dave and Mateo who have six points."


    "Come on Edward, you''re the umpire, not thementator," Pirlo said.


    "Yeah, but there''s nomentator so I might as well fill that role too," Edward said. "Unless you want to do it."


    "No, keep doing what you''re doing," Pirlo said.


    "We just need to score ten points before they get to nine and we''ll win without elongating the game," Mateo said before lifting the ball with his feet.


    He jogged the ball for a few seconds before sending it to Dave who got a few touches on it with both of his feet before he sent it flying over to Minino and Merino''s side.


    The smashed right in front and hit his body but before it could hit the floor again, the winger caught hold of it with his foot and sent it to Minino who jogged it for a little while before floating it to the other side far away from Mateo and Dave.


    Mateo quickly rushed toward the ball and it didn''t look like he was going to get to it on time as the ball had already gone up again from a bounce.


    "Looks like team Double M are about to be one point close," Edward said.


    When it looked like the ball was about to hit the floor, Mateo quickly slid toward it and with his right foot, he sent it flying back into Mino and Merino''s side.


    "Unbelievable," Edward muttered.


    Merino and Minino had gotten so reluctant that they had won that point that they weren''t ready for Mateo''s ball when it flew past them and bounced on their side twice before rolling further down.


    "It backfired on them, they thought they''d won the point but Mateo put up an unbelievable disy to deny them the point and win the point for his team, instead," Edward said. "It''s seven points to four."


    "Don''t rub it in," Minino grumbled.


    "They just need to score three points before theirckluster opponent gets to nine points," Edward said.


    "Seems like you''re rooting for Dave and Mateo," Adolf said.


    "Why wouldn''t I?"


    ________ ________


    When Ferran said that he wanted to show her onest ce that she was going to love to see, she didn''t expect it to be what she was seeing now.


    ''Another swimming pool.'' She said staring at the swimming which appeared to berger than the ones outside.


    "So, you have three swimming pools in your house." She said moving closer to the pool.


    "Yeah," Ferran said, walking closer.


    "Nice." She said with a nod but she didn''t seem as impressed as she was when he showed her the other parts of the house and to make matters worse, he said it was something she was going to love but it clearly wasn''t.


    "You don''t like it?" He said after noticing the look on her face.


    "No, it''s just that I wasn''t expecting it to be another swimming pool." She said, "You already have two outside, what do you need this one for?"<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    Ferran let out a sigh before slowly walking closer to the swimming pool.


    "This is my private swimming pool and unlike the others outside, it has a special feature." He said.


    "Special feature?"


    "Yeah."


    "Can I see it?"


    "Sure, just take off your heels and put your feet in the water."


    "Is that really necessary?" She asked with an ufortable look on her face.


    "Yeah, you''ll like it, trust me." He said.


    "Okay." She said before moving closer to the pool.


    She slowly removed her heels and dropped them by the side before sitting down beside the pool and dipping her foot into the water.


    After watching her do that, a smile appeared on Ferran''s face as he removed his shoes and threw them by side before going to sit beside her.


    "How does the water feel?" He asked.


    "A bit chilly." She replied slowly, kicking her feet in the water.


    "That''s about to change." He said before dipping his hand into his pocket to bring out a tiny remote with just two buttons, a blue one and a red one.


    "Huh?" Emma said before turning her gaze to him.


    He pushed the red button and immediately she began to experience changes in the water.


    "How does it feel now?" He asked with a smile on his face.


    "Warm, it''s gotten really warm." She said with a wide smile on her face. "You have a temperature regtor in the pool."


    "Yeah," Ferran said with a nod.


    "That''s nice."


    There were a few seconds of silence between the two as Emma slowly kicked her foot in the water and she was really enjoying the warm feeling of the water on her feet.


    "I don''t know if you would like to go on a swim with me." The midfielder said.


    "I don''t think I''m in the best outfit to go for a swim and I don''t even know how to swim." She replied.


    "I have a swimsuit that could fit you and maybe I can teach you how to swim, what do you say?"


    ''Teach me how to swim, I thought we were supposed to return after checking this ce out.''


    Those were the words she wanted to say but on second thought she decided to keep them to herself.


    "I appreciate the gesture but I don''t think Dave would be happy if he mistakenly walks in and finds the both of us in the pool together, I told him I was going to ease myself, everyone back there knows it''s not supposed to take this long." She said,


    "None of them will be able to find their way here and we can just tell them that I was showing you around, it''s just a little swimming session no one''s going to get hurt." He said, getting really close to her now.


    Emma stared back at him with her heart racing as she was starting to get really ufortable and there was only one thing she could do to get out of the situation.


    She quickly got up from there and picked up her heels before she began to put them on.


    "I''m sorry Ferran, but a swimming session is going to take really long and I have to return to Dave." She said as she slid her left foot into her heels. "I see you''re not ready to return to the party yet but don''t worry, I can find my way back, maybe another time, and also, thanks for showing me around." She added with a feigned smile before pulling her dress down a little and quickly making her way toward the exit.


    Ferran watched her until she was gone before he let out a sigh and slowly got up from where he was sitting.


    *****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


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 Chapter 119 The Dinner Party (06)

    The game was still going on between team Mateo and Dave and team Double M ording to Edward.


    "Mateo and Dave have nine points with Double M just one point behind them, they just need to get the point for this round and they''ll be the winners but if Double M gets the point then the game will be extended," Edward said.


    "I wasn''t expecting the game to close up like this," Adolf said before crossing his arms.


    "Mateo has been the one doing most of the work, Dave has just been dropping the ball with almost every touch like he''s not concentrating," Pirlo said.


    "We''re winning this thing," Mateo said before lifting the ball with his foot. "Dave, please concentrate, I''m going to need you if we''re going to win this."


    "Okay," Dave said with a nod.


    <You have every right to be worried, I would be worried if I could be worried>


    Mateo jogged the ball with almost every part of his legs before ying it up and catching it with his head.


    He jogged the ball with his head for a little while before bringing it down to his feet and passing it to Dave.


    "I don''t think that''s a good idea, Mateo," Adolf muttered.


    Dave jogged the ball with his feet to be safe and after a little while of jogging, he sent it back to Mateo who caught it in between his legs and quickly flicked it up before turning to send it to Double M''s side with a smashing kick.


    They were starting to adapt to his smash kicks now and so far they had managed to stop four of his smashing kicks.


    Merino made way for the ball to hit the floor once before he quickly rushed to it and sent it to Minino with a header.


    Minino had a cheeky trick up his sleeves as he quickly flicked the ball so close to Dave and Mateo''s side.


    Mateo was quick enough to understand what he was about to do as he quickly slid to the ball and caught it with his head before it could hit the floor the second time.


    "Oh, no you don''t." The winger muttered before he began to jog the ball with his head as he slowly got up from the floor. "You had your advantage and you were so close to making good use of it, but close is nothing when you fail to make the point."


    "Merino, go long!" Minino yelled as he got ready for whatever Mateo was nning.


    A smile lit up on the neen-year-old winger''s face as this was exactly what he wanted.


    While Merino was running back, he quickly lobbed the ball to the middle.


    "Behind you Merino!" Minino yelled as the ball hit the floor.


    Merino quickly turned but it was already toote as the ball had already bounced on the floor the second time and rolled to his feet.


    "It''s ten points to eight, team Dave and Mateo get the win," Edward said.


    "The kid yed with your minds and it walked quite well for him," Adolf said with a little chuckle.


    "Do you two want to have a go?" The winger asked, looking at Adolf and Pirlo.


    "Sure," Pirlo said with a nod.


    "You''ll have to find another teammate Mateo," Dave said before quickly making his way to the door leading into Ferran''s main house.


    Mateo watched him until he opened the door and quickly made his way into the room.


    "Emma and Ferran haven''t returned since they left their room." He said in realization.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ You have sessfully defeated your opponents ]


    [ +30 exp received ]


    [ +1 stat added to all stats including energy ]


    The goalkeeper didn''t even care about the questpleted message on his screen as he quickly made his way down the hallway.


    "Where could they be in this huge ce?" He muttered as he made his way down the area.


    <I think you should be more worried about what they might be doing together>


    ''What do you mean?''<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    <Let your brain process it>


    ''She would never.''


    <You can''t be so sure of that>


    He increased his pace as he neared a narrow turn in the hallway and just as he was about to turn into the hallway, he ran into Emma who was also quickly making her way toward the area at that exact time.


    Emma lost her bnce after running into him and had almost fallen but Dave was quick enough to catch her before she hit the floor.


    "Are you okay?" Dave asked, looking at her.


    "Yeah." She said with a nod.


    She wasn''t panting but her breathing was a bit paced.


    "You came to look for me." She said with a smile on her face after getting up back on her feet.


    "Yeah, your nose powdering session hassted for more than twenty minutes." He said, checking his watch. "You haven''t been in the bathroom all this while have you?"


    "No." She said, shaking her head. "I should have been back a long time ago but Ferran offered to show me around and I said yes because he said it wasn''t going to take long."


    "He offered to show you around his house?"


    "Yeah."


    "Was his bedroom part of the ces he showed you?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "No," Emma replied, shaking her head.


    "Okay, but where is he?"


    "Um....he''sing." She replied. "I am so d to see you." She added before wrapping her arms around him.


    "Me too," Dave muttered. "Why were you walking like someone was chasing you?"


    "Nobody was chasing me, I just wanted to return to the party as fast as possible." She replied before pulling out of the hug.


    Dave had a lot of other questions to ask and he had some for Ferran too but he decided to keep them to himself for now.


    "Let''s head back now, it''s almost time to start heading back." He said.


    "Okay." She said before quickly wrapping her arms around his.


    Dave was still trying to process the situation, how he ran into her, the answers she had given him, and how Ferran was nowhere to be found.


    He trusted Emma, he really did but for some reason, the answers she had given him didn''t sound that convincing to him.


    <She''s telling the truth, apart from the reply she gave you when you asked where Ferran was, she''s telling the truth>


    ''How do you know that, you never told me you could read other people''s minds?''


    <And I still haven''t>


    ''Then how are you so sure that she''s telling the truth?''


    <I have my ways, you should know that by now>


    ''Finding your way around a question as usual, can''t you just answer a simple question and stop making me more clueless than I was before I asked the question.''


    <You shouldn''t beining, Dave, instead ofining, you should be happy that you have something like me>


    ''I just hope your psychic ability is as urate as I am believing it to be.'' Dave replied as he stopped in front of the door leading to therge room with Emma''s arms still wrapped around his.


    ****


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 Chapter 120 Shocked

    "That was one long nose powdering session," Amaya said as Emma sat down on her seat.


    "It''s been almost thirty minutes since you left," Christina said. "What took you so long and where''s Ferran?"


    "He offered to show me around the house and I saw it as an opportunity to get some useful information for work," Emma said with a shrug.


    "Taking the opportunity to work while at a party, that''s nice," Amaya said before taking a sip from her drink.


    Dave had returned to his teammates after returning to the room and after beating Adolf and Pirlo with the help of Merino with a four points margin, Mateo made his way to the goalkeeper.


    "What was taking her long in there and where''s Ferran?" The winger asked.


    "Ferran offered to take her on a house tour," Dave replied.


    "So, that''s what took them so long in there," Mateo said. "Where''s Ferran by the way?"


    "He''sing."


    It didn''t take long before the door was pushed open for Ferran to make his way into the room holding his phone in his hand.


    The first ce his eyes had gone as soon as he entered the room was the table and he immediately made eye contact with Emma who was just taking a sip from her ss of wine.


    He didn''t keep his gaze on her for long and slowly turned away before making his way to his teammates who were still ying tennis ball.


    "Are you sure anything didn''t happen between you two in there?" Amaya asked.


    That question had caused her to almost spit the liquid in her mouth back into her ss.


    "Why would you say something like that?" She asked.


    Judging by the tone of her voice she was quite offended.


    "The way he looked at you and the way you paused with the ss against your lips when your gaze met his," Amaya said.


    "You are aware that I came here with my boyfriend right?"


    "I know, but things happen."


    "Hey, guys, Razid FC are currently five goals down with twenty minutes left," Ferran said as soon as he got closer to his teammates.


    "Five goals down!" Edward said with a shocked expression on his face.


    "Did Okafor score again?" Adolf asked.


    "No, but he assisted the fourth goal," Ferran said.


    "That guy is something else," Merino said.


    "I''m starting to get a bad feeling about Tuesday''s match," Pirlo said.


    "Um¡­.quick question Ferran, how long did it take for Okafor toplete his hat trick?" Mateo asked.


    "Don''t worry, Mateo, your record''s still safe, he got really close though," Ferran said.


    "How close?"


    "Neen minutes."


    "Yeah, that''s really close, that guy''s going to be a problem for us on Tuesday if we don''t find a way to stop him from getting into our box and shooting from outside," Mateo said.


    "Yeah, we have to win that match at all costs because there''s no covering that goal difference for us," Adolf said.


    "Oh, dear," Ferran said with his gaze fixed on his phone''s screen and a horrid look on his face.


    "What?" Merino asked.


    "They just scored their sixth goal," Ferran said. "And guess who the scorer is?"


    "Okafor," Dave muttered.


    "Yeah."


    "Four goals now!" Merino eximed.


    "I know the guy is a beast but I am going to give myself a sense of confidence and say that Razid aren''t that strong anymore," Edward said.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Yeah, but still they beat us home and away with three goals each and we couldn''t even score against them," Pirlo said.


    "Did you have to spoil it?" Edward grumbled before turning his gaze to him.


    "It''s okay to panic now," Minino said. "But today''s Sunday and we still have a lot of time, Norman has a lot of time to figure out a way to stop them, with the way our team is right now, I don''t think they''ll be able to get six goals past us."


    "But they can get three or two past us and that will be enough to win," Edward said.


    "Instead of thinking that we stand no chance against them, I think you should go home and analyze that match, that''s how other teams find out the weakness of their opponents," Minino said.


    <Finally, someone with something reasonable to say>


    _________ ________


    After spending a few more moments together, the yers thanked Ferran for the party before making their way home.


    Dave and Emma arrived home at exactly 11:00 PM and you could say that both of them were equally tired.


    "That was a nice party, for the most part of it," Emma said before opening the door to the house.


    Dave didn''t say anything as he closed the door and stood there while she made her way toward the staircase.


    As soon as his gaze fell to her heels, he remembered a question that he wanted to ask.


    "Um¡­.babe." He called before she could step on the first step of the staircase.


    "Yeah." She said before quickly turning to face him.


    "I noticed your feet were wet when we met in that hallway." He said, moving closer to her. "Why were they wet?"


    This was something she had been avoiding and now that he asked a question linking to it, she had no option but to tell him the truth.


    "He took me to his private pool." She said,


    "Private pool? For what?"


    "He wanted to show me the temperature regtor, he wanted to show me how it worked so I had to take off my heels and put my feet in the water and it was all nice until¡­.."


    "Until what?" Dave asked.


    "He asked me to get in the pool with him so that he could teach me how to swim." She said with an awkward expression.


    "Why would he tell you that?" Dave said with a furious look on his face.


    ''I knew something wasn''t right, I knew she was holding something back.''


    The goalkeeper was about to say something else when Emma quickly got closer to him and pressed her lips against his.


    "There''s no need to be angry, you know I would never leave you for anybody else." She said as soon as she pulled out from the kiss. "I don''t want this to get in the way of your teammate''s rtionship with him."


    "The party was just a means to get close to you," Dave muttered.


    "Maybe, but he didn''t seed." She said before cing both of her hands on his cor. "I don''t like seeing your face like that."


    ''Ferran.'' He said subconsciously before biting his lower lip.


    He was quite shocked to find out that this was one of Ferran''s main motives for inviting them to the party.


    ''That exins why the others never showed up.''


    "Smile." She said, using her hand to force a smile on his face and when she removed her hands, it stayed that way. "That''s good, now let''s go upstairs and get changed, I love you."


    Dave didn''t say anything as he watched her walk upstairs and as soon as she was out of sight, he let out a deep sigh.


    <If only she knew what was going on in your mind right now>


    ***


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 Chapter 121 Im Not That Mean

    Dave woke up early as usual and he felt like he had gotten more than enough sleep because he didn''t activate his dream control featurest night.


    He stared at the ceiling for a while before turning his gaze to Emma who was still fast asleep, he stared at her for a while before letting out a sigh.


    He removed the nket from his body and slowly sat up on the bed before picking up his phone to see that the time was 6:00 AM.


    He shifted his slippers to the side and slid his feet into his running boots before quickly making his way downstairs toplete his first quest of the day.


    [ +5 exp received ]


    He dropped the container on the floor as usual before quickly making his way outside for his morning run.


    "Four kilometers." He muttered before quickly zooming off toward his normal running route.


    [ +10 exp received ]


    He had only gotten the ten exp forpleting his two kilometers quest but that wasn''t the first time as he quickly turned and began to jog his way back.


    He returned home by exactly 6:32 AM and made his way to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water for his two-hour gym session. On getting there, he could see that Emma was already there pouring herself a ss of water.


    "Hey." She said with a smile on her face as soon as she spotted him. "Good morning."


    "Good morning," Dave said, walking closer to the freezer.


    "I see you''ve justpleted your morning run." She said before taking down half of the water in the ss cup.


    "Yeah," Dave said before opening the fridge and grabbing a small bottle of water.


    She found it quite odd that he didn''t smile back at her when he saw her.


    "Are you going to the gym or do you want to skip it and help me out today?" She asked, smiling at him.


    "I''ll be at the gym if you need me." Dave said before closing the freezer. "You should hurry up so you don''t leavete for work."


    "Hey, wait aren''t you....?" She wanted to ask him something but it was no use as he had already left the room.


    ''He didn''t even bother getting close to me.''


    She stared at the freezer for a while before dropping the ss in the sink and letting out a deep sigh.


    ______ ______


    Two hourster, Luispleted his two-hour gym session and returned to the house.


    The living room was empty when he entered the house but after a few seconds, he began to hear footstepsing down the staircase.


    It didn''t take long before Emma came into his view, she was putting on a ck suit.


    Dave didn''t take his gaze off her for one second until she got really close to him.


    "Hey, I''m about to head off to work." She said.


    "Yeah, you''re alreadyte."


    "That''s not a problem, you know where to find your food when you''re ready to eat right?"


    "Yeah," Dave said with a nod.


    ''When was thest time our conversation felt this awkward, what is going on Dave!'' She wanted to scream out but on second thought, she decided to keep the question of what was going out for now.


    "I guess, I should start heading to work then." She said before slowly making her way to the door.


    <I don''t know you to be this mean, Dave>


    Emma opened the door and was about to leave when she heard Dave call her.


    "Hey, Em," Dave called as she quickly turned to face him. "I love you."


    A bright smile suddenly appeared on her face as soon as she heard him say that.


    "I love you too." She said before she left through the door and closed it.


    "I''m not that mean." The goalkeeper muttered before quickly making his way to the staircase. "To her at least."<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    ________ _______


    With the training time being 10:00 AM, Dave left the house by around 9:50.


    He arrived at the stadium to see that he was the second yer to arrive at the stadium as there was a car already parked in the area and who else''s would it be other than Ferran''s?


    <I suggest you stay in your car and wait for the others to arrive>


    ''I didn''t ask for your suggestion.'' He replied before opening the door and stepping down from his car.


    He made his way into the stadium and to the empty locker room to change into his training kit before making his way to the pitch where Ferran was already training.


    It hadn''t been long since he arrived, that Dave could tell by the fact that he was still runningps around the pitch.


    Ferran stopped what he was doing as soon as he saw the goalkeeper making his way onto the pitch.


    "Hey, bro," Ferran said before raising his hand for an informal handshake as soon as he got closer to the goalkeeper.


    ''He''s calling me bro.'' He chuckled inwardly.


    He stared at him for a while with a grim expression on his face before raising his hand to ept his handshake.


    "How''re you doing?" The midfielder asked.


    "I''m okay," Dave replied.


    "Okay, I should get back topleting myp running." The midfielder said before returning to what he was doing.


    Dave watched him run around the pitch for a little while before making his way to the pile of balls in the area.


    After about twenty minutes, their other teammates began to arrive with the first people to arrive being Mateo and Merino.


    "Wooah, Dave and Ferran super early again," Mateo said before making his way to Dave who was jogging a ball by the time he arrived at the pitch with Merino.


    "How''re you doing bro?" The winger asked as they did their usual handshake and shoulder bump.


    "Good, you?" Dave replied.


    "Same."


    Ferran had appeared in the area now so Mateo got closer to him and repeated what he did with Dave.


    "Looks like you two are starting to form a punctuality bond," Mateo said.


    "Maybe," Ferran said with a shrug.


    "I would have agreed to that before but right now, I don''t think we can ever form any sort of bond." The goalkeeper said before walking off toward the goalpost as Ferran looked at him with a confused expression on his face.


    "What was that about?" Mateo muttered.


    <I thought you weren''t going to make your feelings known until at least the middle of the training session>


    ''I changed my mind.''


    The goalkeeper quickly rushed to the ball lying about twenty-five yards out from the goal post and lobbed it toward the goal post.


    The ball flew straight toward the top right side of the goalpost and hit the crossbar before falling into the goalpost.


    <Nice>


    ''Double hit.''


    It didn''t take long before Norman and the rest of the coaching staff arrived and after talking to them mainly about the uing match before switching to how the training was going to go for the session, it was now time for the training to kick off.


    ****


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 Chapter 122 Oh, No

    The training kicked off as usual with the warm-ups and stretches and after that, they went straight into the main parts of the training.


    Right now the yers were about to y a training match in which two yers had to take turns in picking their yers and the yers doing the picking now were Mateo and Minino.


    "So, I have Dave, Adolf, Roberto, Rnd, la, Edward, Harry, Totti, Fredinho, Ina, and me." Mateo listed the names of everybody on his side.


    "And I have Alexander, Aima, Pirlo, Jonas, Norman, Ferran, Merino, Fred, Roger, Frankie, and me." Minino listed the names of everybody on his side.


    "Alright, boys, head to your sides." The assistant coach said before blowing his whistle. He was going to be taking the role of the referee to make the practice match feel a little bit real, unlike the ones they''d done before.


    After arranging themselves in their various positions it was now time to kick the game off, both teams were ying with the four-three-three formation that Norman wanted them to y with.


    Mateo was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly pushed the ball back to Edward with a backheel pass.


    The match was going tost for fifty minutes, that''s twenty-five minutes for each half.


    Edward received the ball and drifted a little to the right to it before passing it to Totti in the right back position.


    Frankie quickly rushed toward Totti to try and dispossess him but the central midfielder ying the role of a wing-back quickly passed the ball to Dave before he could get to him.


    Frankie didn''t slow down as he changed direction and continued chasing the ball.


    Dave was calm as he waited for the yer to get close before he pulled the ball back and got past him with a swift turn.


    "That was brutal," Rnd said, flinging his right hand.


    Dave pushed the ball out of the box before he sent it flying to the other side of the pitch.


    Mateo and Ferran were there to contest for the ball in an aerial duel and although Ferran had won the duel, Harry was there to steal the ball from him before he could do anything with it.


    Ferran tried to retrieve the ball after losing it but Harry quickly sent the ball back to Adolf with a backheel pass and without wasting time, Adolf sent the ball to Rnd who was running down the right wing.


    Rnd received the ball from Adolf and cut into the middle to avoid Norman beforeying the ball off to Mateo who was in the middle now.


    One of the things Norman wanted to achieve with this training was to see how some of his yers would do in positions other than their natural positions and one of those yers was Mateo whom he was testing as a striker.


    Mateo received the ball and moved closer to Pirlo who was ready to dispossess him by any means possible.


    Mateo didn''t pass the ball as many expected him to, instead he moved closer to Pirlo and feigned moving to the left with the ball to disorientate him before he moved past him through the right with the ball.


    <I know it''s already obvious but if he keeps the right attitude and lifestyle, he will soon be recognized as one of the best yers in the world but it won''t happen in this league>


    ''Yeah.'' Dave replied.


    Mateo moved forward with the ball and just before reaching the edge of the box, he passed the ball to Fredinho on the right.


    Fredinho roughly dribbled his way past Jonas but Jonas was still onto him and just before he got pulled down, he quickly drilled the ball low to Mateo who was being marked by Aima.


    The young winger received the ball with Aima right behind him but he had something up his sleeve.


    With Aima trying to clear the ball, he took a swift turn with the ball, and with his left foot, he sent the ball flying toward the top left-hand corner of the goalpost.


    Alexander happened to be at that exact spot when he shot the ball so all he had to do was jump up and tip the ball out for a corner kick.


    "Mateo''s side seems way better at the moment." A youngdy standing beside Norman said.


    "Yeah, but this is just the beginning," Norman said with both of his hands in his pocket.


    The corner was sent in quickly by Edward and was cleared by Aima as quickly as it was taken.


    The ball fell to Ferran''s feet with most of their opponents still on their side and Fred ready to start a counter-attack but he had a little problem in the name of Adolf.


    Ferran trusted him to find his way past the captain as he quickly passed the ball to him and Fred knowing that he didn''t naturally have more pace than Adolf decided to use a dummy to get a head start on the defender.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    He shifted to the side to allow the ball to roll past the both of them before he quicklytched onto the ball.


    "Shit," Adolf muttered before he quickly started to pursue him.


    "He''s going to catch up to him before he gets to the goalpost." Thedy beside Norman said.


    Dave was slowly returning to his goal line with Fred heading toward him and Adolf hot on his trail.


    Fred knew Adolf was going to catch up to him soon and dispossess him on the ball but with Dave still returning to his goal line, he had a golden opportunity to score.


    He lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper from twenty-five yards out and it looked like it was going to go in if he didn''t do anything about it.


    "No, no, no," Dave muttered as he dived toward the ball and with the tip of his gloves, he hit the ball to send it over the bar but instead of flying over the bar, the ball hit the crossbar and flew past him, luckily for him, Adolf had already run past Fred.


    The defender brought down the ball with his chest and quickly passed it to Dave before Fred could get to him.


    Dave was breathing heavily as he caught the ball right at the edge of his goal line.


    <Imagine if this happened in a real match>


    ''It has, but I ended up hitting the ball into the goalpost.'' Dave replied before getting up with the ball.


    The match continued as Dave quickly passed the ball to Rnd who quickly passed it to Mateo who dropped deep to receive the ball as he had something nned in his mind.


    The winger knew someone was approaching him from behind just like he wanted but he didn''t realize how fast the person was moving as he waited for the person to get closer before he attempted to turn with the ball and this was where things had gone wrong.


    In a desperate attempt to stop the youngster, Roger slid toward him and brought him down with a very tough tackle.


    The referee blew his whistle before quickly making his way.


    "That''s not good." The female beside Norman said.


    It didn''t take long before Mateo got up on his feet with the help of Roger.


    "Thank goodness he''s back on his feet." She said as Norman let out a sigh of relief but it was too early to feel relieved as the winger crashed back to the floor after taking three steps forward.


    "Arghhh." He groaned with his eyes closed and his hand on his right leg.


    The medical team quickly made their way to the winger as they didn''t need to be told that something was wrong.


    "This isn''t good," Dave muttered with a worried look on his face.


    After a few minutes, the medical team discovered what was wrong with the winger and their leader made his way to Norman to inform him.


    "It''s something minor right?" Norman said as soon as he stopped in front of him.


    "No, he has sustained a serious muscle strain." The man said.


    "Muscle strain? That means...."


    "Yes, he can''t y the match tomorrow."


    As soon as those words left his mouth, a horrid look appeared on Norman''s face.


    "Oh, no."


    ***


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 Chapter 123 Focus On Your Part

    The yers had devastated looks on their faces after finding out that Mateo would not be ying the match against Lesica United tomorrow and would in fact be out for an estimated time of three weeks, almost all of them.


    "This isn''t happening," Dave muttered as he made his way to Mateo who was sitting on the floor on the sidelines with a lot of his teammates already gathered around him.


    "Did you have to tackle him that hard?" Merino couldn''t hide how madly furious he was at Roger for putting Mateo in this condition.


    "Calm down, Merino, he wasn''t nning to injure him, he just wanted to dispossess him of the ball," Ferran said.


    "Then he should have done it more carefully," Merino said. "How the heck are we supposed to beat Lesica United now." He muttered.


    "Hey, please nobody should me Roger for what has already happened," Adolf said as there were a lot of angry fingers already pointing at the midfielder. "This is not the first time something like this is happening and we all know that he didn''t do it intentionally, why would he even do it intentionally?"


    While everyone was saying their mind about the current situation and Norman was having some words with the medical team, Dave made his way to Mateo who was lying on the floor with his eyes closed.


    "How does it feel?" The winger heard the goalkeeper''s voice and slowly opened his eyes to see him kneeling beside him.


    "Very painful." He muttered before gritting his teeth.


    "Sorry."


    "I''m the one who should be sorry."


    "Why?" Dave asked.


    "I let the team down when they needed me the most, I''ve gotten fouled a lot of time this season, I''ve even been brought down under dangerous challenges but not once had I gotten injured, why did it have to be now that we''re about to y our most important match of the season?"


    "You didn''t let anybody down," Dave said, shaking his head. "Bad things happen to all of us at some point in our lives and as much as we try to fight them, some of them still manage to hit us when we least expect them.


    "Your injury is very bad for both you and the team but there''s nothing we can do about it, it has already happened, and the best we can do is find a way to beat Lesica United without you, while you go get your treatments and rest and then return stronger."


    After hearing him say that, a smile appeared on Mateo''s face before he slowly turned his gaze to Ferran and his other teammates who were standing behind Dave now.


    "I know you guys can do it, Lesica United may be tough with the return of Okafor but I know you guys can find a way to make that conference league qualification."


    "We''ll try our best," Ferran said with a nod.


    After a few more minutes of exchanging nice words and a few jokes, the medical team returned to help the winger out of the area so that his healing process could begin.


    After watching them until they were out of sight, the team continued their training session.


    With arguably the most important yer in the team unavable now, they had to train harder and find a way to cover their dependence on him.


    _______ _______


    After training for about two hours, Norman took the yers to the locker room to take them through the tactics and the changes he had made to the forward positions because Mateo was no longer avable.


    After taking them through the tactics, the yers were allowed to go to get some rest before tomorrow''s match in the afternoon.


    Dave was one of the first yers to make their way out of the stadium before quickly hopping into his car and zooming off to his house.


    It didn''t take him long to arrive home and after parking his car in his usual parking spot, he got down from the car and slowly made his way to the door.


    He opened the door and just kept staring into the house with a devastated look on his face.


    He let out a deep sigh before finally making his way into the house.


    "I know I said we could beat Lesica United without Mateo but right now, I am not feeling it all." He said before making his way to the couch and crashing down on it.


    <Why don''t you concentrate on how you''re going to stop every time they make it past your defense and leave the gamey and goal scoring><novelnext>  </novelnext>


    ''Didn''t you see how we were struggling against Frono FC? Mateo is a game changer and we are going to need someone just like him in this match against Lesica United.'' Dave replied.


    <But he isn''t avable and that is why Norman is trying a different approach to the match>


    ''I know but I''m not so confident about it.'' Dave replied. ''I have been feeling tense because of this match sincest night and right now, it just got worse.''


    <Just focus on your part>


    Dave let out a sigh as he brought out his phone from his pocket to see that the time was 12:48 PM.


    "I have to be at the stadium by 3:00 PM for the press conference." He muttered before unlocking his phone to see that he received a text from Emma.


    ? ''How''s Mateo?'' He read the message subconsciously after opening it.


    "Of course, the news has started going around."


    _______ _______


    In Unique City''s Publishing Company building, Emma''s workce, she had been summoned by her boss Miss. Nelly and for about three minutes now, she had just been standing there while Miss. Nelly worked on other things while pretending like she wasn''t seeing her. But she made sure to turn her gaze to her after she was done with what she was doing on her desk.


    "Emma." She said with a smile on her face.


    "Yes ma''am."


    "There''s going to be a press conference at the Wondanimo Stadium by 3:00 PM today, are you aware of that?" She asked.


    "Yeah," Emma replied with a nod.


    "Good, now I want you to go over there and get the most information you can get from whoever is going to be there, I don''t know who''s going to be there, I didn''t bother to check."


    "It''s Norman Tate the coach and Dave Richards, ma''am."


    "Oh, your boyfriend and his coach, that''s nice, at least he''s going to listen to more of your questions," Nelly said.


    "Yeah," Emma muttered, instantly regretting why she gave her that piece of information.


    "And also you can confirm this Mateo Smith getting injured in training rumor that''s flying around in the air."


    "Mateo''s injured?"


    "I don''t know, haven''t heard it from a trustworthy source, but you can confirm that in the press conference."


    "If Mateo is really injured, that''s not good for the team," Emma said.


    "I know and I don''t care that much," Nelly said. "Now go get yourself ready so that you can be there before 3:00 PM."


    Emma didn''t say anything as she slowly turned and began to walk out of the room.


    "Instead of worrying about how his injury may affect the team, I should be worried about the type of injury he may have sustained, that is if the rumor is true." She muttered to herself. "I can''t wait for the press conference when I have a very close source of information." She added before bringing her phone up.


    ****


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 Chapter 124 The Press Conference

    With 2:32 PM showing on the clock, Dave was ready for the press conference and was making his way down the staircase now.


    He walked into the living room and looked around for a while before picking up his car keys from the table and making his way out of the house.


    He was about to open the door to his car when his phone began to vibrate in his pocket.


    He brought out his phone from his pocket to see his girlfriend''s name disyed on the screen and for a few seconds there a smile appeared on his face before vanishing as he picked up the call and ced the phone against his ear.


    "Hey." He said.


    "Hey, how''re you doing?" She asked.


    "I''m okay, you?"


    "I''m surviving so far." She replied. "Where are you now?"


    "At home, about to start heading to the stadium."


    "Okay, that''s good."


    "Is that the reason why you called?" Dave asked.


    "Um¡­..no I just wanted to ask you how Mateo got injured." She said, "No, don''t answer that question, I''m supposed to find that out at the press conference."


    "Okay," Dave asked.


    "Actually, I called to ask about what happened this morning." She said,


    "What happened this morning?"


    There was a little moment of silence between the two before she finally said something.


    "Never mind." She said with a sigh before ending the call.


    <Be careful what you wish for, Dave>


    ''I''m not wishing for anything.'' Dave said before pulling the door open and entering his car.


    It didn''t take long before the engines roared after he closed the door and after driving out to the road, he zoomed off toward the stadium.


    _______ ______


    He arrived at the stadium with about fifteen minutes left before the conference started so he had enough time to exchange a few words with Norman before the two made their way to the main hall of the building for the press conference.


    The desk had already been set up with microphones on top of the desk.


    There were already four journalists in the area, three males and a female with the cameramen and just as the two sat down, the door was pushed open for Emma to enter the room and make it two female journalists in the room.


    "Wee, Mr. Norman and Dave Richards." One of the male journalists said.


    "Yeah, let''s just get this over with," Norman said.


    "Okay, you will be facing Lesica United tomorrow, that is yourst fixture of the season, Lesica United destroyed Razid FC six goals to zerost night with Okafor Michael scoring four goals, how do you n on approaching the match with you?"<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Lesica United are a very strong team just like every other team we''ve faced and with the return of Okafor, they''re now stronger but we''ll approach the match the same way we''ve approached other tough matches this season and hope we can get a good result," Norman replied.


    "And how do you n on stopping Okafor, he was a real menace to your team thest time you faced Lesica United?" The female journalist in the room asked.


    "You''re right, he is a menace to my team but we''re better now with Dave finally finding his form between the sticks, I think we can stop him this time," Norman said with a nod.


    While Norman was answering other questions from the journalists, Emma turned his gaze to Dave who hasn''t gotten any attention so far, and raised her hand a little to wave at him with a smile on her face.


    There was no response from Dave as the goalkeeper just stared at her for a little while before slowly turning his gaze away from her.


    ''What is wrong with him?''


    "Many people are saying that this is going to be like a final for your team given the fact that you have to win it as a draw or lose means that Lesica United will qualify for the UEFA conference league ahead of you, I want to know your thoughts, is qualifying for the conference really that much of a priority for you and your team?" One of the male journalists in the room asked.


    "Why wouldn''t it be a priority for us, this is the first time we''re getting this close to qualifying for a Europeanpetition in a long time and we will fight with everything we have to make sure that we get to be part of thatpetition next season," Norman answered.


    "Speaking of fighting with everything you have," Emma said, walking a little closer to the area. "There has been a rumor going around that Mateo Smith got injured in training today, can you please confirm if this is true or false?"


    "It''s true," Norman said with a sigh.


    "How did it happen and what''s the status of the injury?" She asked.


    "He was brought down by Roger David during the training session, it was a muscle strain so he won''t be avable for our match tomorrow."


    "Mateo Smith has been a keen part of your squad, the best yer in the team in my opinion, how do you feel about taking on Lesica United without him?" One of the male journalists asked.


    "Honestly, I''ve been thinking about it since it happened this morning and it''s a bit scary but we have a squad with other talented yers, I had to change a few things because Mateo won''t be ying and hopefully with the changes um¡­they will be able to get the win, I have confidence in them."


    "Okay, another key yer in the team so far is Dave Richards who has been surprising everyone recently with his heroics. A lot of people have been talking about his current form. How did you unlock this form in him?"


    "I know I''m his coach and I know a lot of you would think that I''m the reason why he''s ying the way he''s ying currently but that''s not exactly the truth, as his coach, I didn''t have that much confidence in him but I still tried to encourage him in the little ways that I could. I think the question about unlocking his form should be directed to him, his answer will be more urate."


    <At least he''s an honest coach>


    "Okay, Dave." The journalist said, turning his gaze to Dave. "What is your secret, how did you suddenly unlock this newfound form of yours?"


    Dave stared at him for a while before letting out a sigh.


    "Like coach said he yed a part in helping me find my ce, Mateo Smith has always been there for me, he''s my best friend in the team but people can''t just improve with encouragement, can they? Something made me realize that I needed to work on myself and pushed me to start working on myself to improve." Dave expressed. "But that''s not just it, I would have maybe quit a long time ago if I didn''t have the biggest motivation in my life after my mother, my girlfriend." He added before turning his gaze to Emma


    Hearing him say that, her face melted into a warm smile and everything she had in her mind was beginning to disappear but she was still wary though.


    ''Why is he constantly switching?''


    *****


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 Chapter 125 Im Not Mad At You

    With the press conference now over, it was time for Dave to start heading back to his house but at the moment, he was having a conversation with Norman as the both of them made their way to the exit.


    "Alright then, see you tomorrow," Norman said before turning and walking back inside.


    Dave opened the door and looked straight to his car to see that there was someone waiting for him there.


    Emma had her back against his car and turned his gaze toward the stadium entrance as soon as he stepped out of the building.


    "Hey," Dave said as soon as he got closer to her.


    "Hey." She said,


    "Do you want me to give you a ride?" He asked before reaching for the door but Emma quickly used her body to cover the door and stopped him from opening it. "What''s going on?"


    "I should be the one asking that question." She said, "Since today you''ve been acting differently."


    "Different in what sense?" Dave asked.


    "One moment you''re acting like you''re good again, the next moment you''re back to the Dave I know and then a few minutester you start giving me the idea that you''re mad at me for something again."


    "Shouldn''t you be heading back to work?"


    "Stop trying to change the topic, Dave." She said with an annoyed look on her face before letting out a deep sigh. "Why are you mad at me? I didn''t do anything wrong and if I did, why don''t you just tell me what it is."


    Dave stared at her for a while before slowly shifting her out of the way so that he could get his hand on his door handle.


    "You think if I were mad at you I would reply to your text that fast, answer your call that fast, or even be talking to you like this right now."


    "That''s what I''m saying, you''re constantly switching as if you''re trying to make up your mind on staying mad at me or not." She said,


    "I''m not mad at you." He said before opening the door. "People act differently toward other people for different reasons, it doesn''t necessarily mean that they are mad at the person."


    "Is it because of what happenedst night?" She asked but there was no response from him. "Hope you didn''t start a fight with him?"


    "I''m not that stupid." He said before entering the car.


    "But nothing happened, I told you to let it go." She said,


    "That''s the thing, what if something had happened?" Dave said. "I may not say anything about it but I''ll make it clear to him that we are no longer on good terms, I''m just worried about Mateo."


    "Why are you worried about Mateo?" She asked.


    "He sees him as his mentor and they are mostly together on and off the pitch." He said.


    "Oh." She said, staring at him.


    "Get in, I''ll drop you off at your workce."


    "Um¡­. don''t worry, I have to get something before heading back to work." She said,


    "Okay, I''ll see you at home then, bye." The goalkeeper said before closing the door and zooming off.


    She waited until his car was out of sight before she brought out her phone from her handbag.


    She dialed a number before cing the phone against her ear.


    "Hello, Mateo, where are you now?"


    _______ _______


    "It has just been confirmed that Mateo Smith won''t be ying that match after getting injured during the team''s training session today and with him out of the way, I think Lesica United can get an easy one."


    "We''ll see about that," Mateo muttered from where he was lying on his bed.


    He was watching a football show just like the Bilbeth Premier League Weekly but this one had three male pundits.


    His mother was about to enter his room with a bunch of stuff he asked for in a tray when she heard knocks on the door.


    She quickly turned around and dropped the tray on top of the table in front of the couch and made her way to the door.


    She opened the door to see her daughter standing there, Emma was quite surprised to see her there.


    "Mom?" She said with a surprised expression on her face.


    "Hello, dear," Martha said with a bright smile on her face before wrapping her arms around her in a warm hug.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "What are you doing here?" Emma asked after pulling out from the hug.


    "I heard Mateo was down with a muscle injury and I knew it was going to be hard for him to move around and get things so I quickly made my way here to help him out with things until he recovers." She exined.


    "Okay, what about dad?" Emma asked.


    "Your old man can handle himself," Martha said, walking to the tray she dropped on the table. "How are you doing? How''s everything going with Dave?" She asked before picking up the tray.


    "Everything''s fine." She replied with a nod.


    "Has he proposed?"


    "No, not yet," Emma said, shaking her head.


    "Okay, do you mind taking this to your brother, I need to go finish something in the kitchen?" Martha asked.


    "Sure," Emma said, taking the tray from her.


    "Thank you."


    The woman took two steps out of the area before quickly turning back.


    She picked up both of the game controllers on the couch and dropped them in the tray.


    "He asked me to bring those for him too." She said.


    "Okay," Emma said with an awkward expression on her face.


    She watched her mother until she was out of the area before she slowly made her way to the door to Mateo''s room.


    "Come in!"


    A single knock was all she needed for him to tell that from inside.


    She opened the door to find her brother lying on his bed enjoying his show.


    "Hey, sis." He said with a smile on his face as soon as he saw her.


    "Mom told me to bring this to you." She said before walking to the table beside his bed and dropping the tray on top of it.


    "Thanks."


    She stared at the television''s screen for a while before turning her gaze back to her brother.


    "May I sit?"


    "Sure," Mateo said before quickly sitting up on the bed to create space for her to sit beside him.


    The winger had his gaze on the television''s screen as he waited for her to sit down before turning his gaze to her.


    "It''s really nice to have you." He said. "So what is it that you wanted to talk about?"


    "Ferran." She muttered. She was a bit hesitant before saying that.


    "Ferran?" Mateo said with a confused expression on his face.


    "Yeah." She said with a nod.


    "Okay, what about Ferran?"


    She seemed reluctant to say what she wanted to say and that was when Mateo quickly put together what he thought this might be about in his mind.


    "What really happened between the both of youst night after you left to ease yourself with him?" He asked. "It took you guys almost thirty minutes to return and in training today Dave was acting like Ferran did something to him, don''t tell me you''re starting to¡­you know."


    "No, why would you ever think something like that?!" She quickly turned her gaze to him with a furious look on her face.


    ****


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 Chapter 126 Match Test

    The sky was dark with the only little source of lighting from the half-moon in the sky.


    Emma let out a sigh as she stood in front of the door, she checked her watch to see that the time was 8:30 PM before slowly pushing the door open to discover that the light in the area was turned off meaning that the whole ce was dark and there was no way for her to see.


    "What is going on?" She muttered looking around in the dark. "And what is that nice smell?"


    "Watch your step." She heard Dave say before the lights were immediately turned on.


    She felt the effect of the sudden surge of light in her retina as she quickly covered her eyes before opening them to see Dave standing beside the light switch on the wall beside the staircase.


    "Dave." She said with a relieved tone before turning her gaze to the side to see that the table was properly set up with flowers and dishes and that scent she had picked up earlier was the scent of one of her favorite dishes. "What''s this?"


    "Surprise," Dave said, walking closer to her with a bright smile on her face.


    "Surprise?" Emma said with a confused expression on her face.


    "Yeah," Dave replied, smiling at her.


    ''He''s actually smiling at me for the first time since today.''


    "What''s the asion?" She asked.


    "Nothing, I just wanted to surprise you with a nice dinner." He said before grabbing her by her arms and pulling her closer to the table.


    "Is that chicken soup?"


    "Yeah," Dave said with a nod.


    "Wow, you made it yourself?"


    "Yeah."


    "I thought you weren''t in a good mood today." She said.


    There was a moment of silence between the two after she said that.


    "You''re right, I wasn''t in a good mood today mainly because of what happenedst night but I shouldn''t have treated you the way I did today."


    <You didn''t even do anything that bad or else she would have been crying when she entered the house>


    "I''m sorry, the fact that you''re somebody I can fully trust and rely on is one of the reasons why I am grateful to have you in my life."


    "Oh¡­.Dave." She said with a sweet voice before stepping closer to him and wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "You don''t have to apologize for anything, seeing you mad at me for the first time was a bit scary but you''re sort of cute when you''re mad."


    "I wasn''t mad at you, you wouldn''t be saying this if I was really mad at you," Dave said after pulling out from the hug.


    "Really? The fact that you haven''t kissed me today says otherwise." She said,


    "We''ll, today hasn''t ended yet, has it?" He said before pulling her closer to his body for a kiss. "There you go, now let''s sit down and eat."


    Emma smiled at him before taking her seat close to the bowl of chicken soup.


    "This smells nice, I wonder if it''s going to taste as nice as it smells." She said with her gaze on the dish.


    "Why don''t you grab a spoon and see for yourself?" Dave said.


    She didn''t say anything as she picked up a spoon, took a spoon of the chicken soup, and put it in her mouth with the look on her face before she put the spoon in her mouth indicating that she was expecting it to taste bad but as soon as the soup hit her taste buds, her face immediately lit up.


    "Wooah, did you make this?"


    <Did she forget that you just told her that you did?>


    "Yeah, are you surprised?"<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Yeah, it''s so good, better than most of the ones I''ve had before." She said before going for another spoon.


    "Better than your mom''s," Dave said.


    As soon as she heard him say that, she dropped the spoon before slowly turning her gaze to him with a grim expression on her face.


    "No." She stated bluntly.


    ________ ________


    Just five minutes into his sleep, the goalkeeper found himself in the endless white space.


    He had decided to turn on his dream control feature today as he wanted to test out something before the match tomorrow.


    "Hello, Dave," Catherine said as soon as she appeared in front of him. "For today''s training¡­"


    "No, Catherine, I''m in charge today, that''s why I turned on the feature," Dave said, cutting her short.


    "What do you want to do?" She asked.


    "A match with Lesica United without Mateo." He said.


    "You want to see what the match will be like without Mateo?" She said,


    "Yeah, can you help me do it because I''m not sure I can get everything right down to every detail?"


    "Let''s see," Catherine said before the whole area began to change until it had turned into the Wondanimo stadium after that, the fans began to fill up the stands, and right after that, the yers began to fill up the pitch in their various positions.


    He felt a chill run down his spine on spotting Okafor and just like he wanted, Mateo was not on the pitch with Ina Shaw filling up his position.


    "And they are going to y like the real yers would right?" Dave said.


    ''Well, I don''t have a proper evaluation of how the yers from Lesica United y but they will y like real yers in a team especially Okafor so watch out for him.'' Catherine said in his mind.


    The match kicked off as soon as Dave wanted it and for the first five minutes, Unique FC dominated the game in terms of ball possession without really doing anything reasonable attack-wise but when Lesica United got possession of the ball from a failed shot attempt, all hell broke loose.


    The yer did a quick step over to get past Ferran before quickly sending the ball to the right winger who didn''t have any problem getting past Edward and was racing down the side now.


    "Are you still restricting my skills?" Dave asked.


    ''Well, this is your training idea, not mine so, no, they''re going to work as long as you want them to.''


    "Okay."


    The winger got closer to Ronald and after trying to confuse him with some quick leg overs, he cut the ball back to Okafor who got past Adolf with a nutmeg and was through on goal now from outside the box.


    The striker was never hesitant to shoot from outside the box as he sent the ball flying toward the top right side of Dave''s goalpost.


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    Dave quickly dived toward the ball expecting his ball ma to make it easier for him to push out but the power behind the shot was just too much for his level one ball ma as the ball smashed past the tip of his gloves and fell into the back of the.


    "I was so close to making that save," Dave muttered after crashing to the floor.


    ''Well, that''s a bummer.''


    *****


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 Chapter 127 Last Match Day

    ''Your ball ma isn''t strong enough to stop those kinds of shots, it''s still at level one.''


    "But I can enhance it and make it stronger, this is my dream, after all, right?" Dave said with both of his fists on the ground.


    ''What''s the point of enhancing it here when you can do the same in the real match, have you suddenly forgotten why you''re doing this?''


    "Yeah, you''re right." The goalkeeper said as he slowly got up from the floor. "I have to use everything I can use in the real world. Tell me, what will happen if I activate my shot-stopping attribute?"


    ''Well, since this is your dream and you can easily reverse the effects after it had happened, why don''t you activate it and see for yourself?''


    "Okay." He said before letting out a deep sigh.


    [ Shot stopping attribute activated ]


    [ All stats have received (+10) boost ]


    "Is that it? Just a boost."


    ''Your attribute is still at its lowest level so this is the best it can do for now, with increased dexterity you can dive towards the ball faster, with increased endurance, your body can withstand the toughest of shots and with increased strength, pushing out shots even with the tip of your gloves gets easier.''


    "Okay, I understand but what''s the downside that you were talking about?"


    ''Lesica United are leading a counterattack now, why don''t you make a save and see for yourself.''


    Just like Catherine said, Lesica United were leading a counterattack on their goalpost now with Okafor running down the middle with the ball with Okafor and Aima hot on his trail, and the other yers right behind them.


    Dave was off his line and was trying to move back and while he was doing that, Okafor found an opportunity he had to take before Adolf closed up on him.


    He rolled the ball further out of his reach and just as he closed up on it, he lobbed it over Dave who was still returning to his goal line.


    "I hate these types of balls," Dave muttered as he watched the ball fly past him.


    He took a quick leap and dived toward the ball and with the tip of his right glove, he tipped the ball over the bar before it could fall into the back of the.


    ''Nice save.''


    "Yeah," Dave said as she sat on the floor panting.


    [ 98/116 Energy ]


    "I only lost one energy percentage after trying to save that shot from Okafor howe making this save took way more than that?" The goalkeeper inquired.


    ''That''s why I told you that using an attribute, especially at the beginning of the match is quite risky, at this stage, what the attribute does is push your body to do things it cannot do naturally, you think it''s just about the temporarily added stat points but it''s way more than that and because your body cannot do these things naturally, pushing it to do them will require way more energy.'' Catherine exined.


    "Why does everything have toe with a downside?"


    ''Let me let you in on a little secret, these downsides won''t always be there, if you keep working hard to level up and match the body levels, these skills and attributes will naturally be a part of you and you won''t have to face the downsides anymore."


    ________ ________


    The goalkeeper let out a loud yawn as he slowly stretched his hands before sitting up on his bed.


    ''Losing two goals to nothing wasn''t that bad, Okafor scoring both of the goals from long-ranged shots was a bit scary.'' He said subconsciously.


    <To be honest, I was expecting them to do way more than that>


    ''Yeah, because you made my teammates start ying like a bunch of idiots.''


    <That is how they y, I''ve been studying them during the matches, that is how they y>


    ''Then maybe your evaluations were wrong because Merino cannot end a match without at least attempting a shot from outside the box, all you made him do in the match was just pass the ball around even when he got a clear sight of the goal.''


    <He is supposed to pass the ball because his long shot uracy isn''t anything to be impressed about, he is supposed to pass the ball to someone with a better chance of scoring from that far out>


    ''You''re just making them do what you want, I knew something was off with the way they were ying.''


    <Besides the decision-making, that is exactly how they y>


    ''Really, and you think your decision-making was the best, you just made them worse, they couldn''t even get a goal and why did Ferran have to hit the crossbar every time he shot from outside the box?''<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    <He does have the most woodwork hits this season so...>


    ''You''re unbelievable Catherine.''


    <Yeah, nobody would believe you if you told them I was in your head>


    ''Why do I feel like this isn''t the Catherine I know.'' Dave said subconsciously before pping his palm into his face


    "Hey, you''re awake," Emma said with a weak sleepy voice as Dave quickly turned his gaze to her to see that she had her eyes wide open and was staring at him with a bright smile on her face.


    "Hey, good morning," Dave said, smiling at her.


    "Good morning." She replied. "Hope you slept well?"


    "Yeah, what about you?" Dave asked.


    "I feel great." She said with a little burst of energy.


    "That''s good to hear, I think I should head down for my morning run now." The goalkeeper said and was about to step down from the bed when she grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and pulled him down on the bed.


    ''What''s going on?!'' He screamed in his mind.


    "You''re not going anywhere just yet." She said.


    Dave could swear he could see blue mes in her eyes burning and rising with desire.


    <I like this>


    ________ _______


    Afterpleting all his daily quests, Dave returned to the house at exactly 9:00 AM expecting Emma to be gone by then but he was surprised when he opened the door and found her working on herptop in the living room and the fact that she was still putting on her pajamas baffled him more.


    "I thought you were supposed to be at work." He said moving closer to her.


    "I''m not going to work today." She said with her gaze on herptop''s screen.


    "What did you call in sick or you just don''t want to go, you could lose your job?"


    <Why would she call in sick? She''s not sick.>


    ''You have no idea how things work in the minds of most people.''


    "It''s not like I won''t be going to work, I will work today given the fact that I will be at your match this afternoon and a certain match at night but I won''t be going to work today." She exined.


    "Oh, you''ll be going from home," Dave said.


    "Yeah."


    "Okay, I''ll leave you to continue doing what you doing, I have to be at the stadium by 10:30 AM anyway." He said before quickly making his way upstairs.


    _________ _________


    Murmurs filled the locker room as the yers were sharing their opinions and thoughts on a few things while waiting for Norman to arrive.


    It didn''t take long for Norman to arrive and as he made his way to the board in front of the yers, the murmurs among the yers slowly went down.


    "Good morning coach." Adolf greeted as most of his teammates followed him to greet the coach.


    "Good morning boys," Norman said. "I know I gave you the tactics formation and starting eleven of the match yesterday, but after staying up all night studying a few things about our opponents, I''ve decided to make major changes to everything."


    "Major changes," Dave muttered.


    *****


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 Chapter 128 Red Skulls

    "The first change that I am going to be talking about is our formation. I stayed up all night studying Lesica United''s ying style and I have discovered what makes them deadly attacking-wise besides Okafor''s individual efforts," Norman said.


    "And what is that?" Adolf asked.


    "They attack mainly down the wings and make it look like the wings are their main attacking options and then all of a sudden, they switch and turn the center their main attacking option knocking their opponents off guard so that before they can reposition themselves and defend, they have already done what they wanted to do and Okafor just makes things worse," Norman exined while trying to give the yers a better understanding by illustrating with the board and the stic dots.


    "Okay, so what formation and style do you think we can beat them with?"


    "I wasing to that, but you should bear in mind that we have never used this formation in a match but we''ve tried it out once." The coach said.


    After saying that, pretty much everybody in the room had figured out what formation he was talking about.


    ''Five-three-two.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    "We''ll be ying with the five-three-two formation, I need three center backs so that there can be at least two yers on standby waiting for them to switch to the middle and stop them from taking us by surprise," Norman said. "But before I jump into further exnation of how everything''s going to go, you all should know the yers who will be starting with this formation. Dave will be in between the sticks as always, Norman will be in right back, Rnd in left back, and the three center backs will be Adolf, Pirlo, and Aima."


    "Come on coach, I should at least start in a formation that requires five defenders," Jonas said.


    "Start where? In a center back position?" Norman said, forcing out chuckles from some of the yers in the room.


    The left-back had a furious look on his face as he mumbled something before slowly putting his face down.


    "You''ll be part of the match Jonas but you''re not in a good enough condition to be starting," Norman said. "Now back to what I was saying, the midfield will have our usual midfield trio of Edward, Ferran, and Minino and the attack will be led by Fredinho and Merino."


    ________ ________


    After borating more on his tactics and making sure the yers understood it well enough, the yers were allowed to head home by 11:40 AM and return before 1:00 PM to start the pre-match warm-up as the match was going to kick off by 2:30 PM.


    "That was fast," Emma said.


    She wasing downstairs when Dave opened the door and entered the house.


    "Yeah, we didn''t have any training session, Norman just talked about his new tactics so we''re supposed to return to the stadium before 1:00 PM to start the pre-match warm-up," Dave said as he moved closer to her.


    "That won''t be a problem, I''ve got everything you will be needing ready in your backpack upstairs," Emma said as she slowly took off the backpack on his back.


    "Thanks, babe." He said with a smile before kissing her. "I think I need to go upstairs and get a little rest."


    The goalkeeper slowly made his way upstairs and after reaching his room, he slowly made his way to his bed and crashed down there.


    He stared at the ceiling for a while before slowly closing his eyes and just a few minutes after closing his eyes, he found himself in an endless dark space.


    "I sleep at night and end up in an endless white space, I sleep during the day and end up in an endless dark space." He muttered as he looked around before calling, "Catherine." But there was no response from her.


    "Catherine." He called again but there was still no response from her. "What''s going on? Why isn''t she responding?"


    The goalkeeper sensed someone approaching him from behind and quickly turned to see tworge red skulls causing him to let out a scream, a scream which had reflected in the real world as he quickly shot his eyes open.


    "Hey, hey, hey," Emma said as she quickly rushed to him. "What happened?"


    Dave didn''t reply as he began to look around the room strangely while breathing heavily.


    "What happened?" She asked after grabbing his face and turning it to her.


    "I was in this dark room when suddenly these strange things popped up behind me, they looked really scary and alive," Dave exined abruptly.


    "Strange things like what?" She asked.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Red skulls," Dave replied.


    "Red skulls?"


    "Yeah." He said with a nod. "Please get me a ss of water."


    Emma stared at him for quite a while before replying.


    "Okay." She said before getting up from the bed. "It hasn''t been up to five minutes since he made his way here and he has already slept and had a nightmare during the day." She muttered as she made her way out of the room.


    "What was that Catherine?" He muttered as soon as Emma was gone.


    <I don''t know, I was locked out, I couldn''t get to you>


    ''Locked out? How is that even possible?'' Dave questioned. ''And this isn''t the first time I''m seeing something like this after dozing off during the day.''


    <I don''t know exactly how it happened or how it was possible but it felt like a glitch>


    ''I didn''t know the system could get glitches.''


    <The chances of it happening once every two months are low but sometimes it may go on to happen three times in a month, maybe whatever you saw had something to do with the glitch>


    ''How do you know that it may happen three times in a single month, I haven''t had it for up to a month?''


    "Here''s your water," Emma said after quickly entering the room and making her way to her.


    "Thanks," Dave said after taking the ss of water from her.


    ''You haven''t answered my question, Catherine.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he slowly took down the contents of the ss cup.


    <I think you should find out why she''s looking at you like that first>


    ''Huh?''


    He turned his gaze to his girlfriend to see that she was indeed strangely looking at him.


    "Is there something on my face?" He asked, touching his face.


    "No, no, not at all." She said, shaking her head. "It''s just that it hasn''t even been up to five minutes since you made your way up here and you''ve already fallen asleep to have a nightmare."


    ''It hasn''t been five minutes?''


    He couldn''t believe it as he was aware that the time in his dream was very slow.


    Thest time he slept off during the daytime, it felt like five minutes but when he woke up, he discovered that he was wayte for training.


    "You''re not serious." He said as he brought up his phone to see that the time was 11:52 AM. "You are serious." He said with a stunned look on his face.


    ****


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 Chapter 129 Unique FC Vs Lesica United: Battle For A Conference League Spot

    With 12:32 PM showing on the clock, Dave got ready to start heading to the stadium, they were supposed to be there before 1:00 PM so he had to start heading there now.


    "Here," Emma said before handing him his bag in front of the door. "Everything you''re going to need is inside."


    "Yeah, but you know you don''t have to say that every time," Dave said after taking the bag from her.


    "I say it so that you wouldn''t have to ask to confirm." She said.


    "Okay," Dave said before slowly opening the door and stepping outside. "I''ll see youter then."


    "Yeah, I''ll see youter, bye." She said before closing the door.


    The goalkeeper arrived at the stadium at exactly 12:41 PM and without wasting time, he quickly made his way inside the building.


    After going through a few staff who wanted to ask him a few questions, he made his way to the pitch where some of his teammates were already warming up.


    On the pitch currently were Ferran, Alexander the junior squad goalkeeper, Merino, Fred, Luis Roberto, Pirlo, and Frankie.


    "Hey, Dave," Ferran said, walking closer to the goalkeeper as he entered the pitch.


    Dave didn''t bother turning his gaze to him until the midfielder got close enough to him and called his name again.


    "Huh?" Dave said before turning his gaze to the midfielder.


    "How''re you doing?" He asked.


    "We''ll, I''m fine thanks for asking," Dave said before continuing his walk forward.


    "Hey, wait," Ferran said before closing up on him again. "What is going on with you?"


    "What do you mean?" Dave said, slowly turning his gaze to him. "Since yesterday you''ve been acting like we''re fighting, did I do anything to you?"


    "We''ll, not exactly but you should be more transparent in doing the things you do or a lot of people will start treating you the way I am doing now and by people, I''m referring to our teammates and that won''t do our team any good." The goalkeeper said before continuing his walk further down while Ferran watched him with a perplexed look on his face but deep down, he knew what he was talking about.


    "So how''s Mateo doing?" Rnd asked before firing a shot towards Dave''s goalpost from about twenty-five yards out.


    The ball was sent flying toward the bottom left corner but it wasn''t stretched that farther away from the goalkeeper so it wasn''t really that hard for the goalkeeper to save.


    "I mean I spoke with himst night and he sounded really energetic, I just want to know if you spoke with him this morning and how he''s doing," Rnd said.


    "Yeah, we spoke this morning," Dave said before throwing the ball to him. "And he''s fine, he may possibly show up here today but I hope he listens to me and stays home."


    "Yeah, he should rest properly for next season, we''ll try our best to win this one without him," Rnd said. "I wonder when our opponents are going to get here."


    "Well, you don''t have to wonder anymore," Dave said with his gaze on the tunnel area and when Rnd turned his gaze to the area, he could see that Lesica United yers had arrived and were making their way to the pitch now.


    Almost all of the other Lesica United yers seemed invisible to the Unique FC yers on the pitch as they all had their eyes on one man.


    A dark-skinned man almost the same height as Ferran who was a little shorter than Dave, he had a low cut, and his face was all smiles as he made his way onto the pitch.


    <So, that''s the Okafor, this will be an interesting match to watch>


    ________ ________


    With the pre-match warm-up over, the yers were back in the locker room now to dress up for the match.


    They were putting on their signature home jersey which was the orange jersey with ck polka-dots while Dave was putting on a lemon-green kit as the goalkeeper''s kit.


    "Alright boys, I know we can do this, let''s go out there and show them what we can do," Norman said to conclude his motivational speech.


    The yers were all lined up in the tunnel holding the hands of different children mascots while waiting for the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    Lesica United yers were putting on their away jersey which was a ck shirt with three curvy blue stripes on the side and ck shorts, their goalkeeper was putting on a red shirt to go with ck shorts.


    It didn''t take long before they were given the signal to start marching forward into the pitch.


    "Wee to our viewers from all around, there are about five other matches going on at the moment but for some reason, this one catches my interest the most," Jim said. "It''s Jim Waterson again and I am here with my regr Comentator, Mr. Steve Jefferson."<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "It''s nice to be here again to offer my opinion on this match, I think we''re in for a ride on this match," Steve said.


    "I absolutely agree, Steve," Jim said.


    The fans were cheering as the yers lined up in front of the pitch while Unique FC''s anthem resounded through the speakers in the area.


    Mateo was sitting on his bed with his gaze on his television screen and a bright smile on his face.


    "Go guys, you can do it." He muttered.


    He brought out his phone and opened the match scores on Google.


    Google always tried to predict the oue of matches by percentages on their scoreboard page and looking at his phone, it looked like Lesica United had a higher chance of winning ording to google.


    The bar showed a sixty percent winning chance for the away side, thirty percent for the away side, and an eight percent chance of the match ending in a draw.


    "We''ll see google, we''ll see." The winger said before turning his gaze back to the television.


    The sides had been choosing as the yers made their way to their sides.


    Fredinho was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle to kickstart the match.


    "I hope we can win this one," Dave muttered.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Quest number: 01 ]


    [ Make six crucial saves ]


    [ Rewards ]


    [ +2 stat points ]


    [ +50 exp ]


    [ +10 upgrade to energy ]


    ''No stat points again?''


    <Wait>


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Quest number: 02 ]


    [ Do not concede more than two goals ]


    [ Rewards ]


    [ +2 skill points ]


    [ +100 exp ]


    <There you go>


    "What we are about to witness here is a battle for a special spot, Unique FC have pulled themselves through and have finally made it to this point, the only thing that stands in their way now is beating Lesica United, they must beat Lesica United because a draw or loss will mean that they have failed to secure a spot in UEFA conference league next season." Jim articted. "And it is going to be tougher than them now that Mateo Smith is out injured, what do you guys think? Can Unique FC do it or will they be subdued by Lesica United?"


    ****


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 Chapter 130 Not This Time

    The referee blew his whistle as Fredinho quickly rolled the ball to Minino who didn''t waste any time passing it to Norman before one of their opponents got to him.


    "The game is set, the race for the conference league spot has begun, can Unique FC pull through just like they have done for seven straight matches now, or are they going to get pummeled by Lesica United once again?" Steve said.


    "It''s not just about pulling through, Jim, they have to win the match in order to achieve their purposeing into this match this afternoon," Steve said.


    "I know, Steve, and to be honest I think Lesica United have a better chance of winning this one, they have Okafor back and look at what they did to Razid FC on Sunday night and the fact that Mateo Smith is out injured makes things more difficult for the home side, it''s unfortunate that he had to get injured before their most important match of the season," Jim said.


    "Let''s watch and see what happens."


    Unique FC were dominating the match in terms of ball possession like they always did but so far, they hadn''t been able to create anything.


    Ferran received the ball back from Merino after a failed attack and now they were pulling the ball to pull out Lesica United yers and then start attacking again.


    "Minino," Jim said as Minino received the ball from Norman.


    Minino tried to push forward with the ball but there wasn''t much space for him but that wasn''t a problem as he had a lot of passing options.


    He found Edward in space on the right side of midfield and quickly crossed the ball over to him.


    "Crossing the ball to the other side, switching the point of attack," Steve said.


    Edward was free when Minino crossed the ball but now that the ball was flying over to him, a yer was heading toward him at full speed.


    His instincts kicked in as the midfielder jumped high and nodded the ball to Rnd before the yer could get to him.


    "Edward must be like, ''That was close''," Jim said.


    Rnd trapped the ball with his left foot and without wasting time, he quickly cut into the middle with the ball.


    "That boy really loves cutting into the middle," Steve said.


    "And whenever he does that, something dangerous happens," Jim said.


    Rnd''s


    past a yer before he could do anything to stop him and just before he could get to another yer waiting to stop him, he passed the ball to Ferran who had shifted a little to the right to give Rnd space to run.


    Ferran received the ball from Rnd, and the midfield dynamo didn''t have any ns of stopping the momentum Rnd had created as he quickly dribbled past the midfielder heading toward him, and was now running toward the eighteen-yard box.


    "Ferran''s still going," Jim said.


    Ferran got close to the box and feigned shooting at the yers before sending the ball back to Rnd with a backheel pass.


    Rnd knew what he needed to do as soon as he received the ball as he quickly found Fredinho making a run into the box and quickly sent the ball to him.


    "Oh, he''s found Fredinho in space but he''s not exactly in space," Steve said.


    Fredinho had a defender marking him but the striker didn''t fidget as he quickly pushed the ball forward with his pace advantage and just before the ball would roll out for a goal kick, he lobbed the ball into the box.


    Luckily for Unique FC, the ball came flying toward an unmarked Rnd who quickly sprang up to meet the ball with a header.


    "Rnd!!" Jim eximed.


    The goalkeeper was glued to the spot as the ball hit the crossbar and fell over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, it hit the crossbar!"


    The fans let out loud gasps after witnessing that clear chance go to waste like that.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "No!" Rnd screamed before stomping both his feet on the ground.


    "Just like Mateo would always say, you''ll get it next time," Merino said before tapping Rnd on both of his shoulders.


    "The youngster was so close to scoring his second goal of the season after starting the attack with a brilliant run, that would have gone down as a really memorable goal," Jim said.


    "Yeah," Steve said.


    The clock was showing twenty-five minutes and so far there had been nothing from either side so far.


    Okafor received the ball on their side of the pitch and without hesitation, he quickly passed the ball to their central midfielder.


    "Okafor had only seven goals before going down with a one-month injury and on his first match since returning from injury he made his goals eleven with a four goal brilliance against a Razid FC side that has been pretty solid this season," Jim said.


    "Okafor is a force to be reckoned with but his only problem is that he gets injured easily," Steve said.


    Lesica United were dominating the game now and they were doing a really good job of keeping the ball away from Unique FC yers.


    The left-back received the ball from a cross and quickly pushed it to the left midfielder who had Minino on him.


    Minino tried to dispossess the yer off the ball but he was swift enough to turn away and pass the ball to their central midfielder who quickly sent the ball to their right winger.


    The winger quickly got past Rnd with an overhead flick leaving the left back to eat the dust but Rnd wasn''t going to back down after that humiliation as he quickly chased the winger down.


    "Lesica United are building something dangerous here," Jim said.


    Rnd couldn''t get to the winger on time as he quickly crossed the ball into the box but the cross wasn''t much of a threat as Pirlo headed it out of the area.


    "Nice clearance from Pirlo but it''s not over yet," Jim said.


    The ball fell to the feet of Okafor outside the box as Adolf quickly made his way to him and tried to pull him down with a sliding tackle but the striker quickly grabbed the ball with both feet and jumped over.


    "It''s Okafor and he''s got a clear sight of the goal now!" Jim eximed.


    "Oh no." Dave gasped.


    The striker readied his leg to fire the ball as Dave quickly read where he was going to ce the ball.


    He sent the ball flying toward the bottom right side of the goalpost and Dave had almost dived to that side until Aima put his leg on the way and deflected the shot to the left side.


    "Not this time." The goalkeeper muttered under his breath as he quickly dived toward the slowed-down ball, caught it with both of his gloves, and fell to the floor breathing heavily.


    "Oh, what a save from Dave!" Jim eximed. "Unique FC''s ball ma turns up again."


    "Nice save Dave," Adolf said after getting closer to the goalkeeper.


    ''That was close.''


    <Yeah, really close>


    ***


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 Chapter 131 Unpleasant Ending To The First Half

    The clock was showing forty minutes now and yet the score was still even as none of the sides had been able to prate their opponent''s defenses and strike a deadly blow.


    They''ve been finding the gaps on their opponent''s sides but their finishing had not been good enough.


    Okafor had been trying his outside-the-box shots whenever he found the space but two of them had flown over the bar while one which had been shot directly at Dave was an easy catch for the goalkeeper.


    Unique FC had also gotten their chances, two chances to be precise.


    The first chance was a low cross into the box from Rnd, Merino had gotten hold of the ball at the other end and could have easily put it away at the bottom right-hand corner of the goal post but he was a bit off bnce when he got the ball so his shot had gone wild but it came really close to hitting the crossbar at least.


    The second chance came from a clever run from Ferran, the midfielder ran down the middle and did quick stepovers to get rid of two yers who were trying to stop him.


    On getting to the edge of the box, he found Fredinho quickly making a run into the box and passed the ball to him.


    All Fredinho needed to do was get a touch on the ball to send it flying toward the goal post but the yers heading toward him at that time seemed to have put a lot of pressure on him as he sted the ball wide from the top.


    "This match is turning out to be tougher than I expected," Jim said.


    Lesica United were the ones with the ball with forty-two minutes showing on the clock and they seemed to be getting desperate for a goal now as they were quickly pushing their attack.


    Their central midfielder was currently moving forward with the ball with Ferran quickly making his way toward him from behind but before Ferran could get to him, he passed the ball to Okafor who quickly passed it to the left winger who had a little space to cover before he got closer to the retreating defense of the hosts.


    Minino quickly made his way to the winger to try and dispossess him and he had almost done it by bringing the winger down under a nice challenge but the yer quickly grabbed the ball with his feet while he was on the floor, turned toward Okafor who had gotten a little close to him and pushed the ball to him.


    "Good job Jonathan," Okafor said as he trapped the ball under his foot.


    He sensed Pirloing toward him at a fast pace and quickly moved back with the ball to avoid the defender before quickly passing the ball to the central midfielder who was close to him now.


    "Over here, Levi!" The right winger yelled as he ran toward Rnd.


    The midfielder heard his call and quickly passed the ball to him.


    "Lesica United are looking dangerous here."


    The winger tried everything possible to shake off Rnd but the youngster wasn''t giving in.


    "Yeah, but it looks like he''s having trouble with Rnd," Steve said.


    The winger tried everything possible and had almost lost the ball in the process but that was all he needed to find a space to get past him.


    Rnd stretched his leg toward him and had almost kicked the ball out for a throw-in when the winger quickly grabbed the ball with his right foot and quickly shifted away from the left back.


    "No," Rnd muttered.


    "It looks like he''s through now," Jim said.


    The winger moved forward and found Okafor inside the box with a neat pass.


    Okafor had Aima on him and needed to move back with the ball a little to create enough space to curl the ball into the box from the top left-hand corner but before he could do that, he was brought down by Aima who quickly raised his hand to im that he didn''t touch him but the referee had seen what he wanted to see as he blew his whistle as soon as the striker hit the floor.


    "Oh, dear, it''s a foul against Unique FC in their box," Jim said.


    "How the heck is that a foul?!" Adolf seemed furious as he quickly made his way to the referee but he wasn''t the only Unique FC yer who had something to say to the referee.


    "That didn''t look like a foul to me," Dave muttered.


    <I don''t know, it looked like he pushed, no it didn''t look like he pushed him, he pushed him but I don''t think that push would have been enough to make him fall like that><novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "You have no right to speak to me like that or tell me what to do." The referee said before reaching into his pocket and bringing out a yellow card which he quickly raised above Adolf.


    "Oh, the third booking of the match, looks like he said something the ref didn''t like," Steve said.


    "I''ve made my decision so there''s no reason to check VAR." The referee said before walking closer to the penalty area.


    "I thought we were going to go in on the break with a goalless draw but it looks like Lesica United have been given their best chance to open the scoring," Jim said.


    "Oh, no," Mateo muttered with his whole focus on the television.


    "Don''t worry guys, I''ve got this," Dave assured his teammates as he stood on his goal line.


    <Embracing a little bit of confidence in a penalty shoot-out, I like that>


    The ball was ced on the penalty spot as Okafor stepped up to take it while the referee made sure all the yers were out of the box.


    "Okafor''s going to be the one to take the penalty, he''s taken five penalty kicks this season and has only managed to convert three of them. Can he convert this one?" Jim said.


    "Come on, Dave, you can do it," Emma muttered from where she was sitting.


    "He''s a good goalkeeper but penalty kicks are really tough to keep out," Matthew said.


    "I know that," Emma said, turning her gaze to him.


    ''Can I activate the attribute now?''


    <You don''t need it to stop a penalty kick but don''t worry, I''ll tell you when to activate it>


    ''Okay.''


    The referee blew his whistle after he was sure everything was in order and now all that was left was for Okafor to take the kick.


    He closed his eyes and opened them with a sigh before taking two steps backward.


    ''He''s probably going to put it on the left side.'' Dave thought.


    Before the goalkeeper knew what was happening, the striker quickly raced toward the ball and slotted it into the back of the from the top right side of the goalpost.


    "He''s put it away, they''ve finally got that opener!" Jim eximed.


    Lesica United fans burst out in cheers as the yers gathered around Okafor.


    Unique FC yers had devastated looks on their faces.


    ''If that attribute was active, maybe I would have been fast enough to make that save.''


    <How? You weren''t even able to make up your mind on where to dive>


    "Looks like the first half won''t be ending with a goalless draw after all."


    *****


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 Chapter 132 The African Sniper

    The referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to a close with the scoreboard still showing zero goals to one.


    "What a first half that has been," Jim said. "Both sides fought so well and it was quite unfortunate that Unique FC had to concede a penalty which Okafor didn''t have any problem putting away as Dave was glued to the spot. Will Unique FC be able to pull aeback in the second half because if they don''t do anything about that goal deficiency then they can just kiss that Conference League Spot goodbye?"


    "They''ve been the better side so far and like you said that penalty was unfortunate for them, um....I think we''re going to see something entertaining from them in the second half." Steve said.


    The stars table showed that Unique FC had fifty-nine percent ball possession while Lesica United had forty-one percent ball possession in the first half.


    The hosts had yed six shots and none of them had been on target while the guests had yed five shots and gotten three of them on target.


    Unique FC had a total of three hundred and twenty-six passespleted so far while Lesica United had only managed toplete two hundred and forty-seven passes.


    Unique FC yers were all in the locker room now, sitting on their various seats with Norman standing in front of them and the coach didn''t have a very pleasant look on his face.


    "You guys have tried, defensively only, what''s with the sloppy passes, Ferran, have you forgotten how to pass?"


    "No, coach," Ferran muttered.


    "Then what is going on, our midfield mostly controls the game since all the matches we''ve yed in this unbeaten run of ours, what is going on with you guys? Now you need Rnd to be constantly moving into the midfield positions to do your work for you." Norman said. "And don''t any of you dare tell me that you''re not used to the formation because there''s nothingplicated about this formation given the fact that I have a very good tactic to go with, a tactic you guys have failed to implement so far."


    "I''m just saying but the match would have still been even if the referee had not given that absurd penalty," Fredinho said.


    "No, we would be leading by now if you had taken all the good chances that you were given, three good chances and you blew them over the bar, you guys weren''t even able to get a shot on target in the first half!" Norman said, breathing heavily.


    "I understand that you''re angry coach as you should be but now''s not really the time to scold anyway, if you have anything to say to us, say it," Adolf said.


    There was a little moment of silence in the room before Norman slowly raised his gaze to the yers.


    "Alright, listen carefully everyone because I am going to only say this once." He said.


    The break was over now as the yers slowly made their way to the pitch to start the second half.


    "Wee back everyone, it looks like the second half of the match is about to kick off," Jim said. "The battle for the conference league spot, Lesica United are currently leading but we have high hopes that Unique FC will be able to put up a nice show for us."


    "Remember what I told you," Norman said to Adolf and Ferran as the two responded with nods before making their way onto the pitch.


    "Looks like there''s going to be no change from either side," Steve said. "Looks like Norman still has faith in his current eleven''s ability to deliver."


    Okafor stood over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he passed the ball to the yer closest to him.


    "That''s the whistle, the second half has kicked off," Jim said.


    The guests passed the ball around trying to find an opening while Unique FC yers were looking for a way to gain possession of the ball.


    The second half was three minutes gone and so far, no Unique FC yer had been able to touch the ball.


    One of the center-backs received the ball from Okafor after the striker was relentlessly chased down by Ferran and had no option but to pass the ball back.


    The center back pushed forward with the ball a little before he sent it flying toward their right winger on the right wing.


    "Oh, no you don''t," Rnd said as he quickly rushed toward the yer and sprang up to meet the ball before he did.


    "Aerial duel here between Rnd and Tenin," Jim said.


    Tenin was caught off guard as Rnd brought the ball down with his head and pushed forward with it a little before passing it to Edward who quickly rolled it to Ferran.


    "Ferran."


    Lesica United''s defense had been drawn out a bit and now it was time for the midfield dynamo to strike.


    Merino was already in position and all he needed to do now was lob the ball to him and that was exactly what he did.


    "Oh, Merino''s through here!" Jim said with a tone of excitement.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    The defenders were caught off guard as Merino was already past them with the ball so they did the only thing that could possibly save them in a situation like this.


    "Offside!" The four of them yelled before raising their hands but there was no response from anyone as Merino was still heading toward the goalpost for a one-on-one situation.


    "He''s one on one surely!"


    The goalkeeper left his line to try and stop the winger and that right there was where he killed himself, Merino slowed down for him to get a little closer before he chipped the ball over him.


    The goalkeeper tried to reach for the ball but his effort was futile as the ball flew over him and bounced on the goal line before flying into the goalpost.


    "Oh, he''s put it away, nicely done like a hot knife slicing through butter," Jim said.


    "They''ve finally gotten that equalizer," Steve said. "Quite earlier than I expected."


    The home fans let loose their cheers and chants of joy as Merino ran to the side and jumped up, and as soon as his feet touched the ground, he screamed at the top of his lungs.


    His teammates had quickly gathered around him now but they all seemed to have forgotten the fact that the referee had not blown his whistle and the linesman on the sidelines had his g raised.


    "What''s this? It''s an offside?" Jim said.


    The referee blew his whistle and pointed to the spot where Merino was when he received the ball before pointing toward Unique FC''s side of the pitch.


    "What the heck?!" Edward yelled before making his way to the referee, in no time, about five other Unique FC yers had gathered around the referee.


    "Why don''t you go check the VAR and confirm things because I think this decision is absurd?" Edward said.


    "And who are you to call my decision absurd?" The referee said before bringing out a yellow card from his pocket and showing it to Edward.


    "Another yellow card from another confrontation," Jim said.


    <That didn''t look like he was offside when he received that ball>


    ''It looks like this referee''s got some kind of agenda against us.''


    "So I did that celebration for nothing," Merino muttered to himself as he walked away from the area so that the free kick from the offside could be taken.


    The goalkeeper stood a little distance away from the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly raced toward the ball and sent it flying into the other half of the pitch.


    This time Tenin was the one who won the aerial duel between him and Rnd as he quickly brought the ball down with his chest and rolled it to the midfielder who didn''t waste time to send it to Okafor.


    Aima quickly raced toward the striker to try and bring him down but the striker neatly got rid of him with a nutmeg and now it was all up to Adolf and Pirlo but he wasn''t nning to dribble them two as he quickly pulled his leg back and sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    Dave quickly dived toward the ball heading toward the top right side of the goalpost but the ball was way stretched off the limits of his gloves and his ball ma wasn''t able to do anything as the ball fell into the back of the.


    "I can''t believe it! Okafor has just doubled it for his team with a banger from outside the box!" Jim screamed.


    Okafor let out a scream as he ran to the sidelines and did a slide before his teammates began to gather around him.


    "He has once again proven why he is called the African sniper," Steve said.


    ''Isn''t it time to activate the attribute yet!'' Dave screamed inwardly as he punched the floor in frustration.


    ***


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 Chapter 133 Dont Get Cocky

    Unique FC were two goals down now with forty-nine minutes showing on the clock, and some of the yers were already beginning to lose hope.


    ''Isn''t time to activate the attribute yet?!''


    <Alright, go ahead and activate it>


    ''So it''s now that we''ve conceded the second goal that you want me to activate it.''


    <If you were so desperate in activating it so that you could stop that ball then maybe you should have gone ahead to do it, after all, I can''t stop you from activating>


    Dave didn''t say anything again as he slowly raised his gaze to see that his teammates were still with the ball.


    [ Shot stopping attribute activated ]


    [ All stats have received (+10) boost ]


    ''I hope this works.''


    "The hosts are still two goals behind and they are doing everything possible to pull one back at least," Jim said.


    "The conference league spot just got farther away from them but still, anything is possible," Steve said.


    "We just have to find the spaces and put them to good use," Minino muttered as he ran down the right wing with the ball on his feet.


    A Lesica United yer raced toward him but just before the yer could get close to him, he turned and rolled the ball to Norman who quickly moved to the middle with the ball.


    "Norman''s left his position and is intercepting the opponent''s half through the middle," Jim said.


    Norman raced past a couple of Lesica United yers before they could get a hold of him and just before he ran into another yer, he passed the ball to Ferran who quickly turned to get rid of the yer behind him and was now loose, running down the middle.


    "This could be Unique FC''s chance," Jim said.


    Ferran continued moving down the middle as the three yers currently at the back with Merino and Fredinho ready to run riot in their positions.


    The midfielder passed the ball to Fredinho on the left side as the striker used a dummy to confuse the yer.


    The ball was rolling toward the goalkeeper and it was all a matter of who could get there first between Fredinho and the goalkeeper.


    "Fredinho," Jim said with a voice of anticipation.


    The striker raced toward the ball, it was a really close race but he had gotten to the ball first and touched it with his right foot before he was tackled down by him.


    "Oh, he''s been brought down by the goalkeeper inside the box," Steve said.


    There was no one in the stadium who had not seen what happened there but still, the argument of who got there first was going to spring up very soon.


    As expected, the referee blew his whistle for a foul and now everyone was waiting to see which team he was going to say the foul was against.


    "He''s probably going to make another biased decision, the man''s got something against us, two of his biased decisions are the reason why we''re two goals down now," Dave muttered before crossing his arms.


    <Why don''t you watch and see what happens before making your conclusion?>


    ''What is there to....''


    The goalkeeper paused as he could see the goalkeeper pointing at the penalty spot and just after doing that, Lesica United yers began to gather around him.


    "He gave us a penalty." He muttered.


    <Now you see that he''s not biased and just doing his job>


    ''Or he''s doing it to make everybody think he''s not biased, he''s probably going to make another biased decision to help them get the third goal but I won''t let that happen.''


    <Oh, Dave>


    ''What?''


    <The referee wasn''t the one who yed the shot that you were unable to save, it was Okafor Michael><novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Oh, it''s a penalty for Unique FC," Jim said.


    "Yeah, that is definitely the right call there because Fredinho certainly got to that ball first but still I can''t help but feel that getting the penalty was nned by them," Steve said.


    "Whether it was nned or not, they''ve gotten the penalty, a massive opportunity for them to pull one back," Jim said.


    "So, you''re going to take the penalty kick right?" Merino said, looking at Ferran.


    "I''m not that great with penalty kicks, why don''t you take it?" Ferran said.


    "You want me to take it?"


    "Yeah, buddy, I know you can put it away."


    Merino quickly turned to see Fredinho standing behind him.


    "You earned the penalty kick so get to take it now that both of our penalty kick specialists aren''t here."


    "Okay," Mateo said with a nod before making his way toward the penalty spot where the ball was lying.


    "Looks like Merino''s going to be the one to take the penalty kick," Jim said.


    Just as the referee was asking the yers to get out of the box, the goalkeeper walked up to Merino and brought his mouth close to his ear to whisper something.


    "They''re depending on you to score their penalties now, you should just st the ball away and save yourself the embarrassment of having your shot easily saved by me." The goalkeeper whispered before turning and making his way back to his goal line.


    Merino didn''t say anything as he watched him walk back with his main gaze on the name Carlo written on the back of his jersey with the number one below it.


    After making sure that all the yers were out of the box, the referee waited for about six seconds before blowing his whistle.


    "There''s the whistle, can Merino put it away and pull one back for Unique FC?" Jim said.


    The winger stared at the ball before taking two steps backward and then taking in a deep breath.


    Carlo jumped on his goal line as Merino quickly raced toward the ball and sent it flying toward the bottom left corner while Carlo dived toward the right side.


    "He''s sent the keeper the wrong way and it''s a goallll!!!! Unique FC have pulled one back!" Jim eximed. "He was calm andposed enough to put it away like that, what a neat strike!"


    Merino raised both of his hands to celebrate as Ferran and Fredinho quickly made their way to him and grabbed him before the rest of their teammates gathered around him.


    "That was nicely done by Merino, it''s Unique FC one, Lesica United two now," Steve said. "We have fifty-five minutes on the clock, there''s still a lot of time for a lot of things to happen. Will Unique FC be able to make a fulleback or could it possibly end in a draw and see Unique FC miss out on the conference league spot? Well, there''s still a lot of time left to find out."


    After celebrating with his teammates, Merino slowly made his way to the goalkeeper who was back on his feet.


    He stood in front of him for about ten seconds without saying anything.


    "What do you want?" Carlo asked.


    "Oh, nothing," Merino said, shaking his head. "I just came to tell you that you should have just gotten out of the goalpost in the first ce and saved yourself that embarrassment."


    That one hit Carlo had as he bit his lower lip and folded his left hand into a fist.


    "What are you so happy about, we''re still leading?" The goalkeeper said.


    "That''s true, but you''re forgetting the fact that the match is over yet," Merino said before turning to start walking back to his side of the pitch. "Here''s something for you to focus on, I''ve been in a lot ofpetitions and when people get cocky with me, they lose."


    Carlo had a furious look on his face as he watched the winger walk away but beneath that anger, he was feeling something else.


    *****


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 Chapter 134 What A Finish!

    Dave didn''t have a pleasant look on his face as he looked at the wall formed by five of his teammates at the edge of the box.


    A free kick was just about to be taken by Okafor from a very close range.


    <You should be d that it isn''t another penalty kick, free kicks are betterpared to penalty kicks but when you have a really good free kick taker, it can give you the same feeling as facing a penalty kick>


    ''Can you keep quiet and let me concentrate?''


    The free kick was a result of Rnd''s careless tackle on the Nigerian striker at the edge of the box.


    The striker had wriggled free from Aima and was about to take a shot toward the goalpost so the left-back had to do what he had to do.


    The left-back had gotten a yellow card for the challenge but that doesn''t matter given the fact that this was theirst match of the season.


    Just before the free kick could be taken, Norman and Lesica United''s managers decided to bring off some tired legs and bring on some fresh legs to see if they would be able to make any impact on the game.


    Norman made only two changes with sixty-five minutes showing on the clock.


    Norman Kole was brought off and reced by Luis Roberto, and Edward was brought off and reced by Harry Norman.


    Now that the new yers were on the pitch, it was time to resume the game with the free kick which had already been termed deadly by Dave.


    "This doesn''t look good for Unique FC but still, there''s no guarantee that Lesica United will put good use to the chance they have been given right now," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but this is Okafor''s second time taking a free kick this season, thest one he took, he scored it," Steve said.


    "You could call him something of a good free-kick taker but let''s see if he can put this one away and put his team two goals ahead again," Jim said.


    "Hey, stay calm." Adolf turned to Dave to say.


    "I know," Dave said with a nod.


    The remaining Unique FC yers that weren''t being used as walls were inside the box marking Lesica United yers but not all the yers were inside the box.


    Okafor was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly took four steps backward before he quickly raced toward the ball and sent it flying toward the top left-hand corner.


    "Okafor!"


    Dave dived toward the ball at that exact time, he had a clear sight of it and it wasn''t far away from both of his hands either.


    A free kick like that was supposed to be hit out by the goalkeeper but to everyone''s surprise, Dave caught the ball with both of his hands before crashing to the floor.


    "Oh, my goodness! He caught it! How did he catch that?!"


    You could tell by his voice that he was utterly shocked.


    What Dave did there was get to the ball as fast as possible with the help of the boost from his attribute and then use his ball ma which was bound to work wonderfully as long as his hands were close enough to the ball.


    "It has been a long time since I''ve seen someone save a free kick like that," Steve said. "Dave Richards is really turning into something else."


    After making that save, Dave didn''t get up immediately as he seemed to be a little out of breath.


    "Oh, thank you, Dave," Rnd said as he quickly got closer to him and fell on his body.


    <Nice save, Dave, looks like you''re going to pull through after all>


    [ 76/116 Energy ]


    ''Yeah.''


    <Just don''t move too much until they start attacking>


    ? "Seventy minutes on the clock now and Lesica United are still leading, it could have been three goals to one now but all thanks to Unique FC''s ball ma that didn''t happen," Jim said.


    Unique FC were still with the ball passing it around and anticipating their next move but Harry made a silly ball control mistake after Ferran passed the ball to him and that resulted in him losing the ball.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    The right midfielder quickly got hold of the ball and quickly yed it through to Okafor who was kept onside by Aima and quickly zoomed past him to receive the ball.


    "This isn''t good for Unique FC, Okafor''s made his way past to receive the ball, and now the only person standing in his way and getting the ball into the back of the is Dave Richards," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but Adolf and Rnd are hot on his trail from the right wing," Steve said.


    Okafor knew that he wasn''t that fast to get to the goalpost before the two speedsters heading toward him from the right wing so he decided to do something before Dave could fully retreat to his goal line.


    He gave the ball one more long push before closing up on it to lob it toward the goalpost.


    Dave had a horrid look on his face as he watched the ball fly over him.


    "He''s gone for the goal!" Jim eximed.


    "No!!!" Dave screamed as he quickly sprang up and pushed the ball further up with his right hand.


    "Dave!" Jim eximed.


    The ball looked like it was going to fall over the bar and Dave was d as that was what it looked like to him too but the ball had a different idea as it hit the crossbar and flew past him as he fell into the goalpost.


    "No." He muttered.


    Okafor and Adolf both had eyes on the ball now as it was rolling toward the edge of the box.


    Everybody expected Okafor to get to the ball first as he was the closest person to it but Adolf had something up his sleeves.


    The striker raced toward the ball and was about to send it flying toward the goalpost which had a disorganized Dave in it when the ball was quickly taken off his feet with a neat tackle from Adolf, the defender didn''t even make contact with the striker.


    "Dave! Long ball!" Adolf yelled as he quickly passed the ball to him.


    "Yeah, long ball," Dave said, panting as he quickly got up from the floor, raced toward the ball, and sent it flying far into the pitch.


    "That is marvelous work from the Unique FC, I can''t believe Okafor was unable to score from those chances," Jim said.


    "Yeah and now they''re turning defense into attack," Steve said.


    The ball was sent flying toward Harry who did well to neatly win the aerial duel before he sent the ball flying to Merino who was being marked by a single yer down the right wing.


    Merino got hold of the ball before the yer could get hold of him and just before the yer could do anything, he quickly flicked the ball over him and ran past him to receive it at the other end.


    "Nice skill from Merino and now he''s through on goal!"


    What Merino had created wasn''t exactly a one-on-one situation but it could be one if he could close up on the goalkeeper before the defenders close up on him from all sides could get to him.


    Carlo quickly made his way to the winger to try and sweep the ball off his feet, that was where he made a costly mistake by making things easier for the winger who decided to lob the ball over him.


    "No," Carlo muttered with a horrid look on his face.


    A defender tried to stop the ball before it fell into the but he was toote and ended up kicking the air as the ball fell into the back of the.


    "Goal! Goal! Goalllll!!!!" Jim eximed. "They''ve finally gotten that equalizer, what a run and finish from Merino!"


    The fans were going wild now as Merino quickly rushed to the side and fell to the floor to do a slide.


    "Yes," Dave muttered with a smile on his face before falling on his back.


    ****


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 Chapter 135 Last Minutes, Desperate Attempts

    Both teams were leveled now with eighty-five minutes showing on the clock.


    "A draw isn''t enough, we have to win this match," Dave muttered as he watched his teammates pass the ball around in front of Lesica United''s box as the guests had failed to clear their goal line so far.


    Harry moved to the middle to allow Ferran some space to move to the left and receive the pass from Rnd.


    "Ferran," Jim said.


    "Unique FC are seriously pushing for a winner here and they are really starting to put the pressure on Lesica United," Steve said.


    "This is the way they were supposed to y right from the start, Lesica United can settle for a draw but they cannot, they must win if they want to be part of the conference league next season," Jim said.


    Merino brought down the ball with his chest after receiving the cross from Ferran, two yers quickly rushed to the winger to try and bring him down but before the yers could get to him, he pulled the ball back and passed it to Minino.


    "Minino."


    Minino stood still with the ball for a few seconds, nning out the next move in his mind.


    Fredinho and Merino made their way into the box as Adolf, who was standing in the middle of the pitch moved further down.


    Minino waited for the yer heading toward him before he quickly dribbled past him and sent the ball rolling to Adolf.


    Adolf pushed forward with the ball a little before passing the ball to Harry who was closing up on the left nk.


    All Harry needed was a single touch to send the ball to Ferran who had a yer hot on his trail.


    The midfielder caught hold of the ball and quickly paused, the yer didn''t expect him to suddenly pause like that as he kept running before stopping close to the line.


    Ferran used the opportunity to turn and send in a low cross into the box.


    Fredinho was the closest yer to the ball, the yer stretched his leg to send the ball toward the goal post but in the process of getting ready to take the shot, he got pushed and that resulted in him creating a sloppy shot that rolled straight into the hands of the goalkeeper.


    "Oh, no that has gone terribly wrong, he should have put that away," Jim said.


    "Yeah but it looks like he got pushed by Arnold in your box," Steve said.


    Fredinho raised his hands and called for a foul after falling to the floor but there was no response from the referee as the goalkeeper quickly threw the ball to one of his teammates to continue y.


    "The dude pushed me and no one is going to look into it," Fredinho said before quickly getting up from the floor.


    "Looks like the referee''s not giving it, y continues," Jim said.


    Lesica United were trying to overrun Unique FC while they were still trying to fill in their positions properly after that attack.


    The right midfielder running with the ball down the right nk had a little tussle with Harry but in the end, he won and continued moving.


    The defenders were yet to properly fill their positions so Okafor had an opening to attack through the middle.


    The midfielder moved further down with the ball and just before Ferran could close up on him from behind, he lobbed the ball toward the box with Aima, Okafor, and Adolf quickly heading toward the area.


    "The chase for the ball is on, who will get there first?"


    Adolf tried to sneakily pull the striker down but the striker had a mammoth of stamina and ended up pulling him down instead with his sight locked on the ball, but before he could get to it, Dave popped out from nowhere and quickly lobbed the ball to Minino.


    "Dave steps up to stop the situation from turning into something worse," Jim said. "He''s like, ''No way you''re getting me in a one-on-one situation again,"


    "That was decisive from Dave, I could recall when something simr to this happened in their home leg against Dynamo FC and he refused to step out from the box when he could have easily raced toward the ball and clear his line," Steve said.


    "Well, there''s a reason why they say he''s way better now," Jim said.


    After thatst attempt from Lesica United, the game had been pretty full with neither side being able to do anything but so far Unique FC were still with the ball and had only lost it a few times and during those times, they managed to quickly recover it from a tired looking Lesica United side, they looked tired but they were putting up a good effort defensively to make sure that the game ended in a draw.


    The clock had just hit ny minutes now and so far, Unique FC had been unable to produce that winning goal.


    "We just hit the nieth minute and Unique FC have not been able to produce that winning goal yet, they''re starting to look desperate here," Jim said.


    They were really starting to look desperate as Rnd quickly crossed the ball to Minino who put his opponent on the floor to win the aerial duel before passing the ball to Ferran who quickly got past the yer in front of him with a step over before quickly taking off down the middle.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Ferran is on the run here!"


    The yer didn''t back down as he continued chasing Ferran and grabbed him by his shirt before pulling him down with him.


    There was no doubt that that was a foul as the referee blew his whistle while quickly making his way to the area.


    "Ferran''s been pulled down at the edge of the box and he doesn''t look happy about it," Steve said.


    Ferran''s anger had gone beyond his control limit as he quickly got up from the floor and pushed down the yer who pulled him down.


    "This isn''t rugby!"


    "Hey, hey, Ferran, it''s okay." Merino quickly rushed to his teammate and wrapped his arms around him to stop him from doing anything he may regretter.


    Lesica United yers also gathered around their teammates to prevent whatever was about to happen.


    "Hey, calm down," Okafor said, moving closer to Ferran who also had about five of his teammates around him now.


    Ferran just stared at him while letting out muffled pants and after staring at the striker for a while, he turned and walked away from the area.


    The referee was waiting for the moment to get involved but it never happened.


    "I''m d that''s taken care of quickly," Jim said.


    The free kick was set to be taken as fast as possible as Unique FC had no time to waste.


    "Looks like we''ll be getting just four minutes of added time," Jim said as the official raised his board to show the number.


    "I don''t think Unique FC will be able to make aeback with just four minutes left but still, this free kick can pack a punch," Steve said.


    Ferran stood over the ball at the edge of the box waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly took six steps backward before he quickly raced toward the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost with a power shot.


    "Ferran!" Jim eximed.


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right side of the goalpost but it wasn''t exactly heading to the angle.


    The goalkeeper sprang toward the ball at the right time and with the tip of his gloves, he was able to tip it over the bar for a corner kick.


    "Oh, what a save from Carlo!" Jim eximed.


    "Yeah, but they''ve got a corner kick to deal with now and Ferran is quickly moving the ball to the spot, and what''s this? Dave''s making his way to the career he''s left his post empty."


    "If anything goes wrong now, Unique FC will pay the price in full," Jim said.


    There was no time to talk things over with anyone as Ferran quickly crossed the ball into the as soon as he was sure that everybody was in position.


    His ball was quickly cleared by one of the defenders forcing Dave to quickly move back a little as the ball fell to the feet of Minino who had a yer trying to grab the ball from him from behind.


    "Unique FC are still in possession of the ball here but Minino could lose it," Steve said.


    Dave was the only one in the area who wasn''t being marked as he was outside the box so the midfielder decided to pass the ball to him.


    "Dave."


    Dave got hold of the ball and quickly pushed forward with it while trying to find something that could help him.


    There was no time to waste as two yers were quickly heading toward him but before they could get to him, the goalkeeper sent the ball flying into the box.


    ***


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 Chapter 136 We Did It

    ''I don''t know, should I y it short, long, or go for goal?'' Dave was panicking in his mind with the ball trapped under his feet.


    <You have only one minute left before it''s over, a short pass won''t do any good, going for goal isn''t a good option either as your shot power isn''t that great and shot uracy will be really off in a situation>


    ''So, you''re saying.''


    <Yes, go for long ball, find a teammate and offload the ball to him!> Catherine screamed in his head.


    The goalkeeper quickly scanned the box and found the right ce to send the ball and just before the yers could get to him, he sent the ball flying into the box.


    "He''s sending into the box."


    There were a lot of yers in the box with two different purposes in mind, to get the ball in the or out of the area.


    The first yer miscalcted the ball and had it flying past him and now it was just between Adolf and a Lesica United defender.


    Adolf got his head to the ball before the yer pushed him off.


    "Adolf!" Jim eximed.


    The ball bounced on the right side of the goalpost as the goalkeeper raised his hand to keep it out but he seemed to have miscalcted it as the ball flew past his arm and fell into the back of the.


    "I can''t believe it! They''ve done it! They''ve put it into the back of the! They''ve gotten that winner!" Jim screamed. "And who else than super captain Adolf?!"


    Adolf took off to the sidelines as all his teammates including Dave chased him down until they caught up to him and pulled him down.


    If the fans had gone wild for that equalizer, they were going crazily wild now.


    "They have defied the odds! Proven all the haters wrong!" Steve eximed. "Surely now they have won the match."


    "That goal was superb but talk about that pass from Dave, that goal wouldn''t have happened if it weren''t for him," Jim said. "What an iconic moment this must be for him, setting up Adolf to score the goal which secures their spot for the conference league next season."


    "It''s amazing how he has three assists this season and in his career and they all happened in a space of seven matches, setting up Mateo Smith to score twice, and now he''s set up Adolf to score what would go down as an iconic goal in what will go down in the history of Bilbeth Premier League as one of the most iconic matches," Steve said.


    "I knew you could do it," Emma muttered as her face suddenly lit up with a bright smile again.


    "It''s nice to see you smile like that again," Matthew said, smiling at her before he slowly turned his gaze back to the pitch. "That was a pretty nice goal, this kind of moment is one of the reasons why I love this sport."


    "Me too," Emma muttered.


    Lesica United yers and fans had devastated looks on their faces, they never expected it to end this way, they never expected Unique FC to strike them like this.


    Okafor was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle but he knew it was no use because as soon as would pass the ball to anyone, the match would be concluded, the added time had already been exhausted even before that ball fell into their goalpost.


    The referee blew his whistle and as soon as Okafor passed the ball to the yer closest to him, the referee blew his whistle thrice to mark thepletion of the match.


    The home fans and yers burst into cheers of joy as soon as they heard that whistle.


    "Looks like that''s it, a well-fought battle between the two teams but atst, the most determined to get the win got it," Jim said. "Lesica United fought hard but Unique FC wanted the conference league spot more and they fought harder for it, every ounce of energy was spent and atst they are going to be back on one of the big stages of European football once again after six years."


    "The yers and fans are really hitting in the celebration," Steve said.


    "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Mateo screamed.


    The winger was about to try jumping on the bed with his condition when his mother suddenly entered.


    "Hey, stop that." She said before quickly making her way to him to pull him down. "You know you can''t be doing something like that in your condition."


    "I know," Mateo said before slowly sitting down on his bed. "But we just qualified for the conference league."<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Wait, you guys won?" She said before turning her gaze to the television to see Unique FC yers celebrating. "Who scored the goal?"


    "Adolf but it wouldn''t have happened if it wasn''t for that wonderful pass from Dave." He said.


    "Dave?"


    "Yeah, you should have seen the goal, I''m surprised you didn''t hear me screaming after it went in, I could swear I was too loud, even for myself." He said.


    "I went out to get something." She said.


    "Oh, okay."


    "I have a feeling that this Unique FC side will surprise us next season," Jim said. "That''s all for today and we''ll see you next time, goodbye."


    Unique FC yers were still celebrating with the coach and staff when Dave broke free from the crowd to make his way down the tunnel but before he could take a step further, he felt someone tap him from behind.


    He quickly turned back to see Okafor standing behind him with a smile on his face.


    "Hey." The striker said.


    "Hey," Dave said.


    "You really put up a good show today, to be honest, I wasn''t expecting much from you after what happenedst night but youpletely surprised me today, that pass that led to the goal broke my spirit but I couldn''t help but appreciate it." The striker said.


    "Thanks, you were also awesome today," Dave said.


    "Thank you, so do you mind swapping shirts with me?" The striker requested.


    "You want to swap shirts with me?" Dave said as he never believed that this day woulde so soon, the day someone would ask him for a shirt swap.


    ''I never expected my first shirt swap to be with one of the most prominent yers in the league and he''s the one asking.''


    "Sure," Dave said before he slowly pulled off his shirt and by the time he was done, he could see that Okafor had removed his own too.


    "Here," Okafor said before taking the goalkeeper''s shirt and handing him his own.


    "Thank you," Dave muttered.


    "Till we meet again, Dave," Okafor said before quickly making his way toward the tunnel.


    "My first shirt swap." The goalkeeper muttered looking at the number nine on Okafor''s shirt.


    "Dave!"


    The goalkeeper turned to see Emma quickly heading toward him and as soon as she got close to him, she wrapped her arms around him in a warm hug.


    "You did it, you finally did it." She said.


    Dave didn''t reply immediately as he slowly turned his gaze to his teammates.


    "We did it, all of us." He said.


    ***


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 Chapter 137 Revoked

    "Of course, I was a bit worrieding into the match, I was with a couple of my teammates on Sunday night when Lesica United were ying against Razid FC, we weren''t watching the match together because that wasn''t what we were there to do but we were keeping up with the updates and when we found out that Okafor scored a hat trick in neen minutes, we all got scared." Dave narrated.


    The goalkeeper had been caught up in the hallway by a blonde-haired female journalist who wanted to interview him and right now he was answering her questions.


    "Mateo was like, he came off the bench in the second half and scored a hat trick against Frono FC, he was the only one who didn''t act scared, it''s sad that he wasn''t able to be part of this match, it would have been so much easier for us but still I''m d we managed to get the win for him and for the team."


    "Okay, Unique FC your team are going to be in the conference league next season which means that you will be in the conference league next season, how do you feel about it? How do you feel about getting to y your first Europeanpetition?" She asked.


    "d," Dave said with a shrug. "It has been a long journey for us this season, lots of mistakes, a few good moments and I''m d all those few good moments were able to fuse into this one big good moment today, at first we thought we couldn''t do it but our coach told us how important it was to qualify for the spot and told us that we had to fight hard to get it and that''s what we did."


    "Alright, Dave, that will be all for today." She said before bringing her microphone down. "I''ll see you next time, thank you."


    "Okay," Dave said before he turned and began to make his way to the locker room.


    There were a lot of staff in the area, it was all congrattions, handshakes, and hugs for the goalkeeper until he got through to the locker room.


    "We wouldn''t have been able to pull this through if it weren''t for your decisiveness." Norman was waiting for the goalkeeper at the entrance to the locker room. "You''re really starting to be a clutch yer, your father will be really proud of you."


    Dave didn''t say anything until he slowly got closer to him.


    "I don''t think you know my father that much." He muttered before making his way into the room where his teammates were chanting, jumping, and dancing, and a lot of them had drinks in their hands.


    As soon as Dave entered the room, he was grabbed by two of his teammates who quickly lifted him up on their shoulders.


    The yers who lifted him up were none other than Adolf and Luis Roberto.


    "Cheers to the most clutch yer on the team today!" Adolf yelled at the top of his voice.


    "Yeah, this match could have ended in a very different way if it wasn''t for him." Luis Roberto said.


    "Just a few lucky saves and an unintentional assist and now they are calling him the most clutch." Jonas pouted before folding his arms.


    "Can''t you just be happy for your teammate for once?" Minino said.


    The midfielder was standing beside him and he clearly heard what he said.


    "I never said I was unhappy, I''m just saying he wasn''t the most clutch yer since Merino won man of the match," Jonas said.


    Minino didn''t even let him finish what he was saying as he ran off to join his teammates in running around the ce while chanting.


    ________ _______


    "I think we won''t be having any training sessions for a while now, see youter Dave," Adolf said before he started to hear off toward his car.


    "Okay, goodbye," Dave said before he began to head to his car.


    The goalkeeper walked to his car and kept his hand on the door handle for a while before pulling it open and entering the car.


    <Do you want to see them now?>


    ''Yeah.''


    <Okay>


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Six Crucial saves: +60 exp ]


    [ One assist: +20 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded(02): 0exp ]


    [ Match rating: 8.3 ]


    ''And they gave me right point zero in the official match rating.''


    <I''m guessing that was to make Merino man of the match but he was close to you with an 8.2 rating so giving him the man of the match award isn''t that bad>


    ''Yeah, I don''t feel bad about it.''


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ Quest number: 01 ]


    [ You sessfully made six crucial saves in the match ]


    [ Rewards ]


    [ +2 stat points received ]


    [ +50 exp received ]


    [ Energy has received (+10) upgrade ]


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ Quest number: 02 ]


    [ You conceded only two goals in the match ]<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    [ Rewards ]


    [ +100 exp received ]


    [ +2 skill points received ]


    [ Level up ]


    [ Congrattions you are now level 5 ]


    [ +3 stat points received ]


    [ +1 skill points received ]


    [ 65/500 EXP ]


    ''Finally leveled up.''


    <Nice>


    ''I got a lot of rewards from this match.''


    <Yeah, the effects of hard work and perseverance>


    [ You have reached elite stage one ]


    [ Daily quests have been revoked and all rewards attached to them have been canceled ]


    ''What? No more daily quests?''


    <Yeah>


    ''So, I don''t have to do those things anymore.''


    <Of course you have to keep doing them to stay healthy but not at that rate, don''t start cking off because of this>


    ''I won''t, I don''t even like the fact that the quests are gone.''


    <Don''t worry, there are a lot of ways to get exps and level up, if you keep putting up wonderful performances like this, you will keep leveling up easily>


    Dave didn''t reply to her as he started the car and zoomed off toward his home.


    The celebration in the locker room had taken a lot of time so by the time he got home the time was 6:30 PM which meant that Emma was already home.


    He parked his car in his usual parking spot and stared off through the ss for a while before he dipped his hands into his pocket and brought out the ring case.


    He stared at it for a while before putting it back in his pocket and stepping out from the car.


    He walked to the door and stared at it for a while before bringing out his phone from her pocket and dialing Emma''s number.


    Emma was having a ss of water in the kitchen when her phone began to vibrate on top of the fridge.


    "Dave." She muttered before picking up the call. "Hey, where are you?"


    "Come outside," Dave said.


    "Why? Are you outside?" She asked.


    "Juste outside." He said.


    "Okay." She said before he ended the call. "I wonder what the surprise is now."


    She dropped the ss on the sink and adjusted her dress before making her way outside.


    She opened the door and stepped out to see Dave standing there with his hands stuck in his pockets.


    "Hey." She said with a smile on her face.


    "You haven''t changed yet, that''s good," Dave said before quickly grabbing her by her arm and making his way toward his car.


    "What''s going on?" Emma asked with a confused expression on his face.


    "I want to show you something." He said after getting to the car. "And don''t ask what it is because it''s a surprise."


    Emma didn''t say anything as she watched him open the door and enter the car.


    ''A surprise.'' She thought.


    "Okay." She said before opening the door and entering the car.


    ***


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 Chapter 138 Surprise At The Tower

    In Frankfurt, Germany, Mr. Pcio, Eintracht Frankfurt''s manager could be seen sitting on a couch in the living room of his apartment.


    He was sitting in front of the television with a cigarette slowly burning in his mouth.


    The television wasn''t on because he had gotten fed up with the news going around about the trashing they had received from league leaders Bayern Munich a few hours ago.


    "They put nine goals past us and we couldn''t even get one past them, when was thest time we conceded nine goals in a single match?" He said after bringing out the cigarette from his mouth and allowing the cloud of smoke to sip through his mouth.


    It didn''t take long before his phone which was on the table and turning his gaze to it he could see the name Mr. Gerd disyed there as the name of the caller.


    ''I wouldn''t be surprised if it''s a sack, my seventh loss of the season, a big humiliation.'' The manager said before picking up his phone to pick up the call.


    "Hello, Mr. Gerd."


    "Hello, Pcio, how''re you doing?"


    "Not too great."


    "I know that loss must have hit you hard as it did to everyone else."


    "A lot of mistakes were made tactically and individually, it was mostly my fault, I''m sorry," Pcio said.


    "I don''t think there''s really any reason to apologize, it was again Bayern Munich, that team isn''t one you hope to beat easily, you''ve been doing well so far." Gerd expressed.


    ''So, it isn''t what I thought it was after all.'' Pcio breathed an inward sigh of relief.


    "Thank you, sir."


    "No need to thank me, I didn''t even call you to talk about the match," Gerd said.


    "Then why did you call?" Pcio asked.


    "I''ve been looking into the only goalkeeper recement choice you gave to us and I''ve been trying to figure out what caught your eyes in him and it looks like I found that out today."


    "So does that mean?"


    "Yeah, we will start making offers and see what he and Unique FC has to say."


    _______ _______


    "Where are we going? We''ve been on the road for almost thirty minutes now.


    "Don''t worry, we''re almost there," Dave said before turning to her with an assuring smile.


    Emma didn''t say anything and just smiled back at him before turning her gaze to the road.


    Just like Dave said, it didn''t take long before they got to their destination, a part of Unique City which had a small number of people in it at this time of the year.


    The area was usually scanty, people didn''t like living near the coast, except for a few fishermen but since the tower of sight was built in the area, a lot of people began to visit.


    The tower was the highest point in the whole city and it was just rxing viewing the whole city from up there.


    "Is that where we''re going?" Emma asked, looking up at the tower.


    "Yeah," Dave said before mming the door shut. "Let''s go."


    "I heard the view is nice from up there, the view of the whole city," Emma said with her gaze still up.


    "There''s only one way to find out," Dave said, looking up at the tower.


    There was an elevator there so it didn''t take them long to get to the very top of the tower which was just like arge circr corridor that had rails around it to prevent anyone from mistakenly falling from there.


    "Wow," Emma said as she quickly walked closer to the rails to get a clearer view of everything.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    They were quite a distance away from the city but she could clearly see the city from up there and looking back she could see the ocean.


    "Wow, this is really nice Dave." She said with a bright smile on her face.


    "I knew you would like it." He said with a smile on his face.


    "I can even spot the house from up here." She said. "There it is, hey, Dave."


    She slowly turned to Dave but immediately paused as she was stunned by what she was seeing now.


    Dave was down on one knee with the ring case open to expose the ring which he had raised in front of her now.


    "This ce was part of the surprise but this is the main deal." He said, looking at her.


    "Dave." She muttered.


    She had mixed emotions of surprise and joy running through her now.


    "Will you marry me, Emma?"


    <And he has said the words>


    Emma stared at him as her eyes were starting to fill up with tears of joy.


    "Of course, I''ll marry you!" She said before getting on her knees to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug. "I thought you would never ask." She added as the tears in her eyes began to roll down her cheeks.


    Dave didn''t say anything as he allowed her to let it all out before she slowly withdrew from the hug.


    "This was what you were looking for in the jewelry section that day at the mall." She said before taking the ring from him. "This ne was only a distraction."


    "You got me," Dave said, rubbing the back of his head.


    "I love you." She said before wrapping her arms around him again.


    "I love you too," Dave said before taking the ring from the case and putting the case in his pocket. "I guess I should put this on you now since you''ve agreed to marry me."


    "Yeah." She said before putting her left hand in front of him.


    Dave didn''t hesitate for a single second as he gently put the ring on the finger beside her pinky finger.


    She stared at the ring for a while before turning her gaze to Dave.


    "It''s beautiful." She muttered with a smile on her face.


    "I knew you would love it," Dave said.


    The two stared at each other for a while before they leaned closer to each other and got locked in a deep passionate kiss.


    That hadsted for about two minutes before the two got up and walked closer to the rails.


    The two stood there taking in the nice view of the city before Emma slowly ced her head on his chest and raised her gaze to the full moon.


    "Look at the moon, it looks like it''s smiling at us." She said,


    "It doesn''t look like it''s smiling at us, it is smiling at us," Dave said.


    ***


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 Chapter 139 Team Errors

    The rays from the sun shone brightly into the room and just a few seconds after the rays got to his face, Dave slowly opened his eyes.


    He turned his gaze to Emma who had her arms wrapped around him, he could feel the tingling feeling of her breathing against his neck as she was still fast asleep.


    <Good morning, Dave>


    ''Good morning, Catherine.''


    <I''m guessing you''re not going to do any of your morning exercises today>


    ''Uh...maybe.''


    He turned his gaze to the ceiling before turning it back to Emma who was still sleeping peacefully in his arms.


    It didn''t take long before she made a little movement and slowly opened her eyes.


    "Dave." She said, blinking her eyes a couple of times. "Good morning." She said with a bright smile on her face.


    "Good morning," Dave said. "Hope you slept well?"


    "I did, you?"


    "I''ll always sleep well with you by my side." He said before kissing her. "Season''s over which means no training today and that means we can finally sleep in today."


    "Are you sure you''re not forgetting something?" She asked.


    "No, I don''t think so." He said, shaking his head.


    "Really?"


    "Yeah."


    "You dumb head, you have to be at Lospeno today with rk!" She said before giving him a heavy smack on the head.


    "A." He winced before quickly pressing his hand against the area of impact.


    "He said you were supposed to be there before noon so, get up." She said before quickly pulling him up from the bed.


    "Hey, what''s with the aggressiveness today?" Dave said with a shocked expression on his face.


    ''Howe you didn''t remind me about the meeting today, Catherine?''


    <No, you deserve this>


    "You can''t go about forgetting important things like this," Emma said before slowly stepping down from the bed while Dave was still sitting on the bed with a confused expression on his face. "And besides I have to go to work today so there''s no time to sleep in."


    "Oh, yeah, I forgot about that." The goalkeeper said, scratching the back of his bed.


    Emma let out a sigh before turning her gaze to him.


    "You know you''re not supposed to be sitting there,e on you have to get to Lospeno before noon." She said before grabbing him by his shirt and pulling him down from the bed.


    "What did I do to deserve this morning?" He muttered with his face t on the floor.


    <You proposed>


    "Okay, fine, I''ll go get ready." The goalkeeper said before getting up from the floor.


    "Good, I''ll have everything you''ll need ready before you''re done." She said, walking toward the door. "But first, I have to call a certain group of people and tell them about what happenedst night." She added with a little giggle before leaving the room.


    "I guess I won''t be doing any morning exercise today," Dave muttered after she left the room.


    <That''s not a problem>


    Emma also had to leave for work early so she had to do everything she had to quickly.


    Dave was surprised when he finished brushing his teeth in the bathroom and saw her standing there with her towel tied around her body.


    "What the heck have you been doing all this time, you''re still brushing your teeth?" She said with a furious look on her face.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Wait, you''re done?" Dave said with a stunned look on her face.


    "Of course, I''m done. What do you think I went downstairs to do, y?" She said, walking closer to him.


    She stared at him with a furious expression on her face but it didn''t take long before the expression died down and she let out a deep sigh.


    "You have a lot of time left anyway, let''s just share the bath." She said,


    "Okay, that will be nice," Dave said with a smile on his face.


    After getting ready together, the two made their way downstairs.


    Emma was putting on a pink dress with little cks to make up for the short sleeves while Dave was putting on a casual red shirt with ck jeans and ck sneakers.


    After having their breakfast, the two made their way outside and now it was time for them to say goodbye and head out.


    "I''ll see you in the next ten or twelve hours depending on how work is going to be today." She said before leaning closer to kiss him.


    After that, she turned and began to make her way out of the area.


    "I''ll miss you!" She said before she disappeared from the area.


    "I''ll miss you too," Dave muttered.


    It didn''t take long before the goalkeeper got to the airport and now he was on his way to Lospeno.


    He was sitting on his phone going through everything yesterday''sst fixtures had created.


    ''Supreme United, champions of Bilbeth once again.'' He subconsciously read the title of an article that had a picture of Supreme United lifting the trophy with their ck jersey which had red stripes.


    ''Do you think Unique FC can be among the title contenders next season?''


    <Are you asking me or you''re still reading the title of articles?>


    ''Article.''


    <Oh>


    ''But I would still like to hear your opinion on it.''


    <Do you want my honest opinion or do you want me to be nice?>


    ''Honest opinion.'' Dave replied.


    <Okay, you asked for it, Unique FC cannot be among the title contenders if you guys are going to continue ying the way you have been doing although I''m pretty sure you will do better than you did this season next season but you can''t be among the title contenders. The team attack looks slow and you guys seem tock attacking options all the time, Mateo is the only one who tries to speed up the attack with his dribbling and speed, no deadly that can cause havoc to teams although I think Fredinho is still young and wille around, Merino is good but he needs to work more on his finishing and now let''s move to midfield.


    <Starting from the middle, Ferran is a good creator with speed and wit but if his finishing hadn''t been above average, you guys would have easily won a lot of matches you struggled in>


    ''Yeah, he hits the crossbar a lot.''


    <Minino is good, a very good box-to-box midfielder, he makes nice passes and interceptions and is one of the reasons why your team''s midfield controls the game most of the time but he makes a lot of silly mistakes, decisiveness is his problem, Edward is also good alongside Ferran and Minino but he has a lot of work to do in his stamina and pace, now the defense including the goalkeeper.


    <There are two people who I admire most in your defense and that is Adolf and Rnd, I''m going to start with the youngster, the way he easily cuts through the middle and creates something beautiful for the team is unmatched, he''s fast, very decisive and isn''t afraid to take anybody, he makes a few defensive errors from time to time but he''s still young and will get better with experience, I just Norman doesn''t go back and start starting Jonas ahead of him next season.


    <The second defender I admire is Adolf, it''s nice how the fastest defender after Rnd is a center back, his fighting spirit is very wonderful, that''s what makes him a great team leader, he makes a few mistakes sometimes but to be honest he''s saved more mistakes than he has created, Aima is good but he leaves too much space behind him when defending, that''s his problem and Norman, to be honest, I haven''t spotted any defensive errors from him so far, he does his job well, the interceptions, clearances, and tackles but I think the team will be better if he tried to be a bit offensive like Jonas>


    ''Is that all?''


    <I haven''t said anything about you yet, have I?>


    ''Oh, yeah.''


    ****


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 Chapter 140 Coincidence

    <You had a hell lot of problems Dave but you''ve sessfully corrected most of them so far but I''m going to go ahead and say the ones that are still there. Firstly,ck of decisiveness, you showed that once again in yourst match of the season when you had to wait for me to tell you to activate the attribute before you did, if you had activated it before Okafor fired that shot, there would have never been a second goal>


    ''But you were the one that told me not to activate it.''


    <That''s the whole point of being decisive, you go ahead and do it without getting told and without minding the consequences as long as it helps the team and that alsoes with the fighting spirit which you have very little, I was happy when you went to try your luck when you guys won the corner kick in injury time, that was really decisive but then you cut off the praise I wanted to give you by asking me for help when it was already clear that you were supposed to y it into the box from the top>


    ''So my problem is indecisiveness.''


    <Yeah>


    ''You just listed the errors of everybody.''


    <These are just the basic errors that are supposed to be easy for them to correct, there''s more>


    ''Really?'' Dave replied with an awkward expression on his face.


    The goalkeeper didn''t say anything else to her as he continued going through his phone.


    He was currently on Facebook, he had been on the app since he entered the ne and now it was time to switch to another app, Instagram.


    The first post he saw when he entered the app was a post from Bilbeth Premier League listing all the individual awards that had been won yesterday.


    The first award was the one for the best yer and obviously, it was given to Rnd Hills, the second award was the one for the top goal scorer and it was given to Rnd Hills, he scored a total of thirty-four goals in thirty-seven appearances.


    The third award was the one for the yer with the most assist and that one was given to Ferran with fifteen assists, the award for the best young yer was given to Mateo and the award for the best goalkeeper was given to Supreme United''s goalkeeper Perez Zoe.


    <It''s funny how all these awards were won by only Supreme United and Unique FC yers yet Supreme United ended the season on top of the table and Unique FC ended in eighth ce>


    ''What are you trying to say?''


    <Isn''t it obvious? The team has what it takes to be at the top, implementation and management is the problem>


    ''I guess you''re right.'' Dave replied before letting out a sigh.


    Dave continued scrolling through posts on his phone until he found a video that had a title that caught his attention.


    "I heard someone say that Unique FC can fight for the title next season and as unbelievable as that may sound, I think he''s right, we all know Unique FC isn''t that much of a great team but after that humiliating seven goals to one loss to Supreme United this season, something seemed to have sparked up in them.


    "Dave who was arguably the worst goalkeeper in the league instantly picked up and shocked everyone by bing a force to be reckoned with in between the sticks, I don''t know how he did it but as a Unique FC fan, I am so d he did. He wasn''t the only one who picked up, the whole team did, Mateo started ying at a level I''ve never seen him y at before and I am so d the coach snapped out from his slumber and began to start Rnd Ryle ahead of Jonas Blue, that kid is an absolute genius."


    After watching the video, Dave slid his phone into his pocket and began to stare off with a specific thought running through his mind.


    ''Catherine.'' He called.


    <Yeah>


    ''Now that my daily quests are gone and the season won''t be kicking off until the next two months which is October, how am I supposed to get exp and level up?''


    <You''ll keep getting quests, some of them will even shock you>


    ''Shock me, how?''


    <Can''t say but you''ll see>


    ''Again with the vague answers.''


    ________ ________


    After about one hour in the air, the ne finallynded at Lospeno''s local airport and now it was time for everybody to start making their way down the ne.


    Dave was one of the first to make their way down the aircraft as he didn''t have any luggage with him and right now he was looking around the area trying to spot rk who said he would be waiting for him at the airport.


    He wasn''t able to spot rk so he stuck his hand into his pocket and brought out his phone, he was about to click his contact when he saw someone pop up in front of him.


    "Hey, I know you, you''re Dave Richards." A feminine voice said. "Unique FC''s goalkeeper."


    Dave slowly raised his gaze to see a blonde-haired girl around the age bracket of eleven to thirteen standing in front of him.


    She was ted to see him judging by the look on her face.


    "Yeah, that''s me," Dave said.


    <The first stranger to recognize you today>


    "I can''t believe I''m looking at a professional football yer face to face and one of the best goalkeepers in Bilbeth Premier League to say." She said.


    "One of the best?"<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    <I think she''s being delusional>


    "Yeah, I don''t watch football matches because it''s quite boring, I prefer the highlights, but a lot of people have been talking about you recently so I decided to see for myself, I watched the match yesterday, Unique FC versus Lesica United and you were awesome, that dying minute assist from you blew me away." She said enthusiastically and her hand gestures were on point.


    <She has a lot of energy>


    "I see you''re a big football fan," Dave said.


    "Are you kidding me? My dream is to be a professional football yer, a goalkeeper specifically." She said.


    "I see," Dave said. "You''re in an academy I guess."


    "Yeah, it''s a small female academy here in Lospeno." She said.


    "You''re from Lospeno?"


    "Yeah." She replied with a nod.


    "What were you doing at Unique City then?" Dave asked.


    "I went to see my aunt, she lives there."


    "Alone?"


    "No, I''m with my mom actually." She replied.


    "Oh, okay."


    "Um.... do you mind signing my gloves for me?" She requested as she slowly began to bring her backpack down from her back.


    Dave stared at her for a little while before replying.


    "Sure."


    "Yes." She muttered under her breath as she quickly brought down her bag and brought out her gloves. "Here."


    As soon as Dave took the glove from her and set his eyes on it, a memory shed in his mind.


    The glove was purple and had the Adidas logo on them, the logo was orange.


    "Is everything okay, Mr. Dave?" She asked after realizing that Dave was staring at the gloves in a strange way and wasn''t even looking at the pen she was giving to him.


    "No," Dave said, shaking his head to snap out of his daze. "It''s just that these gloves are just like my first gloves, the pair mom bought for me when I was just eleven years old.


    "What? My mom bought those gloves for me on my eleventh birthday." Serene said with a stunned look on her face.


    <What a wonderful coincidence>


    "I guess we have something inmon." She said with a smile on her face.


    "Yeah," Dave said before taking the pen from her.


    He quickly signed both gloves for her and just before giving them back to her, he decided to ask her a question.


    "How old are you?" He asked as he handed her the gloves.


    "I''m twelve." She replied, taking the gloves from him.


    "Okay, so you got these gloves a year ago."


    "Yeah." She said with a nod.


    "Serene!" A voice yelled from the side.


    "That''s my mom, I have to go, bye Mr. Dave." She said before quickly making her way to her mom. "I''ming, mom!"


    Dave had a smile on her face as he turned to watch her make her way to her mother.


    Suddenly his phone began to vibrate in his hand and when he brought it up, he could see the name rk disyed on it.


    *****


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 Chapter 141 Unusual Quest

    As soon as Dave stepped out of the airport, he turned to the side to see rk rxing on the wall with both of his hands in his pockets.


    "Over here." He said as soon as he spotted the goalkeeper.


    Dave didn''t say anything as he slowly walked to him.


    "When did you get here?" Dave asked as soon as he got closer to him.


    "About three hours ago," rk said.


    "Oh, so you left super early." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah," rk said with a nod. "How''re you doing?"


    "I''m okay, you?"


    "I''m good and Emma?"


    "She''s fine too."


    "Okay."


    "So how are we going to get there? Which way is it by the way?" Dave asked, looking around the area.


    "Don''t worry, our ride will be here anytime soon," rk said.


    "Okay," Dave said.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Get to the footy wearspany building by foot ]


    [ Distance to be covered: 12 kilometers ]


    [ Rewards ]


    [ +70 exp ]


    [ +2 skill upgrade points ]


    [ +1 skill points ]


    ''What the heck is a skill upgrade point?''


    <Can''t you figure that out by the name?>


    ''Yeah, but it would be nice if I got the details of how it worked.''


    <Okay, the skill upgrade points allow you to level up your skills in a faster way, normally your skills gain upgrade points the more you use them but those upgrade points are very small, which is why it takes a very long time for your skills to level up just from using them>


    ''So, you''re saying that with these skill upgrade points I can make any of my skills level up faster?''


    <Exactly>


    ''Then I have to get the upgrade points and test them out for myself.''


    "That''s our ride," rk said as soon as a ck can pulled up beside them. "Let''s go, Dave."


    "Um¡­.rk, wait." Dave said before he could get to the cab.


    "Huh?" rk said, turning his gaze to the goalkeeper.


    "What time is the appointment?" He asked.


    "2:00 PM but we have to be there before then," rk said.


    "Okay, the time is 11:50 AM now," Dave said after raising his watch to his view to check the time. "Which means that if we walk from here to there, we''ll be there before 2:00 PM."


    "You want us to walk from here to there?" rk said with a confused expression on his face.


    "Yeah," Dave said.


    "But it''s too far to walk," rk said.


    "Don''t be silly, it''s just twelve kilometers."


    "Just twelve kilometers?" rk said. "How did you even know that it was just twelve kilometers?"


    "Um¡­. google map," Dave said, scratching the back of his head with an awkward smile on his face.


    "Why do you even want to walk? Going with the cab will be way faster and we won''t have to break a sweat?" rk said before looking up at the sky which was slowly starting to get covered with dark clouds. "And the clouds are getting heavy, we''ll be screwed if it starts raining with us still on the road with no cabs around."


    Dave didn''t reply immediately as he slowly raised his gaze to look at the clouds before slowly turning it back to rk.


    "You know you can go ahead and get on the cab, I''ll catch up with you there." He said.


    ''What is wrong with him?!'' rk screamed inwardly.


    "Dave."


    "We''re wasting more time the more we stand here talking," Dave said before he started to walk off toward the area.


    "Dave," rk muttered before turning his gaze to the cab which was still waiting for them.


    He walked to the cab and whispered something to the cab driver before he turned and quickly began to run after Dave.


    "Hey, Dave, wait up!" He yelled.


    "Huh?" Dave said before turning back to see him heading toward him.


    He stopped and waited for him to get closer and it didn''t take long for him to get closer. His breathing was a little paced now after that little run.


    ? "I''ming with you." He said.


    "Oh, so you decided to join in on the fun," Dave said before putting his arms around his shoulders.


    "I''m just doing this to make sure that you don''t get lost in this big city," rk said.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "That''s very funny but you are aware that I have google maps on my phone right?"


    "Let''s just get going."


    <I guess you managed to convince him>


    The two had been walking for about twenty minutes and Dave didn''t even have any idea of how far they had gone so far.


    ''If only I had my fitness watch with me here.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    <You know you can check your progress through the system right?>


    ''Really? How?''


    <The quest tab>


    [ Ongoing quest ]


    [ Get to the footy wearspany building by foot ]


    [ Distance to be covered: 12 kilometers ]


    [ Progress: 1.5 kilometers covered ]


    ''Oh, we still have a lot of distance to cover.'' Dave said subconsciously before checking his watch to see that the time was 12:07 PM now. ''But we can still get there on time if we just increase our pace a little bit.''


    <Yeah, you guys are walking slowly>


    "Um¡­Dave, you asked me for proposal tipsst week." rk said.


    "Yeah, what about it?" Dave said.


    "You said you were going to propose to her this week, have you done it?" rk asked.


    "If you were told to guess, what would you say?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "I don''t know, I''m not really good at guessing but you don''t look that happy so I''m going to say no."


    After hearing that, Dave let out a little chuckle which caused rk to get a little confused.


    "What''s funny?"


    "I did itst night, that''s what''s funny." Dave said.


    "You did it?" rk said with a surprised expression on her face. "Which spot did you pick?"


    "The tower near the coast," Dave replied. "We went to the highest point."


    "Wow, that''s a very nice spot."


    "Yeah, she loved it." The goalkeeper said.


    "So, you guys are engaged now, I''m happy for you, congrats." He said with a bright smile on his face.


    "Thank you."


    There were a few seconds of silence between the two as they continued walking down the road.


    "Um¡­rk." Dave called.


    "Yeah."


    "How about we step up the pace a little bit?" The goalkeeper suggested.


    "Okay," rk said before the two quickly stepped up their pace.


    [ Progress: 7 kilometers covered ]


    The two had been walking for quite a while now and their legs were beginning to get a little tired now.


    "This doesn''t feel like it''s going to ever end," rk said.


    "Don''t give up yet, we have six kilometers left," Dave said.


    "Okay, but we should look for a ce to grab a drink, I''m thirsty," rk said.


    "Okay," Dave said.


    The two walked to the closest shop in the area to get some fluid in their system.


    rk wanted to rest for a few minutes but Dave didn''t approve and quickly pulled him back to the road along with him.


    "You know in the future when you be a very popr footballer, you won''t be able to do something like walking twelve kilometers on the road, you may have the strength to do it but you will be clobbered before you can get anywhere," rk said.


    <He''s right>


    ''Yeah.''


    <He really believes that you can be a very popr footballer one day>


    "I know, rk but that time isn''t here yet so I''m going to make good use of it."


    Just as he took one step forward, he felt a drop of water drop on his forehead and it didn''t take long before another one dropped on his shoulder.


    He slowly looked up to see that the sky waspletely dark now and raindrops were starting to fall little by little.


    "Uh oh," rk said with a horrid look on his face.


    <That''s what I would say>


    ****


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 Chapter 142 Racing The Rain

    "I think it''s about time we stop a cab, Dave, we can''t afford to get wet," rk said.


    The raindrops weren''t that much so there weren''t really enough to get anybody that wet but the clouds still looked dark and heavy which meant that the main thing coulde pouring down on them anytime soon.


    "Maybe this is just one of those misleading rains that just drops a few raindrops before the sky clears up again," Dave said.


    "Better safe than sorry Dave, we''ll be screwed if the sky starts pouring down on us and we don''t have any cabs close by to stop and get on," rk said.


    Dave was quiet for a while as he stared off into the distance before folding his hands into fists.


    "Then we''ll have to beat the rain." He said.


    "What the heck are you talking about?" rk asked with a confused expression on his face.


    ''What the heck have I gotten myself into today?''


    "How about we run a six-kilometer race, you and me?" The goalkeeper said.


    "You want us to run?"


    "Yeah, it''s the only way we''ll get there before it really starts raining," Dave said.


    "Oh,e on Dave, I can''t just start running on the road," rk said.


    "Why not?"


    "Let''s just stop a cab, why are you so persistent on getting there by foot?"


    Dave stared at him for a while before turning to face the direction they were heading toward.


    "Alright then, stop a cab, I''ll race myself." He said before quickly zooming off toward the area.


    "Oh, this is ridiculous," rk said before covering his face with his palm.


    He couldn''t just get in a cab and leave Dave so he let out a sigh before quickly running after the goalkeeper.


    [ 100/126 Energy ]


    [ 80% stamina remaining ]


    ''I''ve run six kilometers before, I can do it again and I even have better stats now.''


    __________ _________


    To take off his injury and get back to action on time, Mateo needed to keep working out in the little way he could and he wasn''t going to neglect that.


    He was currently on the exercise bicycle in his training room, he had been on it for about thirty and right now arge pile of sweat was beginning to form on his forehead.


    The constant leg movements which had been going on for a long time now was beginning to take a toll on his muscles, especially the strained part but he kept on pushing until the door was pushed open for his mom to enter the room with a bottle of water in a small metallic tray.


    "I''ve told you to take it easy Mateo or you''ll just end up hurting yourself more." She said, walking closer to Mateo who had stopped paddling now.


    "I know, mom, I''m okay," Mateo said before slowly raising his gaze to look at her.


    "I know you are. My strong little boy." Martha said before handing him the bottled water which he quickly opened and took down half of its content.


    "I guess it''s okay if you call me that in here." He said before slowlying down from the exercise bicycle to sit on the blue mat beside him.


    "Your sister called me a few minutes ago." She said.


    "Okay," Mateo said, casually.


    "Don''t you want to know why she called?"


    "Is it something I''m supposed to know?" The winger said before raising his gaze to look at her.


    "Yeah," Martha said with a nod


    "What is it then?"


    "Dave proposed to herst night." She said,


    "Huh?"<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Yeah, they''re engaged now, I''m so happy for them," Martha said with an excited voice.


    ''I guessst night''s victory really pushed, he would have been too devastated to do that if we had lost or gotten a draw against Lesica United.'' Mateo thought.


    "That''s good to hear but I was with Dave on the phone this morning and he didn''t tell me anything." The winger said.


    "Maybe he forgot," Martha said.


    "I guess you can say that," Mateo said with his hand on his chin.


    "I''m going to leave now so that you can continue what you''re doing." She said before turning to leave. "Call me if you need anything and take things easy and slowly, you still have a lot of time to recover, no need to rush things."


    "I know, mom." He said before she left the room.


    As soon as her mother left and closed the door, he stretched himself to get in his push-up position but instead of having his hands stretched out he folded them into fists.


    "I will not be an injury-prone yer." He gritted as he slowly pulled himself up.


    ________ ________


    [ Progress: 11.5 kilometers covered ]


    <You''re almost there, Dave>


    The two had the building with the footy wears logo at the top of it in their sight and they just had 0.5 kilometers to cover to get there.


    That would have been a walk in the park if the rain wasn''t hot on their trail and it was quite heavy now.


    "Hurry rk, we''re going to get hit by that heavy rain if we don''t!" Dave yelled.


    "And you think I don''t know that!" rk yelled back at him.


    rk was really tired and was finding it hard to keep up with Dave now but he kept pushing because if he didn''t then he would have to look for a ce to get new clothes.


    The rain was faster than them as expected and a few drops from the sky were beginning to drop on their body, one mistake from any of them and the person would be doomed.


    "Just 0.2 kilometers more," Dave muttered as they were really close to the door with the rain about to pour down on them but just before that could happen they pulled the door open and dashed into the area which had a few people in it, there were also a few staff in the area including the receptionists.


    They may have not gotten hit by the heavy part of the rain but their body had gotten partially wet in the process of trying to outrun the rain so in reality they never outran the rain.


    "I can''t believe it, we outran the rain, we did it," Dave said, breathing heavily.


    [ Questpleted ]


    "Keep your voice down, Dave," rk said, gritting his teeth.


    "What''s wrong?" Dave asked.


    "Look around."


    Dave did as he was told and slowly began to look around to see that every single person in the room was looking at them.


    "Did we make a scene?" He whispered to rk.


    "What does it look like to you?" rk said, still trying to catch his breath.


    "Who are those two?" One of the people in the reception area asked one of the receptionists.


    "I don''t know the other one but I think the one with the red shirt is Unique FC''s goalkeeper, Dave Richards." She replied.


    "A professional footballer, what the heck was chasing them?"


    "The rain, maybe."


    <This is going to be a long day>


    ****


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 Chapter 143 Officially A Footy Wears Athlete

    The way the two had entered the building was very embarrassing as they had all the eyes in the room on them now.


    Dave didn''t know what to do and just stood there scratching the back of his head with a nervous look on his face but rk knew exactly what to do as he grabbed the goalkeeper by his arm and pulled him along with him as he made his way to the receptionist''s desk.


    No one was standing in their way so they didn''t have to wait.


    "Hello, my name''s rk Munrow and this is my friend Dave, we have an appointment here today," rk said.


    "Yeah, I''m aware of that." She said before bringing up the tablet lying in front of her.


    It didn''t take long before a bald man putting on a ck suit popped up behind.


    "Gentlemen, would you please follow me?" The man said as the two quickly turned their gaze to him.


    They did as they were told and followed him to the elevator and once the three of them were inside, the man pushed the number sixteen floor which was the highest floor.


    "So where are we going?" Dave asked a few seconds after the elevator door closed up.


    "To see the manager, he already has everything set up, he seems very happy to have you here today." The man said.


    "I see," Dave said before turning his gaze away from him.


    "My name is Lennon Chavez by the way, no need to introduce yourselves, I already know your names," Lennon said.


    "Okay." rk and Dave said in unison.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ You sessfully made it to thepany by foot and covered twelve kilometers ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +70 exp received ]


    [ +2 skill upgrade points received ]


    [ +1 skill points received ]


    ''Let''s test these skill upgrade points and see how they work, how do you even use them?''


    <Go to your skill bar, you will see a small upgrade tab below your skills, then click the one below the skill you wish to upgrade>


    ''Okay.'' Dave replied before quickly doing as he was told.


    Currently, he had three unlocked skills, Double jump, Ball ma, and Double stamina and all of them had the small upgrade tab below them.


    <Choose wisely>


    ''Let''s see, I don''t usually use Double jump because people may see it and get suspicious, Double stamina has annoying side effects unless I''m doing something and need a stamina refill to keep pushing slowly so I''m going ball ma here.''


    [ Ball ma ]


    [ Upgrade points required for level up 8/10 ]


    ''Just two upgrade points remaining.''


    <Add the only upgrade points you have and the skill will level up>


    ''Okay.''


    [ Upgrade points required for level up 10/10 ]


    [ Level up ]


    As soon as that message popped up on his screen, the goalkeeper felt a tingling sensation in his palms which was followed by a piercing pain.


    He didn''t want to startle the two who were in the elevator so he folded his hands into fists and gritted his teeth to endure the pain until it was gone.


    [ Ball ma has sessfully leveled up ]


    ''What was that all about?''


    <What?>


    ''That strange feeling I felt in my hands which was quickly followed by that pain? I felt like someone was cutting my palms with pocket knives.''


    <That''s just the little price you have to pay every time you upgrade a skill rting to a certain part of your body, it''s break down and rebuild>


    ''Huh?''


    <Figure it out yourself>


    [ Ball ma is now level 2 ]


    [ Number of tries before cooldown has been extended by two ]


    [ One minute has been subtracted from the cooldown time ]<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    ''That''s nice.'' Dave said subconsciously. ''I''m just wondering what would have happened if I had decided to upgrade Double jump or Double stamina instead of ball ma.''


    <Firstly, I don''t think you want to find out, especially in the situation you are in now and secondly, I don''t think just two upgrade points would have been enough to upgrade any of them to level two>


    ''Huh?''


    [ Double jump ]


    [ Upgrade points required for level up 5/10 ]


    [ Double stamina ]


    [ Upgrade points required for level up 1/10 ]


    <Upgrade points are automatically added to your skills the more you use them, that''s why ball ma had the most ball ma because it''s the skill mostly used by you> Catherine exined.


    ''Yeah, I''ve already figured that out.''


    The conversation between Dave and Catherine had been cut short as the elevator had finally gotten them to their destination and opened up for them toe out.


    The walls by the side were covered withrge wallpapers of footy Wears logo embedded in gold with a ck background.


    Looking ahead toward the far end of the room, they could see someone sitting behind a desk.


    "This way," Lennon said, leading them toward the area.


    As soon as the two got closer to the desk, the man slowly got up from his desk with a bright smile on his face.


    "Wee, rk and Dave." He said.


    When Dave looked toward the area from that far, he couldn''t clearly see the man because he was too far away but he expected him to be a middle-aged man or someone close to that age but the person he was looking at now looked very young, he looked to be around the same age bracket as him and rk.


    Mr. Johnson Malkovich was the manager of Footy wears, a young-looking man with blonde hair which seemed to be bleached a little, he wasn''t that much of a good-looking person but you could call him handsome.


    He had bags under his eyes probably because ofck of sleep.


    "Please, seats." The man said pointing at the seats in front of his desk.


    "Okay," Dave said before he sat down on the seat on the right and rk sat down on the other one.


    ________ ________


    Everything that was done there took a very long time, it took three hours which meant that by the time the two got out of the building, the time was 5:05 PM and the sun had begun to set.


    Dave was holding a back which seemed to be filled with some light materials judging by the way he was holding the bag but he had to stuff it for the materials to fit.


    "You are officially a footy Wears athlete," rk said with a bright smile on his face.


    "Yeah, my first endorsement deal," Dave said.


    "I guess it''s time to start heading back."


    "Let''s do it by foot just like the way we came," Dave said.


    Just as those words left his mouth, rk shot him a cold stare that would have given him a heart attack if he didn''t know him.


    "Hey, calm down, I was just joking," Dave said with a little chuckle.


    "You better be because if you''re not, then you''re going to walk to the airport alone," rk said.


    "Yeah, I don''t think I can do that." The goalkeeper said, scratching the back of his head.


    "Let''s walk ahead and see if we can find a cab."


    "Okay."


    Just as the goalkeeper took one step forward, his phone began to vibrate in his pocket.


    He quickly took out the phone from his pocket to see Emma''s name disyed on the screen as the caller.


    ''Um.... Catherine.'' He called.


    <Yeah>


    ''Do you have any memory of me calling Emma to tell her I arrived here safely as soon as I got here?''


    <You did no such thing>


    ''Yeah, I thought so too.'' He replied before swallowing hard.


    ****


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 Chapter 144 End Of The Season Meeting

    "Hey, I''ve already said sorry like six times now," Dave said with his phone ced against his ear as he walked down the road with rk.


    Emma didn''t say anything for a while before letting out a deep sigh.


    "Okay, so how did it go?" She asked.


    "Fine, it went smoothly, I''m now a Footy Wears Athlete." The goalkeeper said. "And they even gave me some cool stuff after everything."


    "Yeah, that''s how it works," Emma said. "So, you''re on your way back now right?"


    "Yeah," Dave replied.


    "Is rk still with you?" She asked.


    "Yeah, he''s still here."


    "Okay, tell him I said hi, safe journey, bye." She said before ending the call.


    "Bye," Dave said before turning his gaze to rk. "Emma said hi."


    "You should have called her," rk said.


    "I know, I''m not convinced she has let it go." The goalkeeper said before turning his gaze to the road.


    rk spotted a cab heading toward their direction and stopped it for the both of them to hop in.


    It didn''t take long for the both of them to get to the airport and now it was time for them to part ways.


    "I guess this is goodbye," Dave said looking at the ne that was going to take him back to Unique City.


    "Yeah," rk said.


    "You know it was really nice to have fun with you today just like old times, I know signing the contract and seeing all those things were supposed to be the best part of today but I think I enjoyed that race with you more," Dave said.


    "Although it was stressful, I enjoyed it too," rk said.


    "Alright then, see youter, goodbye," Dave said before he began to walk toward the ne.


    "Goodbye, I''ll be in Unique next week, I expect a grand wee."


    "I''ll see what I can do!" Dave yelled.


    _______ _______


    Earlier, during the day...


    Inside the Wondanimo stadium in Unique city, about eight people all dressed in suits were sitting around therge table in the area, the only person in the room who wasn''t wearing a suit was Norman who was putting on his coaching outfit.


    At the far end of the table was a long-haired young woman, the only woman in the room, she scanned the room with her fiery eyes to make sure that everyone was there, her bodyposure defined her to be calm but her eyes told a different story, she had this suffocating aura of authority around her that was making the two males sitting closest to her a little ufortable.


    Theresa Gomez was the vice President of Unique FC and now that Tom Richards wasn''t avable, she was to take over his duties as the acting president of the club until he returns.


    "Alright, let''s begin." She said before joining both of her hands together. "This is the first meeting since the end of the season so I believe you all know why we''re here."


    There was no reply from anyone in the room so she scanned the area once again with her eyes before continuing.


    "We''ve been able to clear most of our debts this season but there''s still some of it left and we''ll need to clear them off before next season so that we can sign new yers that will be able to make important impacts on the team." She said. "We have seven yers sent out on loans this season, they will be returning soon but some of them will be sent out on loan transfers while some of them will be staying here. Do you have any yers that you will rmend for loan transfers next season?"


    The question was meant for Norman who slowly raised his gaze to look at her now.


    "I have a couple of yers who going on loan transfers will give them more exposure and help them polish their skills as they have not been getting enough ying time in the squad," Norman said. "Frankie, Roger, Ina, I will assess the loaned-out yers after they return and see who will be going back."


    "Okay," Theresa said. "What about transfers? Are there any yers you have your eyes on that you think will help strengthen your squad?"


    "Yeah, I have my eyes on a couple of yers like Lionel Paredes from River te," Norman said.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "What''s his position?" Theresa asked.


    "He''s a striker," Norman said.


    "That position is one of the ces where the team falls short." The man sitting beside Norman on his right said.


    "Yeah, the boy is only eighteen years old, he doesn''t have much experience but I think he has a lot of qualities, he''ll be a good addition to the team, a yer from River te won''t be expensive so this is a massive opportunity for us." Norman expressed.


    "Okay, I''ve noted that down, anybody else?" She asked.


    Norman went on to name a few other yers that he thought would be good for the team, he also told her about the few yers that their scouts had been keeping their eyes on and had termed as promising young yers.


    After that, they went on to talk about other things, and just before the meeting coulde to an end, Theresa had something she needed to tell Norman.


    "Um...Norman, I forgot to tell you that I got a loan offer recently." She said,


    "From who?" Norman asked.


    "Benfica." She said, "They offered quite a huge amount, way more than we''ve generated from sending out any yer on a loan transfer before."


    "How much are we talking about here?" One of the men asked.


    "Two hundred thousand euros." She said,


    "Okay, but you still haven''t told me the yer they want," Norman said.


    "I was getting to that." She said before removing her hand from the table and falling back in her seat. "It''s Dave Richards."


    "Dave," Norman muttered with a horrid look on his face.


    "They would spend that much for Dave Richards?"


    "Maybe they''ve seen his recent heroics." She said.


    Norman was frozen as he stared at her with a horrid look on his face.


    "What''s your take on the matter, Norman?" She asked.


    "No, no." He said, shaking his head. "Dave cannot be loaned out, that can''t happen."


    Theresa didn''t reply immediately as she stared at him for a while before putting her hands back on the table.


    "Why are you suddenly defending him? You were the one who was fuming at the president for sending out Anderson on loan and leaving you with no other option than to make Dave the starting goalkeeper." The man on his left said.


    "That was then, things are different now," Norman said.


    "Because he put up a couple of fluke performances." The man sitting opposite the coach said.


    "I don''t think those performances were a fluke."


    "Norman," Theresa called as Norman quickly turned his gaze to her.


    "Can you give me a good reason why we shouldn''t consider this offer, because it''s not up to me, if you give me a few good reasons maybe I might be able to help you out and convince Tom?"


    ''Good reason? How the heck can she be asking for a good reason after all the performances that led us to qualify for the conference league?'' Norman said subconsciously as he stared at her trying to hide the baffled expression on his face.


    ****


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 Chapter 145 Something Intense

    After about one hour and some minutes in the air, the ne had finallynded at Unique City''s airport and after making his way down the ne, it was time for him to start heading home.


    Emma was sitting in the living room with herptop sitting on the table in front of her.


    She was busy working on herptop but she couldn''t fully concentrate and would constantly break her focus to look at the clock.


    Looking at it now she could see that the time was 6:43 PM.


    "He should be back anytime soon now." She muttered before turning her gaze back to herptop''s screen.


    She continued doing what she was doing for about five minutes and just before she could raise her gaze to look at the clock again, she heard three knocks on the door.


    The knocks came again before she slowly got up from the couch and made her way to the door.


    She stared at it for a while before she pulled it open to see the person she was expecting to see.


    "Hey, babe," Dave said with a smile on his face before taking a step closer to her.


    Emma didn''t reply and just stared at him in a way that was starting to confuse him now.


    "Babe." The goalkeeper called.


    The response he got was a kick on his right shin.


    "Aw." He winced before flinging his leg to shake off the pain. "What was that for?"


    "For not calling me and getting me worried." She said, looking at him with a straight face.


    "I thought you said you had forgiven me." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah, but still you''ll have to suffer the consequences of your action." She said,


    "And that kick was it," Dave said.


    "Yeah."


    "So, we''re good now."


    Emma didn''t reply for a while and just stared at him before a smile appeared on her face.


    "Yeah, we''re good." She said before slowly putting her arms around his neck. "So how did it go?" She asked, staring directly into his eyes.


    "Everything went perfectly." He said.


    "That''s good to hear, do you mind telling me about it? But first." She said before gently pressing her lips against his.


    After that, the two made their way to the couch and sat down there, and while Dave was telling her about his day, she was busy bringing out all the stuff that was in the bag, the goalkeeper made sure to filter out the part about him and rk racing the rain to get to their destination.


    <Yeah, she won''t be happy if she finds out that you were racing on the streets of Lospeno in the daytime>


    ''Not happy is an understatement.''


    Inside Dave''s bag was a full kit, Unique FC''s away jersey which was ck with small purple dots but Footy Wears added a little shade of purple to the ck part of the jersey to make it look nicer and that really did the trick, there was also a pair of golden boots mixed with a little white design.


    The next item was a big sports jacket which was divided equally into ck and purple colors on both sides.


    "I guess there isn''t much of a difference between them and the two Adidas and Nike." She said as she lifted the jacket to check how big it was.


    "Yeah, except that Adidas and Nike are bigger and more popr," Dave said.


    "Yeah." She said before dropping the jacket on the ground and dipped her hand into the bag to bring out a pair of orange socks with purple designs and a pair of purple shin guards. "I guess purple''s their signature color.


    "Yeah," Dave said with a nod.


    "What''s this?" She said before pulling out a ck scarf that had hexagonal purple designs running throughout its middle. "A scarf and it feels quite thick."


    "It will look pretty on you, try it on," Dave said.


    "Okay," Emma said before wrapping the scarf around her neck.


    "Just like I said, it looks pretty on you." The goalkeeper said.


    "Thanks." She said before pulling out thest item in the bag which was a pair of purple gloves that immediately caught his eye.


    The gloves looked exactly like the one he had signed for a young girl earlier today. They looked like the gloves his mother bought for him when he was a child, the only difference was that this one was bigger and the design was a bit different.


    "Let me see that." He said before quickly snatching the gloves from her.


    Just looking at the gloves was bringing back memories of all the moments shared with his mother.<novelnext></novelnext>


    ''Mom.''


    "What is it?" Emma asked with a low voice before shifting closer to him.


    "You remember when I told you that my first gloves were purple?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Yeah, I remember," Emma replied.


    "I met a girl at the airport today."


    "A girl?"


    "Yeah, a young girl, she had exactly the same gloves, and she wanted me to sign them for her, Iter found out that those gloves were her first gloves and she got them on her eleventh birthday just like I did and she wanted to be a professional footballer, a goalkeeper." Dave expressed. "Looking at her reminded me of myself except that she seemed to be way more confident than I was at her age."


    Emma didn''t say anything immediately and just stared at him for a while before turning her gaze to the gloves he was holding.


    "And these gloves look like them too." She said,


    "Yeah," Dave said with a nod before closing his eyes and slowly opening them again. "Brings back the memories of my mother."


    "It''s okay," Emma said before slowly putting her head on his shoulder. "It''s sad that your mother had to go but I''m here for you now."


    "Emma." He muttered.


    ______ ______


    Just five minutes after falling asleep, the goalkeeper found himself in the endless white space, and this time he didn''t have to start looking for Catherine because she was standing right in front of him.


    "Hello, Dave." She said,


    "Catherine," Dave said. "Can I get something intense today, I feel like going intense?" He requested.


    "Intense in what sense?" Catherine asked.


    "Something that''s hard and requires shooting." He said.


    "Hard and requires shooting huh, I think I know the right one." She said,


    Suddenly the whole ce began to change until he was standing on an empty pitch, there weren''t even goalposts there.


    "What''s the idea here, Catherine?"


    "There are small goalposts hidden underground thirty yards away from you."


    He heard her voice and quickly turned to see her standing behind him.


    "What type of goalposts?" He asked.


    "The smallest ones." She replied.


    "How many of them?"


    "Ten."


    "Okay, do you mind exining the details of the training then?"


    "Yeah, thes will be randomly popping up at constant speeds, you have twenty balls which means you have two tries to score in all ten posts, you have forty minutes to do that."


    After saying that, she vanished as twenty balls appeared beside the goalkeeper.


    One of the goalposts quickly popped up from the ground but before he could pull one of the balls closer and do anything, it disappeared as another one pulled up a few distances ahead of it.


    "Now!" He yelled before kicking the ball toward the goalpost.


    He was on target but before the ball could roll into the goalpost, it went back into the ground.


    "Now, I''ve got neen balls with ten posts to score, this is going to be tough."


    ''You asked for it.''


    ****


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 Chapter 146 Deciphering The Patterns

    After missing that first shot, the goalkeeper had not taken another shot as he was busy studying the goalposts which were popping out in different ces.


    They had a pattern of movement and it looked like he had just deciphered the code.


    He waited for the first goalpost to pop up before he quickly rolled the ball toward it but just before the ball could roll into the post, it went back into the ground.


    ''Nice move, Dave.''


    He wasn''t after that one, he was after the one that would pop up directly behind it as soon as that one.


    His timing was urate as the goalpost popped up at the right time for the ball to roll into it.


    "One down." He said with a smile on his face.


    ''Smart move, Dave, that goalpost won''t be popping up again which means you have nine more to deal with.'' Catherine said in his subconscious mind. ''You''ve taken one down, which means the pattern is going to change.''


    "Pattern?" Dave said before turning his attention back to the area and just like Catherine said, the pattern changed from the one he had just deciphered to something trickier.


    ''It wouldn''t be an intense training if it was that easy for you to get through.''


    Just before he took down the first goalpost, the goalposts were moving in an arranged pattern which meant that he knew which one was going toe after the other, that was how he was able to take down the first goalpost but now, things were really different, that arranged pattern had just been shattered.


    There were nine goalposts left now which meant that there were five up front and four behind.


    "I just have to decipher these ones first, I''ll likely miss all my shots if I just shoot blindly." He muttered.


    ''True but remember your time''s moving and it''s moving fast.''


    "Okay, let''s see." He said before peering his eyes closer.


    ''Now I get it, it looked like there were just random patterns but there were just three arranged patterns and after each turn, it switches to the next arranged pattern and then to thest arranged pattern.''


    ''It took you ten minutes plus to figure that out, it''s a bit slow but it''s not that bad now put it to good use.''


    The goalkeeper waited for the goalpost in the middle up front to pop up before he lobbed the ball toward the area where the goalposts behind those ones would pop up.


    The goalpost upfront returned to the ground as the goalpost at the far left behind the other ones popped up just in time for the ball to hit the floor and bounce into it.


    "Yeah," Dave said with an ted voice.


    ''Two down, you have eight more to go and you have less than twenty minutes left, you should be aware that once your time ispleted, I will send you back to the normal world, in other words, you will wake up.''


    "Less than twenty minutes left? I can''t leave here without scoring at least five of them but how the heck am I going to do that when the pattern changes every single time I take a shot and it takes me a lot of time to decipher them?"


    ''There''s a reason why you have twenty balls, Dave, if deciphering the patterns takes too much time then try random shots, football requires the element of luck most of the time.'' Catherine said.


    "Random shots." The goalkeeper said as he pulled a ball in front of him with his eyes still on the goalposts, still studying their movements.


    "That''s it." He said as something suddenly clicked in his mind after seeing the fourth pattern of the goalposts.


    ''What?'' Catherine asked.


    "The patterns don''t change in the way that I thought they would before." He said. "A new pattern is added while the previous ones which I have already studied are pushed back."


    ''You figured it out.''


    After breaking down thest code, Dave was able to take down another goalpost without wasting any ball and when a new pattern got added, he just studied the pattern and did what he had to do.


    As the goalposts lessened, the easier things got for him and when he was down to just three goalposts, the patterns got shortened to three as there was no longer room for other patterns.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The goalkeeper had sessfully scored in all ten goalposts but all the balls had gone down for him to be able to do that.


    He always knew where to put the balls but his uracy and precision had let him down most of the time.


    "Done and dusted." He said with a smile on his face and both of his hands on his waists.


    ''Well done, you''ve surprised me, I didn''t expect you to do this well.''


    "Well, I''ve been surprising a lot of people recently haven''t I?" He said. "I just wish this hade with a quest."


    Catherine didn''t reply immediately as she wanted to appear in front of him first.


    "Well, you can''t get quests in here but you can think of building something like that when you move to a better ce someday." She said,


    "I will definitely think of something like that."


    "It''s time to go, Dave, see you tonight," Catherine said as his body slowly began to fade away until he slowly opened his eyes to see the ceiling.


    <Good morning, Dave, it''s time for your daily exercises which you will no longer be getting rewarded for>


    Dave didn''t reply to her as he slowly turned his gaze to the side to see that Emma was still fast asleep with her body pressed against his.


    After that, he picked up his phone and turned it on to see that the time was 6:40 AM.


    ''It''s going to feel really weird to do all those things and not get those notifications that confirm that my rewards have been added.'' He said subconsciously before slowly closing his eyes.


    <Hey, get up, you said you were not going to start cking off>


    ''I know, I know.'' The goalkeeper replied before slowly slipping out of Emma''s arms to sit up on the bed and slide his legs into his running boots. ''I think I''ll run five kilometers today, what do you think?''


    <The more the merrier>


    As soon as he left the room, Emma slowly opened her eyes with a bright smile on her face.


    The goalkeeper made his way down the staircase and out of the house.


    He did a few jumps on thewn to clear the dizziness in his eyes before he slowly made his way to the door.


    "I still feel sad that I won''t be getting my usual ten exps from this." He said, looking ahead.


    <But you will still be getting better, no training is a waste no matter how little it may seem>


    The goalkeeper didn''t reply and was about to take off when his phone began to vibrate in his pocket.


    "Should have left you inside." He muttered before bringing out his phone to check who was calling him.


    He had a good look on his face before bringing out his phone but as soon as he set his eyes on the screen, the look on his face changed.


    "What''s he calling me for now?"


    On his phone''s screen, the name Ferran was being disyed.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If we can hit 1000+ privilege unlocks before the end of this month, I''ll do five chapters mass release on any day between the 20-25th of January.

 Chapter 147 Climbing A Hill And Finding A Strange Place

    "Sorry, Ferran but I don''t think I have time for that, I have a really tight schedule," Dave said before quickly ending the call. He didn''t even give the midfielder the time to reply.


    After ending the call, the goalkeeper slid his phone back into his pocket and stared off into the distance for a while before he took off.


    This time instead of just running straight on the road, he decided to take a route that led into the woods.


    There was a clear path in the area so he didn''t have to struggle with weeds, stones, or anything else.


    After being notified by his watch that he hadpleted five kilometers, he didn''t stop and kept on running deep into the area.


    "Let''s just add like three kilometers more." He muttered to himself.


    By the time the three extra kilometers were covered, he had left the forest area and was now standing in front of a very tall but nted hill.


    [ +1 stat point added to dexterity ]


    [ +1 stat point added to endurance ]


    Dave didn''t even take a look at the messages that had popped up on his screen as he moved closer to the hill.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Reach the top of the hill ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +40 exp ]


    [ +1 stat point to endurance ]


    [ +1 skill upgrade point ]


    ''Seriously.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously with his gaze on the quest that was disyed on his system screen now.


    <It''s up to you if you want toplete the quest or not but I think you''re in a good condition toplete it>


    [ 65% stamina remaining ]


    [ 95/126 Energy ]


    ''Yeah, I guess so.'' Dave replied before he slowly squatted and ced both of his hands on the floor of the hill.


    He slowly began to climb the hill, the hill was really sloppy and that was giving him trouble but he kept on pushing.


    By the time he had gone halfway, he was already breathing heavily.


    ''Haven''t climbed a hill before but I didn''t expect it to be this tough.''


    <Then maybe you should try climbing it more often>


    [ 50% stamina remaining ]


    [ 81/126 Energy ]


    He kept on climbing without looking down until he finally made it to the top of the hill.


    "Finally." He said, breathing heavily.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ You have sessfully reached the top of the hill ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +40 exp received ]


    [ +1 stat point added to endurance ]


    [ +1 skill upgrade point received ]


    [ Strength has received (+1) stat upgrade ]


    ''That wasn''t part of the rewards.''


    <Yeah, it''s an improvement from your efforts>


    ''Oh, okay.''


    The goalkeeper had not gotten the chance to look down since he got to the top of the hill as he was busy trying to catch his breath and looking down now, he could see that he had to go down a hill before he could reach the forest in the area and deep into that forest, he could hear a lot of noise.


    "Where''s that sounding from?" He said before getting up to look over the forest.


    From there, he could see what looked like a marketce. There were lots of people in the area, some of them buying goods and some of them selling goods.


    "I haven''t been to this part of Unique before." He said with a surprised expression on his face.


    <I think there are a lot of ces in Unique that you haven''t been to before><novelnext></novelnext>


    ''Yeah, but I know those ces, I haven''t heard of this ce before.''


    The goalkeeper''s curiosity was telling him to go and check it out but because of the way he was and the amount of time he had wasted on his run, he wasn''t going to.


    ''I would have loved to go check the area out but I don''t think I have the strength and Emma must be getting worried now.'' He said subconsciously before he turned and began to make his way down the area.


    <You have the strength, you just don''t want to go but that''s okay, I wouldn''t advise you to go either>


    _____ _____


    Dave got home to discover that Emma had already left for work and as always, she left his food for him in the usual ce.


    He brought his phone from his pocket to see that the time was 8:50 AM.


    He went straight upstairs and brushed his teeth before he made his way to his private gym but this time it was the one upstairs.


    He spent two hours plus lifting light weights, riding on the exercise bicycle, and training with the other equipment in the room.


    After that, he made his way downstairs and had his breakfast, and now it was time for some outdoor training.


    He brought out his goalpost and fixed it up in the usual spot, he wasn''t going to bring out the ball ster yet as he wanted to try out something before jumping into that part of the training.


    He dropped the balls right in front of the goalpost and because he was very close to the goalpost, he was able to hit the crossbar with all the balls.


    <Why don''t you move the balls further away and make it more of a challenge?>


    ''I know I was getting to that.'' Dave replied before he began to push the balls away toward his garage area. ''I hope I get a quest for this one?'' He said after lining up the balls in the way Mateo usually did.


    <What are you waiting for?> Catherine asked as he was just standing there without doing anything.


    ''I''m waiting for my quest.''


    <Quest? What makes you think...>


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Hit the crossbar with at least five of the balls ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +50 exp ]


    [ +2 skill upgrade points ]


    <You got a quest>


    ''That''s right and now it''s time to smash it.'' The goalkeeper replied before stretching his fingers and doing a little jump.


    ''All I have to do is hit the crossbar five times out of eight times from this far out.'' He said subconsciously before taking two steps backward.


    After that, he quickly closed up on the first ball in line and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    It looked like the ball was going to hit the crossbar but it just flew over the crossbar in a way that made Dave think that it had made contact with the crossbar.


    ''That one hit the crossbar.''


    <No, it didn''t>


    ''Huh?''


    <Check your quest progress>


    [ Quest progress: 0/5 crossbar hits ]


    [ Tries remaining: 07 ]


    Dave didn''t say anything and just let out an inward grumble before he took two steps backward.


    He raced toward the next ball in line and sent it flying toward the goalpost with a lob.


    The ball flew toward the goalpost and it looked like it was about to hit the crossbar until it suddenly got pushed forward a little and lost itsne causing it to fall into the goalpost without touching the crossbar.


    "Oh,e on," Dave said with a frustrated look.


    <I think I know why you got this quest>


    ''Huh?''


    ****


    Merry Christmas my lovely readers, wishing you all a happy holiday.


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If we can hit 1000+ privilege unlocks before the end of this month, I''ll do five chapters mass release on any day between the 20-25th of January.

 Chapter 148 Overcome The Wind

    ''What do you mean you know why I got the quest?'' Dave inquired.


    <Look around, don''t you feel something different in the atmosphere?>


    Dave didn''t reply immediately as he slowly began to look around.


    ''Yeah, it''s a little windy today.'' He replied before bringing out his palm to feel the wind.


    <Exactly and the wind can be troublesome to football yers most of the time>


    ''That''s what stopped the balls from hitting the crossbar, especially the second one.''


    <Yeah, the reason for this quest is for you to learn how to ovee this wind trouble, this will also be useful when you''re keeping on a windy day>


    "This is going to be tough." The goalkeeper said before turning his gaze to the remaining six balls.


    ''I have six balls remaining, If I miss two more, the quest is over for me.''


    He took two steps backward before he quickly raced toward the next ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost, adding a little bit of shot powerpared to what he used on the previous two balls.


    His aim was the middle point of the crossbar but before the ball could get there, it curved and hit the left angle of the crossbar.


    "That was close." He said before letting out a sigh of relief.


    <Yeah>


    [ Quest progress: ? crossbar hits ]


    [ Tries remaining: 5 ]


    Dave turned his gaze to the next ball in line and let out a deep breath before taking two steps backward.


    He closed up on the ball and quickly sent it flying toward the crossbar.


    This time it looked like the wind had calmed down a bit as the ball flew toward the right side of the crossbar and hit it.


    "Yes," Dave said with a cheerful voice.


    [ Quest progress: ? crossbar hits ]


    [ Tries remaining: 4 ]


    ''Three more to go.''


    He took two steps backward as always before he closed up on the ball next in line and sent it flying toward the left angle but before the ball could hit the crossbar, it got pushed off by the wind.


    "Oh, no." The goalkeeper muttered.


    <You should have aimed for the middle point of the crossbar>


    "I know." He mumbled.


    <If you miss one more shot, the quest is over>


    The goalkeeper wasn''t too quick to move this time as he stared at the remaining three balls for a while before he slowly took two steps backward.


    He quickly closed up on the ball next in line and quickly sent it flying toward the crossbar.


    This time the wind wasn''t able to do anything as the ball smashed past it and hit the middle point of the crossbar.


    ''Yes.''


    [ Quest progress: ? crossbar hits ]


    [ Tries remaining: 2 ]


    ''Two tries to get two hits.'' Dave said before folding his hands into fists with his gaze on the remaining two balls.<novelnext></novelnext>


    He took two steps backward before closing up on the next ball.


    The ball was flying toward the crossbar but before it could get to it, it was pushed down by the wind and flew into the goalpost instead.


    "Oh,e on," Dave said before crashing to the floor.


    [ Quest failed ]


    <At least you came close topleting>


    "Stupid wind." He grumbled.


    <Why don''t you begin your training session ande back to the questter? But you''ll have to do it before the wind stops>


    The goalkeeper did as Catherine told him and started his training session and after about an hour and some minutes, he made his way to grab some water.


    ''I''ll try the quest again after my little break.'' He said subconsciously before making his way into the house.


    He made his way to the kitchen and opened the fridge to grab a bottle of water before he slowly walked out of the kitchen.


    He made his way to the dining table and was about to sit down on one of the seats when he heard something from the television which was still on.


    "Champions League." He muttered before making his way to the area.


    What was currently showing on the television was a football pundit show, but this one was for the champions league and there were just two men sitting opposite each other, a ck man and a white man.


    "Barcelona beat Tottenham Hotspur four goals to zero after drawing one, one with them in their first meeting and now the Catns are through to the final." The ck man said.


    "And Manchester City beat Liverpool one goal to nothing to make it to the final with the away goal advantage." The white man said.


    "What are your thoughts Rick, do you think Barcelona will be able to win it after missing out on it for two seasons or do you think Manchester City will get their hand on their first-ever Champions League trophy?" The ck man asked.


    ''So, Barcelona versus Manchester City in the final, I thought Manchester City wouldn''t be able to get past Liverpool.'' The goalkeeper thought.


    "I don''t think there''s any argument here, Barcelona will defeat Manchester City in the final and lift the trophy for the sixth time in their history but I don''t think they are going to have it easy with Man City.


    "The Manchester side have only conceded a total of nine goals throughout thepetition meanwhile Barcelona have conceded seventeen goals. Manchester City are better defensively but when ites to attacking, they aren''t there yet, they have scored neen goals throughout thepetition while Barcelona have scored thirty-two goals.


    "Barcelona may be the weaker team defensively but they''ve got the attack to make up for it, I think it will be decided by how well Manchester City will be able to hold them down. They''ve got the front three of Ciro, Vasquez, and Lelemar the deadliest trio this season."


    "Alright, our guest Rick Mason thinks Barcelona will take home the trophy on Sunday next week, well, we will have to wait till then to find that out." The ck man said. "That''s all for today, and I will see you next time in The Champions League update."


    "Barcelona versus Manchester City huh, that''s a match I won''t want to miss." The goalkeeper said before taking down thest contents in his bottle of water.


    ''Now it''s time to go finish my business with the wind.'' He said subconsciously before dropping the container on the floor and getting up from the couch.


    <Just pray the wind hasn''t stopped>


    Dave didn''t reply to her as he made his way to the door and opened it for a quick rush of wind to blow against his face.


    Dave had a horrid look on his face as stared toward the goalpost while feeling the strong surge of wind on his body.


    "It just got worse." He muttered.


    *****


    Merry Christmas to you all my lovely readers.


    I would have loved to drop one extra chapter as a present but I''m currently down with a fever, I don''t even know how I was able to pull through updating two chapters today.


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If we can hit 1000+ privilege unlocks before the end of this month, I''ll do five chapters mass release on any day between the 20-25th of January.

 Chapter 149 Super Strong Team Vs Super Weak Team

    Dave had his gaze on the balls which he had lined up in front of him and after looking at them for a while, he turned his gaze to the flowers surrounding the area which were being moved under the influence of the wind.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Hit the crossbar at least five times ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +50 exp ]


    [ +2 skill upgrade points ]


    After receiving the quest, the goalkeeper took in a deep breath before slowly taking two steps backward.


    ''The wind seemed to have slowed down a bit, that''s good.''


    He wasn''t too quick to close up on the ball and fire it toward the goalpost, he stood there looking around, observing the wind''s pattern and waiting for the right time to strike.


    ''Looks like it''sing from the east side now.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before he quickly closed up on the ball and quickly sent it flying toward the right side of the crossbar.


    The wind wasing from the east side and although it hit the ball, it wasn''t able to push the ball out as Dave had aimed for the right corner.


    All the wind managed to do was push the ball off its course a little for it to hit the middle point of the crossbar before falling into the goalpost.


    "Yes!" Dave said with a cheerful voice.


    <Your uracy has improved quite well I must say>


    ''Thanks to all the practice I''ve been doing.''


    The second ball was also on target as the wind had not changed its course yet.


    "Yes!"


    [ Quest progress: ? crossbar hits ]


    [ Tries remaining: 06 ]


    ''Just have to hit it three more times out of six toplete the quest.''


    <You''ve gotten off to a good start, maybe you can do it this time around>


    ''What do you mean by maybe? I am definitely going to do it this time.''


    <Alright then, go ahead and show me what you got>


    He sent the third ball flying off in the same direction as the previous two but before the ball could hit the crossbar, the wind got heavier and pushed the ball off to get stuck in the flower instead of hitting the crossbar.


    "That''s just one miss, nothing to worry about." The goalkeeper muttered before turning his gaze to the next ball in line.


    This time, the wind had slowed down so it wasn''t able to push the ball off as it hit the crossbar for the goalkeeper to get his third hit.


    [ Quest progress: ? crossbar hits ]


    [ Tries remaining: 04 ]


    ''Two more tries with four balls to go.''


    He kept his gaze on the next ball in line before he slowly took two steps backward.


    He didn''t quickly close up on the ball and rather hesitated for a while before he slowly closed down on the ball.


    His uracy had gone off this time as the ball was sent flying toward the goalpost but it doesn''t didn''t look like it was going to hit any part of it, rather it looked like it was going to just zoom past the crossbar.


    It didn''t matter if the wind had any effect on it as it still managed to fly past the crossbar.


    "Should have used less force," Dave muttered before bringing his gaze down to look at the remaining three balls.


    <Yeah, but I think the wind yed a role in that>


    ''Three more balls to get two hits, I am not going to fail the quest again!'' Dave screamed subconsciously before folding both of his hands into fists.


    He quickly took four steps backward this time before he quickly raced toward the next ball in line.


    "All I need is enough shot power to break the influence of this stupid wind and then keep the ball in a good enough level to hit the crossbar." He muttered before he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    <This could be tricky>


    Just like Dave wanted, the short broke the influence of the wind, and just like he wanted, the ball was flying in the rightne.


    There was no stopping it now as it banged on the crossbar with great force before it was sent flying back toward Dave and fell on his feet.


    [ Quest progress: ? crossbar hits ]


    [ Tries remaining: 02 ]


    ''Just one more hit with two balls remaining.''


    The goalkeeper stared at the next ball in line for a while before he slowly took four steps backward.


    <The style triedst time is quite tricky, more shot power means less technique, so you may not get it this time>


    ''I know but I''m still going to try it.'' Dave replied before he quickly raced toward the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    His shot power this time wasn''t that greatpared to the previous one but it was still able to maneuver the wind up to the point of getting close to the crossbar.


    The ball was about to hit the crossbar when it was quickly pushed to the side by the wind but before it could fall, it made little contact with the middle point of the crossbar.


    ''I think it touched the crossbar.'' Dave said subconsciously as he watched the ball fall into the goalpost.


    [ Quest progress: 5/5 crossbar hits ]


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ +50 exp received ]


    [ +2 skill upgrade points received ]


    "Yeah," Dave said with a sigh of relief before slowly sitting down on the floor.


    ''That was really tough.''


    After sitting on thewn for a while staring at the goalpost, he slowly got up from there.


    "I think that''s enough training for today." He said before he slowly began to make his way toward the door.


    [ yer Profile ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ yer Level: 5 ]


    [ 100/100 HP ]


    [ 225/600 EXP ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Goalkeeping Skills ]


    [ Double jump: level(01) ]


    [ Ball ma: level(01) ]


    [ Goalkeeping attributes ]


    [ Shot stopper: level(01) ]


    [ 70/126 Energy ]<novelnext></novelnext>


    [ Unused stat points: 8 ]


    [ Skill points: 10 ]


    [ Skill upgrade points: 3 ]


    [ Physical Status ]


    [ Strength: 30 ]


    [ Dexterity: 34 ]


    [ Endurance: 24 ]


    [ Career info ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ Age: 21 ]


    [ Height: 187 cm ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Strong foot: right ]


    [ Developed qualities: Shot stopper ]


    [ Developing qualities: Sweeper Keeper, ball ying keeper. ]


    [ Current Team: Unique FC ]


    [ Status: Starter ]


    [ Market value: €10,000 ]


    [ Matches yed: 77 ]


    [ Goals: 0 ]


    [ Assists: 3 ]


    [ Shots faced: 113 ]


    [ Goals conceded: 79 ]


    [ Saves made: 35 ]


    [ Penalties faced: 19 ]


    [ Penalties saved: 01 ]


    [ Clean sheets: 01 ]


    [ Career average rating: 6.2 ]


    [ Awards ]


    [ Man of the match awards: 01  ]


    [ Trophies: 0 ]


    [ Records set/broken: none ]


    ''I guess my market value hasn''t increased a bit.'' He said subconsciously before crashing down on the couch.


    <If you keep up your performance, it may skyrocket one day>


    "I hope so." The goalkeeper said before putting both of his hands on the back of his head. "I think I should get some shut-eye before Emma returns."


    He had almost closed his eyespletely when he heard a notification sounde from his phone which was lying on the table in front of him.


    He quickly opened his eyes and grabbed the phone to see that it was a text message from Mateo.


    "I forgot." He muttered and pped his hand into his face after reading the message.


    After reading the message, he looked at the time on his phone to see that the time was 4:40 PM.


    "I still have a lot of time left." He said before quickly making his way upstairs to freshen up.


    After that, he quickly made his way outside and to his car, he hopped into his car and zoomed off toward Mateo''s house.


    _______ _______


    Mateo was busy ying the newly improved FIFA 25 in his room when he heard knocking soundsing from the main door.


    ''That must be mom.'' He said subconsciously before he paused the game and slowly got up from his bed.


    He staggered out of his room and toward the door and opening he could see that it was someone he was partially expecting to see.


    "You didn''t reply to my text, I thought you weren''ting." The winger said, looking at the goalkeeper.


    "Sorry, I was busy and sort of forgot it," Dave said, scratching the back of his head.


    "Oh, don''t sweat it, I think you''re in perfect time, I just finished my training session and needed someone to y FIFA with, it''s boring ying against theputer," Mateo said.


    "I see, so how''s your leg?"


    "It''s healing fine, I''ll be back to full shape in two weeks."


    "That''s good to hear."


    "This way bro," Mateo said before he began to lead him toward his room.


    "I thought your mom was supposed to be here?" Dave asked after entering the room.


    "Yeah, she went out to buy something," Mateo said before tossing him one of the wireless controllers. "Here."


    Dave didn''t have any problem catching the controller before turning his gaze to the television to see that Mateo had restarted.


    "Hope you have some skills on FIFA," Mateo said.


    "I''ve only yed it a few times and I used to beat rk then but my skills must have gotten rusty now," Dave said.


    "Okay, choose your team then."


    As soon as those words left the winger''s mouth, Dave quickly hurried to Laliga and chose Barcelona.


    "Hmph, I was going to choose Barcelona but it turns out you beat me to it," Dave said before quickly scrolling through the leagues until he found Bilbeth Premier League.


    After clicking the league, he went ahead to choose his team Unique FC.


    "Really? You know Unique FC is one of the worst teams in the world right?" Dave said with a baffled look on his face.


    "I know but I think I''ll do just fine with them," Mateo said.


    Dave stared at him for a while before turning his gaze back to the television.


    ''We''ll see about that.''


    ****


    Sorry I could only do one chapter, this fever just keeps getting worse but I promise to make up for the iplete chapter today by releasing three chapters in a day before the month runs out.


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If we can hit 1000+ privilege unlocks before the end of this month, I''ll do five chapters mass release on any day between the 20-25th of January.

 Chapter 150 Wasnt Part Of My Plan

    Dave was ying with a star-studded team, arguably the best team in the world at the moment while Mateo was ying with Unique FC, an average team in Bilbeth Premier League.


    Unique FC were currently ranked at number three hundred and fifty-two in the UEFA rankings while Barcelona was ranked second just behind Real Madrid.


    Dave had the better team by a far margin but Mateo was dominating him so far, he was bullying him to be precise.


    The winger had put one goal into Dave''s goalpost just five minutes into the game, video game time and he had done it in the coolest way he could.


    A smooth cross from Carlos from the right wing and a wonderful bicycle kick finish from the video game version of himself.


    "I haven''t really scored a bicycle kick before, but it''s nice to see that he can do it which means that I can do it too." The winger said after scoring the goal.


    The video game time was showing thirty-eight minutes and still moving fast and so far Dave had been unable to do anything reasonable with all the stars with wonderful stats in his squad, it felt like Mateo knew every single one of his moves and was always there to stop him.


    "Why is this so hardpared to thest time I yed it?" Dave said with a frustrated look on his face.


    "Maybe your skills have gone rusty just like you suspected," Mateo said.


    <Or you just never had any skill and rk was worse than you in the game, he doesn''t look like a video game type to me anyway>


    ''Catherine.'' The goalkeeper grumbled inwardly.


    Hisck of focus for just a few seconds was enough for Mateo to get in a one-on-one situation with Frank Christensen, Barcelona''s goalkeeper and who would be with the ball other than the video game version of himself.


    "No, no, no," Dave said as he tried to chase him down with his yers but it was already toote as he had gotten close enough to the goalkeeper and just before the goalkeeper could attempt to sweep the ball off his feet, he lobbed it over him and into the back of the.


    "That''s a splendiferous finish." Thementator from the game said. "They''ve two goals in the bag now and they''ll be looking to seal the game now."


    "Woohoo, two goals in the bag," Mateo said with a cheerful voice.


    "This can never happen in real life," Dave grumbled with a frustrated look on his face.


    "Yeah it can never happen with the team they have currently but who knows it may happen one day in the future in maybe a friendly match," Mateo said.


    The game continued and just before the first half concluded, Mateo managed to put two more goals into the back of Dave''s goalpost and those two goals were also scored by the same person that scored the first two which meant that all four goals in the first half were scored by the same person.


    "I get that you''re leagues ahead of me but did you have to score all the goals with yourself?" Dave said as he turned his gaze to the winger. "The Mateo I know is more of a ymaker, he doesn''t hug all the goals for himself."


    <I don''t know losing in a video game affected you as much as losing a real match did>


    ''Shut up Catherine.''


    "Yeah, but didn''t you see all those chances I created for Fred, Carlos, and even Minino and they missed it?" Mateo said.


    "No, you missed them, you''re the one holding the controller," Dave said.


    Mateo was quiet for a while before he replied.


    "I guess you''re right in some sense, I''ll try to share in the second half but trust me, you won''t like it."


    The scoreboard and statistics of the first half were being disyed on the screen and so far in the match, Mateo had managed to keep eighty-one percent of ball possession while Dave had only managed to get neen percent of ball possession.


    Mateo had yed twelve shots with ten of them being on target while Dave had only managed to y three shots and all of them were off target.


    <You seriously suck at this game having those kinds of stats with a team like Barcelona>


    ''You don''t always have to state the obvious, Catherine.''


    "Before we start the second half," Mateo said before turning his gaze to Dave. "I heard you and Emma are engaged now."


    "Yeah," Dave said with a nod.


    "That''s good news, so when''s the weddinging up?" The winger asked.


    "Umm...I don''t actually know since I haven''t really discussed it with Emma but I want to get it over with before next season so it has to be next month."


    "Okay," Mateo said before turning his gaze back to the television.


    "Wait," Dave said before he could click the continue to second half option.


    "What?"


    "My throat''s a bit dry." The goalkeeper said.


    "If you want something to drink then you''re going to go get it yourself, my mom''s not back yet," Mateo said. "The fridge is around the corner."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Okay," Dave said before he slowly got up from the bed. "I''ll be back."


    The goalkeeper made his way out of the room and to the fridge, he was about to open it when he heard knocksing from the door.


    "That must be Mrs. Smith." He said before quickly making his way to the door and after opening it he could see that it was just as he thought.


    "Hello, Mrs. Smith." The goalkeeper said quickly, putting on a smile.


    "Dave? Well, this is a surprise." Martha said before quickly making her way to the couch to drop off all the bags she was holding. "Is Emma here with you?"


    "No, I came alone," Dave replied.


    "Okay, I guess Mateo is in his room."


    "Yeah." He said.


    "Okay." She said before quickly making her way to Mateo''s room.


    ________ ________


    After getting trashed by Mateo in the game nine goals to one, Dave spent a little more time with Mateo and his mother before he decided to start heading home.


    "8:30 PM." He muttered after entering his car and checking his watch. "Emma''s going to be wondering where I ran off to by now, it''s strange she hasn''t called me up till now."


    <Maybe because she isn''t home yet>


    "Maybe, I should try calling her then."


    He brought out his phone and was about to select her contact when his phone began to vibrate as the word coach was disyed on the screen.


    ''I wonder why he''s calling me now.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before picking up the call.


    "Hello Coach, How''s it going?"


    "Everything''s fine, Dave," Norman said.


    "You don''t usually call me unless it''s something important so, I''m guessing this is important too."


    "Yeah, it''s something important."


    "Okay, what is it?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "We talked about transfers in thest board meeting, loan transfers mainly and it turns out a club is interested in getting you on a loan transfer."


    "Wait up, did you just say a club wanted me?" Dave asked.


    "On a loan transfer, yes."


    "Okay, what club is that?"


    "Benfica."


    "Benfica?" Dave said as the tone of his voice suddenly turned sour.


    "Yeah, they put up quite an impressive amount of money to get you, and now the board is considering the deal."


    "They''re considering it? What did my father say?" Dave asked.


    <This isn''t good>


    "He hasn''t made a decision yet but I tried my best to talk him out of it,"  Norman said. "I just wanted to make sure you were aware of what was going on, I have to go now." He added before ending the call.


    Dave was speechless for a while as he allowed his phone to drop into his car seat.


    "A move to Benfica." He muttered. "That was never part of my n."


    *****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If we can hit 1000+ privilege unlocks before the end of this month, I''ll do five chapters mass release on any day between the 20-25th of January.

 Chapter 151 Burning Up

    ''I know my dad, he''s probably going to ept the offer with the excuse that it was for the team''s betterment of the team.'' Dave said subconsciously as he drove home in his car.


    <You can''t be sure of that>


    ''Why not? The only reason why he''s never loaned me out is that nobody wanted me and now that a club like Benfica wants me, he''s finally gotten his chance.''


    <If you think that''s true, why don''t you call him and confirm things for yourself?>


    After that suggestion, Dave turned his gaze to his phone and stared at it for a while before turning his gaze away.


    "No, I don''t think I can." He said.


    <Why not?>


    "Because I''m angry and whenever I''m angry I do things I end up regretting."


    <Okay, that''s a valid point>


    The goalkeeper kept on driving without saying anything to her but she wasn''t done talking to him.


    <Weren''t you going to call Emma before Norman called you?>


    ''Yeah, I was.'' He said subconsciously before turning his gaze to his phone.


    He was about to reach for it when it began to vibrate and the caller happened to be the exact person he was thinking about when he reached for the phone.


    "Hey, babe." He said after picking up the call and cing the phone against his ear.


    "Hey, I just got back from work and discovered that you''re not here, where are you?" She asked.


    ''She just got back from work?''


    "Don''t worry, I''m on my way back now." The goalkeeper said.


    "Okay, but where did you go?" She asked.


    "At Mateo''s."


    "Oh."


    "I''ll be home soon, bye." He said before ending the call.


    It didn''t take long for him to get home and on entering the house, he was weed with a warm hug from Emma who was very happy to see him.


    "So you went to see Mateo." She raised her head to look at him with her arms still wrapped around him.


    "Yeah, he was bored so I went to keep himpany and then he ended up destroying me in a game of FIFA." He said.


    "I see, did you see my mother?"


    "She wasn''t there when I arrived but she returned before I left," Dave said.


    "Okay, you had a pretty fun day while mine was spent in the office doing boring paperwork." She said,


    "It''s the career you chose so it shouldn''t be boring to you."


    "I love the part about going to matches, interviewing yers, and even random people leaving the stadium but sitting in one ce doing paperwork all day isn''t my thing, I just hope Miss. Nelly gives me something fun to do tomorrow."


    While she was talking, Dave slowly ced his hand on her forehead.


    "Your temperature''s a little high." He said.


    "What''s that supposed to mean?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.


    "I didn''t mean it in that way, I''m serious, it looks like you''re starting to catch a fever." He said.


    "A fever?" She said before touching her neck. "Yeah, my temperature seems to be higher than usual but I feel okay."


    "You should take some medications just in case," Dave suggested.


    "Don''t worry, babe, I''m okay." She said before making her way to the kitchen. "You should go change and maybe get a little rest, dinner will be ready soon."


    "You''ve been working all day, you''re the one that''s supposed to be getting some rest," Dave said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Don''t worry I still have enough energy left for cooking." She said before tying her head back so that it wouldn''t get in the way.


    Dave didn''t try to say anything else because he knew that whatever he said she would just counter it with her own words.


    "Alright then, I''ll be upstairs." He said before making his way upstairs.


    ______ _____


    Just like she said, it didn''t take her long to finish making her dinner. Dave was downstairs by the time she finished so the two had dinner together and did a few other things before finally going to bed.


    Dave had decided to turn off his dream control feature tonight and give his mind a good rest too. He wanted to rest his mind but he had been lying on the bed for thirty minutes without being able to get any sleep while Emma had slept a long time ago.


    ''What the heck is wrong with me, I''m supposed to sleep off immediately after such a long day?'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously. ''Why am I not feeling sleepy?''


    <You certainly don''t have anything in mind that seems to be bothering you at the moment so it''s quite strange>


    ''Does this have anything to do with turning off the dream control feature?''


    <Is this the first time you''ve turned off the feature?>


    ''No.''


    <Did something like this happen the first time you turned off the feature?>


    ''No.''


    <There you go, you just answered it for yourself>


    The goalkeepery there staring at the ceiling waiting for the sweet wind of sleep to hit him anytime soon but so far nothing was happening and he was beginning to get frustrated.


    ''If I can''t fall asleep, I''ll just go downstairs and do something tiring until I start feeling sleepy. I may end up sleeping on the couch but that''s okay.''


    He got up from the bed and made his way to the door but just as he was about to leave through the door, his ears picked up something unusual causing him to stop on his.


    Emma''s breaths always followed a certain soft and soothing pattern but right now it sounded like her nose was breached by something causing her breathing to break or seize at some points.


    He slowly reached for the switch and turned on the lights to see that it was indeeding from her.


    "What''s going on?" He muttered before he slowly made his way to her.


    The weather wasn''t even hot but her face was covered in sweat and her facial expression looked like she was struggling with something in her dream.


    All these things coupled with her breathing which was constantly seizing wasn''t a good sight for him.


    <She doesn''t look well>


    Dave didn''t say anything as he climbed on the bed and got close enough to touch her.


    ''She wasn''t feeling well, that''s why she told me to leave her alone.'' He said subconsciously before he slowly ced his hand on her forehead.


    A horrid look appeared on his face as soon as he felt the amount of heat radiating from her body.


    "This isn''t good." He muttered.


    <What?>


    "She''s burning up, like seriously up."


    <That''s not good>


    As soon as those words left his mouth, her breathing got faster but the seizures were still there.


    ****


    My fever has finally been taken care of, so daily updates are still safe. I will still make up for that one-chapter deficit of yesterday on any day I can before the month runs out.


    Thank you all for all the support.


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If we can hit 1000+ privilege unlocks before the end of this month, I''ll do five chapters mass release on any day between the 20-25th of January.

 Chapter 152 Two Days

    Dave did the fastest thing he could think of after figuring out that Emma wasn''t in a good condition.


    He quickly made his way downstairs and straight to the kitchen to pick up a small stic bowl which he filled halfway with water before quickly making his way upstairs.


    "Hang in there." He muttered as he entered the room and dropped the bowl on the cupboard before he quickly made his way to the wardrobe area and began to go through her stuff.


    "Where is it?" He kept mumbling as he kept throwing things getting in his way out of the way. "There it is." He said with a relieved tone after finding what he was looking for.


    Her pink face towel was just what he was looking for.


    He picked up the face towel before quickly making his way to the bowl of water, he didn''t waste anything soaking it inside the water.


    He then brought it out and squeezed the water out a bit before he folded the towel and ced it on her forehead.


    After doing that, the goalkeeper let out a sigh before he slowly turned his gaze to the clock to see that the time was 11:30 PM.


    "This should calm her down for a bit but I should take her to the hospital to make sure she''s on the safe side." He muttered before turning his gaze back to her.


    "It''s toote to go to the hospital."


    The way her throat and eyes moved before she said those words and the way the words hade out in broken form was proof of how painful it was for her to say.


    "You''re awake," Dave said, he sounded relieved to hear her voice.


    "You haven''t slept yet." She attempted to turn her gaze to him but Dave stopped her before she could do it.


    "Hey, don''t stress yourself." He said. "How do you feel?"


    "Cold." She replied.


    "I told you earlier that you needed medications but you said you were okay." He said.


    "I felt okay." She said before slowly closing her eyes and opening them again. "Please help me up."


    "Why? You shouldn''t get up."


    "I need to use the bathroom."


    Her breathing was having fewer seizures now but her voice was fading with each word she said.


    "Oh," Dave said before he slowly put his arms around her to help her up from the bed.


    After that, he put her right arm around his shoulder and led her out of the room and to the bathroom.


    After using the bathroom, he started helping her back to the bedroom but on the way she suddenly stopped moving.


    "Anything wrong?" Dave asked.


    "No, it''s just that...."


    She couldn''t finish what she wanted to say as she had suddenly lost consciousness and because Dave didn''t have a firm grip on her, she slipped off but just before she could hit the floor, he managed to catch her right on time.


    "That was close."


    <What a night this is turning out to be>


    _______ _______


    Her consciousness was slowly returning as she slowly opened her eyes which had to quickly close because of the effects of the sun''s bright rays entering the room through the window.


    Opening her eyes again, she found out that she was in the hospital, the drip put on her was all she needed to see, and turning her gaze to her right, she found Dave sitting beside her.


    "Dave." She muttered, this time there were no signs of struggling in her voice.


    "Hey, you''re awake." The goalkeeper said with a bright smile on his face.


    "When did you bring me here?" She asked.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Last night, you passed out so I had no option but to bring you here."


    "And then you forgot to sleep." She said, looking at him with her weak eyes.


    "Of course, I slept." He said.


    "But you didn''t get enough sleep."


    She could tell by the bags under his eyes.


    "I was worried about you but never mind that, I have lots of free time now that the season is over, I can use the whole afternoon to make up for that." He said. "The doctor said you had some kind of flu, I don''t know how he put it exactly but he said you''re going to spend two days here."


    "Two days?" Emma said, almost springing up from her bed.


    "Yeah, he said it''s not something serious yet but it may be something serious if it''s not taken care of soon."


    "What about my job?" She asked.


    "Don''t worry, I went there to clear things up myself this morning which I regret doing, a phone call would have been faster." The goalkeeper said.


    "Oh, I see, so I''m going to be here for two days." She said before turning her gaze to the window. "I feel okay, why do I have to stay here for two days?"


    "That''s what the doctor said, the fever almostpletely stops during day time but once the sun goes down, it strikes with full force, it''s like a night fever but worse." He exined.


    She didn''t say anything and just stared at the window for a while before turning her gaze back to him.


    "Don''t worry, I promise I''lle to visit you regrly." He said before he slowly leaned closer and kissed her on her forehead.


    "Really?"


    "Yeah." He said with a nod. "I have to go now, I have some things I have to deal with."


    "Okay." She said as she watched him walk to the door.


    "Get well soon." He said before closing the door.


    A few seconds after he was out of the room, she let out a deep breath before she slowly closed her eyes.


    _______ _______


    The hospital was a twenty-five minutes drive from the goalkeeper''s home so that''s how long it took him to get home and as always, he parked his car in his usual spot before he stepped down from it and made his way to the entrance.


    After entering the house, he looked around the area, the living room, dining, entrance to the kitchen, and staircase before letting out a deep sigh.


    "Two days." He muttered.


    <She''s feeling the same way now>


    "I know that''s the reason why I said I would visit her regrly." He said moving toward the couch in the living room. "But anyway." He added before crashing down on the couch.


    After sitting there for a while staring at the nk television screen, he slowly dipped his hand into his pocket and brought out his phone.


    He scrolled through his contacts until he found the one he was looking for, rk.


    He clicked the contact and clicked the call button, the call screen popped up and after a few seconds, it began to ring meaning that the call had gone through sessfully.


    ''It''s time to talk about Benfica, it''s one of the top clubs to ever exist but for some reason, I just don''t think I can bear a move even if it''s just a loan move with no buy option.''


    ****


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 Chapter 153 Hyper Ball Blaster

    "Hey, Dave, what''s up?" rk said after picking up the call.


    "I''m okay, you?" Dave asked.


    "Same here bro and Emma?"


    "Uh¡­..Emma fell sickst night but she''s in the hospital now recovering fine." The goalkeeper replied.


    "Fell sick? How?"


    "Some kind of flu but she''s okay."


    "Okay, that''s good to hear," rk said. "What do you want to talk about this time?"


    "Benfica." The goalkeeper replied.


    "Benfica? What about them?" rk asked.


    "Did they contact you about me?"


    "No, I haven''t heard anything from them, what''s going on?"


    "Well, they sent an offer to my team, they want me on a loan transfer for next season."


    "A loan transfer huh, I guess they don''t really need to contact me or you for something like that," rk said. "What did the board say about it?"


    "I don''t know, they haven''t made a decision yet, it''s all up to my father now and I think he''s going to agree because they put up quite an impressive amount for me, something I was never expecting."


    "Impressive? How much are we talking about here?"


    "I don''t know, but coach said it was higher than anything the club has gotten for a loan transfer before."


    "Okay, then it must be impressive," rk said.


    "A very good reason why they are going to yes and bundle me over to the Portuguese League."


    "You don''t want to go? You know the Portuguese League is pretty interesting and Benfica is the strongest team there although they''re not doing so well this season and are currently in fourth ce."


    "Hmmm¡­.tell me more, let me see if you will be able to convince me."


    "Okay," rk said. "I don''t really know much about the club but they are a very good European side, they''ve won the Champions League twice, and the Portuguese League thirty-eight times."


    "That''s all impressive, they''re a strong team as you''ve said but I''m not convinced." The goalkeeper said.


    "Why not?" rk asked.


    "I don''t want to leave Unique FC and go on some loan transfer now that we''ve managed to qualify for our first Europeanpetition in six years. Sure Benfica will most likely be in the champions league or Europa league next season but I want to y the conference league with Unique FC and even go ahead to win it." He said. "That''s what I want and maybe after that, I can go to another team in one of Europe''s top five leagues on a normal transfer, have you forgotten that I told you that I wanted my next move to be to one of the clubs in any of the top five leagues."


    "I haven''t forgotten but a loan transfer isn''t actually a move since you will return to Unique at the end of the season," rk said.


    "But it will prevent me from ying the Conference League with Unique FC and I don''t want that." The goalkeeper said.


    "Okay, but what if your father agrees to the deal?"


    "We have to make sure he doesn''t," Dave said.


    "We? Like you want me to call him and try to talk him out of it?"


    "You''re always on point rk."


    "Okay, I''ll call him and see what I can do," rk said before letting out a sigh.


    "Thanks, you''re the best, I''ll call youter bye." He said before ending the call.


    <Are you sure he will be able to convince him?>


    ''Of course, he will, my dad has this soft spot for rk, he sees him like his son.''


    <I don''t think I understand>


    ''There was this time I was asking my father for a new boot and he said no but rk was there and he managed to convince the man with just words.''


    <I think it has something to do with the way you asked>


    ''Maybe but that wasn''t the only time, I was a bit jealous and angry at first but Iter learned to use it to my advantage in dire situations where I needed my father''s help.''


    <And you think it''s going to work in this situation, you know this is business right?><novelnext></novelnext>


    ''I know but I have a feeling it''s going to work if not then I''ll have to go talk to him myself.''


    ________ ________


    After taking his breakfast and having an hour of rest, the goalkeeper made his way outside to train.


    He nned to spend two hours in training today and that meant an hour in the gym and an hour on thewn.


    After two hours of training, he made his way back inside, his breathing was a bit paced but he didn''t look like had done anything that serious.


    "That ster has gotten less challenging, even level seven feels like a twelve-year-old shooting at me." He muttered before picking up his phone from the table where he left it.


    <A twelve-year-old with wit and swerve because I can recall the ball going past you thrice and you couldn''t do anything about it>


    "Hey, rk." The goalkeeper said after cing the phone against his ear.


    "Hey, Dave, I know it''s been three hours already but I haven''t called your dad yet."


    "I didn''t call you to ask about that." He said.


    "Really? Then why did you call?"


    "The ball ster."


    "What about it?" rk asked.


    "It''s getting less challenging."


    "It has seven levels, Dave."


    "Yeah, I mean all seven levels."


    "Oh, then you must have improved rapidly."


    "Is there one that''s better than this one? I mean one way better with more shot power even from level one and better wits."


    "Now that you''ve mentioned it, I was looking at a newly developed ball ster yesterday."


    "Really?"


    "Yeah, it''s called the hyper ball ster five thousand, it has new features and the specs match what you''ve just described."


    "Really? What''s the price?" Dave asked.


    "Haven''t checked but I''ll check and see if I can get it on my way to Unique next week."


    "Okay, that''s good, I really need something to push my limits."


    "That''s new, the Dave I used to know used toin about reaching his limit toote."


    "Yeah, this is a new Dave, I have to go now, don''t forget to call my dad before the day runs out, bye."


    After ending the call, he dropped the phone back on the table before turning his gaze to the television.


    "Hype ball ster." He muttered.


    <That''s a cool name>


    The goalkeeper was about to sit down on the couch when he heard someone knock on the door thrice.


    "Who could that be now?" He grumbled before slowly making his way to the door.


    He opened the door to see someone familiar standing there, a face he used to see every day, if not for the red hair, he would have mistaken her for Emma and asked her what she was doing there but the red hair was always the difference.


    "Emilia." He muttered.


    "Hi, Dave." She said with a warm smile on her face.


    ****


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 Chapter 154 Replica

    <Just when you were starting to miss her, her lookalike popped up from nowhere>


    ''Keep quiet, Catherine.''


    "Hi, Emilia." He said, sounding a bit nervous.


    "Can Ie in?"


    "Sure." He said before making way for her to enter the house.


    "Where''s Emma?" Emilia asked as soon as she entered the room.


    She was carrying a bigger handbagpared to the one she was always with so she had to drop it on the dining table.


    "Um¡­Emma." The goalkeeper said, scratching the back of his head.


    "Is she still at work?" She asked.


    "No." He replied.


    "Okay, then she must be upstairs then." She said before taking two steps toward the staircase.


    "She''s not there either." He said.


    "Huh?" She said before she slowly turned her gaze to him. "Then where is she?"


    "Um¡­Emma wasn''t feeling too wellst night so I took her to the hospital, it turns out she has some kind of dangerous flu and will be spending two days in the hospital." He exined.


    "Emma''s in the hospital?" She said as the happy expression on her face suddenly dropped. "Can you take me there, please?"


    "You mean right now?"


    "Yeah," Emilia said with a nod.


    "Okay, let me just change into something else." The goalkeeper said before he quickly made his way upstairs.


    "Okay." She muttered.


    ________ ________


    "So, how is she doing? Is she recovering fine?" Emilia asked.


    "Yeah, she''s doing fine, there''s nothing to worry about?" Dave said with his gaze on the road and his hands on the steering wheel.


    "That''s good to hear." She breathed a sigh of relief.


    It didn''t take long for them to get to the hospital and after going through the necessary reception process, they made their way to where Emma was staying.


    On their way to the room, they met up with the doctor who looked like he was justing from the area.


    "Hey, doc." The goalkeeper said.


    "Hey, Dave, you''re here to see Emma right?"


    "Yeah," Dave said with a nod. "How''s she doing?"


    "She''s doing just fine, she''ll be good to go on Sunday." The doctor said before noticing Emilia who was standing beside Dave. "Who''s this?"


    "Um¡­this is Emilia, Emma''s friend, she wanted to see her so I brought her along."


    "Friend? I just concluded in my mind that you were her twin sister." The doctor said with her gaze on Emilia.


    "Well, she is my sister," Emilia said, causing Dave to quickly turn her gaze to her. "But we''re not rted by blood."


    "I never thought I would see two people who weren''t rted look so identical." The doctor said with an amazed look on his face. "If you had brought her on another day when Emma wasn''t here, I would have thought she was Emma and wouldn''t bother to ask who she was."


    "Well, I have to go now." He added before he continued his walk out of the area.


    Dave slowly opened the door because he wanted to take Emma by surprise, that is if she was sleeping or looking at the other side of the room.


    She wasn''t doing thetter nor the former rather she was lying on her back going through her phone with a smile on her face.


    The two slowly entered the room and with Dave''s signal, they quietly walked toward the room.


    "I saw you when you entered." She said to inform them that their cover had been busted a long time ago.


    "What''s putting a smile on your face?" Dave asked.


    "Emma," Emilia said before quickly making her way to her.


    "Hey, Emilia," Emma said but she didn''t seem to be surprised to see her. "I was just going through my gallery, I have very silly pictures of you in here." She said before holding up her phone to show him the picture where he tripped and fell t on his face just before he could get off the staircase.


    Emilia''s cheeks had gone red now as she was trying hard to hold in herughter.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Hey, you''re not supposed to be keeping pictures like that on your phone," Dave said with an offended look on his face. "When did you even take that picture?"


    "Why not? Do you prefer me to keep them on my Instagram?"


    "Okay, just keep them on your phone."


    Emma didn''t say anything and just smiled at him before turning her gaze to Emma.


    After talking with the both of them for a while, Dave found out that Emilia was in Unique City because of a two-day seminar but before they could say anything further, he left to go do something.


    "Have you told him about me spending the next two days with you guys?" Emilia asked a few minutes after Dave left. "Well, it''s not you guys now that you''re going to be spending the next two days here."


    "Actually, I just have one day left now that today''s almost over, and don''t worry about telling, I''ll do it now," Emma said.


    "Okay," Emilia said before running her gaze down her fingers to spot the ring with the purple diamond she was putting on. "Is that the ring he used to propose to you?"


    "Yeah," Emma said, raising the ring so that she could see it properly.


    "It looks really pretty."


    "Yeah, those were exact thoughts when I first saw it."


    The two were still talking when Dave entered the room with his gaze on his wristwatch.


    "5:50 PM, it''s starting to gette." He said.


    "Yeah, you two should get going," Emma said.


    "Huh?" Dave said before turning his gaze to her.


    "Um¡­, babe." She called.


    "Yeah," Dave said, moving closer to her.


    "I told you that Emilia was here because of a two-days seminar right?"


    "Yeah," Dave said with a nod.


    "Well, she needs somewhere to stay and I told her she could stay at your ce with you and me, that was before this stupid flu hit me."


    "Wait, are you asking for my permission? Is that what you''re doing?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Yeah." She said,


    Dave didn''t reply to her immediately and just stared at her before a smile appeared on her face.


    "It''s our ce now and if you want her to stay that''s okay, I don''t see any reason to say no." He said.


    "Thanks, Hun." She said with a smile on her face.


    Emilia didn''t say anything and just smiled at the both of them.


    ________ ________


    After spending a little more time with Emma, the two made their way back to the house.


    Dave was the first to enter the house and the first ce his eyes went was the clock and he could see that the time was 6:35 PM now.


    "Hey, there''s really nothing here for the both of us to eat tonight but I could order pizza for you." He said as soon as she entered the house.


    "Order pizza for me? What about you?" She asked.


    "Don''t worry, I''m on a strict diet and I''m not that hungry tonight." The goalkeeper said.


    "Okay, but don''t bother about the pizza, I can make something for both of us fast." She said before she began to make her way to the kitchen.


    "Wait, aren''t you tired after your journey and having to go see Emma right away, and don''t you need to change first?" Dave asked.


    "Don''t worry, I''m okay." She said before entering the kitchen.


    <Are you sure you''re okay with her staying here, I have a strange feeling about something going wrong>


    ''Why not? She''s a nice person unlike that first one Karen, I like her, it''s like having a replica of Emma in the house.''


    <That is the main reason why I think something could go wrong?>


    ****


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 Chapter 155 New Interest

    "I thought you said you weren''t hungry," Emilia said as she watched Dave eat his meal from the other side of the table.


    "I never said I wasn''t hungry, I just said I wasn''t that hungry." The goalkeeper said. "I didn''t expect you to finish this fast."


    "Well, I did tell you that I was going to be fast." She said with a smile on her face.


    ''That smile, just like Emma''s.'' He said subconsciously before turning his gaze back to his food.


    After the two were done with their meal, Emilia didn''t hesitate to get up from her seat and clear the table.


    "Let me just clean these up quickly." She said before walking to the kitchen with the dishes.


    <Are you starting to see what I''m talking about now?>


    ''Yeah, I know she looks like her but I never expected her to behave so much like her.''


    <When people are together for long, they have these kinds of effects on each other>


    After cleaning up the dishes, she picked up her bag and went up the stairs with Dave who took her to the guest room before retiring to his room.


    After entering the room, the goalkeeper walked straight to his bed and stared at it for a while before he crashed down on it face t.


    He stayed like that for a while before he flipped over and let out a sigh.


    "I should give rk a call and see how things went between him and my father." He muttered before pulling out his phone from his pocket.


    He quickly scrolled through his contacts to find rk''s contact and after finding it he clicked it before clicking the call button.


    The thing buzzed for a few seconds before rk picked up the call.


    "Hey, Dave, How''s it going?"


    "Long day, but things are okay," Dave replied.


    "I see."


    "How did it go, your conversation with my dad?" The goalkeeper asked, going straight to the point.


    "Um¡­we spoke and he said that he hasn''t decided anything about it yet but he wants to talk to you first before deciding anything," rk said.


    "He said that?"


    "Yeah, so you know what you have to do, call him, he wants to speak to you, he wants to hear your opinion."


    "Yeah but I hope it''s not for something else."


    "What do you mean?" rk asked.


    "Never mind."


    "Okay," rk said. "Uhu, there''s something I forgot to tell you when we spoke earlier today."


    "What''s that?"


    "Well, the president of Eintracht Frankfurt contacted me yesterday."


    "Frankfurt? Why?"


    "Isn''t it obvious? They''re interested in you, the club won''t have a goalkeeper by next season as one of them is retiring and the other one is leaving so their only option is to either sign a new goalkeeper or pull out someone with less experience from their team B."


    "Frankfurt''s in Germany right, the Bundesliga?"


    "Yeah, the president said that he had been scouting you for a while and that they would be submitting an official bid to Unique FC very soon," rk said. "The best part of things is that they are buying you to be an immediate and not to spend most of the season on the bench behind the main goalkeeper."


    <Yeah, this sounds really enticing>


    "So, what are you saying, do you like the idea of heading to Germany and being Frankfurt''s number one?"


    "Uh¡­I''m going to need some time to think this one through, rk." Dave said.


    The tone of his voice indicated that he was struggling to make up his mind.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Okay, think it through and give me your feedback in the morning, good night," rk said before ending the call.


    <Moving to Frankfurt will be a very bold move for you, you''ll get toplete the quest since the Bundesliga is one of the top five leagues>


    ''I know, Catherine, but have you forgotten what I told you about wanting to y the conference league with Unique FC.''


    <That''s good but Frankfurt are in better and will most likely be in the Europa League next season, you''ll have to pick one because if you decide to stay at Unique FC, they''ll get another goalkeeper and at the end of next season they may not have any need for you anymore unless you want to be a second choice goalkeeper>


    ''Then I''ll just look for another club in the top five leagues.''


    <I see you''ve already made your choice then>


    ''Not exactly.''


    _______ _______


    Before going to bed, Dave decided to turn his dream control feature on, and after about ten minutes into his sleep, he found himself in his dream and met up with Catherine as always, and now, she was going to take him through another one of her training sessions today.


    "What''s for training today, Cat?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Close-range power shots." As soon as those words left her mouth, his surroundings began to change into a pitch as expected until the goalkeeper found himself in between the sticks with balls littered all over the edge of his box.


    "What type of training is this?"


    It didn''t take long before he got his answer as one of the balls came flying toward him at full force.


    The ball mmed into his face knocking him into the goalpost along with it.


    "Aw." The goalkeeper groaned as he loaned on the floor with the covering his face.


    ________ ________


    "That felt more like a punishment than a training session." The goalkeeper said after opening his eyes. "If that was a real session, I would be crawling on the floor right now.


    <Well, you should be d that it wasn''t>


    The goalkeeper sat up on his bed and checked the time on his phone to see that it was 6:01 AM.


    "I think it''s time for my morning run." He muttered before he quickly slid into his running boots and changed into somethingfortable.


    He made his way downstairs and out of the house but just before he could start making her way toward the garage area, the door was pushed open for Emilia to walk out putting on ck leggings that stretch a little further down her hills, a red jersey that looked perfect on her and a pair of ck running boots with pink designs.


    She had her tied back and had the speaker parts of her earpiece hanging on her ears.


    "Hey, good morning, you''re going for a run too." She said as soon as she spotted it.


    "Hey, you do morning runs?"


    "Yeah, every day."


    ''Something she does that Emma doesn''t.''


    "That''s good."


    "It''s nice that I caught up with you before you left, it will be easier with you and maybe you can show me around because I haven''t been to this side of Unique City before, the first time was the day I visited Emma. So, which route are we taking right or left?" She asked.


    "Left," Dave replied.


    "Okay." She said before putting her earpiece in her ears. "Let''s go then." She added before running past him.


    Dave looked at the area she had just passed for a while before he began to make his way to the road where she would probably be waiting for him.


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


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 Chapter 156 The Hidden Market

    "I don''t really have time to do proper workouts so I make sure I run every morning," Emilia said.


    She had removed the earpiece in her left ear so that she would be able to hear what he was saying as they ran.


    "That''s good, and the earpiece?" Dave asked, touching his ear.


    "I really love having these in my ears while running, I can run without music but music makes it so much easier and fun too, you should try it sometimes." She said,


    "I''m not a big fan of music but I guess I could try it out the next time I''m running." The goalkeeper said.


    "Good." She said with a smile on her face.


    The two continued their running without saying anything for a while until they had covered five kilometers which meant that they had gotten to the path that led into the forest.


    Dave stopped as soon as he got to the area causing Emilia to stop with her.


    "What''s wrong., is this your limit?" She asked as soon as she stopped but Dave didn''t reply to her and just started running down the path.


    "Great, a change of route." She said before she quickly turned and started following him down the path.


    She wanted to ask him some questions and to do that, she had to catch up to him first and that was what she was trying to do now.


    "Hey!" She yelled as soon as she got close enough to him. "So, is this like your normal running route?"


    "Well, I just discovered it yesterday but yeah, you could say that," Dave replied.


    "Okay, it''s a nice route with the trees and everything." She said,


    The two didn''t say anything much until they got to the hill which had be Dave''s driving point on taking the route today.


    "A hill," Emilia said with a smile on her face as she looked up at the hill. "Are we supposed to climb the hill?"


    "Um¡­yeah," Dave said with a nod.


    "Then what are you waiting for? Let''s get over with." She said before she began to make her way up the hill and she was moving way faster than Dave expected.


    <That''s a good question, what are you waiting for?>


    ''Don''t act like you don''t know, Catherine.''


    <The quest isn''ting, Dave>


    ''Why not?''


    <Because youpleted it yesterday and you didn''t find it that difficult, if the hill had a higher height which you didn''t reach yesterday then maybe you would have gotten another quest but that''s not the case and another reason why you won''t get the same quest is that your stats are better than they were yesterday.


    "Dave! Are youing or not!?" Emilia yelled from the top of the hill.


    "If only I could find a higher hill." The goalkeeper mumbled before he began to make his way up the hill.


    "Took you long enough." She said as soon as he got to the top of the hill. "What was taking you so long down there?"


    "It''s nothing," Dave said, shaking his head.


    "Okay." She said before turning her gaze back to what she was looking at before he got there, the beautiful forest view from up there. "Are you hearing that?"


    "It was the same the first time I came here," Dave said. "There''s a market behind those trees." He added before pointing toward the area.


    "How do you know that? I can''t see anything." She said, stretching herself to see if she could see what Dave was seeing but still she couldn''t see it.


    "Well, you need to be this tall to see it," Dave said as he ced his hand above his head to indicate his height.


    "You don''t have to state the obvious." She said before crossing her arms.


    "I didn''t notice it before but now I do," Dave said before moving a little closer to her.


    "Notice what?" Emilia asked.


    "You''re shorter than Emma, slightly."


    That wasn''t what she was expecting to hear and it seemed to have sparked up a reaction from her.


    "Is that so, why don''t you lift me so I can see what you''re seeing, in other words, lend me some of your height, please." She said, giving him a piercing stare and he didn''t know exactly what to think of it.


    "Uh¡­.."


    "Oh,  never mind, let''s go check the ce out." She said before she began to make her way down the hill.


    The goalkeeper watched her until she made her way down the hill and then turned to look up at him.


    "Hey! Are youing or not!?" She yelled from down there.


    "Coming." He said before he began to make his way down the hill.


    There was a little moment of silence between the two as they walked down the hill before Dave decided to break it with a question.


    "Are you sure you want to do this? Shouldn''t you be at home getting ready for your seminar?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Rx, the seminar starts by 1:00 PM, there''s no need for me to rush." She assured him.


    "Oh."


    It didn''t take long for them to get to the market and looking around the area, Emilia felt an air of familiarity while Dave seemed to be amused as he didn''t expect the ce to be as big as it was.


    Emilia knew within herself that she had been to this ce before but she just needed something to jog her memory and it was only after they had taken a few steps toward the area that she spotted the right thing to jog her memory.


    It was arge billboard with the drawing of arge thinned tomato with smaller thinned ones below it and the words, ''Sweet Zlensky Tomato'' written above it.


    "I knew it." She said as the picture had finallye to her.


    "Knew what?" Dave asked with a confused expression on her face.


    "This is the only ce I''ve ever seen that billboard." She said,


    "What are you saying?"<novelnext></novelnext>


    <I think she''s trying to say that she''s been here before>


    "I''ve been here before, this ce is called the hidden market, this is one of the boundaries between Unique and Supreme City." She said,


    "Boundary?"


    "Yeah, when I was a little  girl twelve to fourteen years old, I lived around this area with my parents, this was our main source of groceries and other stuff so I came here a lot with my mom." She said,


    "I see, I grew up in Unique City and I''ve never heard of this ce until now." The goalkeeper said.


    "Maybe because you didn''t go out much besides your training sessions." She said,


    "Yeah, you''re right." He said.


    "Well, since you haven''t been here before, how about I show you around, the ces I can still remember, that is?" She said,


    "Okay," Dave said with a nod.


    Emma proceeded to show him around the ces she could still remember as there had been some changes in the ce and just before they could start heading home, she went into one of the stores to buy something and told Dave to wait for her outside.


    ''That was really fun, she really knows how to exin things in the funnest of ways.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.


    <Well, she is a reporter, it''s in their skill set>


    ''I guess so.''


    It didn''t take long before Emilia walked out of the shop holding a medium-sized bag.


    "Hey, what''s in there?" Dave asked as soon as she got closer to him.


    "Just a few items that I''m going to need to cover all three meals today." She said,


    "Oh, and you paid for them yourself," Dave said, staring at her.


    "Don''t worry about it." She said with a smile and a shrug.


    She wanted to tell him that it was time for them to start heading back but she didn''t like the way she was looking at her now.


    "Is there a problem?" She asked.


    "No." He said, shaking his head. "Do you have a boyfriend?"


    Dave had caught her by surprise with that question as she was starting to feel nervous now.


    ''Why is he asking me this question?''


    "Um¡­no." She said, shaking her head.


    <Seriously? I was expecting a yes, I would like to think she''s lying but she''s not>


    ''Yeah, same here, maybe she''s just cautious.''


    "Okay." He said.


    "Okay?" She muttered. "Why did you ask?"


    "Nothing, I just wanted to know." The goalkeeper replied.


    "Really?"


    "Yeah." He said with a nod.


    After hearing him say that, she breathed a sigh of relief.


    "Let''s get going then."


    The two had walked quite a distance and were about to leave the market when Dave decided to ask her something.


    "By any chance can you be here next week?" He asked.


    "I don''t know, why do you ask?"


    "Oh, it''s nothing serious, I just want you to meet someone." He said.


    "Meet someone?"


    "Yeah."


    "Who is that?"


    "I have to confirm if you''ll be there first before I can tell you." He said.


    Emilia didn''t reply for a while as she couldn''t give him a direct answer.


    "Let''s get back first so that I can check my schedule and see if it will work."


    "Okay." The goalkeeper said.


    <There''s a chance that this won''t work, Dave, it''s all a matter ofpatibility>


    ''Why do you always try to ruin things like this with negativity and since when do you know anything about it? I thought you didn''t know how human emotions worked.''


    <Yeah, I said that>


    *****


    Special thanks to everyone for helping me reach 1k+ privilege unlocks, I''ll make sure to do that mass release when the timees.


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If we can hit 1000+ privilege unlocks before the end of this month, I''ll do five chapters mass release on any day between the 20-25th of January.

 Chapter 157 Its Up To The Board

    Dave was chilling in the living room now after having his breakfast as Emilia had gone upstairs to get ready to start heading to wherever the stamina was taking ce.


    The goalkeeper was watching transfer news on the television trying to see if he could pick up anything rting to him or Unique FC but so far he had picked up nothing, maybe because they were focusing mainly on Europe''s major leagues.


    They arrived home by 9:10 AM and it took Emilia to finish what she was doing in the kitchen. Right now the time was 11:45 AM which meant that she was going to being down the stairs anytime soon.


    "And that''s all for football transfer updates."


    "So much for transfer updates." The goalkeeper said before turning his gaze away from the screen.


    <Maybe there aren''t any updates on you and the club yet>


    "Yeah, maybe." He muttered.


    Just then, Emilia began to make her way down the staircase.


    She was wearing a ck dress that seemed to be sleeveless but on a closer look, it wasn''t, the sleeves were just made ofs that seemed to be invisible until you got a closer look.


    The dress had small touches of pink on it and to go with the dress she was putting on a pair of ck heels.


    Dave kept his gaze on her until she stepped down from the staircase and made his way to her.


    "You look¡­..great," Dave said as soon as she stopped in front of him.


    "Thanks." She said with a smile before turning her back to show him the unfinished zipping on her dress. "Can you help me? I tried getting it on my own but¡­."


    ? "Sure," Dave said before he quickly got up from the couch and zipped the dress for her.


    "Thank you." She said,


    "Don''t mention it." The goalkeeper said before sitting back on the couch.


    "I guess I should start going then." She said before turning her gaze to the door.


    "Do you want me to drive you there?" He asked just before she could take a step toward the door.


    "Um¡­.yeah, if you don''t mind." She said,


    "I wouldn''t have asked if I did mind." He said before picking up his car keys and getting up from the couch.


    _______ _______


    Dave had dropped her off at the destination and since he was going to pass the hospital on his way back, he decided to stop by and pay her a visit.


    Emma was busy looking at the sky through the window when the door was opened for Dave to enter the room holding a pack of roses and some other thing in a case.


    "Hey, girlfriend." The goalkeeper said with a smile on his face as soon as he entered the room.


    "Dave." She said with a smile on her face.


    "How''s my girlfriend doing?" He said, walking closer to her.


    "Hey, I told you to stop calling me that, it''s fiancee now or wife to be or just wife, doesn''t this ring mean anything to you?" She said before raising the hand on which she had the ring.


    "Okay, here you go fiancee." He said before handing her the flowers and the other thing in a case.


    "So you decided to be a gentleman and bring me flowers this time." She said before taking a sniff from the flowers. "And a chocte bar too, is it valentine''s already?" She asked after opening the case.


    "Valentine''s is a special day to celebrate love, it''s not the only day to celebrate it." The goalkeeper replied.


    "You''re so sweet." She said before dropping the roses and chocte bar beside her. "I''m guessing Emilia has already left for the seminar."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yeah, I just dropped her off."


    "Okay, hope you guys areing along well?"


    "Of course, I wouldn''t have any probleming along with someone who looks like you and mostly behaves like you." The goalkeeper said.


    "That''s good to hear."


    _______ _______


    After spending about one hour with Emma, the goalkeeper made his way out of the hospital but he didn''t go home, instead he went to see his best friend as he had a few things he wanted to talk to him about.


    He met up with Mrs. Smith upon entering the house and after that, he made his way to Mateo''s room.


    "What? Liverpool is interested in you too?" The goalkeeper was quite surprised to hear that from the winger.


    <I don''t think it''s really something to be surprised about, he has been a phenomenal yer this season and any team that has been keeping tabs on him would like to have him in their squad>


    "They are not the only ones, Sevi and Atletico Madrid too," Mateo said. "But they haven''t submitted any offer to the club yet."


    "And Aston Vi is still in the race right?" Dave asked.


    "Yeah, but I don''t think I''ll be going to them anymore, If I had to choose from the current clubs showing interest it would be between Liverpool and Atletico Madrid, it would be my first big move and my first ever move." The winger expressed.


    "I see, a big club move huh," Dave said.


    "What about you Dave? Have any clubs shown interest in you?"


    "Yeah, two clubs."


    "Wow, which clubs are those?" Mateo asked.


    "Benfica wants me on a loan transfer, they''ve put up a good amount of money that I''m sure the board is finding hard to reject, and then there''s Frankfurt who wants me on a full transfer move." The goalkeeper expressed.


    "Benfica wants you on a loan transfer and if the board says yes, you''ll be moving to the Portuguese league next season."


    "And I don''t want that to happen." He said.


    ''I still have to call my dad.'' He said inwardly.


    "Yeah, I can tell but I don''t think the board will say yes to it if they want what''s best for the club, and by that I mean titles, they wouldn''t send you off on some loan transfer."


    "I hope so."


    "What about Frankfurt, what do you think about them, would you say yes whenever they make a bid?" The winger asked.


    "I like the club and would love to ept a move there, however, we fought so hard to qualify for the conference league next season, I want to be part of it with Unique FC and I''ll be d if you''ll be here too." The goalkeeper said.


    "I know what you''re talking about, Dave, I want to y the conference league with Unique FC, I really do but if any of these clubs submit their bids and the club says yes, I don''t think I''ll be able to say no to the move, especially if it''s Liverpool or Atletico Madrid," Mateo said. "It''s all up to the board, but I think there''s a high chance that I''ll be leaving Bilbeth at the start of this season."


    <The departure of Mateo Smith shall leave a big hole in Unique FC>


    ''No mistake.''


    ****


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    If we can hit 1000+ privilege unlocks before the end of this month, I''ll do five chapters mass release on any day between the 20-25th of January.

 Chapter 158 Like Father And Son

    "Since there''s really nothing more for us to say, how about we y a game of FIFA?" Mateo said, raising the game controller he was holding.


    "Or I could just leave," Dave said.


    "No, you don''t."


    The winger grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him down before he could fully get up from the bed.


    "You''ve barely been here for an hour." The winger said.


    "Yeah, but¡­."


    "But nothing, just sit there, and let''s enjoy a gaming session."


    "Okay," Dave said before letting out a sigh of defeat.


    "Good," Mateo said with a smile before handing him the other controller.


    The game kicked off and this time Dave chose Barcelona again because that was the only team in the top three best that he liked, while Mateo had gone on to choose Unique FC.


    "Hey, I get that you can beat me with Unique FC but can you just go ahead and choose a stronger team, it feels like you''re mocking me at this point?" Daveined.


    "Are you sure you want that?"


    <Yeah, are sure you want him to do that>


    ''Of course, I''m sure.''


    "Yeah." He replied.


    "Okay, if you say so," Mateo said before he quickly changed his option and chose Eintracht Frankfurt this time.


    "Frankfurt?" The goalkeeper said before turning his gaze to him.


    "Yeah, they are a pretty decent team way better than Unique FC." The winger said.


    "Okay, just start the game."


    "Yes, sir," Mateo said before turning his gaze back to the screen.


    The game was set for ten minutes and so far in the seventh minute with the timer in the game with the clock in the game showing sixty-five minutes and still moving and the scoreboard showing six goals to zero.


    There was no doubt who the six goals belonged to as Dave was really finding it hard to do anything with the formidable Barcelona squad once again.


    <I told you this was a mistake>


    ''Keep quiet.''


    "There''s no doubt anymore! It''s just about how many!" Thementator screamed as soon as Mateo got his seventh goal in the Seventy-seventh minute.


    <If you know you''re going to still lose badly then don''t use Barcelona, I feel embarrassed for you>


    The game had finallye to an end after about thirteen minutes because of the small pauses.


    Dave had a stunned look on his face as he was still finding it hard to believe what he was seeing on the scoreboard.


    The scoreboard was disying Eintracht Frankfurt eleven, Barcelona zero.


    "That was refreshing," Mateo said before taking in a deep breath.


    "This could never happen in real life." The goalkeeper muttered with his gaze still on the screen.


    "Eintracht Frankfurt has managed to beat Barcelona twice in the few times they''ve met in history but I''m not sure they would stand a chance against this current Barcelona," Mateo said.


    "I''m talking about the score."


    "Oh," Mateo said before turning his gaze to the screen, he kept his gaze there for a while before he slowly turned it back to Dave. "Yeah, that''s not possible."


    <The both of you have no idea of what is possible>


    "You know you didn''t have to go all out on me." The goalkeeper said before turning his gaze to him.


    "You were the one that told me not to go on easy on you and besides, I pulled my punches on a lot of asions, the score could have ended up way worse than that if I hadn''t done so." He said. "To be honest, you suck at this, nopetition at all."


    "You don''t have to state the obvious."


    "But that''s okay, there''s still room for improvement that is if you want to improve and beat me."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I don''t think I have enough time to pour into video games." The goalkeeper said.


    <Seriously? What do you do when you''re lying on the couch?>


    ''Lying on the couch.''


    "That''s okay, not everyone has to be good at it," Mateo said with a shrug.


    After spending a little more time with Mateo and refusing to y anymore FIFA with him, the goalkeeper made his way out of the house as it was time for him to start heading back home.


    The first thing he did after entering his car was look at his watch to see that the time was 4:34 PM.


    ''It''s gettingte, I have to call my dad before the day runs out.'' He said subconsciously before bringing out his phone from his pocket.


    He scrolled through his contacts until he found his dad''s contact.


    He stared at the option for a while before he clicked it and the call button.


    The phone buzzed for about fifteen seconds before Tom picked up the call.


    "Hey, dad." He said as soon as he picked up the call.


    "Hey, Dave, how''re you doing?" Tom asked from the other end.


    "I''m okay, I hope you''re recovering fine."


    "Yeah, I''ll be back to work sooner than you expected."


    "Oh, that''s good to hear."


    There was a little moment of awkward silence between the two before Dave decided to say what he wanted to say.


    "I need to talk to you about something."


    "I know what you want to talk about, Dave." Tom cut in sharply before he could carry on with what he wanted to say. "I don''t think we can talk about that on phone, I''ll be paying a short visit to the stadium tomorrow, why don''t youe over so that we can sit down and talk things over like father and son?"


    "Okay," Dave said before ending the call.


    <Well, that turned out better than I expected>


    Dave didn''t reply to her as he still had the phone against his ear with his gaze on nothing in particr.


    "Like father and son." He muttered.


    While he was still thinking, his phone vibrated and rang loudly in his ear, startling him out of his daze and causing him to almost drop his phone.


    After sessfully preventing the phone from falling, he turned it over to check the caller only to find out that it was Emilia.


    "Emilia." He muttered before picking up the call. "Hey."


    "Hey, Dave, the first day of the seminar just got concluded and I''m making my way out of the building."


    "Okay," Dave said.


    "Do you mind picking me up, if you''re not busy?"


    "Sorry, I don''t think I can make it." The goalkeeper said.


    "Oh." She said with a sudden drop in her voice. "It''s okay, I''ll just find¡­."


    "Ah.., I''m just messing with you." He said, trying to stop himself fromughing. "You''re lucky I happen to be in my car now with no important ce to go."


    "Did you really have to pull that stunt with me?" Emilia said, sounding a bit annoyed.


    "I just wanted to get your reaction and it was a sweet one, I''m heading over there now." He said before ending the call.


    After that, he dropped the phone on the other seat and started the engine before zooming off toward the ce.


    ****


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 Chapter 159 Intense Version

    It had been just two minutes since he picked her up and so far nothing had been said between the two in the car as he drove them home.


    "So, how was the seminar?" Dave asked, breaking the spell of silence.


    "It was nice."


    "That''s good," Dave said.


    "For the first parts of it, after that, it got really boring and I would have fallen asleep if it weren''t for my dignity." She said before letting out a deep sigh. "Attending a seminar for sports reporters would be really fun, I envy Emma."


    "I see you''re stillining about not getting to be a sports reporter." He said.


    "Stillining?"


    "Yeah, I overheard you talking to Emma about it thest time you visited."


    "Oh."


    "You know Emma said that she didn''t really like sports reporting when she got her job, she said it wasn''t that bad but she would pick other niches over it if she was given the chance to choose."


    "I knew she wouldn''t like it that much," Emilia said.


    "Yeah, she didn''t like it that much then but I''m certain that she enjoys doing it now." The goalkeeper said. "Listen, just try your best to enjoy what you''re doing currently because ack of passion brings ack of motivation and that leads to less productivity which leads to failure."


    <Speaking from experience>


    "I understand what you''re trying to say and I love my job even though I wasn''t given my preferred niche but I still want to be a sports reporter, my passion for it surpasses every other niche."


    "I see, then keep pushing for it, you''ll definitely get it one day, it may not be in your current working ce, it may be somewhere else." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah, that''s right." She said,


    ''Maybe it was my fault that I missed out on bing a sports reporter at my current working ce, after all, they give out niches ording to your areas of specialization.''


    After about thirty minutes on the road, the two had finally gotten home.


    "Boy, I''m starving." The goalkeeper said before letting out a yawn as soon as he entered the house.


    "So soon? Didn''t you have lunch?" She asked as she walked toward the staircase.


    "Um...not exactly but you can''t really call those things food." He said.


    "What things?" She asked.


    "Never mind, it''s nothing."


    "Okay, let me go upstairs and get changed, and then I can see if I can make something real quick." She said before making her way upstairs.


    Dave kept his gaze on her until she was out of sight before he slowly made his way to the kitchen.


    ''I didn''t even get any training today because I was too busy running around.'' He said subconsciously before opening the freezer.


    He had two bottles of two liters of water left and since it wasn''t necessary for him to drink on a go every morning again, he was going to limit his supply for them.


    He picked up one of them and opened it and just like always, he raised it above his mouth and allowed the whole thing to pour in.


    "Good days." He said as soon as thest one entered his mouth.


    "Woah! I have never seen anyone drink that amount of water on a go."


    The goalkeeper quickly turned to the entrance to see Emilia standing there with a shocked expression on her face.


    "Well, I''ve been doing it for quite a while now so it''s normal to me." He said. "I thought you were going to get changed." He said after noticing that she was still in her dress.


    "Yeah, but I need a ss of water first."


    "Oh, okay."


    "You know drinking that much water on an empty stomach causes stomach cramps." She said, walking closer to him.


    It didn''t take long before he felt a stinging pain in his lower abdomen.


    ''It''s the same as the one I get every morning after drinking that much water, only that this one seems to be a little worse.''


    He had to grab his stomach with both hands allowing the container to drop on the floor.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "You''ll have to clean that up." He said before quickly making his way out of the kitchen.


    Emilia let out a little chuckle as she watched him leave the kitchen.


    "Now what did Ie here for?" She said before turning her gaze to the freezer.


    _______ ______


    Emilia made dinner snappy just like she didst night and after finishing his meal, Dave made his way to the living room to clear his head for some minutes in front of the television while Emilia went on to do the dishes.


    It didn''t take her long to finish, she was about to go to bed now but when she turned to Dave to say goodnight, she changed her mind and decided to head over to the area instead.


    "Oh, so you want to watch something with me, I''m assuming you love telenovs as much as Emma does," Dave said after she sat down beside him.


    "Oh, no, don''t even go there."


    "Huh?"


    "Neverpare my love for telenovs with that of Emma''s, she''s the reason why I even started watching it, her love for those shows is overboard, I like it but I don''t really care that much if anything happens to the characters." She said before crossing her legs on the couch.


    "Oh, I see, you don''t go crazy for it."


    "Exactly."


    "Okay."


    "So, this person you want me to meet next week, who is he?" She asked. That was the main reason why she was there as she had not even gazed toward the television for once.


    "I see you''re still curious to know," Dave said before turning his gaze to her. "But, I''ve already told you, I will tell you if you promise that you will be here next week on Wednesday."


    "I''ve checked my schedule and I don''t think I can make any promises here." She said, "Just tell, it''s not that much of a big deal."


    Dave stared at her for a while before saying, "No."


    "I see you won''t tell me no matter how much I ask." She said before getting up from the couch. "I''m going to bed then, good night."


    Dave didn''t reply as he watched her make her way upstairs until she was out of sight.


    "Things would have been easier if she didn''t look so much like Emma, how can two people not rted in any way at all look so much like identical twins? This is a very big mystery."


    ''I told Emma I would give her a video call before going to bed.'' He said subconsciously before picking up his phone from the couch.


    _______ ______


    Ten minutes into his sleep, the goalkeeper found himself in the endless white space with Catherine standing in front of him.


    "Are you going to pound me with balls from every direction and make sure I feel the pain because I''m sure that training wasn''tpleted?"


    "I would love to do that again but no, we''ll be doing something different today," Catherine said.


    "What?"


    "Training your focus."


    "I thought we''d already done that."


    "Yeah, but this is going to be the intense version of it."


    "Intense?"


    "Yeah."


    "That sounds like another punishment."


    ****


    I couldn''t update three chapters today so I will be rolling it over to next month as a new year present but it won''t be on the 1st, it will be on the 2nd rather.


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    If we can hit 1000+ privilege unlocks before the end of this month, I''ll do five chapters mass release on any day between the 20-25th of January.

 Chapter 160 Intense Focus Training

    "Thest time we did this focus training, you had both Ciro Martinez and Kyle Pellegrini shooting at me from the edge of the box and told me to save the one with a green crystal on it, that was pretty intense if you ask me," Dave said, looking around the empty pitch.


    "Yeah and still you weren''t able to get the hang of it, that''s sad because we''re moving to the intense version anyway," Catherine said.


    "That first one was pretty intense if you ask and if this one is going to be worse than it, it should be termed as extra intense, but with that said, I''ll have to see it first before I can make my final judgment." The goalkeeper expressed.


    "That''s fine by me." Catherine before the goalpost popped up behind him with him standing on the goal line.


    He wasn''t putting on his gloves before but they were on his hands now.


    As soon as everything was set, Catherine vanished as two balls appeared apart from each other twenty yards away from the goalpost.


    "So which yers am I getting this time? I rmend....."


    ''I''m sorry but you won''t be needing anybody this time, anybody that you can see.'' Catherine said, cutting him short before he could finish what he wanted to say.


    "Why not? I need to study the body positioning of the yers to know the best ces to go and ensure a sessful save." He said.


    ''Trust me, Dave, that won''t be necessary for this training session.''


    "And do you mind exining why that is the case?" The goalkeeper inquired.


    ''This.''


    As soon as he heard that from her, the ball shot out toward him, the ball was heading toward the bottom right side of the goalpost and Dave thought it was going to be easy save as he dived toward the area as fast as he could but just before the ball could reach the area, it hit an invisible force and rolled into the goalpost from the middle and there was nothing Dave could do about it.


    ''Now do you understand what I''m talking about?''


    "What the heck just happened?" The goalkeeper asked after getting up from the floor.


    He moved closer to the spot where the ball had hit whatever and reached out his hands to see if he could feel whatever the ball had hit but he wasn''t able to feel anything so he had to turn to the only person who could give him an answer.


    "What''s going on, Catherine?" He asked.


    ''I told you you didn''t need to know the yer''s body positioning to save these balls.''


    "Yeah, you''ve made your point, now do you mind exining what just happened? How did the ball hit something invisible but when I reached my hand in the area to find out what it was that the ball hit, I couldn''t feel anything?"


    ''That''s what you should have done in the first ce, you should have asked what the training was going to be about before jumping into rmending yers.''


    "Okay, I''ve asked now  so go ahead and exin it." The goalkeeper said.


    ''In thest focus training we did, you had to find the ball with the green crystal on time and save it but this time, you''ll have to keep your senses high because the ball is likely to hit a barrier and when it does it will deflect and you''ll have to be ready for that.'' Catherine exined.


    "What are these barriers and why is it that I can''t feel them?" Dave asked.


    ''Well, the barriers are football yers.''


    "Football yers?"


    ''Let''s just say they''re human figures because they''ll be acting like robots to be your barriers.'' Catherine exined.


    "Okay, and how many of these invisible yers are in this area?"


    ''Five of them.''


    "Okay, and why is it that I can''t touch any of them?"


    ''Try again.'' Catherine said.


    Dave did as he was told and reached out for the area and this time she could feel somebody but the person wasn''t moving.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Really smart, Catherine." He said, slowly nodding his head. "What do you mean by the yers acting like robots?"


    ''I thought you were never going to ask.''


    "And if I didn''t, you wouldn''t have said anything about it."


    ``Of course but since you''ve asked, what I meant by the yers acting like robots is that each yer the ball deflects off will take two steps in a random direction so that things will be more difficult.'' She exined.


    "Wow, it really deserves that extra intense title."


    ''I knew you were going to say that, now let''s see how well you''ll do. Exining all these things to you has taken fifteen minutes which means we only have ten minutes left to see what you can do.''


    After she said that, the ball in the goalpost disappeared and appeared where it was before and now it was time for the training to kick off.


    ''Just so you know, you only have three seconds to get up and get ready for the second ball after the first ball has either been saved, entered the goalpost, or gone over the line.


    The first ball was sent flying toward the left side of the goalpost and Dave didn''t attempt to dive toward the area as he knew the ball was going to deflect and head off to the middle but it didn''t deflect in the way he expected.


    The ball hit the yer in the area on the head possibly and instead of deflecting off in a different direction, it just went up a bit and continued heading toward the same direction, the left side of the goalpost.


    Dave was a bit slow to react to this, he stretched his hand and reached for the ball but he wasn''t able to get to it on time as the ball flew past his hand into the back of the.


    "That wasn''t what I was expecting." He mumbled.


    ''Three seconds, Dave.''


    The goalkeeper quickly got up from the floor and got ready for the next ball which was sent flying in the same direction.


    Dave was standing on the left side of the goalpost which meant that if the ball was to get deflected toward the far right side of the goalpost, he won''t be able to reach it on time.


    Dave wasn''t bothered because he believed that the ball would be deflected somewhere close to him but how wrong he was.


    The ball hit one of the yers and was sent rolling toward the ce where he feared the most for it to go, he quickly dived toward the ball but he wasn''t able to get to it on time as the ball rolled into the goalpost.


    ''Well, that''s a bummer.''


    The training continued as he kept getting humiliated even by the simplest deflections and even after adding an extra five minutes to his time, he only managed to make just two saves, the first one being an easy save because he didn''t move and the ball just came to him and the second oneing from a dive to the right to make a mid-air catch.


    "You said it was going to be intense and you delivered." The goalkeeper said after opening his eyes. "I guess I''m really that bad at handling deflections." He added before sitting up on his bed.


    <No, you justck focus>


    ''Yeah, we''ll try again tonight.'' He said subconsciously before getting from his bed to stretch.


    <Of course>


    ''The reason why this dream training turns me off sometimes is that I wake up with my body telling me that I got a good night''s rest and my mind telling me that I didn''t sleep at all.''


    <You''ll just have to get used to it>


    ''I know.'' He replied. ''Hey, regarding my current training, there''s a skill that I haven''t unlocked yet called focus right?''


    <Yeah, I was going to talk to you about it soon>


    ****


    Happy new year everyone!! I just want to say Thank you to you all for making this a memorable year for me by giving my story a try and supporting it too.

 Chapter 161 The Meeting

    Dave made his way downstairs to find Emilia sitting on the couch in the living room tying herces


    ''She''s already up.''


    She heard himing downstairs and slowly raised her gaze to look at him.


    "Hey, good morning." She said with a bright smile on her face.


    "Good morning." The goalkeeper said but he didn''t return the smile. "You''re up already."


    "Yeah, and I was wondering when you were going toe down." She said before getting up from the couch.


    Dave kept his gaze on her as she slowly made her way to the door and pulled it open.


    "Shall we?" She said before leaving the house through the door.


    Nothing was said between the two for a while as they covered one kilometer but Emilia had things she wanted to say to him and she was going to start talking now.


    "So, Emma''sing home today right?" She said,


    "Yeah." He said.


    "By what time are you going to pick her up?" She asked.


    "Noon." He replied.


    "Good, it will be nice to have a small chat with her off the hospital before going to the seminar."


    "Small chat, I thought it starts by 1:00 PM and you are supposed to be there before the said time."


    "That was yesterday, it starts by 2:00 PM today." She said.


    "Oh."


    "Today''s thest day, so I''ll be returning home tomorrow or possibly today depending on when we finish but if I were to take a guess, it''s going to be prettyte to go home by the time  everything''s concluded." She said,


    "Possibly today, can''t you stay one more day?" Dave asked beforeing to a sudden halt in front of the path leading into the forest.


    "You want me to stay one more day?" She said with a  surprised expression on her face.


    "Yeah, I''m sure Emma would want that too, she''s been in the hospital all this while you''ve been here and I''m sure she would love to at least spend one full day with you before you go." He expressed.


    "So, you''re asking for her."


    "Yeah, and I''m also asking for me, it''s really nice having you around the house." He said. "Any man who marries you will be really d."


    Her cheeks slowly turned red after hearing Dave say that, talking about something like this with him made her ufortable so she decided to change the topic.


    "Are we going to take this route again today or do you have somewhere else in mind?" She asked.


    "Of course, we''re taking the route but we''ll just climb up and down the hill three or four times and we don''t have to go into the market unless you want to get something."


    "No, we''ll stick to what you just said, it sounds good to me." She said


    ________ ________


    [ All stats including energy has received (+1) boosts ]


    That was the message that popped up on his system screen as he made his way into the house, his breathing seemed to be a little paced.


    ''It''s good to get rewarded for hard work no matter how little it may be.'' He said subconsciously as he walked toward the couch.


    He sat down on the couch and let out a deep sigh before the door was pushed open for Emilia to enter the room breathing heavily with her face.


    "You had to race me back after all those climbing up and down the hill." She was still panting as she made her way to the couch and crashed down beside Dave.


    "You were the one that said you could beat me." The goalkeeper said before turning his gaze to her with a smug look on his face.


    "And you don''t even seem to be out of breath." She said with a surprised expression on her face.


    ''Even I am surprised, all that work didn''t even push my energy and stamina that much.''


    [ 29% stamina remaining ]<novelnext></novelnext>


    [ 44/127 Energy ]


    "Well, I am an athlete." He said, moving a little closer to her.


    He had gotten so close to her that the two were just gazing into each other''s eyes and she may have frozen up in the process.


    "Um." Was the first word that escaped from her mouth after snapping out of her daze and she had to quickly turn over to the other side. "I think I''ll need a few minutes before I can do anything."


    "Yeah, take your time.


    ________ ________


    Picking Emma up from the hospital didn''t take that long because she was already waiting for him in the reception area when he arrived and after exchanging a few words with the doctor who happened to be in the area by that time, the couple made their way out of the hospital and were on their way home now.


    "So the night fever has stoppedpletely," Dave said with his gaze on the road.


    "Yeah, but I still have toplete my dosage so that it doesn''te back." She replied.


    "Yeah."


    There was a little moment of silence between the two before Emma decided to ask him a question.


    "Has Emilia left for the seminar?" She asked.


    "No, not yet." He said, shaking his head.


    "Why? Does she want to arrivete?"


    "No, the seminar starts by 2:00 PM today so she still has a lot of time left.


    "Oh." She said,


    "I know you guys have been having the time of your lives." She said,


    "Yeah, it''s nice being with Emilia especially when we go for our morning runs together, apart from that we haven''t really spent much time together, she has a seminar to deal with and she goes to bed way too early."


    "Yeah, she doesn''t like staying up toote unless she is forced by someone like me," Emma said.


    <She''s just being cautious>


    It didn''t take long before they got home and while Emma stepped down from the car, Dave remained seated.


    "Aren''t youing down?" She asked.


    "I have to be somewhere in a few minutes now." He replied.


    "Where?"


    "The stadium."


    "Why? Do you have a training session?" She asked.


    "No, it''s something else." He replied.


    "What?"


    "It''s hard to exin right now, I''ll promise I''ll tell you when I get back, Emilia prepared something special for you inside, and please tell her that she would have to find a taxi but I''m going toe pick her up." He said before he drove into the road, reversed properly, and then zoomed off.


    It didn''t take him long to arrive at the stadium and after parking his car in the parking lot, he slowly stepped down from it and mmed the door shut.


    He stood there for a while staring at the building as if he was waiting for something and after looking at the building for a while, he turned his gaze to the entrance.


    "Like father and son huh." He muttered before he began to make his way to the area.


    <This could go either way, that''s always the possibility>


    ***


    Happy new year everyone!! I just want to say Thank you to you all for making this a memorable year for me by giving my story a try and supporting it too.

 Chapter 162 A Better Father

    The seasoning to an end meant that the building was going to be scanty but there were a few staff there like the maintenance team who were there to make sure that all the equipment was intact for next season.


    The hallway was empty when he entered the building so he went straight for his father''s office but when he entered the office, no one was there.


    <I guess he isn''t here yet>


    The goalkeeper didn''t say anything and just stared at his desk for a while before turning his gaze to the pictures of past presidents hanging on the wall.


    After going through the pictures with his eyes, he turned his gaze to the right side of the room which had the pictures of all the legends of the club hanging on the wall, and among the pictures was the picture of his grandfather.


    Most of the pictures were in ck and white because they were taken a long time ago in 1985, that was Unique FC''s best team in history and almost all the yers on that team were considered to be Unique FC''s legends


    He made his way to his grandfather''s picture which was a picture of him holding the Europa league golden glove.


    <You don''t have much of a resemnce to your father but you have some of his features>


    ''Yeah.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he got closer to the picture. ''He was my inspiration, too bad I couldn''t get to see him.''


    <But he saw you>


    ''I was only a year old when he passed away so I don''t really remember meeting him.''


    After looking at the picture of his grandfather for a while, he looked at the pictures of all the recognized legends in the team, after that he turned his gaze to the other side of the wall to see the current team pictures that were from 2015 till date but there was a team picture there that wasn''t a picture taken in the twenty-first century and dated way back to 1985, it was the picture of the best team in Unique FC''s history so it had to be there.


    After scanning all the team pictures with his eyes, he turned his gaze to the trophy cab a little to the right behind his father''s seat.


    He slowly made his way to the tall cab which had only two trophies at the top, these trophies were very special to the club as they were the only European trophies that the club had ever won.


    The UEFA Europa League trophy and the UEFA super cup trophy, that season went down as the best season in Unique FC''s history. Winning the super cup the next season was a very special moment for the club as they held down a star-studded AC Mn side to a goalless draw and then went on to beat them on penalty shootouts all thanks to the heroics of Devon Richards who kept out AC Mn''s first three kicks and secured the win for his team.


    Below those two were the fifteen Bilbeth Premier League trophies that Unique FC had won throughout its history, the league trophy had a resemnce to the champions league trophy, the only difference was that it was shorter, gold-colored, and didn''t have hands.


    And in thest cab were all the league cups and other trophies Unique FC had won throughout its history which consisted of twenty Bilbeth Super Cup trophies.


    Despite being a weak team for the past decade, Unique FC was the second-best team when it came topeting for the super cup. The best team in thepetition was Supreme United which had twenty-three trophies overall, it was nice how two teams from the same state were dominating thepetition.


    While Dave was still looking at all the trophies in the cab, the door was pulled open for Tom to enter the room with a single-hand crutch in his right hand.


    "I see you''re already here." He said, causing Dave to quickly turn his gaze to him.


    Dave didn''t say anything and just watched as he made his way to his seat and sat down there.


    "You could take a seat or you could just stand there." He said.


    Dave didn''t say anything and just stared at his right leg which had bandages wrapped around it for a while before he made his way to one of the seats up front and sat there.


    "How''s your leg?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "It''s healing just fine, I''m just lucky that the fractures weren''t that serious."


    "Okay."


    "So, what did you want to talk about?"


    "I thought you said you knew what I wanted to talk about," Dave said.


    "Yeah, but I still want you to say it."<novelnext></novelnext>


    Dave didn''t reply immediately and just stared at him for a while before taking in a deep breath.


    "I heard you guys are nning to send me out on a loan transfer to Benfica." He said.


    "There you go using that tone on me again even when I''m trying to be nice," Tom said before letting out a sigh. "Firstly, Benfica submitted a loan transfer deal for you and we haven''t made any decision on it yet so I don''t think it''s right to say that we''re nning to loan you out."


    "But you''re considering it."


    "Of course, we''re considering it, why won''t we? That money will help in clearing the club''s debts and we were going to try and get feedback from you but I guess that''s what I''m doing now." Tom exined.


    "So, what type of feedback do you want?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Just one."


    "One?"


    "Yeah."


    "And what is that?"


    "Do you want to leave?" He asked. "If you ask me, I would tell you to go because something like this will help you to gain more experience but it''s all up to you."


    "It''s all up to me?" Dave said with a stunned look on his face.


    "Yeah, if you want to go, I''ll agree to the deal and everything will be taken care of but if you want to stay then there''s no problem about that, after all, you are an important part of the team now."


    "You will just say yes if I tell you that I want to stay?" The goalkeeper was still finding it hard to believe what he was hearing right now.


    "Yeah," Tom said with a nod.


    "Are you doing this because rk asked?" He asked.


    "rk started by beating around the bush like he always does whenever he wants to get something for you so I figured out what it was and told him to tell you to call me so technically, he didn''t ask me for anything," Tom said.


    After saying that, Dave just stared at him as he didn''t know what to say.


    "Well, you still haven''t made your choice."


    "Why are you doing this?" The goalkeeper asked.


    Tom didn''t reply to that question immediately as he stared at him for a while before he slowly brought down both of his hands on the table.


    "Because I''m your father and I should have acted like one a long time ago."


    *****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 163 The Focus Skill

    Dave walked out of the building with the conversation he just had with his father lingering in his mind.


    <It''s nice to see that things turned out well atst> Catherine said as he made his way to his car.


    He got closer to his car and just as he looked at the ss, the image of his father as he said thosest words to him popped up in his mind.


    "I know that you''re going to find it hard to forgive me after all these years, I should have respected your choice but I decided to force my own choices on you and refused to see the light no matter how much your mother tried to make me see it, I know it won''t make much sense and you''re confused even as I speak but you should know that I have decided to be a good father to you and will do my best to support you in any way I can."


    The goalkeeper stared at the ss for a while before he opened the door and entered the car.


    He didn''t drive off immediately as he wanted to give someone a call first.


    "Hey, rk." He said after putting the phone against his ear.


    "Hey, Dave, how''re  you doing?" rk asked.


    "I''m okay, you?"


    "Same, and Emma?"


    "She''s okay, she got released from the hospital today." The goalkeeper said.


    "That''s good news." He said. "Have you met up with your dad like you said you were going to do today?"


    "Yeah."


    "Fill me in on the details."


    "There really aren''t many details to fill you in on but he said yes." The goalkeeper said.


    "So, you''re not going on the loan transfer."


    "Yeah."


    "That''s good news, you did it."


    "Yeah."


    "We''re going to celebrate the win next week when I return."


    "Sure," Dave said as a bright smile appeared on his face.


    "I''ve already bought the hyper ball ster and the y station seven just like you requested."


    "That''s good." The goalkeeper said.


    "Okay, I have to¡­."


    "Um¡­rk." He cut him short and prevented him from ending the call.


    "Yeah," rk replied.


    "By any chance are you still single?"


    "Huh?" rk said as that wasn''t quite what he was expecting to hear. "Usually whenever you ask me about my rtionship status it usually ends with you mocking me."


    "Well, that''s not happening today, I just wanted to know if you are single or not."


    "You know I haven''t been in a rtionship since Tiffany."


    "Good, now all you have to do is maintain that status until you are here next week."


    "Why? What''s going on?"


    "Bye," Dave said before ending the call.


    After ending the call, he started his car and zoomed off.


    ______ _______


    "Yeah, it''s just a short training session." The goalkeeper said before stepping outside.


    "I see you haven''t been giving yourself a break these days," Emma said as she walked closer to him.


    "I have a whole new season ahead of me and I want to make my mark unlike what I didst season." He said. "But you should get some rest, you need it, I didn''t expect you to start overworking yourself on the first day after getting back from the hospital."


    "There was no one around to do them so I had to do them." She said,<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yeah, now go get some rest." He said before leaning closer to kiss her. "I''m on thewn if you need me." He said before closing the door.


    ''2:36, that means I have a lot of time left before Emilia will need me to pick her up.'' He said subconsciously after checking the time on his watch.


    [ (-7 ) skill points ]


    [ You have sessfully unlocked focus ]


    "Now, let''s go see what this skill can do." He muttered before he made his way to the ball ster which was already filled up with all eight balls. "Now, Let''s just put this on the max level."


    He clicked the button for thest level which was level seven before he quickly made his way to his goal line.


    [ Focus activated ]


    As soon as that message popped up on his screen, the whole area went dark and the only thing he could see was his goalpost, even the ball ster was hidden in the darkness surrounding him.


    The first ball was shot out as soon as the skill was activated and just before the ball could get to him, he noticed faint dotted lines pointing toward the area the ball was most likely to end up in but the lines faded as they got closer to the goalpost but he didn''t need them to beplete as he dived toward the bottom left side of the goalpost and caught the ball before it could go any further.


    ''Wow, this is great.''


    The second ball was quickly shot toward the top right side of the goalpost and pushed the ball out before it could fly into the goalpost.


    With the focus skill, he was able to keep out all the balls without breaking much of a sweat, well that was until the skill got deactivated.


    [ Durationplete ]


    [ Focus has been deactivated ]


    As soon as the skill was deactivated, the darkness cleared up and for a few seconds, everything seemed alright until he suddenly crashed to the floor with both of his hands on his head.


    "What the heck is going on?" He groaned in pain. "Why do I feel this sudden surge of pain running around my head? This doesn''t feel like a normal headache."


    <Calm down, it onlysts for five minutes>


    "Five minutes of this." He said gritting his teeth.


    Five minutester, he got up from the floor with his right hand on his head and his face looking like someone who didn''t get enough sleep in the night.


    ''What the heck was that, Catherine? I feel like I had five hangovers at once.''


    <Really? It felt that bad for you?>


    ''Of course, it was that bad, which you would know if you had any idea of how pain worked in the human body.'' He replied. ''If you had told me that this skill had an aftermath like this, I would have never used it.''


    <No, you would have gone ahead and used it to see things for yourself>


    ''Maybe but you still haven''t answered my question on why the skill has this kind of aftermath.''


    <Just think about it, the skill works on your brain to increase the intensity of your focus in doing your job, it syncs with your brain to create that dark environment that blocks out everything that may distract you and even draws patterns of possible ces the ball might end up in>


    ''Okay, so let me get something straight here, the skill works on my brain to create that environment and keep me focused, my brain can''t do that naturally so when the skill deactivates the aftermath of inducing my brain to do that is the stinging pain in my head.''


    <Exactly>


    ''Okay, is that the only aftermath?''


    <Check your energy bar>


    [ 59/127 Energy ]


    ''How did that happen?'' He asked with a shocked expression on his face.


    <The process of activating the skill requires a whole lot of energy for your brain to pull it off so your energy gets drained faster, you''re lucky your energy level has increased>


    "Why does all the good skills have toe with drawbacks like this?" The goalkeeper mumbled before crashing to the floor.


    ***


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 164 Youll Still Need It

    <Focus is a very useful skill but if I were you, I would avoid using it in the middle of a match unless you can deal with the pain and the energy drain>


    ''Okay, but if I can''t use it in the middle, when am I supposed to use it then?'' The goalkeeper inquired.


    <During penalty shootouts although that would still be a problem>


    ''How?''


    <The skill would have already worn out by the time you are called up for the second kick>


    ''It''s that short?''


    <Why don''t you check and see for yourself?>


    [ Focus ]


    [ Skill duration: 4 minutes ]


    ''That''s too short.''


    <You need to level up the skill and increase its duration if you''re going to turn it into a useful asset for penalty shootouts> Catherine exined before he could ask the question.


    ''Thinking about how I felt a few minutes ago, I don''t think I can ever convince myself to use that skill again.''


    <You can''t get used to the pain by running away from it>


    ''Wait, I''m supposed to get used to the pain.''


    <Yeah, that''s how¡­.>


    ''How what?''


    <Never mind, just know that you can''t get used to the pain by running away from it>


    ''I hear you.'' He replied before getting up from the floor.


    "Since using focus has consumed more than forty percent of the energy I had left, I''ll just do about fifty push-ups and head back inside." He muttered before getting down and in position.


    The push-up wasn''t the only thing he did as he continued working out and trying out other methods until 5:00 PM.


    It didn''t look like he was going to stop until Emma came rushing outside to tell him that Emilia wanted him toe pick her up.


    [ Endurance has received (+2) stat upgrade ]


    That was the message that popped up on his screen as soon as he entered his car.


    <Well deserved, you really pushed yourself there even with low energy>


    ''Well, my stamina didn''t get drained when my energy did, I wouldn''t have been able to push myself if that had happened.''


    <Yeah, I can imagine that>


    It didn''t take him long to get to the ce and just as he stopped in front of the building, he spotted Emilia making her way out of the building.


    She was wearing a ck suit and a skirt which seemed to be shorter than the other skirts she usually wore as it stopped just before reaching her knees.


    "You look nice in that suit," Dave said after she entered the car and shut the door.


    "Thank you." She said with a smile on her face. "And also thank you for picking me up."


    "Oh, don''t mention it." He said before starting the engine.


    "So where did you have to run off to after dropping Emma?" Emilia asked as they moved down the road.


    "The stadium, I had something to deal with."


    "Are you out of contract?" She asked.


    "No, I have one year left." He said.


    "Then what was it about?" She asked.


    "I had to clear something regarding a loan transfer." He said.


    "A loan transfer, to where?"


    "Benfica, but I''m not going." He said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Benfica is a very good team, going there will really help in improving you." She said,


    "I can improve in my current team." He said.


    "I guess so." She said before turning her gaze away from him.


    After arriving home, Dave quickly made his way upstairs to freshen up.


    It took him about forty minutes toe downstairs and see the table already set for dinner by the two women in the house although Emma had to do most of the work while Emilia went upstairs to get changed which was fair.


    The first few minutes of dinner time were quiet until Emilia decided to break it.


    "Hey, Dave." She called.


    "Huh?" Dave said before turning his gaze to her.


    "I spoke with my boss today and told her I had something important to deal with on Wednesday. I''m d she didn''t ask what it was I had to deal with and just said yes, so I''m free on Wednesday which means that I will be able to make it here." She expressed.


    "That''s great," Dave said with a smile on his face.


    "What are you two talking about?" Emma asked with a confused expression on her face.


    "Dave wanted me to be here on Wednesday to meet someone and just created the space for that," Emilia exined.


    "Wednesday, someone. Isn''t that day rk ising to the city?" Emma asked with her gaze on Dave.


    "rk? Isn''t he the one you told me about? Dave''s agent and best friend." Emilia said.


    "I was about to tell her about who I wanted her to meet but it looks like you just took it off my hands, babe." The goalkeeper said before turning his gaze back to his food.


    With dinner done with, the women cleared up the table and did the dishes together and just as they walked out of the kitchen, Emilia turned toward the staircase.


    "Hey, let''s go watch something together," Emma said as she grabbed her by her arm and pulled her along to the living room where Dave was already sitting while going through his phone.


    "But, I''m tired," Emiliained.


    "We''ll go to bed when the tiredness hits the both of us," Emma said before pulling her down on the couch along with herself. "You''re going home tomorrow, the least you can do is watch something with me tonight."


    "Actually, I''m not going tomorrow."


    "You''re not?"


    "Yeah, Dave asked me to stay one more day because he knew you wouldn''t want that and I said yes, after all, I''m off work for the whole week," Emilia exined.


    "Dave," Emma muttered before turning her gaze to her fiance who had his gaze fixed on his phone''s screen acting like he didn''t hear everything they just said.


    _______ _______


    Ten minutes into his sleep, the goalkeeper found himself in the endless white space with Catherine standing in front of him.


    "Hey, Cat." He said. "It''s intense Focus Training again right?"


    "Yeah," Catherine said with a nod. "You''ll have to take the training seriously if you don''t want to have to depend on the focus skill in dire situations and get your head blown offter."


    "Seriously speaking, Catherine, I don''t think I can convince myself to ever use that skill again, that pain is just too great." He said, touching his head with both of his hands.


    "Then you''ll have to work hard in improving your normal focus level to the extent that you won''t need the skill anymore but¡­."


    "But what?" Dave asked


    "You can cut short your level of dependence on the skill but you''ll still need it in certain conditions in which you will be desperate to win, especially in penalty shootouts when the pressure on the pitch is at its maximum and all eyes are on you."


    *****


    That''s the third chapter just like I promised, my new year present to you, hope you enjoyed it!


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 165 Transfer Offer Update

    <You did betterpared tost time but you still need a lot of work>


    "I know," Dave muttered before he slowly sat up on his bed.


    He turned his gaze to the other side of the bed which was empty and let out a sigh before getting up on his feet.


    "This is the part about having her friends sleep over that I don''t like." He mumbled. "I wish any of my friends would want to sleep over so that I can return the favor."


    He slid into his running boots and changed into something morefortable for running before he quickly made his way down the staircase to find Emilia already waiting for him there.


    "I was wondering when you were going to get here." She said before getting up from the couch. "Good morning."


    "Good morning, I see you have a habit of getting up super early." He said.


    "Yeah, I guess so."


    "Where''s Emma?" He asked.


    "She''s still upstairs but I''m sure she will be getting up soon," Emilia replied.


    "Okay." The goalkeeper said before he made his way to the door. "Shall we?" He said after opening the door.


    The two talked about a few things as they ran down the road and as always, they took the path that led into the forest, and now they were standing in front of the hill.


    "It''s going to be the same thing as yesterday right?" She said with her gaze on the hill.


    "Well, since none of us is going anywhere today, why don''t we step it up a notch?" He suggested.


    ''I just wish the system coulde up with a challenging quest for me that is rted to climbing this hill.''


    "Step it up a notch?" Emilia said with a horrid look on her face.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Climb up and down the hill thirty times without pausing for more than two minutes ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +80 exp ]


    [ +1 skill point ]


    [ +1 stat point to all stats excluding energy ]


    ''These rewards don''t really impress me but I''ll do it for physical improvement.''


    "Yeah, we did twelve yesterday, right? How about we do thirty today?"


    "Thirty?" Emilia said before swallowing hard.


    "Yeah, you don''t have a seminar to attend today and we have Emma at home to cook so there''s nothing to be worried about." He said.


    "I know but I''m not sure I''ll be able to walk back after doing something like that." She said,


    "If you can''t walk then I''ll carry you."


    "And you think you''ll be able to walk." She said


    "Yeah, my stamina level isn''t as low as yours." He said.


    There was no reply from her, she just stood there and watched as he began to make his way up the hill.


    "Are youing or not?" Dave turned to her to ask after going up the hill a little.


    "Coming." She said before she quickly made her way toward him.


    Twenty-five minutester, the two were sitting at the top of the hill breathing heavily.


    "That was intense," Emilia said.


    "Yeah, I thought you would quit before the twentieth climb but I guess you have a lot more stamina than I thought." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah, and now my legs feel like vegetables." She said before raising both of her legs.


    "Don''t worry, you''ll be able to walk fine by the time we start heading back." He said.


    "So, you won''t carry me." She said before turning her gaze to him.


    "If you insist that you can''t use your leg, okay." He said with a shrug.


    "I think I''ll be able to walk fine." She said before turning her gaze to her legs.


    "Good."


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ You have sessfully run up and down the hill thirty times ]


    [ +80 exp received ]<novelnext></novelnext>


    [ +1 skill point received ]


    [ +1 stat point added to all stats ]


    [ 32% stamina remaining ]


    [ 51/127 Energy ]


    ''My stamina level has really improved in a very short amount of time.''


    <Yeah, and the best part is that you can still improve it more by adding more of your unused stat points to it>


    ''Yeah, but I think it''ll be best to leave those stat points untouched for now.''


    _______ _______


    Emma was busy in the kitchen when she heard the door open and quickly went to check who it was although she already knew that it was Dave and Emilia.


    The two looked really tired as they entered the room and the only thing they could think of was the couch.


    They quickly made their way to the couch and crashed down there.


    "What happened to you two?" Emma asked, walking closer to them. "I know I don''t do morning runs but it''s not supposed to be this tiring."


    "Running wasn''t the only thing we did," Emilia said.


    "What else did you do?"


    "Do you remember that hill I told you about?" Dave asked.


    "Yeah, the one that led to the hidden market." She said,


    "We had to climb it up ande back down thirty times."


    "Thirty times?" Emma said before turning her gaze to Emilia. "And you had to do it with him."


    "Uhu." She said with a nod.


    "I''ll be upstairs if I''m needed," Dave said before he got up from the floor and made his way toward the staircase.


    _______ _______


    After having their meals together in the dining room and having a little chat together, Dave made his way upstairs to get a little more rest.


    He was lying on his bed going through his phone when he came across an article with the title, ''Top ten BPL yers that fans would love to see more of next season.''


    The list seemed pretty interesting and had some of his teammates in it like Mateo who was upying the number four spot and Rnd Ryle who was upying the number two spot. After reading everything that was written under him, he scrolled further down to see that he was the one sitting in the number one spot.


    "Really? They want to see more of me?" The goalkeeper muttered.


    <Well, you did surprise everyone with your suddenly reformed performances so they''ll like to see how you''ll do in the long run next season and just bear in mind that a lot of them will be expecting you to fail so that they can start bbing about how your performance at the end ofst season was a fluke>


    ''I know that.''


    He was about to continue going through his phone when his phone vibrated as the name rk popped up in front of the call screen.


    "Hey, rk, what''s up?" He said as soon as he picked up the call.


    "I have transfer offer updates for you," rk said.


    "Transfer offer updates?"


    "Yeah."


    "Okay, what''s going on?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Eintracht Frankfurt is going to support an official bid for you next month."


    "There''s no need for that, I''m not going there." He said.


    "I know but they are not the only ones who want you," rk said.


    "Two new clubs have just shown interest in you, two clubs from two of the most decent leagues in Europe."


    "Which clubs?" Dave asked.


    "Manchester United and Virreal."


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 166 Daves Scheme

    ''I guess this intense Focus Training is the only thing that I''m going to be doing until I master it.'' Dave said subconsciously after opening his eyes.


    <You''ve got that right>


    The goalkeeper slowly turned his gaze to Emma who was peacefully sleeping beside him with her right hand on his body.


    "Well, today''s the day." He muttered before he slowly removed her hand from his body and sat up on the bed.


    He checked the time to see that it was 6:14 AM, after that, he quickly slid his legs into his running boots and made his way downstairs.


    Now that the hill was part of his daily training exercise, his morning run nowsted for one hour or more.


    After an hour and some minutes, he came back home and opened the door to catch a mouth-watering aroma in the air.


    "Something smells nice." The goalkeeper said as he made his way to the kitchen.


    "You''re back," Emma said before turning to face him. "Good morning."


    "Good morning," Dave said before walking closer to her. "So, you''re making special dishes because rk ising over today."


    "Yeah, special dishes for special guests." She said. "He said he was going to be here early so, I have no time to waste."


    "Yeah, what about Emilia? Did she tell you when she was going to show up?"


    "Probably before noon." She said before turning her attention back to what she was doing. "If you''re not going to help me out then leave the kitchen, I don''t like the way you''re just standing there."


    "Okay, ma."


    He slowly turned her face around to kiss her before he made his way out of the kitchen.


    With the clock showing 7:30 AM, he made his way to his gym to get a few things done and after about three hours in there, he made his way out to catch some fresh air.


    <I would have been d if you had really used all three hours in there to do something useful>


    ''What''s the matter? I still did something useful, didn''t I?''


    Just as he was about to start heading toward the door, he heard an engine roar and it didn''t take long before a minivan entered the area and parked right in front of him.


    The first person toe down from the van was someone he had expected to show up any time soon and he just did.


    "Hey," rk said with a smile on his face before he made his way to the goalkeeper and engaged him in a brotherly hug. "How''re you doing?"


    "I''m okay," Dave said.


    They were only two items in the van so all the van driver had to do was drop them on the floor before quickly zooming off.


    "Are those the items?" The goalkeeper asked.


    It was easy to tell which one was the ster and which one was the y station even though they were both well packaged.


    "Yeah," rk said with a nod. "Do you want to test the ster out now and see how much of an upgrade it is?"


    "I want to test it out alright but it can''t be now, I''m tired and hungry." He said.


    "Okay, well then let''s go inside so that you can eat something, I''m sure Emma must have made something."


    The two got inside to find out that Emma had already set up the table and all that was left were the dishes and the food.


    Dave was surprised to find out that she had even gotten dressed in something nice, she had done everything she had to do and cleaned up while he was in his gym.


    "rk." She said with an excited voice and quickly made her way to him as soon as she spotted him.


    "How''re you doing?" rk asked after pulling out from the hug.


    "I''m fine and you?"


    "I''m good." He said with a nod. "I see you decided to give me that warm wee I asked for, Dave."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "It''s the least I could do," Dave said.


    "Yeah, and now the least you can do for yourself is go upstairs and get yourself cleaned up before she shows up here.


    "She? You mean the one you told me about?" rk said with his gaze on Dave.


    "I know but I''m really hungry," Dave said, ignoring his question.


    "Go take a shower first." She insisted.


    He was about to make a move when someone suddenly knocked on the door thrice.


    "I''ll get it," rk said before turning his gaze to the door, he was the one closest to the door so it had to be him.


    He opened the door to see someone who looked exactly like Emma, Emilia was putting on a red long-sleeved dress which seemed to be a little short for her, she had a pair of red boots to go with the dress and her hair was clipped back with a red clip.


    "Emma?" rk muttered with a confused expression on his face before turning his gaze back to Emma to see that she was still there. "No, that''s Emma, what''s going on, Dave?"


    "Hi," Emilia said with the friendly smile she always had on her face.


    "Are you Emma''s twin sister?" rk asked and he didn''t even wait for her reply before he turned his gaze back to Emma. "Howe you never told me that you had a twin sister? I thought Mateo was your only sibling."


    "Mateo is my only sibling," Emma said.


    "Then who is this?"


    "My friend."


    "Your friend?"


    "Yeah, this is my friend Emilia, Emilia this is rk."


    "Hi, nice to meet you," Emilia said before offering her hand for a handshake.


    rk stared at her for a while before epting her handshake as he was still trying to make sense of what was happening in his mind.


    "You two look just like twins and yet you''re not rted in any way?"


    "Yeah," Emilia said, shaking her head.


    "That''s right," Emma said.


    "This has to be among the top three of the craziest things I''ve seen this year." He said.


    "How many crazy things have you seen this year?" Emma asked.


    "I don''t think you want to know."


    Before they could eat the meal Emma had prepared, Dave had to be there and right now, he was still upstairs cleaning up.


    rk had gone to check up on him to find out that he was still in the bathroom, he couldn''t really talk to him while he was in the bathroom as he wouldn''t hear him clearly so he decided to head downstairs.


    On his way downstairs he stopped midway on the staircase to watch Emma and Emilia who were having a conversation in the living room now.


    ''If I had seen her anywhere before, the only person that would pop into my mind would be Emma but now that I know that they are two different people with no blood ties at all which I still find hard to believe, the red hair will do in differentiating them unless she decides to dye her hair ck or Emma decides to dye her hair red.'' He had a lot of thoughts running through his mind. ''Just what are you scheming, Dave?''


    **


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 167 Better Than Her Brother

    Dave was getting dressed in his room when rk popped up at the door with an apple in his hand.


    "Are you here to ask me those questions?" Dave asked before picking up the red polo shirt on the bed.


    "Yeah, but let''s talk about work first," rk said before walking closer to him. "I looked into both clubs, the yers that are going to be out of contract and the yers that are going to get sold potentially and it turns out none of their first-choice goalkeepers will be leaving."


    "So, they just want me as a backup goalkeeper." The goalkeeper said.


    "Definitely," rk said.


    "I knew that was going to be the case with Manchester United, Patti Moreno was one of the top goalkeepers in Europest season and he''s just twenty-six years old, there''s no way I''m going to bench him."


    "Yeah, and although Vireal''s number one Gerrad Puado just turned thirty-one, he''s still performing well and it''s going to take a while before you start ahead of him," rk said.


    "One of the reasons why my father never wanted me to be a goalkeeper is because the second-choice goalkeeper can go a whole season without stepping foot on the pitch for an official match and I don''t want that to be me." The goalkeeper said.


    "So, it''s settled then, you''ll continue in Unique FC next season, and maybe after that, you can move to a club that needs you as a first-choice goalkeeper but then you''ll be doing that as a free agent because you''ll be out of contract," rk said. "I''ll tell the clubs that you''re not interestedter but they may still go on to submit their bids to the club to know their reaction, the good news is that you''re not a big shot yer yet so they wouldn''t go to any extra length of trouble for you."


    "Yeah, I''d like to make my mark in my boyhood club before leaving," Dave said.


    "Good luck with that," rk said before taking a bite from the apple he was holding. "Now, let''s talk about the matter at hand."


    ________ ________


    With everyone downstairs now, it was time for them to enjoy the meal together and that was what they were doing now.


    Emilia and rk were sitting on the right side of the table with Dave sitting near the edge and Emma sitting on the left side beside him.


    "Breakfast when it''s almost noon," Dave said with his gaze on his phone''s screen which disyed the time as 11:50 AM.


    "You haven''t had anything since morning?" Emilia said.


    "It''s all your fault, you were the one that disappeared for three hours," Emma said.


    "Yeah, I guess so." He said before turning his attention back to his food.


    They all had a lot of things to share at the table, all of them except Dave, the goalkeeper''s main focus was to fill his belly so he wasn''t really paying much attention to what they were saying.


    "So, Emilia, I never got your ce of origin," rk said.


    "ce of origin." She muttered. "I''m from Audzin."


    "I guess that''s obvious and since you''re living in Supreme, that''s your city right?" rk said.


    "And you''re from Unique, right?" She said,


    "Yeah, I grew up with Dave here in Unique."


    "Yeah, those years when I used to destroy you in FIFA," Dave said before turning his gaze to the y station console in the living room.


    "I don''t think destroy is the appropriate word to use because I also beat you a couple of times," rk said.


    "Yeah, by luck."


    "Now, they''re arguing about childhood games," Emma said before taking a sip from her ss of water.


    Dave was the first to leave the table as he had gone to set up the y station.


    Emma returned from the kitchen to find Emilia and rk in the dining room still talking to each other.


    "Um¡­Is anything wrong, Emma?" Emilia asked after noticing that she had been looking at them for quite a while now.


    "Oh, it''s nothing." She said, shaking her head.


    She had a bright smile on her face as she quickly made her way to Dave who was done setting up everything and had just inserted the FIFA 24 disc into the console.


    "Hey." She said before sitting down beside him on the couch.


    "Hey," Dave said with his gaze still on the screen.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I see everything is going just as you nned." She said,


    "Huh?" He said before turning his gaze to her to see that she was looking at Emilia and rk. "Oh, you mean that, I just wanted them to meet, I didn''t n anything."


    "Seriously? I''m not that easy to fool, Dave." She said, "If you just wanted them to meet then why did you have her create time for a day that she was supposed to be working, they could have met during the weekend and it would still be meeting."


    "Okay, fine, I had something in mind in having them meet today but if it''s not going to work, it''s not my problem." He said with a shrug.


    "It''s definitely going to work." She said with a vivid smile on her face.


    "Yeah, I''ve seen that already." The goalkeeper said before raising the other controller toward her. "Can you y?"


    "You want me to y with you?"


    "Yeah, I wouldn''t mind ying with theputer but just like a certain someone said, ying against someone is better."


    <And that certain someone went on to destroy you>


    "Okay, if you insist." She said before taking the controller from him.


    "Finally someone I can destroy just like Mateo has been doing." The goalkeeper said.


    "Mateo," Emma said with a little chuckle.


    "What''s funny?"


    "Nothing."


    It didn''t take long before the team selection page came up and Emma didn''t hesitate to choose Manchester City.


    "Manchester City huh, don''t expect me to go easy on you." He said before he went ahead to choose Barcelona.


    <You''ve brought a lot of shame to this club''s name, hope it won''t be the case this time>


    ''Of course not, there''s no way she can beat me.''


    The first half of the game had ended goalless and Dave kept onining about the chances he missed while Emma just kept on smiling.


    The second half was a different thing altogether, Dave could believe what he was seeing, and at the end of the match, he was staring at the screen with a stunned look on his face.


    <Wow>


    "What''s going on?" rk asked, he had entered the area with Emilia."Woah! That''s a brutal scoreline. Did you have to go all out on her, Dave? But you hardly use any other team apart from Barcelona."


    "Yeah and he''s still maintaining that," Emma said.


    "Wait, you''re saying that you''re¡­"


    "Yeah." She said with a nod and the smirk on her face wasn''t going to go away until she had gotten on Dave''s nerves well enough.


    "You were going easy on me throughout that first half. How are you so good?"


    "Isn''t it obvious?" She said, "I used to y with Mateo and I was always on the winning side."


    On the scoreboard which was being disyed on the screen was a score that gave you the idea that the match was totally one-sided, it was Manchester City six, Barcelona nil.


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 168 A Lot Of Work

    "That''s why you were smiling like that." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah." She said with a smug look on her face. "You''re really terrible at this, I expected a littlepetition."


    <You have once again brought shame to Barcelona''s name>


    ''I didn''t expect her to be just as good as Mateo, she''s even better than Mateo.''


    "So, do you want to go another round?"


    "With you? Hell no." The goalkeeper said before getting up from the couch. "You can y with rk or Emilia."


    "I''m not in the mood for video games," rk said abruptly.


    "I don''t even know how to y with a y station," Emilia said.


    Dave used the opportunity to slip off making his way toward the staircase.


    "Where are you going, babe? I thought you were going to destroy me."


    "Yeah, and you ended up being the one to destroy me." He said before quickly making his way up the staircase. "I''ll be back!"


    The four did a lot of fun things together and with evening approaching now it was time for Emilia to go, she was the only one who wasn''t living in the city so she had to go before it got dark, rk was the one who had to see her off.


    "So, when are you going to be here again?" He asked as soon as they stepped outside.


    "Do you mean when I''m going toe see Emma again?" She asked.


    "Yeah." He said with a nod. "You''lle visit me whenever youe to visit her right?"


    "I thought you weren''t always here, you live and work at Frono, right? That''s what you told me."


    "Yeah but I visit home from time to time but you''re wee to visit me at Frono if you want to."


    "Uh....I don''t think I can." She said, shaking her head.


    "I know because of work and everything but that''s okay, I didn''t mean it."


    "Okay, I should get going then."


    "Goodbye then, it was really nice meeting you today."


    "It was nice meeting you too." She smiled at him before she turned and began to walk out of the area.


    He watched her with a smile on his face until she was out of sight before he turned and opened the door.


    "Thest time I saw you smile like this was when Amy said yes to being your girlfriend."


    He quickly turned to where he heard the voicee from to see Dave sitting on one of the seats in the dining space.


    "What do you mean?" rk said as the smile on his face suddenly disappeared.


    "Who''s Amy?" Emma came out from the kitchen to ask.


    "His first girlfriend," Dave answered.


    "Oh."


    "Told him she wasn''t worth the trouble but he had to find out the hard way." The goalkeeper said.


    "What happened?" Emma asked.


    "I don''t think rk will want me to tell you about that, if you want to know, you''ll have to hear it from him."


    After hearing that from Dave, she slowly turned her gaze to rk.


    "rk."


    "No." He said before he began to walk toward the couch.


    He spent about one more hour with the couple before he had to leave and now the two were alone in the house.


    Dave was sitting in the living room with his gaze on the television but he wasn''t really paying attention to it.


    ''I wish I could go outside now and test out that ball ster.''<novelnext></novelnext>


    <I thought it was hyper ball ster now>


    ''Yeah, that.''


    <Calm down, you don''t have anything to do while you''re off-season, you can test it out all day if you want to>


    ''Yeah, I guess you''re right.''


    He had a lot of things going through his mind, especially about how next season was going to y out for him and the team.


    He seemed to be too engrossed in his thoughts that he didn''t know when Emma got to him and was snuggling against his body now.


    "Hey." He smiled before putting his arm around her.


    "I guess everything yed out fine in the end." She said.


    "Yeah, I guess so." He said.


    There was a little moment of silence between the two before Dave decided to say something.


    "It''s nice that you don''t have to work this week and spend a little more time with me."


    "Yeah, I like it too." She said before raising her head to look at him.


    He knew what she wanted and pulled her closer to kiss her.


    "You know we haven''t really talked about our ns since the night you proposed to me." She said,


    "You mean getting married?"


    "Yeah." She said with a nod.


    "I''ve been thinking about it too but I want to hear your thoughts on it, when do you think will be the best time?"


    "I don''t know, it depends on when you''refortable to have it but personally I would say that it will be best to get it over with before the season starts so that it won''t linger in your mind every day when you''re supposed to focus on your matches." She replied.


    <Good answer>


    "It''s great how our thoughts are in line with each other most of the time, so how about next month?"


    "Next month when?"


    "I think it will be your job toe up with the date but before that, we have a lot of work to don''t we?"


    "Yeah, a lot of work for me especially."


    ______ _______


    Inside Tom Richard''s mansion in a special part of Unique City that didn''t have many buildings surrounding the area, the man could be seen in his room, well the room was dark with the only source of lighting from the moon through the ss door.


    Through the gloominess, Tom could be seen holding a phone against his ear and seemed to be in a serious conversation with someone over the phone.


    "Okay, Mr. Johnson I understand, I''ll think about it and get back to you." He said before putting the phone down.


    After ending the call, he let out a deep sigh before getting up from his bed to look out through the ss door.


    The sky was filled with stars that night so it was a very nice view even from down there.


    "Just two seasons ago nobody wanted him even for a loan transfer, that''s why I had to keep him and send out Anderson instead to be able to clear the club''s bills, it turns out bing a starter was the push he needed." He muttered.


    ''Now a lot of clubs areing after him and they are not just any clubs, top European clubs, this would be really good if it was another yer but he doesn''t want to leave yet and he''ll be out of contract after next season but anyway.'' He said subconsciously. ''I still have yers like Mateo Smith, very soon the top clubs will starting after him after his market value has gone up as I expect it to, selling him then will generate a good amount of revenue for the club.''


    "I had never been happy for him my whole life but I''m happy that he has started taking a few steps toward making his name known in the football world."


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 169 Testing Out The Hyper Ball Blaster

    His dive to the right had gone wrong as he needed to jump higher to be able to save the ball but he knew what to do even in that situation.


    Just as the ball got closer and was about to fly past him, he raised his right hand just in time to push the ball over the bar.


    ''Nice save.'' Catherine said.


    He quickly got up from the floor to get ready for the next ball which had already been sent flying toward his goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying through the middle and just as it hit the yer, it deflected up toward the left side of the goalpost.


    The ball wasn''t moving that fast so all Dave needed to do was quickly make his way to and catch it and that was just what he did.


    ''You''re getting better and better at this, two saves in a row, that''s nice.'' Catherine said.


    "Yeah, and I guess it''s time to go home now." He said before he threw the ball up and kicked it far toward the other side of the goalpost.


    ''Yeah, we''ll continue tonight, you''re getting better but you still have to continue practicing.


    As soon as she said that, his body and everything around him began to disintegrate until he slowly opened his eyes to find himself back in his room.


    <The way I''m seeing things, you''re going to have a nice season ahead of you, if you don''t get injured that is>


    ''I hope so.'' The goalkeeper replied before turning around to the other side of the bed to see that Emma wasn''t there.


    He quickly picked up his phone from where it was usually kept to see that the time was 6:17 AM.


    "She got up earlier than me today." He muttered before sitting up on his bed. "That rarely happens."


    He quickly changed into his sports outfit and running boots before he began to make his way downstairs.


    He got downstairs to find Emma in the kitchen with the gas cooker on and something boiling on top of it.


    "You decided to start your day early I see."


    Emma quickly turned around to see him standing there.


    "Yeah, I woke up and couldn''t fall asleep again, you were still fast asleep so I had toe down here and start doing something." She said,


    "When did you get up?" He asked.


    "5:30."


    "Oh, that was pretty early. Well, I have to head out now, but first." He said before he quickly got closer to her and kissed her. "Later." He said before quickly making his way out of the area and out of the house.


    He decided to skip the hill climbing exercise today as he wanted to get home fast so instead of spending an hour and some minutes away from his house, it took him less than forty minutes to get back.


    He didn''t head toward the entrance to the house after getting back; rather, he made his way to the garage as there was something that needed unboxing in there.


    He lifted the door to the garage open and as soon as the door was open, the first thing his eyes caught sight of was his old ball ster before he slowly turned his gaze to the right to see his new hyper ball ster which was yet to be unboxed.


    He slowly made his way into the garage and turned on the lights before he slowly made his way to the new ball ster which he didn''t know what it looked like yet.


    ''Hope this will be just like rk said.'' He said subconsciously before he began to unbox the ster.


    It took him less than a minute to get everything off the ster and reveal it.<novelnext></novelnext>


    It had its simrities to the old one like the long ster mouth and the buttons at the back, but it also had its differences, a lot of them.


    Unlike the old one, it had red outlines running around its edges and instead of having one ball-holdingpartment, it had two at the back, one below and the other one a little above it which meant that it could hold more balls just like he had confirmed after opening bothpartments.


    "I need to get more balls." The goalkeeper said before he began to push the ster out.


    The hyper ball ster was also heavier and proof of that was the way Dave was pushing it now, the reason for the increase in weight had to be the bigger battery which was meant to handle the hyper speed for a long period of time without dying.


    After pushing out the ster to thewn and where he wanted it, the goalkeeper quickly made his way inside to bring the balls.


    "Instead of eight, it''s going to be able to hold sixteen balls now." He said after filling in all the balls in thepartment below.


    He closed up thepartment before getting up to choose which level he was going to try out.


    "Let''s see how fast level one is going to be." He said before clicking the level one button and after that, he quickly clicked the start button.


    After clicking the buttons, he quickly made his way to his goal line and quickly adjusted his gloves.


    ''There''s no way it''s going to be that fast.''


    The first ball was quickly sent flying toward the left side of the goalpost toward the far corner.


    Dave knew he wasn''t going to get to it on time which was why he did something in the middle of his dive.


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    The ball was about to slip past his gloves when it was caught by the influence of his level two ball ster, the ball got pulled a little closer to the tip of his gloves for him to be able to push it out.


    ''That''s just as fast as level six of the old ster.'' He said subconsciously after getting up from the floor.


    The second ball was sent flying toward the right side of the goalpost with a little elevation but luckily it wasn''t stretched far away from them so it wasn''t hard for him to make the save.


    The balls were fast given the fact they were being shot at a speed equivalent to that of the level six of the old ster but now that Dave had figured that out, he was able to save all the balls after all he had already conquered level six in the old ster.


    After saving thest ball, he slowly got up from the ball and turned his gaze to the ster.


    ''If level one is this fast, that means level two will be as fast as level seven and then the levels after that will be at speeds I have never experienced before.''


    <Are you up for it?>


    ''Oh, yeah, I can''t wait to try out all those levels, this is just what I wanted, this is just what I need to rapidly improve myself, the quests that wille from those tough levels will also be useful in improving myself. Thanks, rk.''


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 170 Married

    The kitchen all the way to the living room was void of anybody but it wasn''t exactly quiet as the television was on with a news broadcast going on.


    There were two reporters in the studio, one being a blonde-haired female and the other being a bald man.


    "So, Ace, what update do you have for us today from the world of sports?" She asked.


    "Well, this has to be the first one, it doesn''t really have anything to do with sports but because a footballer is involved, it has to fall under the category of sports news," Ace said. "What I''m trying to say is that Unique FC''s number one Dave Richards is getting married today, he is getting married to sports reporter Emma Smith who is the older sister of his teammate Mateo Smith."


    Upstairs in Dave''s room, Emma could be seen sitting in front of therge mirror in the room, she was putting on her white wedding gown with Emilia and another woman standing behind her.


    "I feel so tense, Emilia, I have never felt so nervous about anything in my entire life." She said to Emilia who was busy working on her hair.


    "I can''t say I understand how you feel because I haven''t been through this before but I can imagine how you''re feeling," Emilia said. "This is one of the biggest stages of your life, it''s okay to be nervous but you should rx, you''re a beautiful young woman, Dave loves and you are getting married happily to the man you love aren''t you?"


    "Yeah."


    "So there''s nothing to be really nervous about."


    "Yeah, Emma, there''s nothing to be nervous about." The other woman said.


    _______ _______


    The groom wasn''t supposed to see the bride before the wedding, that was the reason why Dave wasn''t getting dressed at home but that wasn''t a problem as finding a ce to get dressed wasn''t that much of a big deal, Mateo''s house was just fifteen minutes down the road.


    Inside Mateo''s room were three men all putting on ck tuxedos and those three men were Dave, Mateo, and rk.


    Dave''s tuxedo seemed to differ from their own as it had sparkly gold designs.


    "I never thought you would get married before me," rk said as the goalkeeper adjusted his bow tie.


    "Why wouldn''t I get married before you? You''ve been single for almost four months now." Dave said.


    rk was a little pissed by what he had said but he knew he was right.


    He was about to say something when his phone began to ring on Mateo''s bed where he had.


    He quickly stretched his hand toward the phone and picked it up.


    "Who''s that?" Mateo asked.


    "Emilia," rk replied before picking up the call. "Um..yeah, we''re almost there." He said before ending the call.


    "What did she want?" Mateo asked.


    "To know if we had gotten to the church," rk replied.


    "We should start heading there now," Dave said.


    "Yeah."


    ______ _______


    The church was filled up now with friends, family, teammates, and a lot of other people.


    Dave was standing in front of the priest with rk standing behind him and Emma making her way to the area, Emilia was walking beside her with a flower bouquet in her hand.


    With the two now on stage, it was time to begin with the ceremonial rites.


    The priest said everything that he was required to say and after that, he said the vows which they both said I do too on their turns before he said, "You may now kiss the bride."


    After hearing the priest say that, Dave raised his hands toward her and slowly lifted the wedding veil which had a bright smile on it now.


    He leaned closer to her and just as their lips touched, the people in the church broke into apuse of jubtion.


    With the wedding ceremony now done, they proceeded to the party which was taking ce in a hotel.


    There weren''t many people at the party, just friends, family and Dave''s teammates, his coach Norman was also there.


    The sun was slowly going down as everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves at the party but not everybody could stay till sunset.


    Emma''s parents were about to leave but before that, Johnson Smith wanted to have a word with the goalkeeper.


    "So, you''re married to my daughter now." He said as the two made their way to the elevator.


    "Yes, sir." The goalkeeper said. "I guess I''m part of the family now."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yeah, yeah, don''t get too ahead of yourself, just take good care of her, okay."


    "You know I will, Mr. Smith."


    Johnson smiled at him before turning his gaze to his wife who was talking with Emma at the far end of the room.


    "Let''s go, Sarah!" He yelled before turning his gaze back to Dave. "Take care, boy." He patted him on his shoulder before turning to the elevator.


    "Alright, dear," Sarah said before breaking free from her daughter''s hold.


    "Goodbye, mum," Emma said with a smile on her face as she watched her mother make her way to the elevator.


    After the elevator closed up, she slowly turned her gaze to Dave who was looking at her now.


    With the sub gone from the sky now, it was time for thest part of the party, the dance party.


    The dance floor was already getting filled up with dancing couples but the bride and groom were nowhere to be found, well, not exactly as they were just standing by the side.


    <You''re married now, that''s one thing taken care of, what else are you nning on taking care of?>


    ''Well, the season is about to start and it may be myst season with Unique FC so I''m going to fight hard to leave my mark, that''s what I''m nning to take care of next, leaving my mark in my boyhood club.''


    "Shall we?"


    He quickly turned his gaze to his right to see Emma''s palm opened up for him.


    "Yeah." He said before grabbing her hand.


    "Then, let''s go." She said before dragging him to the stage.


    While most of the people at the party were dancing on the dance floor, Emilia was watching by the side with a bright smile on her face.


    rk was standing beside Mateo who was going through his phone instead of watching what was going on.


    "If you''re going to go ask her for a dance then go do it already, all you''ve been doing since is looking at her." The winger said with his gaze still on his phone.


    "Huh?" rk said before turning his gaze to him.


    "If you''re not going to do it then I''m going to do it." The winger said, this time turning his gaze to him.


    "Fine, I''m going," rk said before he slowly began to make his way to her.


    Mateo watched him until he had gotten close enough to her before he turned his gaze back to his phone.


    "Hey."


    Emilia slowly turned to see rk standing behind her.


    "Hey." She smiled. "I was wondering where you were."


    "Um¡­.I was over there with Mateo." rk said, pointing toward the area where Mateo was standing.


    "Oh, okay." She said,


    "Um¡­Emilia, do you mind hitting the dance floor with me?" He asked.


    "Sure, I don''t mind." She said with a shrug. "I was even about to ask you."


    "Really?"


    "Yeah, let''s go." She said before grabbing him by his arm and pulling him along with her to the dance floor.


    ****


    It''s been a while since I''ve been to a wedding ceremony so writing this chapter was quite a chore, but I did a fair deal of research on it.


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 171 Pre-Season Tour

    For a couple that had just gotten married, there had to be a honeymoon and it had to be somewhere away from home.


    There was this city that Dave always wanted to visit not just because the city looked nice but also because it was home to his favorite team outside Unique FC.


    He had been to the city before but it was just a brief visit that didn''tst a day, but thanks to his honeymoon, he finally got to spend up to three weeks in the capital of Catalonia, Barcelona.


    The couple had been on their honeymoon for three weeks straight, of course, they didn''t have a house there so they had to stay at a hotel.


    The room they were staying in was one that gave someone a good view of some parts of the city because of the ss interior which also made up the exterior.


    It was 6:05 AM as was shown on the big wall clock on the wall over their bed.


    The sun was slowly rising and its rays were prating the room through the ss, but the couple were still in bed with their arms wrapped around each other and a white sheet covering their body.


    Dave had to turn off his dream control feature because he was on a break and that break also applied to his dream training.


    Dave was the first to open his eyes to see Emma''s face very close to his but before he could make a move, she slowly opened her eyes.


    "Hey." She smiled before she let out a soft yawn while covering her mouth with the back of her hand. "Good morning.


    "Good morning." Dave smiled back at her.


    "These couple of days have been really nice with you, too bad we have to leave today." She said,


    "Yeah, but we''re not leaving yet are we?" The goalkeeper said before pressing his lips against hers in a passionate kiss as she tightened her grip on his body.


    Their morning romance had to be interrupted before they could go too deep as Dave''s phone began to ring behind him.


    "Who could that be now?" He mumbled before he turned to his phone which was lying on the small cupboard near the bed and picked it up.


    "Who''s it?" Emma asked.


    "Your brother." He replied before picking up the call.


    "Oh."


    "Hey, Mateo."


    "Hey, Dave, hope I''m not interrupting something important." The winger said.


    Dave didn''t reply immediately and slowly raised his gaze to look at Emma before putting it down again.


    "Um...no, not exactly, what''s up?"


    "Nothing much, I just wanted to remind you that you''re supposed to meet us at the airport by 10:30 AM, in case you forgot." He said.


    "That''s just it." The goalkeeper said with a sudden drop of his jaw.


    "Yeah."


    "Seriously, Mateo?"


    "I knew I interrupted something important," Mateo said.


    "Bye, Mateo." He said before ending the call.


    "What was that about?" Emma asked after he dropped his phone back on the cupboard where he had picked it from.


    "He wanted to remind me that I had to meet them at the airport by 10:30 AM, that''s like three hours from now and the airport isn''t even that far from here, so." He said before he grabbed her against his body with him lying on his back on the bed.


    The two gazed into each other''s eyes for a while before Emma said something.


    "I''m going to miss you." She said,


    "Me too, but it''s just a two-week pre-season tour, we''ll be back before you know it." He said before they locked lips yet again in a passionate kiss which led to him turning him, rolling her over on the bed.


    ______ ______


    The season was about to start and in order to make sure that the yers were warmed up enough before the big games, they had to take part in the pre-season tour.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The pre-season tour, just like the name implied, meant that the team would have to leave their home ande to another part of the world where they would have to face off against teams in that area and other teams that came to visit that part of the world in friendly matches.


    A lot of teams started their pre-season tourst week but Unique FC decided to start their own tour this week, and luckily for Dave, the management decided that their tour was going to be at Barcelona, his chosen destination for his honeymoon.


    The goalkeeper was all dressed up now, had his breakfast and Emma made sure that his bags were ready and that he wasn''t missing anything.


    He was standing outside the room now with his backpack on his back, his traveling box on the floor with his hand on the extendable hand, and Emma standing at the door with her gaze on him.


    "I guess this is goodbye." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah, take care of yourself, okay." She said,


    "And you too." He said before leaning closer to kiss her. "Make sure you get home safe."


    "I will."


    "Alright." He said before turning around with his traveling box. "I''ll see youter, wife." He added with a smile on his face.


    ''Yeah, it still sounds awkward.''


    He had to take a cab to get to the Barcelona-El prat airport and by the time he got there, the time disyed on his watch was 10:37 AM.


    He thought he waste until he entered the airport to see that that was when Unique FC''s private ne was descending from the sky.


    "10:30 they said." He muttered before he increased his pace.


    By the time he got there, the yers were already making their way down the ne.


    The goalkeeper was standing in front of the step and the first person he happened to meet who was the first person toe down from the ne was Ferran with Mateo following him from behind.


    "Hey, Dave." The midfielder said as soon as he stepped down from thest step.


    "Hey, Ferran." He said.


    There was this air of awkwardness between the two but Ferran still had to push for a conversation.


    "Hope you had a nice honeymoon." The midfielder said.


    "Yeah, I did." He replied with a nod.


    Mateo had to be the one to step in and break the awkward conversation between the two.


    "I didn''t expect you to be this early." He said as soon as he stepped in between the two.


    "Well, since you had to call me early this morning to remind me, the least I could do was arrive early."


    "Yeah, sorry I had to interrupt your morning time with Emma, I didn''t know that my call would arrive in the heat of the moment."


    "Mateo." The goalkeeper grumbled while trying to keep a straight face.


    "Hey,e with me, I have a few things I have to take you through." The winger said.


    The two began to walk away from the ne slowly as Mateo exined to him a few of the things that he needed to know before they started heading out to where they were going to be spending their nights during their two-week pre-season tour.


    "So, which team are we going to be facing in the first match?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Our first match will be tomorrow against Manchester United at the Reale Arena." Mateo spelled out.


    ***


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 172 Pre-Season Quest

    The management had to make arrangements for where the yers were going to stay during their two weeks tour and that had already been taken care of as they had reserved rooms in one of the biggest hotels in the city.


    The yers had to share rooms with one of their teammates to reduce the number of rooms to cut off having to pay for extra rooms which would cost the club more.


    Dave wouldn''t share a room with anyone else but Mateo, the winger, and the goalkeeper were going to be sharing a room for the next two weeks.


    The ce was well arranged and clean, so all they had to do was drop their bags where they were supposed to go and rx.


    There were two beds in the room for both of them and the room seemed pretty conducive for them, to cut the long talk short, they liked the room, Mateo''s only problem was that there was no y station in the room.


    "Don''t you know that putting a y station here would make the room more expensive?" Dave said.


    "Yeah, you''re right." The winger said before crashing down on his bed. "But they should have a y station somewhere around here."


    "Yeah, maybe."


    There was a little moment of silence in the room as Dave slowlyy down on his bed with his gaze on the ceiling and a smile on his face.


    "What are you smiling like that for?" Mateo asked. "Are you still thinking about your honeymoon?"


    "No, it''s not it," Dave said, shaking his head.


    "Then what is it?"


    "I''m just d that we''ll be in Europeanpetition this season even though it''s the lowest one, I''m also d that I''ve got another season to prove myself at the club and you''ve fully recovered and didn''t have to leave."


    "Well, Atletico Madrid didn''t make a good enough offer so the board had to turn them down, I would have gone if they had said yes but I''m happy to still be here nevertheless." The winger said. "You know we have new faces in the squad now."


    "Who? And what positions are they ying?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Well, we have Martinez Alejandro, the thirty-one-year-old defensive midfielder from Argentina, he moved from Chelsea to here on a one-year deal.


    "Then we have Gregory Stone, a seventeen-year-old striker who just got promoted to the senior squad and finally we have Henry Shaw, the twenty-five-year-old attacking midfielder who is here on loan from West Ham United.


    "George Neville has left the club for Leicester City."


    "Oh, is he the only one?" Dave asked.


    "No, Roger David was also sold off to Celtic FC, Anderson left on loan again this time to Porto, and Ina Shaw was also loaned out to Frono FC."


    "I see, three new faces, two yers left on permanent transfers, and two yers on loan transfers."


    "Yeah," Mateo said.


    The two talked about a lot of things together before Mateo had to leave to go look for a y station leaving the goalkeeper all alone in the room.


    [ yer Profile ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ yer Level: 5 ]


    [ 100/100 HP ]


    [ 375/600 EXP ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Goalkeeping Skills ]


    [ Double jump: level(01) ]


    [ Ball ma: level(02) ]


    [ Focus: level(01) ]


    [ Goalkeeping attributes ]


    [ Shot stopper: level(01) ]


    [ 127/127 Energy ]


    [ Unused stat points: 8 ]


    [ Skill points: 6 ]


    [ Skill upgrade points: 4 ]


    [ Physical Status ]


    [ Strength: 33 ]


    [ Dexterity: 37 ]


    [ Endurance: 29 ]


    His stats had not improved that much for the past one month now, the only improvement he had gotten was frompleting a quest involving the hyper ball ster and after that, he had been swallowed up by the wedding, honeymoon, and enjoying himself.


    <Today marks the end of your cking off><novelnext></novelnext>


    ''You know there''s a difference between cking off and taking a break right?''


    ''And you couldn''t understand that I was on my honeymoon.'' He replied. ''Why am I even exining myself to you?''


    He slowly got up from his bed and made his way to his door.


    "If I stay here all by myself, I''m going to die of boredom." He muttered before opening the door.


    _______ _______


    The first day at the hotel was really fun for all the yers but today was a new day and it was time to get serious although they were just going to be ying a bunch of friendly matches.


    "Arghhh!" Mateo groaned as he sat up on his bed with his hand on his head.


    "You spent the whole day ying FIFA, getting a headache was inevitable."


    The winger slowly turned his gaze to Dave''s bed to see him lying on the bed going through his phone.


    "At least it wasn''t as serious as it was before I went to bed." He said before getting up from the bed.


    "You should get rid of the rest of it fast, we have a match by 1:00 PM right?"


    "Yeah," Mateo said.


    Since the match was by 1:00 PM, Norman made sure he had a quick training session with the yers by 8:00 AM and that was what they were doing now.


    The training started with theps, stretches, and the other ones that required strategy and after doing those things for one hour, Norman decided that they should take a quick break before doing thirty more minutes of training but Dave and Mateo weren''t leaving yet.


    "You''ve got really fast." The winger said before lobbing the ball toward his goalpost from the edge of the box.


    The ball was sent flying toward the top left side of the goalpost and it didn''t take much of an effort to get there and catch the ball.


    "I''ve been working hard recently." He said before throwing the ball back to him.


    "I can see that," Mateo said after trapping the ball under his foot.


    "So, how many matches are we going to be ying in this pre-season tour?" He asked.


    "Nine," Mateo replied.


    "Yeah, we have Manchester United today, we''ll be ying Benfica next and then Eibar, Young Boys, Sheffield United, Barcelona, Dynamo FC, Wolfsburg, and Real Sociedad.


    "Wow, we''ll be ying against a lot of elite teams," Dave said.


    "The only elite teams I recognize there are Barcelona, Manchester United, and maybe Benfica." The winger said.


    "Yeah, I guess so."


    "Heads up," Mateo said before he quickly sent the ball flying toward the right side of the goalpost and this time it wasn''t a lob, it was an actual shot.


    Dave quickly dived toward the ball at the right time and with the tip of his gloves, he tipped it over the bar.


    "Nice save," Mateo said with a little p.


    "Yeah." He said before sitting up on the floor.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Do not concede more than nine goals in nine of the pre-season matches you will be ying ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ ???? ]


    [ ???? ]


    [ ???? ]


    ''A quest, finally, and it''s got mystery rewards too.''


    <Yeah, but do you think this quest is going to be easy with Barcelona being part of the team you''re going to be ying against?>


    ''That exins the mystery rewards, if there''s no improvement in our defense, those guys may end up putting the nine goals past me in one match.''


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 173 Unique FC Vs Manchester United: Can They Hold Them Down?

    The training session and everything regarding tactics and starting eleven had been taken care of, it was time for the yers to start heading to the Reale Arena for their match against Manchester United which was going to kick off by 1:00 PM.


    Dave and Mateo were in their room now getting ready to head off, they were putting everything that they were going to be needing in their backpacks and while they were doing that, Dave''s phone began to ring on his bed where he had dropped it.


    He quickly turned his gaze to the phone to see that the caller was Emma and for that reason, he didn''t hesitate to pick up the call.


    "Hey, babe, how''re you doing?" He asked after putting the phone against his ear.


    "I''m okay, what about you?" Her voice resounded through the phone''s speaker.


    "I''m fine, everything''s okay over here." He replied.


    "Okay, I just wanted to check on you, everything''s okay here too, I just left for work now." She said, "Though the house is a bit lonely with only me here."


    "Don''t worry, we''ll be back soon."


    "I know." She said before letting out a sigh. "I love you."


    "I love you too, take care, bye." He said before ending the call.


    After ending the call, he turned his gaze to Mateo''s side of the room to catch the winger looking at him strangely.


    "Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked.


    "It''s nothing." Mateo shook his head before turning his gaze back to his bag.


    After an hour and about thirty minutes on the bus, the yers along with the few staff who hade along on the tour with them had finally arrived at the Reale Arena, Real Sociedad''s official stadium.


    "Wondanimo doesn''te close to this stadium in size," Dave said after looking around the area.


    "You can say that again," Mateo said.


    They quickly made their way inside and after being shown to their locker room, they began to change into their jerseys.


    There was no time for pre-match warm-up on the pitch before going back to change so they had to change before heading off into the pitch.


    There was no change in the design of the club''s jersey so their home jersey was still the orange jersey with ck polka dots and Dave''s jersey was still the lemon-colored goalkeeper''s kit.


    He would have loved to y this match with his new boots and gloves from Footy Wears but he didn''t make the journey here with them so he had to stick with his old gear until they returned home.


    "Alright, boys, I know this is just a friendly but we have to take it seriously and show them what we got, winning against Manchester United will be something nice to brag about don''t you guys think?" Norman said. "But it''s not just about the bragging rights, it will also be a big boost of confidence and that''s what we need this season so let''s go out there and show them what we can do!"


    The yers met up with Manchester United yers in the tunnel, the Manchester side were putting on their ck away jersey and they seemed to have most of their star yers there including their formidable shot-stopper Patti Moreno.


    The goalkeeper seemed to be a little taller than Dave and he also had a bigger body, his ck hair seemed to have grown a little long but it wasn''t that long, and he had blue eyes.


    "Patti Moreno." Dave muttered with his gaze on the well-established shot stopper.


    "Wee to our wonderful viewers from all around the world, it''s your regrmentator Jim Waterson and I have with me in the studio here my regr comentator Mr. Steve Jefferson," Jim said as the yers made their way to the pitch.


    "It''s really nice to be back here again after the two months break, I''m d the action is back," Steve said.


    "Well said, Steve, the action has begun and although it''s just a friendly match, I have a feeling that we will be getting a lot of action from it."


    There were a good number of fabs in the stands but most of them were Manchester United fans.


    The routine for choosing sides was quickly done by both captains and after that, both teams moved to their side of the pitch.


    Unique FC yers moved to the left side of the pitch as they were going to be the ones to start the game.


    The Bilbeth Premier League side were ying with their default formation of four-three-three and Norman was using his main starting eleven.


    Dave was the one between the sticks, the right back position was upied by Norman Kole, the center back positions by Adolf and Aima and the left back position by Jonas Blue, he was no longer part of the starting eleven but Norman just wanted to start him ahead of Rnd Ryle today.<novelnext></novelnext>


    In midfield, we had Minino on the right, Harry Norman on the left, and Ferran in the attacking midfield position.


    In attack, we had Mateo on the left wing as expected, Fred Miles in the striking position, and Carlos Oman on the right wing, the right winger had just made a full recovery from his injury which meant that Merino would starting from the bench again.


    Manchester United on the other hand were ying the four-four-two formation with two of their most formidable strikers up front, Rivaldo Noninho and Nn Ray, the twobined to score a total of fifty goals in the English Premier League onlyst season.


    ''Alright, Dave, it''s about to start, you have to try your best to not concede any goals and if you must concede, it must not be more than one.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.


    <This is your first time facing a team outside the Bilbeth Premier League right?>


    ''Yeah.''


    <I could tell, it''s just a friendly match, and your heart is already starting to pace up like this>


    ''I''m just excited.''


    <Yeah, super excited but there''s a little mix of nervousness in it too>


    Fred was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly rolled the ball to Minino who didn''t waste time in sending it to Norman behind him.


    "The game has just kicked off and now we get to witness ny minutes of football from the Uniques once again," Jim said. "The big question is if they will be able to hold the Manchester side down.


    Carlos had managed to break through the defense on the right after receiving a neat pass from Ferran and now he was making a quick run down the right.


    "Carlos is through here and he''s looking to create something from the far right," Jim said.


    "This could be their chance," Steve remarked.


    The winger had a yer chasing him down at full speed unaware that the winger had a sly trick up his sleeves.


    He waited for the yer to get closer before he quickly put the ball through the yer''s legs with his back heel and quickly moved back to receive it at the other end.


    "Oh, no! Carlos just demolished Alberto!" Jim eximed.


    "That was wonderful from him."


    There were also other yers heading toward him after he got rid of Alberto so he had to quickly pass the ball to Minino at the edge of the box.


    "He''s sent it to Minino."


    A yer quickly rushed to the midfielder and tried to bring him down with a tackle but Minino knew what to do as he pushed the ball forward along the line at the edge of the box and quickly jumped up to avoid the yer''s tackle.


    As soon as he was clear of the yer''s legs, he pulled his right leg back and sent the ball flying toward the top left-hand corner of the goalpost with a powerful shot.


    "Minino!"


    Luckily for Manchester United, they had a super responsive goalkeeper, Patti Moreno dived toward the ball at the right time, and with the tip of his gloves, he pushed it over the bar for a corner kick.


    "Oh, what a save!" Jim eximed. "That was a wonderful shot from Minino but Manchester United''s number one was clearly equal to it as expected."


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 174 Frustrating Manchester United

    The ball was quickly sent flying into the eighteen-yard box by Ferran as soon as he heard the referee''s whistle but before any of the yers could get their heads to the ball, Patti stepped out from his line and jumped up to catch the ball.


    "Patti just stepped up to make sure there weren''t any mistakes that would lead to the ball falling into his goalpost," Jim said.


    "Well, that makes sense given the fact that most of the goals they concededst season hade through mistakes from corner kicks," Stevemented.


    After that wonderful attempt from Minino in the early minutes of the game, Manchester United had taken total control of the match although they had not made any goal-scoring attempt yet.


    "I''m so used to seeing Unique FC be the ones controlling the game possession-wise even when they are losing but it looks like they''ve met their superiors today," Jimmented.


    "Yeah, I wonder what will happen when they face off against Barcelona next Wednesday," Steve said.


    Rivaldo tried to push forward with the ball but he had Harry on his way so he had to push it back to their attacking midfielder.


    The midfielder quickly spotted Nn making a break through the middle at the edge of the box and quickly sent the ball to him from the top.


    "Oh, this could be the moment for Man United!"


    Adolf wasn''t able to stop Nn as the striker shook him off but before he could get his foot on the ball which was inside the box now, Dave quickly dived toward it and caught it with both gloves avoiding the striker''s boots by inches.


    "I thought it was the moment of truth but Dave was there right on time to prevent what would have been a goal to remember," Jim said.


    "That''s right, Jim, there was no doubt about it, if Nn had touched that ball, it would have gone straight into the goalpost. That was a pretty decisive move from Dave." Steve remarked.


    "Nice job, Dave," Adolf said to the goalkeeper as soon as he got up from the floor.


    "Thanks." He replied before rolling the ball to Norman on the right.


    Unique FC yers passed the ball around for a while, building their ball possession percentage while trying to find an opening to attack.


    When Minino thought that he had finally found enough space to change the dynamic of the game, he quickly sent the ball flying toward Mateo on the other side but that was a mistake as Manchester United''s midfield dynamo Maldini quickly popped up from nowhere to intercept the ball and win back possession for his team.


    "That''s a nice interception from Maldini and like that, Manchester United have gotten hold of the ball again."


    Maldini quickly passed the ball to the right midfielder who didn''t waste any time to send it to Rivaldo who was currently being marked by Aima.


    The striker quickly got past the defender with a three hundred and sixty rotation before pushing forward a little and once he had a clear sight of the goalpost, he quickly sent the ball flying toward there from twenty-five yards out.


    "Rivaldo!" Jim eximed.


    The ball was sent flying high toward the right side of the goalpost and although Dave had dived toward it at the right time, it didn''t look like he was going to get his hand on it.


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    With the help of his skill, the ball got pulled close enough for him to push it a little away from the goalpost but the power from his push wasn''t enough to send it over the bar as the ball hit the crossbar before flying off toward the left side where Jonas was standing.


    "Unbelievable! How did he save that!" Jim eximed and this time he sounded really surprised.


    Maldini was heading toward Jonas at full speed to take the ball from him but the left back didn''t look fazed as he waited for him to get close enough before he lobbed the ball to Ferran.


    ''That was really close.'' Dave said subconsciously as he slowly got up from the floor panting.


    "Dave''s the only reason why this match is still goalless," Adolf said to Aima. "We have to get out act together, these deadly goal attempts have happened as a result of our defensive shorings."


    "I know, but these guys are something else," Aima said. "Their work rate is unmatchable."


    "That''s true but they''re human beings, they can''t keep up their aggressive style of y forever." The captain said.


    So far the game had looked one-sided but no matter how much Manchester United tried, they just weren''t able to get the ball into the back of the.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Every opportunity the English side got, they used it to fire a shot toward their opponent''s goalpost, most of the shots had gone wild, some of them were blocked and the others which were on target were saved by none other than Dave.


    Most of them were easy saves fromzy shots but they were a few that proved quite tricky for me just like the first two shots he saved.


    The closest Manchester United hade to scoring was when Dave fumbled a shot from Maldini, the ball rolled off and was about to roll past the goal line when he stretched his gloves toward it and caught it.


    This match was starting to get frustrating for Manchester United yers as all their close attempts to put the ball into Unique FC''s goalpost had been foiled by Dave Richards but it was nothing to get pissed off about, it was a friendly match after all.


    "Seems like Dave Richards has gotten a lot faster sincest season, his movements are way faster now and the way he handles the ball now is superb," Stevemented.


    The match had entered the forty-fifth minute now and still, none of the sides had been able to put the ball into their opponent''s goalpost.


    Manchester United were still terrorizing Unique FC''s box trying to find a way to break through and put the ball into Dave''s goalpost.


    The official with the board raised his board to show that there was going to be four minutes added time and just at the third minute of that added time, Maldini was brought down right at the edge of the box by Jonas, if he had taken just one more step further, it would have been a penalty.


    That was a careless challenge from Jonas so the referee had to show him a yellow card.


    "With just one minute of added time left to go Manchester United have been gifted a massive scoring opportunity right at the edge of the box," Jim said.


    Unique FC quickly set up their four-man wall as Maldini slowly stepped up to take the free kick.


    He waited for the referee to blow his whistle and as soon as he did, he quickly pulled his leg back and sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    "Maldini!"


    Instead of going from the top, the midfielder decided to go from below and it worked quite fine for him as the ball didn''t make contact with any of the yers in the box but the ball wasn''t able to meet his goal as Dave dived toward it at the right time and blocked it with his body.


    "Dave Richards with another save! Oh my goodness! Manchester United are probably wondering what they have to do to get the ball past this guy."


    Maldini bit his lower lip with a frustrated look on his face after watching Dave save yet another one of his shots.


    The referee waited for Dave to send the ball out and as soon as he did that, he blew his whistle twice to signal the end of the first half.


    "There you have it, the end of the first half," Jim said.


    "I have to say, Jim, this match is obviously one-sided, if not for Dave, Man United should be about seven goals up now," Steve said.


    "I agree."


    The match being one-sided was written everywhere, even on the statistics board.


    Unique FC had only managed to get thirty-nine percent ball possession while Manchester United had sixty-one percent, they only attempted one shot which was on target while Manchester United had attempted twenty shots with nine of them being on target.


    "The match is clearly one-sided so far but let''s see what will happen in the second half. Will Unique FC be able to get their act together and will Manchester United be able to get the ball past Dave who is surprisingly proving to be a thorn on their flesh?"


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 175 Starting The Second Half With A Bang

    The yers were all in the locker room now with Norman standing in front of them and let''s just say that he didn''t have a pleased look on his face.


    "What the heck happened out there?" He inquired. "You guys are ying like a bunch of Sunday league yers, I know they''re tough but you''re not even trying.


    "I know it''s just a friendly match but even friendly matches deserve to be taken seriously, especially against a team like this, I don''t even know what to say but you all should be thanking Dave, he was the only one who did his job perfectly in this first half, the rest of you were just getting pushed over and stepped on, zero impact on the pitch.


    "My midfield is known for controlling the game even when we''re losing, but what the heck is going on with you guys today? What happened to your runs and dribbles, Mateo? Have you forgotten how to trap the ball, Fred? And Carlos, it seems like you haven''t fully recovered from your injury.


    "I don''t even want to talk about the defense because you guys have been absolutely horrible so far."


    "We understand, coach," Adolf said. "We''ve made a lot of silly mistakes which could have easily turned to goals if it wasn''t for Dave but you have to also understand that your tactics aren''t working that much, we need a change of tactics and maybe a more defensive formation."


    "I was getting to that, Adolf." The coach said. "I''ve already figured it out but I''m going to be making a lot of changes and since this is a friendly match, I can even change the whole squad."


    After going through the new tactics with the yers, changing the formation, and changing half of the yers who yed in the second half, it was now time for the yers to start making their way to the pitch for the second half.


    "I have to say, Dave, you''ve really surprised me so far in this match, all those saves were awesome, and making them against yers like Nn, Rivaldo and Maldini even makes them more awesome, you''ve improved like really improved." Mateo expressed as he walked toward the tunnel exit with the goalkeeper.


    "Well, all I needed was to apply a little hard work to my life," Dave replied.


    "Yeah, and it''s working superbly for you."


    "Wee back everyone, the second half is about to kick off and the yers are making their way into the pitch now," Jim said. "The first half waspletely dominated by Manchester United but despite all their super efforts, they weren''t able to get the ball into Unique FC''s goalpost all thanks to the heroics of Dave Richards."


    Unique FC had switched to a defensive formation now, they were ying with the five-three-two formation now and for the changes Norman made, Jonas had to make way for Rnd, Aima had toe off for Pirlo, Carlos was reced by Merino, Harry Norman had to make way for an extra defender who was Are and Fred Miles had toe off for the academy graduate, Gregory Stone.


    Mateo had to pull back to Harry Norman''s position on the left side of midfield while the attack was now being led by Gregory and Merino.


    "Looks like Unique FC''s manager has made a lot of changes to his side while there have only been two changes from the Manchester side," Steve said.


    "Let''s just hope that these changes are enough to give us a little bit ofpetitive action, not the one-sided match we saw in the first half," Jim said.


    Rivaldo was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly passed the ball to Nn who didn''t waste time in passing it to Maldini.


    "That''s the referee''s whistle and the second half has kicked off," Jim said.


    For the first five minutes of the game, Manchester United did their possible best to prevent Unique FC from getting possession of the ball but so far, they had not been able to prate their new defensive line.


    "If it was in the first half, the Manchester side would have already found their way past Unique FC''s defense but it looks like the Bilbeth Premier League side have made an improvement defensively."


    "That''s something to be d about at least," Steve said.


    After trying to find his way past Adolf and failing even almost losing the ball in the process, Nn had to send the ball back to Maldini who quickly sent the ball flying over to Rivaldo who seemed open for a second until Pirlo popped up from nowhere and stole the ball in mid-air.


    "Pirlo has stolen the ball for his side, their first touch since the start of the second half."


    The center-back was chased down aggressively by Rivaldo who wanted to win the ball back by all means but after moving forward with the ball a little, he passed the ball to Minino before Rivaldo could get the best of him.


    Minino maneuvered his way past both of the yers who tried to take the ball from him with a neat dribblingbination before passing the ball to Ferran.


    "That''s nice from Minino," Steve said.


    Ferran trapped the ball and paused for a while waiting for the yer heading toward him to get closer and as soon as he did, he quickly got rid of him with a three-hundred-and-sixty rotation before offloading the ball toward Mateo who was making a run toward the left wing now.


    "Unique FC are starting to cook up something here," Jim said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Mateo had a couple of yers heading toward him from behind and from his front but just before he could get to the ones he was heading toward, he crossed the ball over to Merino on the other side.


    Merino caught the ball with a neat trap and without any form of hesitation, he sent the ball flying to Gregory who had managed to break free from the yer who was marking him inside the box.


    "He''s sent it in!"


    The ball seemed to have been affected by the wind somehow as it moved off Gregory''s direction and bounced on the head of the Manchester United yer before falling off at the edge of the box.


    "Oh, it''s fallen off at the edge of the box," Steve said.


    Ferran and Alberto were the closest to the loose ball but Ferran had the superior speed and was able to get to the ball but he had to send it to someone fast before the defender did something to bring him down.


    He was able to catch a glimpse of Mateo making a run into the box and with his back heel, he sent the ball to the winger before Alberto could try to drag him down.


    "Mateo."


    Mateo quickly got rid of the yer heading toward him with a nutmeg and now it was all him and Moreno.


    "Mateo''s through."


    The goalkeeper left his goal line to try and stop him with a sweep but that was all the winger wanted as he quickly lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper before he could get close to him.


    "Mateo!"


    There was nothing the defenders in the area could do as the ball flew over the goalkeeper and into the back of the.


    "He''s done it, he''s finally done it! Unique FC has finally gotten the first goal of the match!" Jim eximed.


    Mateo had been brought down by Patti Moreno in the process of his slide but he quickly got up from the floor and pointed toward Ferran before quickly making his way to him.


    He gave him a double-high five before the midfielder grabbed him by his head.


    "Who would have thought that after that horrible performance in the first half, Unique FC would be the ones to open the score just eleven minutes into the second half!" Jim eximed. "That was magisterial from Mateo and you can''t forget about that superb pass from Ferran."


    "Yeah, it looks like they''ve stepped up their game in this second half just like we all wanted them to," Steve said.


    "Yes, yes, yes!" Dave eximed. "We''re leading against Manchester United, we just have to maintain the lead now and win this game, a win against Manchester United will be wild."


    <Yeah, but you know that''s going to be tough, right? Now that you guys have scored against them, they''re going to get really serious>


    ''Then we also have to up our seriousness.'' The goalkeeper replied before joining his hands together.


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 176 A Whole Different Team

    The few Unique FC fans in the stands were going wilder with their chants and cheers now that their team was leading, they wanted to make sure that their team got enough cheers and hype to keep themselves grounded and not cking off under pressure.


    So far Unique FC were doing well in holding their ground and although Manchester United were still running the game possession-wise, they weren''t giving the English Premier League side the chance to get the better of them.


    "Manchester United are starting to feel the pressure now that they''ve been put behind and they''re doing everything possible to get that equalizer but Unique FC are not giving in, this team feels like a whole different team if youpare their performance now to what we saw in the first half." Steve articted.


    "Yeah."


    Rivaldo received the ball from the left midfielder on the left wing and after dribbling his way past Norman, he quickly sent the ball flying into the box.


    The ball flew past Adolf''s head and came flying toward Nn who sent it flying toward the goalpost with a powerful header.


    "Nn!"


    Dave was glued to the spot as the ball hit the far right of the crossbar right at the angle before falling over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, it hit the crossbar," Jim said.


    The fans let out loud gasps after witnessing that close scoring opportunity.


    "Oh,e on," Nn said in frustration before crashing to the floor.


    ''That was really close.'' Dave said subconsciously before dropping the ball on the line.


    <Yeah, if it hade any closer, it would have been a goal for sure>


    ''Yeah.'' The goalkeeper replied before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the pitch.


    "Dave was confused back there, if that ball had gotten, it would have been a goal for sure," Steve said.


    "Yeah, and what a goal it would have been for Nn," Jim said.


    Ferran was able to win the aerial duel against Rivaldo and after that, he quickly sent the ball to Mateo before they could hang up on him.


    Mateo received the ball and tried to create a space for one of his dangerous runs but he wasn''t able to find the space so he passed the ball to Rnd.


    Rnd quickly drifted off from his wing to the middle beforeying the ball off to Pirlo who didn''t waste time in sending it to Minino.


    Minino was quickly caught up by the left midfielder who ended up dispossessing him of the ball and sending it out for a throw-in in the process.


    The ball was quickly sent in by Minino who threw the ball back to Norman who wasn''t being marked at the moment.


    Norman received the ball and quickly sent it to Adolf who didn''t waste time to send the ball flying toward Mateo.


    Mateo knew there was a yer heading toward him as he waited for the ball to get closer and as soon as it did, he kicked it over the yer and quickly zoomed past him to receive it at the other end.


    "Nice touch from Mateo."


    The winger had created enough space to make his run but he wanted to try something different this time.


    He pushed the ball forward a little before he sent it flying toward Merino who was close to the edge of the box now.


    The winger brought the ball down with his chest and feigned shooting at the yer in front of him before pushing the ball further into the box.


    "Merino."


    The winger had created enough space to shoot and just before any of the defenders could get to him, he offloaded the ball toward the left side of the goalpost.


    "Merino!" Jim eximed.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The ball was drilled low and even went through the legs of a defender.


    Moreno dived toward the ball at the right time but there was no need for that as the ball drifted far from his gloves and made slight contact with the post before rolling out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that was so close," Jim said.


    "Unique FC are really making wonderful efforts with every opportunity they get, they''re giving Manchester United a tough time here."


    The time had just entered the Seventy-fifth minute and still Manchester United had not been able to get their equalizer as Unique FC seemed to have tightened their defense more.


    A failed attack from Unique FC had led to a counterattack from Manchester United, it wasn''t really a serious counterattack as Norman and Pirlo hadn''t strayed far off from their defensive positions but Maldini was quickly racing down there to make sure that this chance was going to count.


    Rnd was chasing after him but he seemed to be too far behind to catch up with him fast enough.


    "This could be Manchester United''s chance," Jim said.


    Pirlo and Norman were quickly closing up on the yer from the side but Maldini already had everything nned and this was the point where he passed the ball back to Nn to disorientate the defenders.


    With Nn with the ball, their attention was divided, the striker pushed forward with the ball and just before Adolf and Are could close up on him, he lobbed the ball to Maldini.


    "Maldini! This could be his chance!"


    "Oh, no," Dave muttered.


    Maldini received the ball inside the box with a neat touch and just before he could fire it toward the goalpost, he was brought down by Pirlo under a careless challenge.


    "Oh, Pirlo has brought him down inside the box," Steve said.


    The referee didn''t need to look twice as he blew his whistle before quickly making his way to the area.


    He had to give Pirlo a yellow card because he deserved it and now the Manchester side had just won a penalty kick.


    "It''s a penalty, Manchester United has won a penalty."


    Unique FC yers didn''t try to argue because it was a clear enough foul and besides it wouldn''t make sense to get all fired up and heated in an argument that would defile the whole point of the match which was termed a friendly match.


    "Manchester United have been finding it hard to score against Unique FC, Dave Richards was just too tough for them, and in this half, the Bilbeth Premier League side stepped up their defense to make things more difficult for them but it looks like they''re finally going to get that goal now," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but you can''t be too sure about that, Dave Richards may end up saving it and keep their goal drought going, who knows," Steve said.


    ''And I thought I was going to keep a clean sheet against Manchester United.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    <There''s a chance of saving it you know>


    ''Yeah, but in a penalty kick, the chance of making a safe is pretty low.'' Dave replied. ''But anyways, I''m counting on my low chance.'' He added before adjusting his gloves.


    ***


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 177 Attempting To Create An Iconic Moment

    The penalty kick was set to be taken as Maldini stood over the ball with his gaze on it while Dave stood at the center of his goal line with a calm expression on his face.


    "I thought the person to take the penalty was going to be either Rivaldo or Nn but it looks like they''re leaving it for Maldini maybe because he''s the one that won the penalty," Jim said.


    "Yeah, maybe."


    <You know focus will be really useful in a situation like this>


    ''So, I should put myself in that state because of a penalty kick in a friendly match that will only result in an equalizer if it is scored.'' The goalkeeper replied. ''No, thank you, I''ll try to save it myself, and besides it''s just one penalty kick, not a penalty shootout.''


    The referee made sure that all the yers were out of the box before he slowly made his way into the box from the side and blew his whistle.


    "There''s the whistle."


    Maldini didn''t move as soon as he heard the whistle, he slowly raised his head and took three steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    Dave reacted quickly toward the ball which was sent toward the left side of the goalpost with a little elevation.


    "Maldini!"


    His left hand missed it but with the tip of his right glove, he was able to push it up a little but that push wasn''t enough to take care of the ballpletely as it hit the crossbar and fell off toward the crowd of yers.


    "I can''t believe it! Dave with another goal denial but it''s not over yet!"


    Pirlo was the person to get hold of the ball first but before he knew it, it was forced off him by Alberto from behind.


    Alberto quickly got hold of the ball and quickly drilled it low to Rivaldo who seemed to have been kept onside by Rnd but before the striker could get his foot to the ball, Dave stepped off his line and grabbed the ball with both hands before covering it up with his body.


    "Nice handling from Dave, the goalkeeper said no, and just like that, Manchester United''s goal drought continues," Steve said.


    "When I heard the club wanted to sign him, I didn''t expect him to be this gold, this guy could literally rece me if the club signs him but I have more experience so it''s going to take some time." Patti Moreno muttered from where he was standing in his box.


    ''Letting you go now would have been a mistake.'' Norman said subconsciously.


    "I know Dave stepped up his game near the end ofst season but it looks like he''s a whole different person now, those saves were spectacr and I never thought he would save that penalty and stop the attempt from the rebound on time." One of the fans in the stands said.


    "I don''t think there''s any reason to be surprised, he''s just starting to take his job seriously as he should have done from the start." Thedy standing beside him said. "Or maybe it has something to do with him getting married recently." She whispered.


    The game continued with Unique FC in possession of the ball and right now it looked like they were just trying to keep hold of the ball and dy time until the match came to an end.


    <You''ve pulled off yet another save, this time oneing from the spot>


    ''I told you I didn''t need focus to do it.'' He replied.


    <Yeah, I wonder what they''ll be thinking of you now>


    [ 58% stamina remaining ]


    [ 77/127 Energy ]


    ''I don''t know, I''m just d I don''t have to worry about stamina deficiency anymore.''


    "Looks like Unique FC are just trying to dy time here and Manchester United are not liking it," Jim said.


    Minino quickly passed the ball back to Adolf after being aggressively chased down and as soon as Adolf got his foot on the ball, Maldini and another midfielder quickly began to race toward him.


    There were no clear passing options for him so he passed the ball back to Dave who had to leave his box to receive it.


    The Manchester United yers were a bit wary to attack as they were expecting Dave to send the ball in but Dave wasn''t in a hurry to do that as he wanted to dy time a little bit.


    <Why don''t you try aiming for the goalpost from here?> Catherine suggested.<novelnext></novelnext>


    ''Really?''


    <Yeah, all those crossbar challenges and long ball training weren''t just for passing, you can use it for something else like scoring from here, that would be an iconic moment don''t you think?>


    ''An iconic moment, yeah.''


    Seeing that Dave was being hesitant to send the ball out, the yers quickly charged toward him but before they could get to him, he pulled his leg back and sent the ball flying toward Manchester United''s goalpost.


    "What''s Dave trying to do here?" Steve said.


    "Can''t you see, he''s aimed for the goalpost?" Jim said.


    The ball flew past all the yers from above and was now heading toward the top left side of the goalpost.


    Moreno had to quickly retreat a little past his goal line before he was able to jump up and push the ball over the bar for a corner kick.


    As soon as the ball was pushed out, almost everybody in the stadium including the yers let out loud gasps.


    "What the heck was that?" Jim expressed with a surprised tone to his voice. "I thought that was going to fly over the bar but it was on target, if Moreno had not reacted fast enough, Unique FC would be two goals up by now."


    "Dave Richards is really turning into a nightmare for Manchester United in this match today, the guy''s not only an imprable goalkeeper, but he can also fire shots like that from that far out," Stevemented.


    "I thought they used to know that guy as one of the worst goalkeepers in the Bilbeth Premier League," Moreno said after he was pulled up by Alberto.


    "Yeah, I watched the highlights of some of his matches from earlierst season and he was really that bad, he only stepped up a little near the end of the season, I never expected him to be this good," Alberto said.


    "That guy is something else, you guys need to figure out a way to put that ball past him, we''re running out of time," Moreno said with his gaze on Dave who was standing at the edge of his box now.


    <That could have been an iconic goal, your first career goal, too bad he saved it>


    ''Yeah, but I''m not surprised, Patti Moreno is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, I would have been disappointed if he had not been able to save it.'' Dave replied.


    "Unique FC have a corner kick now. Can they make good use of the opportunity to double their lead and seal the win with only five minutes of regr time left?"


    The ball was quickly sent into the box by Minino but instead of sending it from the top, he decided to go low and to a certain someone who was right at the edge of the box.


    Gregory got hold of the ball and quickly stretched it further down the line before Alberto could get to him and once he had a clear sight of the bottom right side of the goalpost, he sent the ball flying toward there from below.


    "Gregory!"


    Moreno dived toward the ball but his hand wasn''t able to get to the little space that the ball could go through but fortunately for him and his team, the ball didn''t go close to the space and hit the post instead before rolling out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, it hit the post!" Jim eximed.


    "That was so, so close, second woodwork hit by Gregory," Steve said.


    "Unique FC have failed to convert two consecutive chances which would have sealed the game for them and with just four minutes of regr time left, things aren''t looking good for Manchester United either way," Jim said.


    *****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 178 Fair End

    The clock was showing just three minutes of regr time left and still Manchester United had not been able to get that equalizer that they needed so much.


    They were giving it their all trying to press high and disorientate the Bilbeth Premier League side but their tactics were proving futile so far as they were being stopped in their tracks with every single move made.


    "Unique FC are really doing well to hold Manchester United down here, looks like this match turned out the way I expected it to at the end," Jim said.


    Rivaldo tried to dribble his way past Pirlo but after almost losing the ball to him in the process, he had to trap back to Nn who had stretched out on the right wing.


    Nn received the ball and instead of attempting to put Rnd to the test with one of his runs, he decided to send the ball back to Maldini.


    "Maldini."


    "We have two minutes of regr time left," Steve said.


    Maldini rolled the ball along with him for a while before he suddenly sped off down the middle escaping from both Ferran and Mateo.


    "Oh, Maldini is trying to do something here."


    The midfielder sped down the middle and just before he could get to the defensive trio blocking his path he lobbed the ball to Nn on the right wing.


    The striker didn''t even wait for the ball to touch the floor because he would have to go past Rnd then, instead, he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost with a volley.


    "Nn!"


    Dave happened to be in the right ce just beside the right post and all he needed to do was raise his hand and hit the ball over the crossbar for a corner kick.


    "Never mind, Dave still doesn''t want to give them a goal," Jim said.


    "Come on," Maldini grumbled before he quickly made his way to the right corner kick spot to take the corner kick.


    "Corner kicks are one of Unique FC''s weak points in defense, they''ve managed to clear the earlier two but I have a feeling that this one''s going to be different," Steve said.


    "Regr time hase to an end and it looks like we''re going to have five minutes of added time. Can Manchester United use this chance to get that equalizer or are they going to have to deal with a loss against Unique FC?"


    Maldini stood over the ball at the corner kick spot waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly took two steps backward before he closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    Dave wanted to try diving and grabbing the ball but the ball was sent too far away from his goal line and attempting it in that condition would be risky.


    Pirlo jumped up it with Rivaldo in contention for the ball and Pirlo was the one to get his head to it as he had the height advantage even though Rivaldo had jumped up first but things didn''t go as nned.


    He wanted to nod the ball out but instead, the ball deflected on his bed and fell off toward the far right of the goalpost with Dave standing in the middle of his goal line.


    Dave dived toward the ball but his reaction seemed a bitte and before he could get his hand to it, the ball hit the post and rolled past the goal line.


    "Oh, no! It''s gone into the goalpost! What a terrible mistake from Pirlo! Manchester United have finally gotten that equalizer!"


    The goal wasn''t really anything to be hyped up about as it was an own goal but still, they had to celebrate as it wouldn''t have happened if it wasn''t for Maldini''s cross.


    "I knew keeping a clean sheet against Manchester United was too good to be true," Dave muttered before sitting up on the floor with his back against the post.


    "Unique FC were so close to beating Manchester United in their first meeting in history but that mistake from Pirlo just took away that moment from them," Jim said.


    <Well, if you look on the bright side, it was an own goal which was beyond you so technically, Manchester United didn''t score against you>


    ''Yeah, technically but the scoreboard says differently and I wonder if the system would think the same.'' He replied before getting up from the floor.


    After four minutes of Unique FC pressing high against the Manchester side without any good attempts, the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end.


    "And there you have it, the final whistle, I predicted before the start of the match that we were going to be in for an entertaining match and that is what we got don''t you think, Steve?"


    "Yeah, that was certainly interesting, Unique FC should havee out victorious as we all know, they were superbly solid in the second half but I think both teams will be happy with a draw," Steve said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I think this marks the end of our broadcast today, goodbye from both of us and we''ll see you all next time."


    Dave was announced as the man of the match as soon as the match came to an end which didn''te as a surprise to anyone.


    Before the goalkeeper could go to collect his award, he was approached by someone he never expected to approach him.


    "Hey."


    The goalkeeper quickly turned to see Patti Moreno behind him.


    Both goalkeepers had pulled off their gloves now and were holding them with their left hands.


    "Hey," Dave said.


    "You were really awesome today, I didn''t expect you to be so talented."


    "You were great too."


    "Maybe but you were exceptional, the man of the match award says it all," Moreno said.


    "Thanks, that means a loting from you."


    "Do you mind swapping shirts with me?" The Manchester goalkeeper requested.


    "No, I don''t mind at all," Dave replied, shaking his head.


    "Cool," Moreno said before pulling off his shirt.


    Dave pulled off his shirt at that same time and after that, the two exchanged the shirts.


    "Alright, Dave, I''ll see you around," Moreno said before he shook his hand and began making his way toward the tunnel.


    Dave watched him until he disappeared down the tunnel before he slowly turned his gaze to the blue jersey which had the number one written on it and Moreno written above the number.


    "My second shirt swap." He muttered with a smile on his face.


    <It''s really cool that the yers had to be the ones to ask for these shirt swaps, it shows that you''re starting to get recognized>


    ''Yeah, but when we y again Barcelona, I''m going to be the one to ask for Ciro''s shirt.''


    The match may have ended in a draw but the statistics below the score was there to show just how much of an attacking team Manchester United were and how efficient Unique FC had been with their chances although they only managed to convert one.


    Manchester United had a total of fifty-eight percent ball possession at the end of the match while Unique FC had forty-two percent.


    The Manchester side yed twenty-eight shots with twelve being on target while Unique FC yed eight shots with five of them being on target.


    <I have a feeling your market value is going to go up at the end of this tour>


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 179 Thats The Way It Has Always Been

    Dave was holding his man of the match award now while he was being interviewed by a female reporter.


    The award wasn''t like the one they were awarded at the Bilbeth Premier League, this one looked like a rectangr block of ice that was coated with silver color and had a ball carved in the middle.


    "I know it was a tough match and a lot of things could have gone wrong in the first half but I''m d it didn''t and I''m also d that our coach was able to spark up our ying spirits in the dressing room, that''s how we were able to perform the way we did in the second half," Dave exined.


    <Your ying spirit never needed sparking up>


    "Okay, I have one more question for you." The reporter said.


    "Okay, go on." The goalkeeper said.


    "A lot of people have been talking about how you single-handedly stopped Manchester United from getting the ball past you and some of them are saying that it''s only a matter of time before you be known as one of the elite goalkeepers of the game. What do you have to say about that?"


    "Um...about single-handedly stopping Manchester United from scoring, that''s not exactly true, sure our defense was too shaky in the first half but they still helped in the little ways they could and they even got better after the first half, I just did what I was supposed to do while they did theirs that''s all." He expressed. "And about bing known as one of the elite goalkeepers of the game, I think they''re right, I may not be at that level yet but it''s only a matter of time just like they said, I''ve been pushing myself starting from some pointst season and I''ll continue doing it until I get to that level."


    "Alright, Dave, that will be enough for today, thank you." She said before pulling back her mic.


    "You''re wee," Dave said before he turned and began to make his way toward the locker room.


    <Well, that wasn''t quite the answer I was expecting from you but I have to say I loved it>


    ''My mother has always told me to believe in myself and then when she died, that teaching just died in me, and then Emma came along, another person in my life who believed that I should always believe in myself and I''m starting to get it now, believing in yourself gives you a reason to keep pushing forward, I believe I can be known as one of the elite goalkeepers of the game someday, that was why I answered the question like that.''


    He entered the locker room to discover that his teammates weren''t celebrating as he expected them to but they were all chatting with each other happily.


    "Hey! Everyone look, our ball ma''s here!" Mateo yelled as soon as he spotted the goalkeeper enter the room.


    "Ball ma," Dave muttered.


    "You know, when Mateo told me that you were a world-ss goalkeeper, I didn''t really believe him but I guess he was telling the truth all along."


    Dave slowly turned his gaze to the side to see Martinez Alejandro standing beside him.


    "You were superb today." The Argentine defensive midfielder added.


    "Thanks." Dave smiled.


    After that, he had a few talks with his teammates in the locker room before they were informed that it was time to leave.


    On the bus, Dave had to sit beside Mateo as always but the youngster didn''t really have time for a conversation as he had his earphones in both of his ear holes while scrolling through his phone.


    <Do you want to see it now?>


    ''Of course.''


    [ Post Match rewards ]


    [ Match result: Draw ]


    [ Nine crucial saves: +90 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded(1): 0exp ]


    [ One shot on target: +10 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 9.0 ]<novelnext></novelnext>


    ''I didn''t know I got rewarded exp for shots on target.''


    <Well, it''s very difficult for goalkeepers to get shots on target from their positions so it''s only fair that you get rewarded for it>


    ''Yeah, I guess that''s right.'' He replied. ''I really wish I had gotten a quest in this match. Don''t you think it''s weird that I didn''t get any match quest in this match, against Manchester United of all teams?''


    <This was just a friendly match, Dave>


    ''So?''


    <You don''t get match quests for friendly matches>


    ''Really? Then what do you have to say about the one I got earlier today?''


    <That''s a whole different thing, Dave, that''s the way it has always been>


    ''That''s the way it has always been.'' The goalkeeper muttered subconsciously as those were the only words that caught his attention in her sentence. ''What do you mean by that''s the way it has always been?''


    Catherine had never been too slow to answer his questions or give him a reply before but right now, it seemed like she wasn''t going to answer his question.


    ''Answer me, Catherine! What do you mean by that''s the way it has always been?!'' He yelled in his head but even after that, there was still no reply from her. ''That''s how it has always been could either mean that you''re the one in charge of handing out the quests after all or someone has been the wielder of this system before me,e to think of it now, thetter makes way more sense.''


    Even aftering up with a theory in his mind all in an attempt to get Catherine to talk, she refused to say anything.


    ''What is wrong with you, Catherine? Answer my question, has there been a wielder of this system before me?''


    <Yes, you are not the first wielder of this system, you are only the second wielder> She replied.


    ''I knew it, everything has been pointing toward that direction right from the start. So who was this first wielder before me?''


    <I''m sorry but I cannot answer you question beyond this point at the moment>


    ''Seriously? What''s the point, I''ve already found out that there was someone before me, would it hurt to just tell me who it was.''


    ''I''m sorry, Dave but I cannot tell you''ll have to find out for yourself whenever you reach your peak. I cannot control it, that is how it has already been set up.''


    He was about to reply to her when he was suddenly pulled closer by Mateo who wanted to share a funny video with him, he even plugged off his headphone so that the goalkeeper could hear the sound too.


    Dave had his gaze on the phone''s screen but his mind was stuck in his subconscious and Mateo was beginning to wonder why he wasn''t chuckling yet.


    ''I cannot control it, that is how it has already been set up.'' He repeated herst lines in his mind. ''You know talking with you for the past couple of months has made me forget that you''re just a programmed A.I, the conversations with you feel so human that''s why it was nice to talk to you all the time but what happened now just reminded me that you''re just a piece of A.I after all, you''re more enhanced than the normal ones.


    ''This system has a lot of mysteries surrounding it, a lot that I don''t know yet.''


    *****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 180 Helping Out A Young Stranger

    "I can''t believe you didn''t find that even a bit funny," Mateo said as he stepped down from the bus with Dave.


    "Sorry, I didn''t meet your expectations, I guess my sense of humor has been washed up a little bit." The goalkeeper said, scratching the back of his head.


    "Yeah, and you should work on getting back, I can''t deal with having tough at the jokes alone in the room." The winger said before he hastened his step toward the building.


    ''I didn''t even watch the video so I believe my sense of humor is intact.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.


    After returning to their rooms, the team had their lunch together and now it was time for them to get some rest or do whatever they wanted to do as long as it didn''t go against their code of conduct while they were there after all they didn''t have any match to y tomorrow but they were still going to train.


    "The match was hectic," Mateo said before crashing down on his bed. "Especially for you." He added.


    "Yeah," Dave said before crashing down on his bed.


    "I heard they wanted to sign but the club refused their offer," Mateo said before turning his gaze to him.


    "Yeah." He replied.


    "They''re going to be more interested in you now that they''ve seen what you can do." The winger said.


    "I guess so."


    "You''ll be a free agent just like me at the end of the season. Are you going to go there?"


    "If Patti Moreno leaves then maybe I can move there but if he stays then I''ll have to look for somewhere where I''ll be really needed." The goalkeeper replied.


    "I see, you don''t want to be a second-choice goalkeeper," Mateo said.


    "Yeah," Dave said. "What about you, where will you be heading to at the end of this uing season?"


    "I don''t know yet, I have a lot of bidders at the moment and I don''t think the club management will want me to leave as a free agent, they want me to sign a one-year extension so that I don''t be a free agent by the end of this uing season they''re probably going to to try and do the same with you two," Mateo exined.


    "Are you going to sign the extension?"


    "I will, if they agree to let me leave at the end of the season you should also sign the extension under the conditions too after all leaving as free agents won''t help the club in any way, this is the only way we can help them get more money to clear thest part of their debts while we''re gone."


    "Yeah, you''re absolutely right." The goalkeeper replied.


    The twoy there for a while and talked about a few other things before Mateo had to leave to take care of something, leaving Dave alone in the room once again.


    ''What''s wrong, Catherine? You''re unusually quiet.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously with his gaze on the ceiling.


    <What do you want me to say?>


    ''Something like you usually do. Are you suddenly quiet because of what happened earlier today?'' He asked but there was no response from her.


    [ yer Profile ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ yer Level: 5 ]


    [ 100/100 HP ]


    [ 475/600 EXP ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Goalkeeping Skills ]


    [ Double jump: level(01) ]


    [ Ball ma: level(02) ]


    [ Goalkeeping attributes ]


    [ Shot stopper: level(01) ]


    [ 127/127 Energy ]


    [ Unused stat points: 8 ]


    [ Skill points: 6 ]


    [ Skill upgrade points: 4 ]


    [ Physical Status ]


    [ Strength: 33 ]


    [ Dexterity: 37 ]


    [ Endurance: 29 ]


    [ Career info ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ Age: 21 ]


    [ Height: 187 cm ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Strong foot: right ]


    [ Developed qualities: Shot stopper ]


    [ Developing qualities: Sweeper Keeper, ball ying keeper. ]


    [ Current Team: Unique FC ]


    [ Status: Starter ]


    [ Market value: a??10,000 ]


    [ Matches yed: 78 ]


    [ Goals: 0 ]


    [ Assists: 3 ]


    [ Shots faced: 141 ]<novelnext></novelnext>


    [ Goals conceded: 80 ]


    [ Saves made: 47 ]


    [ Penalties faced: 20 ]


    [ Penalties saved: 02 ]


    [ Clean sheets: 01 ]


    [ Career average rating: 6.3 ]


    [ Awards ]


    [ Man of the match awards: 02  ]


    [ Trophies: 0 ]


    [ Records set/broken: none ]


    ''I''m getting closer to my next level up, and it looks like my market value hasn''t gone up yet.''


    He wanted to get Catherine''s attention with this but there was still no response from her.


    "I think a walk will do the both of us some good." He muttered before getting up from his bed.


    He walked to the side of the room where his ck coat was hung and put it on before slowly making his way toward the door.


    ''The streets of Barcelona, so refreshing.'' He said subconsciously as he walked down the street.


    "It''s okay, Ferran, I''ll just find another person to be my teammate."


    Dave looked ahead to see the same boy who had said that angrily kicked one of the dustbins along the street just after bringing his phone down.


    A teenager who seemed to be around sixteen years of age.


    "How am I supposed to find another teammate now?"


    "Hey, what''s wrong?"


    The boy slowly turned back to see Dave standing behind him.


    "It''s nothing important." The boy said, shaking his head.


    "Really? Then why did you kick that thing like that?"


    "What does it matter? It''s not like you can help me or anything." The boy said.


    "You can''t just conclude that someone can help you if you haven''t told him what your problem is," Dave said.


    The boy didn''t reply to him and slowly brought down his head.


    "What do you need a new teammate for?" The goalkeeper asked, causing the boy to quickly raise his gaze to look at him.


    "It''s my friend Ferran, we signed up for the tennis ball tournament and we managed to make it this far to the finals and we really need to win that final because we need the money but he suddenly fell sick and won''t be able to make it and now I can''t find a new teammate because the person will surely ask for a share in the prize and probably an equal share when we were the ones who struggled to make it this far."


    ''Wow, the kid didn''t want to say anything before but looks like he just poured his whole soul out to me.''


    "A tennis ball tournament I see," Dave muttered. "How about I be your new teammate."


    "Really?" The boy said before looking at him from head to toe. "No offense, mister but do you even know how to kick the ball?"


    ''Seriously?''


    "Why don''t you give me a ball so that I can show you? If you have a ball with you."


    "Yeah, I have a ball with me." The boy said before he quickly brought down his bag, unzipped it, and brought out a blue football. "Here." He said before throwing the ball toward the goalkeeper.


    Dave caught the ball with his feet and immediately began to joggle it with both feet.


    "His joggles are so neat." The boy muttered after watching him for a little while.


    He even did a few of the freestyle tricks he knew before kicking the ball up to joggle it with his head and after doing that for a while, he brought the ball down and sent it back to him.


    "Was that convincing enough?"


    "Even Ferran couldn''t joggle the ball like that." The boy said with an amazed look on his face.


    "Then I guess that''s a yes," Dave said, moving closer to him.


    "Yeah, but there''s a problem."


    "What''s that?"


    "The maximum age requirement for the tournament is twenty years." He said.


    "Then I guess you''re in luck today because I''m just twenty years old," Dave said.


    "Really?" The boy said with a surprised expression on his face.


    "Yeah, and don''t worry about your cash prize because I don''t need it."


    "Really?"


    "Yeah, now where''s this tournament taking ce?"


    The boy didn''t reply and just stared at the goalkeeper while wondering if he was dreaming.


    ''Good things like this don''t usually happen to me in situations like this.''


    ***


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 181 Tennis Ball Tournament Final (01)

    "Hey, so what''s your name?" Dave asked as he walked down the street with the boy.


    "Diego." He replied.


    "Diego, huh."


    "What''s your name, mister?" The boy asked.


    "It''s Dave, Dave Richards you must have heard of me before." The goalkeeper said.


    "Um¡­.I don''t think so." He said, shaking his head.


    "Uh¡­never mind."


    "Okay," Diego said before turning his gaze back to where they were going.


    ''I guess I''m not that popr, yet.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.


    <Here''s a precautionary measure>


    ''Huh?''


    <The boy may not know who you are because you''re not that popr yet but that doesn''t mean there aren''t others who will and it won''t be good if a lot of people who know you spot you walking down the street with this boy or at the ce you''re going>


    ''So, what are you suggesting?''


    <Look for something to cover up your identity even a little bit and make you less recognizable, something like a face cap>


    ''A face cap?''


    <Yeah>


    ''I think that''s a clothing shop up ahead.''


    <Yeah, go check it out and put a face cap on>


    ''Yeah, thanks for the tip, Cat, I guess you haven''t gone unreasonably silently after all.'' He said subconsciously but there was no reply from her.


    It didn''t take long for them to get close to the clothing shop where Dave was supposed to go look for a face cap.


    "Hey, Wait for me out here." He said before quickly making his way into the shop.


    "Hey, wait." Diego tried to stop him but he had already entered the shop.


    It took up to seven minutes before the goalkeeper made his way out of the shop putting on a brown face cap to go with his brown coat.


    Diego was still standing where he left him.


    "What''s that on your head?" He asked with his gaze on the face cap.


    "A face cap," Dave replied.


    "Why are you putting it on? You looked okay without it."


    "I know but I just like putting on a face cap whenever I want to go out, I forgot the one I usually wear at home so I decided to get a new one."


    "Okay, let''s just get going." The boy said before he began to walk down the road toward the area.


    Dave stared at him for a while before he slowly began to follow him.


    The two walked toward the area without saying a word to each other until they had finally gotten to the area.


    "This is the ce," Diego said as Dave slowly looked at the skyscraper from down to up. "The tournament is taking ce on the highest floor.


    "Okay," Dave said.


    The two made their way into the building and straight to the elevator.


    Diego pushed the button to the highest floor as soon as they entered the elevator and after the elevator closed up, they were on their way there.


    "So, Diego," Dave called.


    "Yeah." He said before turning his gaze to him.


    "The prize money that you told me about, how much is it?" He asked.


    ''Is he trying to see if he can get a share of the money, I thought he said he didn''t need it?'' The boy thought as the look on his face suddenly changed.


    "It''s a million euros." He replied.


    ''A million euros that''s not that much really.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    "I see, and what do you intend to do with your own share of the money? You said you really needed it right?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Um¡­my parents aren''t that rich so they can''t afford to get me most of the things I need for university so I need the money to get some of those things myself which will ease things for them." He exined.


    "Wait, University, how old are you?" Dave asked.


    "Sixteen, I''ll be turning seventeen in a few months."


    "And you''ve been admitted into a university."


    "Yeah, is that something to be surprised about?" The boy asked.


    ''Well, since I never went to a higher institution myself, I guess not.''<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Um¡­no, not really." He said, shaking his head.


    It didn''t take them long to arrive at their destination and just as the elevator opened up, Dave could see that the room was filled up with a lot of people surrounding the center area which judging by the in the middle was the space for the face-off.


    "Hey, over here, they have to officially register you as a recement for Ferran," Diego said after grabbing him by his arm and pulling him along with him to the registration counter.


    There were three people there, a female and two males and Dave expected them to speak English just like Diego but he seemed to have forgotten that he was in Barcelona, a Spanish territory.


    ''Oh boy, I don''t even know how to speak Spanish.''


    <Is that a problem?>


    ''What do you mean?''


    <The boy you''re with is from around here and he can speak English, don''t you think he understands what they are saying?>


    "She''s asking you your name," Diego said to him after realizing that he was finding it hard to interpret what she had just said.


    "Oh, it''s Dave Richards," Dave replied.


    ''You were right, Catherine.''


    Dave expected some sort of reaction from them after telling them his name but there was nothing, she just went on to ask the other questions that needed to be answered.


    ''I''m not surprised.''


    <I know you''re not popr enough for them to know you but I don''t think giving them your realst name was a good idea>


    ''What''s the point when they don''t even know thest name?''


    "Hey, Dave, over here," Diego said before making his way to a room by the side.


    He didn''t move immediately as he watched him until he entered the room and shut the door.


    "That boy." He muttered.


    ''I never thought about it before, he''s a sixteen-year-old Spaniard who was raised with his nativenguage but his English is fluent enough for me to understand him without trying hard to, he''s a really smart boy.''


    He entered the room to find out that it was just like a locker room meant for two people and Diego who had been in there for a while had already changed into a red and ck jersey that''s a ck shirt and red shorts.


    "You need to be in somethingfortable." He said.


    "Don''t worry about that," Dave said before pulling off his coat to reveal his ck sports trousers and red shirt which didn''t belong to any team in particr. "I''ll do just fine in these."


    "Okay, let''s go then," Diego said before getting up from where he was sitting.


    "Hey, aren''t you going to remove that cap, you won''t be able to see clearly with it?" Diego said as the two made their way to their court.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll see just fine with it."


    Stepping onto the court they met their opponents who were standing on the other side of the wearing matching blue jerseys.


    The people around the area were cheering for them but most of them seemed to be cheering for the ones in blue.


    "Alright, everyone!" A voice resounded from the speakers around the area. "I believe we all know the yers but there has been an adjustment to team Diego and Ferran, Ferran wasn''t able to make it so he will be reced by this new yer, Dave Richards."


    "Dave Richards, I think I''ve heard that name before." One of the people around the area said.


    "Alright, since everyone''s in position, let the game begin."


    "Who''s your new friend, Diego?" One of the boys putting on blue asked. "He doesn''t look like someone who can kick the ball."


    The boys seemed to be around eighteen to neen years of age but Dave didn''t even flinch for a second at every single thing they said and the same could be said for Diego.


    "You''ll see, he''s even better than Ferran."


    ''I guess there are a lot of other people who can speak English here.''


    The ball was thrown to Dave by the umpire and now it was time for the game to begin.


    "I remember thest time we yed this at Ferran''s ce." He muttered before he threw the ball up and began to jog it. "I wasn''t concentrating because of Emma, but she''s not here now."


    He kicked the ball high and quickly sent it to the other side with a powerful hit.


    Their opponents were only able to catch a glimpse of the ball as it flew past them and bounced behind them before rolling further down.


    The people watching let out loud gasps after witnessing that powerful kick from the goalkeeper.


    "One point to team Diego and Ferran!" The voiceing from the speakers said enthusiastically.


    "Dave." Diego had a stunned look on his face as he stared at the goalkeeper.


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 182 Tennis Ball Tournament Final (02)

    The boys in blue were shocked after witnessing that unstoppable smash from Dave.


    "I thought he didn''t know how to kick the ball and then he goes ahead and does this." He said before picking up the ball.


    "Don''t be silly Luis, there''s no way anybody would bring someone who doesn''t know how to kick the ball to help them win a tournament final." The blonde one said. "We can''t lose this game."


    "Right," Luis said with a nod before he threw the ball up and joggled it for a while before he sent it to his blonde teammate, Jordi.


    Jordi wasn''t nning to do anything fancy with the ball and just sent it flying toward the other side with a single touch, it wasn''t a powerful kick, it was just a far lob.


    "Take that." He said with a grin on his face.


    "Oh, no, not that." Diego panicked.


    Dave didn''t say anything but he knew exactly what to do, he quickly zoomed toward the ball, and just as it was about to hit the floor the second time, he sent it back to Diego with an overhead kick.


    "Diego!" He yelled.


    The two were still far away from the and Diego knew exactly how to use that to his advantage.


    The youngster waited for the ball to get closer before he sent it to their side with a single touch smack but he had ced it close to the far away from them.


    "No!" Luis yelled as he quickly rushed to the area and dived toward the ball which had already hit the floor once.


    The only way he was going to be able to get to the ball and send it back before it hit the floor the second time was with his head but the ball had already gone too low so his effort ended up hitting the.


    "Two points to team Diego and Ferran, zero points to team lightning bolts."


    "Nice job, Diego," Dave said before giving him a high five.


    "It wouldn''t have been possible without you," Diego said.


    "Who the heck is that guy, he''s so fast."


    "Yeah, I haven''t seen someone that fast in this tournament before. Where did that boy bring him from and are we sure he''s not past twenty years?"


    "The fact that he''s using a cap to hide his face means there''s something suspicious about him."


    The game continued with Luis attempting a smash but it ended up backfiring as Dave returned it with twice as much power.


    "Three points to zero."


    "I never thought I would see team lightning bolts getting overpowered like this."


    ''This isn''t as hard as I expected it to be.''


    <Because you''re ying against a bunch of kids>


    ''Yeah but the maximum age requirement is twenty-one which means it''s fair.


    Team lightning bolts had been able to win a point after Diego had failed to control a pass from Dave and the ball had dropped to the floor.


    "I''m sorry, Dave." He said before slowly bringing his head down.


    "It''s okay," Dave said before slowly putting his hand on his head. "We''re still going to win, trust me."


    "That was a silly mistake but lightning bolts have one pulled back now."


    ''Let''s end this, that lucky point is going to be the only thing you guys are going to celebrate in this game.''


    [ +3 stat points added to dexterity ]


    ''Just to be on the safe side.''


    [ Dexterity: 37~40 ]


    The game just got more intense from this point onwards as the goalkeeper began to return all their balls with full intensity.


    Diego wasn''t even doing much from this point onwards but Dave made sure to give the easy chances to him just to make sure he was part of the game and didn''t feel left out.


    With each hit, the crowd were letting out loud gasps with shocked expressions on their faces.


    "At this point, the game is pretty much over, team Diego and Ferran ten, team lightning bolts one."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Who the heck is that guy? I can''t even keep up." Luis said, breathing heavily. All his runs to prevent Dave''s smashes had been in vain.


    "That person has received a lot of training, he''s no ordinary person," Jordi said. "They just need one point to win, do we even have a chance for aeback?"


    "Not exactly but we have to try," Luis said before he threw up the ball and quickly sent it over to the other side with a smack.


    Dave quickly followed the ball and waited for it to bounce on the floor before he caught hold of it with his right foot and began to joggle it as he walked back toward Diego.


    He moved closer with the ball and feigned shooting before he quickly sent it to Diego who quickly sent it to the other side with a far lob.


    Both of their opponents were too tired to chase the ball that far so all they had to do was watch as the ball hit the ball twice to solidify team Diego and Ferran''s win.


    "They''ve done it! Who would have thought that they could do it but it turned out to be a walk in the park for them, they are the champions."


    "Yes, we did it!" Diego yelled before he jumped up to hug the goalkeeper and in the process, he knocked down his cap.


    "Hey, I know that guy."


    "Yeah, that''s Unique FC''s goalkeeper!" A man yelled to stir up amotion in the area.


    "You mean the one that was able to keep Manchester United at bay?"


    "That exins everything, the guy''s a professional footballer!"


    "It all makes sense now," Luis said.


    "You knew you couldn''t win with Ferran so you had to get a footballer to help you," Jordi said.


    "The guy must be over twenty years of age, they should be disqualified."


    And just like that, chants of disqualification began in the room and because the lightning bolts had more supporters there, it was louder than ever.


    Diego looked around the area with a confused expression on his face before turning his gaze to Dave.


    "What''s going on, Dave?"


    "You''re about to get disqualified, that''s what''s going on," Luis said.


    <I knew something like this was going to happen>


    "Hey, everyone, calm down, the officials are currently looking into the rules of the game, they can''t make any decision without making sure it''s the right thing." The man with the mic said.


    "What are they looking into the rules for? This should be against the rules."


    "Everyone calm down!" A female voice yelled as her voice resounded through the speakers and that was all that was needed to get everyone to shut up.


    ''She can also speak English.''


    "We just finished going through the rules and it turns out there''s no rule against professional football yers participating in thepetition although there should be one but for now there isn''t." She exined.


    "What about his age, there''s no way he''s not over twenty years old?!"


    "I think you all should check that for yourself, Dave Richards is a football yer from Bilbeth, he ys for Unique FC in the Bilbeth Premier League and is currently twenty years old, that makes their win valid, no disqualification." She asserted. "Team Diego and Ferran are officially the champions of this year''s tennis ball tournament."


    As soon as those words left her mouth, the few people in the room who were supporting the team broke into cheers of joy.


    "We did it, Dave, we did it!" Diego said as tears began to roll down his cheeks and before he knew it, he pushed the goalkeeper down to the floor.


    "Yeah, it all turned out well atst."


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 183 A Friend

    After the jubtions and apuse, Dave and Diego returned to the locker room, Dave wanted to pick up his coat and he needed to change into his clothes.


    "Why didn''t you tell me that you were a professional footballer?" Diego asked as the goalkeeper slid his hands into his coat.


    "Footballers don''t just go around telling every young boy they meet that they''re footballers do they?" The goalkeeper replied.


    "I guess so but that''s because people already know who they are," Diego said.


    "Exactly but not every footballer is that well known like me, at least now you know who I am." He said before opening the door. "Hurry up, I''ll be waiting for you outside."


    After walking out of the room, he made his way straight to the table where thedy from earlier, the one that had announced the winner, was sitting alone now.


    "Hey." He said as soon as he stopped in front of her.


    "Can I help you?" She asked.


    "Um¡­not exactly, I just wanted to thank you for what you did today, you know, checking the rules and making a good decision ording to them." He said.


    "There''s no need to thank me, I was just doing my job." She said,


    "Yeah, but in the kind of world that we are in today, someone else in your position could have closed the rule book and made a decision that would satisfy the majority." He expressed. "I''m grateful to you for not being one of those people."


    Thedy didn''t say anything and just responded with a slight nod.


    "Hey, can we go now?"


    The goalkeeper slowly turned to see Diego standing behind him.


    "Yeah, let''s go." He said before turning his gaze back to thedy. "Um¡­see youter¡­."


    "It''s Sofia." She said,


    "Okay, see youter Sofia." He said before he began to make his way toward the elevator with Diego.


    "Were you flirting with her?" The boy waited for the elevator to close before he could ask his upsetting question.


    "Flirting? I''m married, you dumbhead." Dave said, sounding a bit offended.


    "Yeah, I saw the ring but a lot of married people don''t stay at home, especially influential people like you." He said before crossing his arms.


    "Aren''t you too young to be filling your mind with things like that?"


    "It''smon knowledge."


    "Fine," Dave said before letting out a sigh. "Since you want to know why I was there with her, I was just thanking her."


    "For what?"


    "For making sure you won the tournament today, who knows what would have happened if it had been another person in her position tonight." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah," Diego muttered. "I never thought of it that way."


    The two talked about a few other things until the elevator finally stopped and opened up for them to step out.


    Nothing was said between the two during the process of stepping out from the elevator and making their way to the exit.


    On getting outside, they could see that the sun hadpletely set and the sky was dark now as expected but the area was still shining bright all thanks to the street lights.


    "I guess this goodbye," Diego said, staring directly at the goalkeeper''s face.


    "I guess so," Dave said with a smile on his face.


    "Before you go, I just wanted to say thank you, I don''t know how today would have ended if it weren''t for you, things don''t usually go this well for me but it looks like you helped me fix that today." He expressed with a smile on his face and heavy eyes which Dave could tell were slowly filling up with tears.


    "I''m d I could help and to be honest, It was really fun helping you out."


    At this point, Diego couldn''t hold it in anymore, he quickly stepped closer to him and tightly wrapped his arms around him.


    "Thank you, Dave."He said as droplets of tears trickled down his cheeks. "My friends will never believe me when I tell them that I got to spend a whole evening with a professional footballer but that''s okay, at least Ferran will."


    The two stayed like that for a while before Diego slowly pulled away from him and cleaned his tears.


    "You y in the Bilbeth Premier League, are you here on a pre-season vacation?" He asked.


    "My pre-season vacation ended yesterday, right now I''m on a pre-season tour with my teammates."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Oh, when and where are you guys ying your next match?" He asked.


    "We''re ying Benfica on Tuesday at the Reale Arena," Dave replied.


    "Reale Arena, that''s quite far from the part of Barcelona where I''m staying," Diego said.


    "Okay."


    "Anyway, I have to go now, bye." He said before he turned and began to run home.


    Dave watched him with a smile on his face until he was out of sight.


    <Looks like you made a friend today>


    "Yeah." He muttered.


    The two had only been together for just a couple of hours but they seemed to have developed some kind of bond, the way the boy hugged him was proof of that.


    The goalkeeper made his way back to the hotel and made his way straight to therge room where the yStation was kept to see that most of his teammates were there including Mateo who was sitting on one of the seats going through his phone.


    "Hey, everybody, look who''s here," Edward said as soon as the goalkeeper entered.


    As soon as they all noticed him in the room, they broke into screams that took Dave by surprise.


    ''What is going on?''


    "It''s the speedster!" Someone yelled. "The smasher!"


    "What the heck is happening? Today''s not my birthday, you know."


    "Who said anything about a birthday?" Mateo said.


    "Then why are you guys acting like this?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "We''re just happy for you," Merino said.


    "Huh?" He said with a confused expression on his face. "About what?"


    "About this," Mateo said before turning the screen of his phone to show him the rey of what he had done in the tennis ball game. "You didn''t even give those guys a break, howe you didn''t y like that when we were teammates back at Ferran''s house?"


    "Oh, you guys saw that," Dave said with a nervous smile on his face.


    ''Of course, they would see it.''


    "I didn''t know you could move so fast and efficiently," Rnd said.


    Dave didn''t say anything and just kept that nervous smile on his face.


    ''I''m pretty sure none of them would have seen this if it wasn''t for Mateo and his damn phone.''


    "Um¡­Dave." The left winger called.


    "Huh?"


    "This was the final of the tournament and ording to what I know, you haven''t been in the tournament so how did you get into the finals?"


    "I was never in the tournament, I was just helping out a young boy, a friend I mean." The goalkeeper replied.


    "A friend?"


    "Yeah." He replied with a nod.


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 184 Far Range Accuracy

    Dave had turned off his dream control feature the moment he left for his honeymoon and he had not turned it back on yet even as he was on a pre-season tour with his friend.


    The goalkeeper slowly opened his eyes to see the ceiling and after staring at it for a while, he turned to the side and picked up his phone to check the time.


    He turned on his phone to see that the time was 5:50 AM.


    He slowly sat up on his bed and let out a yawn before stretching both of his hands and while he was doing this, Mateo was still fast asleep.


    ''I haven''t been able to go on a proper run for a month now.'' He said subconsciously before he got up from his bed. ''Hey, Catherine, what gives? You always say good morning to me every time I wake up in the morning, what happened today?''


    <I''m sorry, good morning>


    "I don''t even know what''s wrong with you." He muttered before picking up his running boots from the floor.


    He changed into something morefortable for running before he made his way out of the room and out of the building for his morning run.


    He returned to the room about forty minutester to find Mateo lying on his bed going through his phone.


    "Where did you go?" The winger asked as soon as he entered the room.


    "I went out for a short run." He replied as he made his way to his bed.


    "Oh, that''s good." The winger said.


    "We''re not going to y any match today, right?"


    "Yeah."


    "But we''re still going to train."


    "Yeah, sometime in the evening," Mateo said before bringing his phone down.


    "Okay, but I think the evening is a bit too far."


    "Yeah, I think so too." The winger said before sitting up on his bed.


    Dave was about to say something before his phone began to ring, there was no point in checking the caller as he already knew who it was.


    "Emma calling to check up on you again?" Mateo asked before getting up on his bed.


    "Yeah," Dave replied.


    "I''ll be in the bathroom then, you two take your time." He said before opening the door to the bathroom. "And don''t forget to tell her what you didst night." He added before closing the door.


    After cleaning themselves up in their rooms, the yers were served breakfast and after filling themselves up for the morning, they were now free to do whatever they wanted, a few of them had already gone out to tour the area.


    Dave and Mateo were both in their rooms going through their phones but it didn''t take long before Dave got bored as he let out a deep sigh before sitting up on his bed.


    "I feel the same way too," Mateo said. "How about we go outside and have some fun?"


    "That''s a good idea but don''t you think it will be better if we go to the pitch and train instead?" Dave said.


    "You want to go train?"


    "Yeah."


    "Okay." The winger said with a shrug.


    "Good, let''s go then." The goalkeeper said before getting up from his bed.


    The stadium for their training sessions wasn''t a big one but it was okay for whatever they were going to do there.


    None of the yers had the idea toe train by themselves so they were the only ones there.


    They started with the running ofps as always and after doing that for a while, they switched to the stretches.


    After the stretches, the two did a few push-ups and sit-ups and now it was time to jump into some ball practice.


    First off, Mateo tested his teammate''s free-kick-stopping ability while he trained his free-kick uracy.


    After doing that for a while, the winger went to practice his dribbling while Dave practiced hitting the crossbar from twenty yards out but this time there was no quest for him and it didn''t seem like he was going to get one.


    He kept hitting the crossbar consecutively until he got tired of doing it and sat on the ground.<novelnext></novelnext>


    <Your shooting uracy has really improved, from a closer range that is>


    ''Closer range.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as an idea suddenly popped into his mind.


    "Why don''t I try making it better from the farthest range?" He muttered before getting up from the floor.


    He quickly made his way to the sidelines and grabbed as many balls as he could before making his way to the goalpost.


    He rolled the balls into the goalpost before dropping one at the edge of the box inside the eighteen-yard box.


    He stared at the ball for a while before taking in a deep breath and letting it out.


    "Here goes nothing." He said before taking four steps backward.


    He stared at the ball from where he was standing for a while before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost on the other side of the pitch.


    Mateo was still practicing his dribbling when he saw the ball zoom past him from above.


    The ball kept flying toward the left side of the goalpost until it banged on the crossbar right at the angle and fell into the goalpost.


    "Woah," Mateo said before turning back to see that Dave was standing inside the eighteen-yard box. "He didn''t really shoot that from that far."


    "Yes." The goalkeeper muttered before rolling another ball to the spot with his foot.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Get five balls into the out of your current ball supply ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +90 exp ]


    [ +1 stat point to all stats including energy ]


    [ +1 skill point ]


    [ +1 skill upgrade point ]


    "Finally." The goalkeeper muttered before he quickly counted the balls he currently has with him including the one he was about to send out. "I have nine balls so I have to get five out of nine tries."


    After saying that, he slowly took four steps backward before he quickly raced toward the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    The ball flew toward the left side of the goalpost but this time it wasn''t heading toward the crossbar.


    For a second it looked like the ball was just going to fly into the goalpost but it ended up hitting the crossbar before falling over the bar.


    "Wow," Mateo said, shaking his head in amazement. "Based on shooting abilities alone, he has what it takes to be a striker, scoring goals from his goalpost may end up bing something he can do regrly. I see you''ve been putting a lot of effort into training, Dave."


    "The wind is at it again with its problem."


    <Why don''t you try reducing your elevation?>


    ''Yeah, that could work.'' He replied before dropping another ball on the spot.


    He took four steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    This time the ball wasn''t flying that high as he made sure to reduce the elevation and because of that the ball didn''t have any problem flying into the.


    "Yes! Four more to go."


    <Your uracy level is higher than I estimated>


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 185 Limit

    "That one was smooth." The goalkeeper muttered before turning to the balls behind him.


    ''I just have to get the ball in the four more times with seven balls remaining, that''s definitely going to work.''


    He rolled another ball to the spot before slowly taking four steps backward.


    After that, he quickly raced toward the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost but this time, his attempt to reduce the elevation had gone wrong as the ball was sent flying toward the goalpost with high elevation.


    The ball was moving toward the goalpost from the middle and it looked like it was just going to hit the crossbar and fly over but the opposite happened as the ball hit the crossbar and bounced on the goal line before rolling into the goalpost.


    "Just three more to go now with six balls left." He said with a smile on his face.


    The next ball was also sent flying high as Dave had once again failed to control his elevation.


    This time the ball was flying toward the goalpost from the right and Dave expected it to at least hit the crossbar but it just zoomed past without making contact with the crossbar.


    "That one was aplete waste but it was close." He said before rolling another ball to the spot.


    ''I just have to control my elevation.''


    He slowly took four steps backward before he raced toward the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost this time with a cautious approach to avoid the elevation from going too high.


    The ball was still elevated higher than he wanted it to but it wasn''t that high so the ball was able to make it into the goalpost.


    With this approach, he was able to get the next two balls into the goalpost andplete his quest.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ You have sessfully gotten the ball into the five times ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +90 exp received ]


    [ +1 stat point added to all stats including energy ]


    [ +1 skill point received ]


    [ +1 skill upgrade point received ]


    "I did it." He muttered under his breath before slowly sitting down on the floor.


    [ 565/600 exp ]


    ''Just a few more exps now and I''ll be through to level six.''


    "Your shot power is massively incredible for a goalkeeper."


    He slowly raised his gaze to see Mateo standing a little distance away from him, he was in the middle of the pitch thest time he saw him.


    "You think so."


    "I don''t think so." The winger said before he pushed the ball trapped under his foot a little closer to the edge of the box. "It''s factual." He added before he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost with a swerve shot.


    The ball was heading to the goalpost from the middle but it suddenly changed course to the left side and banged on the crossbar before falling into the goalpost.


    "If I had added a certain amount of shot power to that, I wouldn''t be able to hit the but that''s exactly what you''ve been doing." The winger said.


    ''Because that''s the only way I can make my shots get there.''


    <Another thing you need to work on in the shooting department is your swerve so that you''ll be able to make shots like the one you just saw>


    ______ ______


    After training for a few more minutes, the two had decided to call it a day and start heading back to the hotel.


    The first person they met on entering the building was Norman, their coach who was just making his way out of the building.


    "Hey, coach," Mateo said.


    "Where are you twoing from?" He asked.


    "The stadium, we went to train there," Dave replied.


    "Oh, you guys just gave yourselves an extra training session to go with the one we''re having in the evening."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yeah." The goalkeeper replied.


    "That''s good." The coach said with a nod and smile. "You should go get some rest now before 4:00 PM." He added before continuing his walk to where he was going.


    The two made their way upstairs to their hotel floor and luckily for them, they didn''t meet any of their teammates in the hallway until they got to their room. The first thing they did after getting there was slowly walk to their bed before crashing down on them on their faces.


    "That was tiring but worth it." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah." His roommate replied.


    The time disyed on the digital wall clock was 1:04 PM and by the time it was 1:10 PM, the two were already fast asleep.


    ______ ______


    The evening training session didn''tst that long, Norman set it tost for only ny minutes and by the time the ny minutes were over, the yers had to return to the hotel to freshen up and have their dinner.


    After doing those things, they could either go to bed or do whatever they wanted to do as long as they weren''t going to stay upte which wasn''t good for them as they had a match against Benfica tomorrow.


    "Hey, want toe over today and help me wipe the floor with a few people?" Mateo asked as he made his way to the door.


    "Help you wipe the floor? I thought you guys were ying FIFA."


    "Yeah, but we''ve decided to try something different today." The winger said.


    "That makes it even worse for me." The goalkeeper muttered.


    "Huh?"


    "Nothing, just go on without me, I''ll just end up getting in the way and then we''ll be the ones being used to wipe the floor."


    "Okay," Mateo said with an awkward expression on his face as he opened the door. "See youter then." He said before shutting the door.


    Dave stared at the closed door for a while before he let out a sigh and slowlyid down on his bed.


    ''Catherine.'' He called.


    <Yes>


    ''What happens if I reach my limit?''


    <Reach your limit in what sense?>


    ''Everybody has his limit, that''s why some people improve to a certain extent and can''t go beyond that point, that''s the reason why some really hard-working yers are only able to do so much no matter how hard they work or train and then declinees with aging, that''s why we have yers who are better than others.''


    <I think you''ve already answered that question by exining that>


    ''No, I haven''t, this system can push my body beyond its limits and speed up my improvement with a few side effects of course so that''s why I''m wondering what reaching my limit will mean for me.''


    It had already been five minutes since he said that subconsciously but there had not been any form of response from her.


    ''Aren''t you going to answer me, Catherine?''


    <I don''t know how to answer that question, Dave>


    Dave didn''t say anything for a while and just stared at the ceiling for a while before turning to his right.


    ''Fine, we''ll just talk more during training tonight.''


    [ Dream control ]


    [ Status: Active ]


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 186 On The Bench

    The goalkeeper was the first to get up as usual and after sitting up on his bed and stretching himself, he turned to Mateo to see that he was still fast asleep on his bed.


    ''Pre-season tour match day two.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before getting up from his bed.


    Today was the day, the day they were going to face Benfica at the Reale Arena but unlike the match against Manchester United, this one was going to be taking ce in the evening by 4:30 PM, so they had a lot of time to train, get ready and get there on time.


    The training session kicked off at 8:30 AM after they all had their breakfast.


    The trainingsted for about two hours before they returned to start getting ready for their trip to the Reale Arena.


    Norman had not told anything about the match tactics and the yers who were going to be starting yet but he told them he was going to do that as soon as they finished having their lunch.


    Right now, the yers were gathered in therge room that had the yStation in it, they were all sitting on the benches in the room with Norman standing in front of them.


    "Before I tell you about the tactics, I would like to reveal the yers that will be starting." The coach said. "In between the sticks will be Alexander."


    ''Huh.'' A shocked expression suddenly appeared on the goalkeeper''s face.


    "Our right-back will be Luis Roberto, the two center-backs will be Pirlo and Aima and Rnd will be in the left-back position. Frankie will be recing Minino in the right midfield position but Ferran and Edward will start. Carlos and Mateo will be our two wingers but Gregory will be starting in the striking position."


    "But coach." Dave tried to object.


    "I know what you want to say, Dave, but this is just a friendly match, the perfect match to test those that don''t get much ying time and see what they can do," Norman exined. "There are going to be days when you won''t be avable to y and during those days, Alexander will have to fill in for you so he should get enough of the exposure he needs."


    Norman''s words were enough to keep Dave quiet as he found them to be very meaningful but he was still uneasy, he was worried about his pre-season quest.


    ''What will happen to my quest now, Catherine?''


    <Well, you''ll have to wait for the match to start to find out>


    After listing the yers that were going to be starting, Norman went on to exin his tactics and after that, it was now time for the yers to start heading to the Reale Arena.


    They got to the Reale Arena by 2:40 PM to find out that their opponents were already there and were currently warming up on the pitch.


    They quickly made their way into the locker room and got changed into their training outfits and after that, they made their way straight to the pitch for the pre-match warm-up.


    The Benfica yers were already there warming up, they were putting on their ck home shorts but some of them were putting on blue shirts while others were putting on red jackets.


    The warm-upsted until 4:00 PM when the yers were told to head into the pitch and get ready for the match.


    Just before they could start heading out of the locker room, Dave decided to say a few words to someone.


    Alexander was about to start heading toward the door when he felt someone''s hand on his shoulder and on turning, he could see that it was Dave.


    "Hey." He said. "I just wanted to say that you should try and be calmer out there, don''t get distracted that way you won''t make too many mistakes."


    "I know, this isn''t the first time I''m starting in the senior squad," Alexander said. "Remember that time you were out with a concussion and I had to start against Litno FC?"


    "Yeah."


    "We didn''t win the match but we didn''t lose it either, I can handle myself." He said before making his way out of the room.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Dave watched him until he was out of the room before he began to make his way to the exit.


    Benfica were putting on their red and ck home kit while Unique FC were putting on their second away kit which was a ck kit with just three orange stripes that was just the shirt though as the short was just in ck just like the goalkeeper''s whole kit.


    "Wee everyone from around the world, it''s your regrmentator Jim Waterson and joining me in the studio as always to offer his expert opinion and analysis is Steve Jefferson," Jim said as the yers made their way to the pitch.


    "Thank you, Jim, I''m ted to be back here once again to share my opinions alongside you," Steve said.


    "Unique FC surprisingly held Manchester United down to a one-one draw on Sunday all thanks to Dave''s heroics because the match would have ended in a whole different way if it wasn''t for him," Jim said. "While Benfica ran away with a win against Supreme United on that same day, beating them two goals to nothing, Unique FC is the second Bilbeth Premier League side they''ll be facing and they''re doing it right now."


    "They beat Supreme United?" Dave said with a surprised expression on his face.


    "That''s really nothing to be surprised about," Minino said. "They are a stronger team than Supreme United on paper but beating Supreme United doesn''t mean they can beat us, you know."


    ''I want to believe that but it''s really hard, especially with just a few of the yers from the main squad being on the pitch.''


    "Looks like things are going to be tougher for Unique FC, Dave Richards is on the bench and seventeen-year-old Alexander is the one recing him between the sticks," Jim said.


    "Hecks experience and that''s something Benfica could use to their advantage but that''s the main point of the match, to give yers with less experience more exposure to gather experience, I think this is the right call from Norman although it may cost him the match but what does it matter, it''s just a friendly match?" Steve expressed.


    Benfica were going to be the ones to kick off the game and as soon as the yer standing over the ball heard the referee''s whistle, he passed the ball to his teammate.


    ''So, what did you say I was going to see after the match kicks off, Catherine?''


    <You''ll have to wait for something to happen>


    The goalkeeper wanted to ask her more questions but the sudden shout from the crowd caused him to turn his gaze to the pitch to see that his team was in danger.


    "Lakovi?, still Lakovi?!" Jim eximed.


    The winger dribbled past Rnd and Aima and once he found space from the edge of the box, he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    "Lakovi?!"


    He seemed to have struck the ball a little too hard as the ball was sent flying over the bar with Alexander jumping up in an attempt to catch it.


    "Oh, that was so close," Steve said.


    "That was close." Dave breathed a sigh of relief.


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 187 Penalty?

    It had been twenty minutes since the match kicked off and so far none of the teams had been able to convert the chances they got.


    Benfica had made a total of three attempts so far with one of them being on target and that chance was the closest they hade to scoring against Unique FC.


    It was a low shot from their striker Eryk, he closed up at the edge of the box a little before he sent the ball flying toward the left side of the goalpost.


    Alexander quickly stretched his leg toward the ball and blocked it and just before Lakovi? could get to the ball, he dived toward it and covered it with both of his hands.


    The closest Unique FC was a volley from Mateo which flew over the crossbar from the right and hade so close to entering the goalpost.


    "This match has been a cagey affair so far but if Benfica continue doing what they''re doing, they''re going to make a breakthrough soon, Unique FC should step up their game if they want to keep this game leveled." Jim expressed.


    Just like thementator said, Benfica were the ones currently running the game, their high-pressing form of y was certainly not good for the Bilbeth Premier League side.


    ''Come on, Catherine, just tell me what it is, I don''t want something to happen and then the quest will get canceled.''


    <The quest won''t get canceled, trust me>


    Unique FC were finding it really hard to clear their line here as Benfica was terrorizing them in front of their box trying to find a way through.


    "Unique FC are struggling to contain Benfica here," Steve said.


    Eryk received the ball from Lakovi? after he failed to maneuver his way past Rnd.


    Eryk received the ball and feigned shooting toward the goalpost before sending the ball back to the midfielder behind him.


    The midfielder caught hold of the ball and shifted it to the left a little and passed it to their left winger before Pirlo could attempt to take the ball from him.


    "Jan Bartosz," Jim said as soon as the winger touched the ball.


    He slowly rolled the ball toward Roberto who was cautious to avoid making a mistake and once he got a little closer to the ball he broke off down the left with Luis Roberto pursuing him.


    "Looks like he''s trying to create something from the right," Steve said.


    He raced down the wing and just before he could get to the line, he quickly turned with the ball and pushed it a little closer to the box before he sent it flying into the area.


    "He''s looking to find his teammates here."


    Eryk quickly raced toward the ball and knowing that he wasn''t in a good position to shoot, he brought it down with his chest, that was more like a setup with his chest for Lakovi? who had a clear sight of the ball and where to put it.


    "This could be the moment for Benfica."


    Rnd along with Aima both rushed toward the winger to try and stop him but it was already toote as he sent the ball flying toward the left before Rnd brought him down with a tackle.


    Alexander dived toward the ball but it was no use as the ball was stretched far away from him.


    All he could do was watch while he dived as the ball rolled past him and hit the post before rolling past the goal line into the goalpost.


    "Oh, what a goal! I said they were going to get a breakthrough soon and it just happened! That was wonderful from Lakovi?!" Jim eximed.


    Lakovi? didn''t even care about being brought down by Rnd inside the box as he quickly got up from the floor and raced to the sidelines with his teammates chasing after him.


    He would have definitely asked for a penalty kick if that ball had not gone in.


    "They''ve done it, at the twenty-sixth minute, Benfica have opened the score all thanks to a well-taken strike from Lakovi? but you have to say something about the effort put into getting that ball into the box, and to him, that was good teamwork from them and it worked out fine for them." Steve articted.


    "That was a nice goal I have to say," Dave said.


    "Yeah," Minino said with a nod. "Do you think you could have saved it if you were the one in the goalpost?"


    "I don''t know, maybe," Dave said with a shrug.


    "Oh, what am I even saying? You made a lot of impossible saves against Manchester United on Sunday, none of them could get the ball past you, you had to concede an own goal for the match to end in a draw, you would have definitely stopped that ball from going in."


    <I knew it was going to happen soon>


    ''Is this what you were talking about? Does this affect my quest as in the number of goals conceded?''


    <Why don''t you check for yourself and see?>


    ''Okay.''<novelnext></novelnext>


    [ Pre-season Quest ]


    [ Progress ]


    [ Goals conceded: 1/9 ]


    ''Oh, so that goal doesn''t count because it wasn''t scored against me.''


    <Yeah>


    ''What happens if I don''t y the entire match?''


    <The quest specified that you should not concede more than nine goals in nine matches so I think you know what will happen if you are left out of any of those nine matches>


    ''Yeah, the quest will get canceled.''


    "Mateo!" Jim eximed as the winger sent the ball flying toward the goalpost after dribbling his way past the right back but his shot had gone straight toward the goalkeeper so it was an easy catch for him.


    "No, Mateo, you should have gone low and aimed for the far post," Minino said with a frustrated tone to his voice.


    "What happened?" Dave asked after raising his head.


    "Mateo broke free on one of his solo runs and managed to get a clear shooting chance but he just fired it at the goalkeeper," Minino exined.


    "Oh," Dave said before turning his gaze back to the pitch.


    "Mateo had almost equalized the game for his team just after going behind if only he had been a little cunning with his shot," Stevemented.


    The clock was showing forty-five minutes now with four minutes of added time and Benfica had just won a corner kick after a superb save from Alexander, a save that had caused the fans to get up from their seats.


    Lakovi? knew getting past Rnd was going to be hard so he just turned toward Eryk and lobbed the ball to the striker.


    Nobody expected it but the striker just pulled his leg back and sent the ball flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost.


    Alexander immediately took off as soon as he saw the ball heading toward him and with the tip of his left glove, he was able to push the ball over the bar.


    "Oh, what a save from Alexander!" Jim eximed.


    "Looks like the kid is starting to recall the notes he took from you," Minino said while pping softly.


    "That was an awesome save," Dave said. "Looks like Unique FC has another talent in between the sticks today."


    "Yeah, a lite version," Steve said.


    Lakovi? was standing over the ball at the corner kick spot waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he took two steps backward before he closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    "He''s swung it in."


    The two main contenders for the ball in the air were Aima and Eryk and that had resulted in Eryk crashing to the floor possibly under Aima''s touch.


    The referee blew his whistle as Aima quickly raised both of his hands to im that he didn''t touch him but the referee wasn''t going to listen to that and just pointed at the spot for a penalty kick.


    "Oh, things just keep getting better for Benfica, they''ve been awarded a penalty kick with the second half just about toe to an end," Jim said.


    "To be honest, Jim, I don''t think that was a penalty kick," Steve said. "I don''t think Aima made any rough physical contact with him that is worthy of a foul."


    "Penalty? How was that a foul?" Dave said with a stunned look on his face.


    "I''m wondering the same thing, that was clearly a dive."


    ***


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 188 Long Balls

    The penalty kick was set to be taken with Lakovi? standing over the ball at the penalty spot and Alexander jumping up and down on his goal line.


    "The moment of truth is here, can Lakovi? send it home and put his team two goals up?" Jim said as soon as the referee blew his whistle.


    Lakovi? stared at the ball for a while before he slowly closed up on it and drilled low toward the left side of the goalpost with Alexander glued to the middle of his goal line.


    "He''s put it away and Benfica are two goals up," Jim said as two of his teammates got closer to him to give him high fives.


    "Two goals behind," Dave muttered with his arms crossed, he didn''t have a nice look on his face.


    After that goal, the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the match to an end as the added time had been exhausted.


    "That''s the end of the first half, pretty much what we expected don''t you think, Steve?" Jim asked.


    "Yeah, I expected Benfica to be leading at the end of this half, they''re a team that likes to press high, something Unique FC finds very hard to contain, Unique FC had more of the ball as expected against a team that only cares about getting the ball forward and they also had a couple of chances which Mateo Smith wasn''t able to convert but I hope he adjusts his shooting boots for the second half because they will need it."


    "So you think they''re going to do something in the second half."


    "Of course, they''re going to do something all Norman has to do is make the necessary changes, putting Dave in that goalpost will improve their defense, that''s a change I want to see in the second half, they may not be able to beat Benfica but they''ll definitely hit them hard in the second half."


    Inside the locker room, the yers were sitting on the benches, most of them had pulled off their shirts while a few of them still had theirs on and as always, Norman was standing in front of them near the board.


    "At least you guys did better than you did against Manchester United." He said. "But the truth is that their style of y is really tiring you guys out and my tactics don''t seem to be working."


    "Yeah," Carlos said.


    "But I think I''ve figured it out."


    "You have?" Adolf said.


    "Yeah." The coach said with a nod. "They love pressing high which means they leave themselves a little light at the back during their attacks and what is used to punish that level of offensive y if anything should go wrong?"


    "A counterattack," Rnd replied.


    "Exactly but it seems like you guys haven''t gotten the chance to do that, you did get one chance but Alexander didn''t use it."


    "Huh?" Alexander said before raising his head to look at the coach.


    "That block and rebound save you made, their defense was weakened at that point due to most of their yers including the wing-backs being on our side of the pitch. Mateo and Carlos were in good positions to receive the ball at that moment but you decided to throw the ball to Roberto."


    "Oh, I didn''t see them, I''m sorry." The young goalkeeper said.


    "There''s no need to apologize, you''re still young and inexperienced no one would me you for that, but Dave will have to rece you in the second half if we''re going to be able to pull something."


    After taking care of that and talking about a few other things with the yers, it was now time for them to start heading back to the pitch.


    Dave caught up with Alexander on their way out of the tunnel and he had something he wanted to say to him.


    "Hey, you did pretty great out there, you have what it takes to be a fine goalkeeper, better than I did." The goalkeeper.


    "Thanks, Dave," Alexander said with a smile.


    ''That''s the truth, you''re better than I was at your age.'' He said subconsciously before walking past him.


    "Hey, Dave," Mateo called just before they could step onto the pitch.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Huh?" Dave said before turning his gaze to him.


    "Long balls, please." The winger said before making his way onto the pitch.


    "I''ll try my best." He muttered.


    "The second half is about to kick off and it looks like Norman made those changes I wanted, Dave is on the pitch now and so are Adolf and Minino," Steve said.


    "Their ball ma is in the game now, I think scoring for Benfica is going to be something tough from this point onwards," Jim said.


    Unique FC kept the ball with their neat passes while trying to find a way through but so far they had not been able to do anything and when Mateo tried to create one of his dribbling and scoring moments he lost the ball.


    Right now, Benfica were pressing high against them while trying to look for a way through.


    Eryk received the ball from their central midfielder before sending it to their right midfielder who didn''t waste time in sending it to Lakovi? from the top.


    "Lakovi?."


    Lakovi? tried to dribble his way past Rnd and when he couldn''t seed in doing that, he quickly cut the ball toward the edge of the box from the side before he fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    The ball had gone straight toward Dave so he didn''t have any trouble palming it down before catching it.


    "That''s a wasted effort."


    "Now''s your chance, Dave." The goalkeeper muttered to himself before he quickly threw the ball up and sent it flying toward Mateo.


    This wasn''t the counterattack Norman talked off as the right-back was right behind him but if his pal Mateo asked for long balls, he was going to give them to him.


    Mateo neatly trapped the ball and waited for the right back to get closer to him before he put the ball through his legs with his back heel and zoomed past him to receive it at the other end.


    "Mateo''s loose on the left wing now," Jim said.


    The winger didn''t care about the center backs heading toward him and just kept going where he was going.


    The first center-back tried to bring him down with a tackle but he quickly pulled the ball closer to his left foot to evade him and jumped up to avoid tripping on his legs with his right foot.


    The other center-back tried to bring him down with his body but the winger wriggled free from him and got past him with a swift turn.


    "Mateo''s still going and now he''s through on goal!" Jim eximed.


    The winger was right inside the box with the left back closing up on him and the other yers quickly heading toward him.


    "Mateo!" Jim eximed as he pulled his leg back and sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 189 Hitting Them Hard

    "Mateo!"


    The winger released the ball with a shot just before the left-back could get to him.


    The ball was sent flying toward the right side of the goalpost with a little elevation as the goalkeeper dived toward it but he wasn''t able to get his hand to it as the ball hit the post and fell into the goalpost.


    "He''s put it away! Oh my! What a goal!" Jim eximed.


    As soon as Mateo saw that ball enter the goalpost, he let out a loud scream as he raced to the sidelines and jumped as high as he could, and just as his feet touched the ground, he was pulled down by Ferran, Minino, and a few other teammates who were on his body now.


    "Nobody does that better than him, he''s turning into Ciro Martinez, Ciro Martinez with a right strong foot.


    "Yes, we just have to get one more goal now!" Dave said with an ted voice.


    <Yeah>


    "Looks like all he needed was for Dave toe onto the pitch and start giving him long balls like that," Steve said. "Dave Richards has now provided four assists in his career as a goalkeeper and three of those assists had been to Mateo Smith including this one."


    "He didn''t even have an assist to his name until near the end ofst season and it looks like he''s still going, I wonder if he will be one of those goalkeepers to score a goal." Jim expressed.


    "Judging from the shot he pulled off against Manchester on Sunday, I''m pretty confident he will be able to at least have one goal to his name before he retires," Steve said.


    "Yeah, or a couple, I think he can get a couple or more than that but his position is in between the sticks so it''s hard to say," Jim said.


    Unique FC fans were starting to intensify their chants now that their team just had one goal in it.


    Eryk was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he rolled the ball to the right midfielder.


    "The game has resumed here, just at the start of the second half, Unique FC have managed to pull one back thanks to Dave''s intelligence pass and sight, and Mateo''s brilliance and wonderful finishing." Jim narrated. "They still have a lot of time left to make the match even, can they do it or is Benfica going to end up increasing their lead?"


    For now, Benfica were trying their best to keep the ball to themselves while looking for good attacking options, their first attempt to start something had resulted in Rnd clearing the lines and sending the ball out for a throw-in.


    "I said it, Jim, I said Unique FC were going to hit them hard in this second half and it''s already happened, way earlier than I expected," Steve said.


    "Yeah, Steve, nobody was expecting that at least not at that moment, I think Benfica are going to start marking the winger tightly now that they''ve seen what he can do," Jim said.


    Eryk received the ball twenty-five yards from the box and feigned shooting before sending it over to Bartosz who quickly crossed it into the box to Lakovi? but Adolf was there to clear the ball with a header before it could get to the right winger.


    "Nice clearance from Adolf, who knows what would have happened if that ball had gone past him," Jim said.


    "Possibly another goal from Lakovi? but there''s no guarantee that it would have gone in with Dave there."


    The ball fell off toward Ferran and Eryk but before Ferran could get hold of the ball, Eryk got his foot on it and passed it to their right back who had closed up on the wind a little now.


    The wing-back pushed forward with the ball a little before he sent it flying toward the box.


    Just like the first shot he faced, this one was also heading directly toward him so all he needed to do was jump up and catch it and that was exactly what he did.


    "There''s no way they''re going to be able to beat Dave if they keep firing shots directly at him," Steve said.


    Dave quickly threw the ball on the floor and pushed it forward a little before he sent it flying toward Carlos who seemed to be in a better position than Mateo who had covered up a bit down the wing for defensive purposes.


    Carlos brought down the ball with his chest and struggled past the midfielder marking to create enough space for him to run down the wing but he wasn''t free yet as the yer was hot on his trail and was quickly catching up to him.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Carlos will have to think of something here or he''s going to lose the ball," Jim said.


    The winger also thought the same and had a really good idea to get rid of the midfielder.


    He quickly stopped and turn, allowing the yer to zoom past him as he was running really fast and didn''t know that he was going to suddenly stop.


    Before the yer could close up on him again, Carlos pushed the ball a little further toward the box and sent it to Gregory with a low pass.


    Gregory received the ball and quickly twisted away from the center back marking him before he sent the ball flying toward the top left-hand side of the goalpost.


    "Gregory!"


    All the goalkeeper could do was leap toward the ball as it flew past him and hit the crossbar before falling out for a goal kick.


    "Crossbar! Oh, that was so close, they were so close to getting their second and taking the lead.


    "I was open here and calling for the ball, Gregory," Mateo said as he walked toward the youngster.


    "Oh, sorry, I didn''t see you," Gregory said.


    "It''s okay, that was a pretty good attempt, that ball would have gone in if you had aimed lower."


    The match continued till the sixty-seventh minute with none of the teams being able to conjure something up, Benfica had not been able to get a good shot on Unique FC''s goalpost so far.


    Eryk was racing down the middle with the ball now and just before he could run into Adolf, he passed the ball to Lakovi? who had Rnd on his tail and was brought down by the wing-back before he could get a proper hold of the ball.


    The referee blew his whistle and quickly made his way to the spot as that was clearly a foul, no card was shown though.


    "Benfica have won a free-kick right at the edge of the box, this could be their chance to retake the lead," Steve said.


    Lakovi? stood over the ball as Unique FC formed their four-man wall, they also made sure to put someone below in case the winger decided to go from there.


    The referee blew his whistle after everything was set, Lakovi? wasn''t too quick to move though as he slowly took two steps backward before he closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the right side of the goalpost from the top.


    Dave was super quick to react and just before the goal could go any further, he dived toward it and caught it with both of his gloves, something that no one expected.


    "Oh, my, he caught it, I don''t think I''ve ever seen any goalkeeper catch a free-kick like that." Jim expressed.


    The fans had some wild reactions after seeing that and it was only natural because that was a wild save.


    "That guy," Lakovi? muttered with mixed expressions of shock and frustration written all over his face.


    *****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 190 Let Down By Poor Finishing

    The match had just entered the nieth minute and so far Unique FC had been the ones dominating the game possession-wise.


    After that shocking free-kick catch from Dave, no Benfica yer had touched the ball, and the duration was still increasing.


    Minino received the ball from Roberto and feigned shooting at the yer right in front of him before he sent the ball to Ferran.


    Ferran got past the midfielder marking him with some neat footwork and now he had a lot of space to run down the middle.


    He raced down the middle and when he got close to the cluster of yers right at the edge of the box, he feigned shooting toward the goalpost before he rolled the ball to Mateo.


    Mateo tried to dribble his way past the yer marking him before he changed his mind and switched the ball down the wing and ran down there a little before he sent the ball flying into the box.


    The ball went straight for Carlos who quickly brought it down with his chest but before he could do anything with it, he was dispossessed by a defender under a rough challenge that should have been a foul but it seemed like the referee didn''t see it.


    "That attack has been stopped right in its tracks," Jimmented.


    The yer quickly pushed the ball forward before he sent it flying toward Eryk who was zooming past Adolf and Pirlo.


    The striker had gotten the better of both defenders but just as he was about to ce his foot on the ball it was quickly taken away from him with a swift drift, there was no other yer ahead of him other than the goalkeeper himself, Dave Richard.


    "Who would have thought that Dave Richards would leave his line and make his way all the way to the middle of the pitch," Jim said.


    "That was a very risky move but getting right is something good for the team, a one-on-one situation isn''t good for anyone," Stevemented.


    Dave had to y it short to Minino before quickly returning to his goalpost as none of his teammates far ahead were in good positions.


    The match continued with Unique FC creating two good chances and firing two good shots at their opponent''s goalpost but both attempts had been saved by the goalkeeper.


    The first attempt came from a powerful shot from Ferran from twenty-five yards out, the ball was sent low toward the left side of the goalpost, the goalkeeper didn''t exactly save that one as it hit the post before he was able to catch it.


    The second attempt came from Gregory, after terrorizing the defenders on the right wing for a while, Carlos sent the ball into the box for Gregory to meet it with a powerful header.


    The ball was directed toward the top right side of the goalpost as the goalkeeper dived toward it, but the ball ended up hitting the crossbar and luckily for them, the goalkeeper was fast enough to get to the rebound before Carlos could.


    "I don''t think it''s an exaggeration to say that Benfica have gotten tired here while Unique FC are still relentlessly pushing for that equalizer," Jim said.


    "No, there''s no exaggeration there," Steve said.


    The match was now eighty minutes gone and Benfica had just won a corner kick after a potential cross from Lokavi? had been blocked by Rnd and sent over the line.


    "Benfica''s second corner kick of the match," Jim said. "Corner kicks are one of the trickiest spot kicks for Unique FC to defend, can Benefica take advantage of this one after failing to do so from their first corner kick?"


    Lokavi? stood over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he sent the ball flying into the box.


    Eryk won the aerial duel against Adolf and sent the ball flying toward the top left side of the goalpost but Dave reacted quickly with his right hand to knock it down and just before Jan could get to the rebound and do something dangerous, he rushed toward him and sweep the ball off his feet before quickly getting up on his feet and pushing the ball out of the box.


    "Oh, that is wonderful from Dave, just wonderful." Jim expressed.


    ''This is my chance.''<novelnext></novelnext>


    <Yeah, Mateo''s free on the left wing>


    The goalkeeper pushed the ball a little further before he quickly sent it flying toward Mateo.


    Mateo was unmarked as he neatly trapped the ball with his left foot but before he could turn with the ball, the ball was quickly swept off him by a midfielder who had caught wind of their strategy and quickly closed up on the winger at the right time and in the right way.


    "That''s good from David, who knows what will happen if Mateo is set loose like that again."


    As the match hit the nieth minute, Unique FC began to get desperate, they wanted that equalizer by all means possible and they were running out of time.


    The official with the board raised his board that there was going to be three minutes of added time and that meant that they only had three minutes to get that equalizer or they would lose the match.


    Benfica''s left back passed the ball to their central midfielder but Ferran quickly popped up from nowhere and intercepted the pass before he sent the ball to Minino and with the yers quickly pushing toward him, Minino had to send the ball to Dave who had left his box to receive it now.


    The goalkeeper quickly pointed toward the box, signaling his teammates to head there and after doing that, he pushed the ball forward a little before he pulled his leg back and sent the ball flying toward the area.


    "Long ball from Dave."


    Gregory quickly followed the ball as it closed up on them and once the ball was close enough, he dived toward it and sent it flying toward the top right side of the goalpost with a header, unfortunately, his aiming still wasn''t good and all the goalkeeper could do was watch as the ball flew over the bar.


    "That could have gone right in a lot of ways."


    As soon as the ball flew over the bar, the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end.


    "And there you have it, the final whistle," Jim said. "I have to say, Steve, this was one heck of an entertaining match."


    "I strongly agree, and I feel really sorry for Unique FC, they fought really hard and should have gotten that equalizer and even a winner, they were better than Benfica, something that I didn''t expect but their finishing was what let them down."


    As soon as Dave heard that final whistle, he slowly crashed to the floor with a frustrated look on his face, yes it was just a friendly but he didn''t like the fact that they had just lost after ying like that.


    epting a defeat when you know you yed absolute trash was easy but doing your best and dominating and still end up losing was devastating.


    <Hey, it was just a friendly, no big deal>


    ''I know but telling myself that won''t make this feeling go away.''


    ***


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 191 Long Range Shots: High Difficulty

    [Post-match rewards ]


    [ 3 crucial saves: +30-10 exp ]


    [ One assist: +20-10 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.9 ]


    ''Why are ten exps getting deducted from my rewards, Catherine?''


    <It''s just a little deduction from being on the losing side, anytime your team loses a match, you''ll get your rewards but you''ll lose ten exps from each of those exp rewards>


    ''I guess that makes sense.'' The goalkeeper replied before opening the door and making his way straight toward the locker room.


    The goalkeeper arrived at the locker room to see that his teammates didn''t seem to be feeling what he was feeling as they seemed to be conversing happily with each other but they didn''t seem as happy as they would have if they had won or drawn the match.


    He made his way straight toward Mateo who was busy going through his phone with a smile on his face.


    "What are you so smiley about? We just lost a match." He said after stopping in front of him.


    Mateo didn''t reply immediately and raised his gaze to look at him before turning it back to his phone.


    "You know the news about you helping out a boy in the final game of the tennis ball tournament has gone viral." The winger said.


    "Huh?"


    "They''re saying a lot of cool and funny things about you."


    "Cool and funny things?" Dave said with a clueless expression on his face.


    "Yeah, see for yourself," Mateo said before handing him the phone to see for himself. "Of course, the negative team is everywhere, just avoid reading the nonsense they wrote."


    "I see." The goalkeeper said as he went through the phone.


    "Hey, you said something earlier about me being all smiley and losing a match, don''t tell me losing that match stepped on your mood. It was just a friendly match." The winger said.


    "I know but if it was more than that." He said before giving his phone back to him. "What if it was a tournament final or Conference League qualifiers which will be ying soon?"


    "Dave," Mateo said before getting up from his seat and cing his hand on his right shoulder. "If this was an important match, Alexander would not have started ahead of you and a few other yers on the pitch wouldn''t have started, I know we would have beaten them if the coach wanted us to, he seemed pretty satisfied with the result if you ask me.


    "We''re on a pre-season tour with a string of friendly matches to y, to give those who don''t get many appearances in serious matches the chance to prove themselves, the main goal of this tour isn''t to win matches, but to get better, very soon the matched will start getting congested and the coach will have to use a squad with none of the starting eleven in it except you, we''ll try our best to win but don''t get upset when we lose, we aren''t giving it everything we''ve got after all."


    After saying that, the winger removed his hand from his shoulder and began to make his way to the exit.


    ________ ________


    After resting a bit in the locker room, the yers changed into their outfits and got ready to start heading back to the hotel in Barcelona.


    It took them an hour and close to forty minutes to return as usual.


    All the yers needed to do now that they were back was head upstairs and get themselves cleaned up before having their dinner.


    After doing that, they could choose to rest or find anything fun to do as they were free tomorrow but the former seemed to be the better option and it was just what Mateo and Dave had chosen to do.


    Right now, the two were lying on their bed having a conversation with each other and waiting for one of them to eventually fall asleep.


    "So who are we going up against next?" Dave asked with his gaze on Mateo.


    "Eibar," Mateo replied.


    "Hmph, they just got relegated to Laliga Smart bank, I don''t think they''re going to be that tough." The goalkeeper asserted.


    "If you look at it on paper only, you''re right, but you should never underestimate your opponents no matter how weak their squad may look, that''s the mistake Manchester United made when they yed against us and they almost paid dearly for it." The winger expressed. "If a team like ours can give Manchester United a run for their money, then I''m pretty sure SD Eibar can do the same to us, so we have to approach this match with the mentality that we''re facing a big team."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yeah, I get what you mean and I wasn''t underestimating them, I don''t think we''re better than them, I just don''t think they''ll be as tough as the teams we''ve already faced and that is only factual." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah, I guess you have a point."


    "So, who are we going to be facing after Eibar?"


    "After facing off against Eibar on Thursday, we''ll y against Young Boys."


    "Right after ying against Eibar?" Dave muttered.


    "That''s what I meant that the match will start getting congested soon, it''s likely I won''t be a part of that match if I y against Eibar although I would like to be a part of it." The winger said.


    "So, coach will have to switch to a team with none of the starting yers."


    "That will be interesting to watch, don''t you think?" Mateo asked.


    "Yeah, I guess so." The goalkeeper said with a shrug.


    After talking about football for a while before talking about a lot of other things, Mateo had finally fallen asleep and after staring at the ceiling for a while, the goalkeeper dozed off and joined.


    Just five minutes after losing consciousness, he found himself in the endless white space with Catherine standing a little distance away from him as always.


    "Hey, Cat." He said as soon as he spotted her.


    "Let''s get to it."


    "No, no, no, wait, Cat." He stopped her before she could start the focus training.


    "What?" Catherine asked.


    "Can we put the focus training on hold? Just for tonight."


    "Why?"


    "I want to try out something."


    "What?" She asked


    "Long-range shots with high-level difficulty."


    "Okay, then, should I?"


    "Don''t worry." The goalkeeper said with the wave of his hand, a goalpost appeared behind him before the full pitch began to appear until he could see the goalpost at the other side of the pitch but the goalpost didn''t seem to be that far away from him as the pitch wasn''t thatrge.


    Just before taking care of the small size of the pitch, he made a couple of balls appear behind before he ced both of his hands toward the goalpost on the other side, and with his imagination, the pitch began to stretch moving the goalpost along with it.


    He stretched the pitch until the goalpost was so far away from him that he couldn''t see the properly anymore.


    "I don''t think there''s a pitch this long in the world," Catherine said. "What are you trying to do?"


    "What do you think I meant when I said high difficulty?" The goalkeeper said before he pushed one of the balls forward with his right foot and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 192 A Day To Tour Around

    "When are you nning on waking up?"


    The voice was faint at first but then it became clearer and clearer until he finally opened his eyes to see Mateo standing over him with a coffee mug in his hand.


    "You''re finally awake." The winger said with a relieved voice.


    "What do you mean I''m finally awake, isn''t this when I''m supposed to wake up?" The goalkeeper asked with a faint voice.


    "Seriously? Why don''t you take a look at the clock?"


    Dave did as he was told and slowly sat up on his bed before turning to the wall clock to see that the time was 9:30 AM.


    "Oh, boy." He muttered before he began to scratch the back of his mind.


    ''I must have lost track of time in there. Why didn''t you tell me that my time was due.''


    <You told me to leave you alone>


    ''I didn''t mean it like that, oh, what does it matter anyway? It''s not like I''mte for anything.''


    "I didn''t know you were more exhausted than I was despiteing in at halftime and staying in between the sticks most of the time," Mate said before dropping the mug on top of the small table there.


    ''That doesn''t sound believable in any way.'' He said subconsciously.


    <I couldn''t agree more>


    "Did you go out partyingst night, you were still talking before I dozed off I can recall." The winger said.


    "Do I look like I went out partyingst night and since when do I like partying?"


    "Well you certainly don''t look or smell it so, I''ll assume you went to do something else, do you mind telling me what it was?"


    "I didn''t go to do anything Mateo, I dozed off just a few minutes after you left me hanging on our conversation, people oversleep sometimes, there''s no need to make a big deal out of it." He said before he got up from his bed and made his way straight to the bathroom and once he was in there, he mmed the door shut.


    "What''s up with him?" Mateo said with his gaze on the door. "I wasn''t even being serious."


    _______ ________


    The day was a pretty fun one for the duo as Mateo managed to convince Dave to take things easy and skip anything concerning training so that they could go have some fun together.


    "We are on a pre-season tour after all so it''s only fair to go around the city, tour around for a bit, our purpose for being here is defeated if we don''t do that," Mateo said as the two stood outside the hotel.


    "Yeah, you''re right."


    The two went around the area, they made sure to get to all the ces they could on foot and they even met up with a few of their teammates who were also having a look around.


    Someone like Ferran didn''t need the tour as he was a Spanish-born yer and had visited Barcelona a couple of times, he would have been the perfect tour guide for them but he was nowhere to be found at the moment.


    The two had their lunch in one of the restaurants in the area and after that, they continued their touring, this time, they were going from one shop to another looking for cool things to buy, it was until the sun began to set that they decided to start heading back with all the useful and useless things they bought and the experience too.


    ''I know we were bought here for two weeks but I''m sure she''ll love it if I bring back a couple of souvenirs for her and rk too.'' He said subconsciously before turning his gaze to the bag he was holding.


    <Do you guys think it was a good idea to exhaust yourselves like that when you have a match to y tomorrow?>


    ''I''m not exhausted, are you even looking at my energy bar?''


    [ 82/127 Energy ]


    <Okay, what about him?>


    ''I bet he isn''t exhausted too.''


    "Hey, Mateo." He called.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Huh?" Mateo replied before turning his gaze to him.


    "You''re not exhausted after all that right?" He asked.


    "Um....not exactly, I feel a bit tired but it''s nothing a good night''s rest can''t fix."


    ''You see, he''s okay.''


    After getting back to the hotel, the two had their lunch and went straight to bed.


    Dave went to bed early as he needed to finish what he was doing yesterday and Mateo because he was tired and didn''t want to tire himself out more staying awake as he knew that would affect his form for tomorrow''s match.


    It took Dave quite a while to fall asleep, he had to stare at the ceiling for about fifteen minutes before he could fall asleep and five minutes after that, he found himself in the endless white space with Catherine standing right in front of him this time.


    "I know I said it was going to be just that yesterday but I want to do it one more time and see if I can get it." The goalkeeper said, skipping the small talk this time.


    "Just get on with it, you have today and tomorrow to get it over with, after that we''ll be switching back to what''s more important," Catherine said.


    "Oh, you''re giving me one more day, you think I can''t get it done right now."


    "Do you want me to remove the extra day?"


    "No, I didn''t say that." The goalkeeper said before the goalpost appeared behind him along with the rest of the pitch. "I don''t know if I can get it done now so the extra day was very thoughtful of you, Cat."


    After saying that, he pushed the goalpost on the other side as far as he wanted it to go before he made a couple of balls appear behind him.


    "Hitting a target from this far is really tricky and was quite frustratingst night but I''m starting to get it now." The goalkeeper said as he rolled the ball to the edge of the box.


    After that, he took two four steps backward before he quickly raced toward the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost with a powerful shot because without applying that much power, the ball won''t be able to get to the post.


    The ball flew toward the goalpost with a curved motion and banged on the left angle of the crossbar before falling over.


    "Hmph, you hit the crossbar," Catherine said before crossing her arms.


    "Didn''t you hear me when I said I was starting to get it now?" He said before rolling another ball to the spot.


    "I heard you."


    The goalkeeper took four steps backward before he turned his gaze to her.


    "Catherine." He called.


    "Yeah."


    "Please just take me back once my time is due."


    "No problem."


    The goalkeeper turned his gaze back to the ball and raced toward it and after getting to it, he pulled his leg back and sent it flying toward the goalpost with a powerful shot.


    The shot followed the same pattern but this time it ended up hitting the from the top left side of the goalpost.


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 193 Shocking Everyone At Training

    He slowly opened his eyes to the rays of the sun entering the room through the window, the first thing he saw as he opened his eyes was the ceiling was always as he liked sleeping on his back, and after staring at the ceiling for a little while, he turned his gaze to Mateo''s bed to see that he wasn''t there.


    "What?" He said before quickly sitting up on his bed.


    ''Did I wake upte again?'' He asked subconsciously. ''I always wake up before him, yesterday was the only difference, and now today...''


    <You didn''t wake upte, you should try checking your time as soon as you wake up>


    The goalkeeper slowly turned his gaze to the clock to see that the time was just hitting 7:00 AM.


    "So, he just got up early today." He muttered.


    After saying that, the door to the bathroom opened for Mateo to walk out with a white face towel hanging over his shoulder.


    "You''re up." The winger said. "I thought you were nning to sleep a little longer just like you did yesterday."


    "We have a game to y today, why will I sleep a little longer? We have to get ready and head to the stadium for a training session." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah, the training session is starting by 9:00 AM, so we just have two hours to get ready," Mateo said.


    "Okay."


    ''Today''s the day.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before folding his right hand into a fist.


    After having their breakfast and getting everything they needed ready, the yers headed off to the pitch along with Norman and the required staff for the training session.


    Before the training started, Norman had a few words to share with them and after that, the training kicked off.


    It started with the running ofps as always as they needed to warm up their bodies before heading into any other activities.


    After that, they switched to the stretches, push-ups, and sit-ups too and after getting that part taken care of, they switched to the more interesting and strategic parts of training.


    The training continued for a while until most of the yers retreated to the sidelines to hydrate themselves.


    There were still a few yers left on the pitch and one of those yers was Dave who was standing in front of the goalpost with a ball lying near the edge of the box inside the eighteen-yard box.


    "What''s Dave trying to do?" Ferran asked before turning his gaze to Mateo who was sitting beside him trying to get all the water in the water bottle inside his system.


    "Why don''t you just watch and see what he''s trying to do." The winger replied with a grin on his face.


    Dave slowly took four steps backward and when he stopped, he took in a deep breath and let it out before he quickly raced toward the ball, pulled his leg back, and sent it flying toward the goalpost on the other side of the pitch.


    The kick seemed to have caught everyone''s attention as they all watched as the ball flew toward the goalpost a little from the left and when it got close enough, it banged on the crossbar before bouncing right on the goal line and falling into the goalpost.


    "What the heck?" Minino said with a stunned look on his face.


    "He actually got that shot on target from that far," Ferran said with a surprised look on his face.


    When Dave attempted that shot against Manchester United, almost everyone thought it was a fluke shot that he would mess up if he tried to do it again and the fact that he didn''t attempt it against Benfica made their conclusion more solid for them but right now, the goalkeeper was showing them that it was no fluke and was something he had just started working on recently.


    He dropped another ball at the edge of the box and took two steps backward this time.


    ''There was really no need to hit it with that much power, this post isn''t as far away from me as that one.'' He said subconsciously before he closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    This one seemed to be heading for the goalpost directly throughout but halfway through, it curved toward the far right and banged right on the angle of the right crossbar before flying into the.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "He did it again," Rnd muttered.


    The youngster had stopped what he was doing just to watch Dave y his shots.


    "Is this really the Dave I used to know," Adolf muttered.


    ''He''s gotten better at it, if I didn''t know better, I would say he sneaks off at night toe train here.'' Mateo thought.


    ''When did he develop such wonderful shot power and uracy?'' Ferran thought.


    "How can a goalkeeper have that level of shot power and uracy?" Alexander said with a puzzled look on his face.


    ''So this is where your current training has been all about.'' Norman thought with a grin on his face.


    "A lot of yers do great things during training sessions and fail to replicate those things during the matches that matter," Jonas grumbled before crossing his arms.


    "A good example of that is the recent you." Luis Roberto said.


    Jonas had failed to realize that the right back was sitting next to him before he said what he said.


    The only thing the left-back could do was shoot him a sharp stare before getting up and making his way to the pitch with his gaze on Dave who was talking with Alexander now.


    ''How did he go from a clumsy andzy goalkeeper to this in such a short amount of time?'' The left-back thought. ''His growth is unnatural, he must be using some kind of enhancements, yes, that must be it, and when he is found out, his career will totally be ruined.''


    An evil smirk appeared on his face just as those thoughts ran through his mind.


    After an hour and about thirty minutes, the training session hade to an end and now it was time for them to head back to the hotel and meet up with Norman in therge roomter so that he could fill them in on the tactics and the yers who were going to be starting.


    Dave and Mateo had just entered their room and they seemed to be in sync as they headed for their beds with the same pattern of staggering movement and crashed down on them at the same time t on their faces.


    "Today''s training session was fun but tiring," Mateo said, trying to slow down the pace of his breathing.


    "I couldn''t agree more," Dave said.


    His breathing wasn''t as fast-paced as Mateo''s.


    There was a little moment of silence as Mateo turned away from him but it didn''t take long before the winger turned back to him to say something.


    "You should try those shots of yourselves with every chance you get against, you may end up getting a goal from it and a goal from that far will go down in history as one of the most iconic goals ever." The winger expressed.


    "I''ll try," Dave replied.


    ''I''ll definitely try with every chance I get.''


    *****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 194 Im Not Done Yet

    The match was set to kick off by 8:00 PM and the time was nigh.


    The big screen hanging over the area was showing the time to be 7:20 PM as the yers from both teams kept warming up on the pitch.


    "How about this one?" Mateo said before he sent the ball flying toward the left side of the goalpost.


    Dave dived toward the ball but he seemed to be a bitte and wouldn''t be able to get to it, he would have still saved it if he had used his ball ma but he just decided to let it through.


    "Your instincts and reaction are really sharp and quick, you''ve chased every single one of my balls no matter how tricky I tried to make them and you ended up saving almost half of them," Mateo said as he walked closer to him. "I don''t care what anyone else says but you''re currently in the top ten of the world''s best goalkeepers."


    "Thanks, Mateo, I hope that will happen someday," Dave replied.


    "Trust me, it''s going to happen sooner than you expect if you keep up this wonderful form of yours that is." The winger said.


    Just as the time hit 7:30 PM, the yers were told to head down the tunnel and go get ready for the match.


    Unique FC were currently in their locker room, changing into the proper kit for the match while listening to what Norman was saying to them.


    Today they were going to be putting on an away kit that they rarely use. It was a ck kit with lemon-green polka dots used to form a half triangle below the shirt, the shorts on the other hand just had a few green polka dots on them.


    The goalkeeper''s kit was just an orange kit with no special designs added to it.


    They met up with SD Eibar yers right at the exit of the tunnel where they were supposed to wait until they were called out.


    SD Eibar were putting on their home kit, their kit had a resemnce to FC Barcelona''s kit, the red and blue stripes on the shirt, and the blue shorts.


    It didn''t take long before the yers were called out to the pitch, and just as they made their way there, the fans broke into apuse.


    "We are here again, wee everyone, it''s your regrmentator Jim Waterson and joining me in the studio as you already know is Mr. Steve Jefferson," Jim said.


    "It''s nice to be back here again," Steve said.


    "Both of these teams lost theirst matches, Unique FC lost two goals to one to Benfica but they sure put up a fight and almost ended up turning the score around unlike Eibar who were once again trashed by the Spanish team they have the worst run against at the Camp Nou," Jim said. "Barcelona beat them six goals to nothing and there was absolutely nothing they could do in that match."


    The yers were heading to their side of the pitch after everything was decided.


    Mateo was starting on the bench today as Merino was going to be recing him on the left wing, Minino was also starting on the bench as Frankie was starting ahead of him once again.


    Another yer that was sitting on the bench today was Ferran who was being reced by Martinez Alejandro as Norman had switched to a four-three-three formation with a defensive midfielder instead of an attacking midfielder.


    The defense was being covered by the regr starters, Norman Kole, Aima, Adolf, and Rnd. Fred Miles was starting in the striking position.


    "I think the main reason why Unique FC lost to Benfica was that Dave Richards was on the bench in the first half, if he had been there in the first half, Benfica wouldn''t have been able to get two goals but they could have gotten one at least," Steve said.


    "Yeah, I think so too, but you never know what could have really happened," Jim said.


    The Eibar yer with the number seven written on the back of his jersey was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he passed the ball to the teammate closest to him.


    "We are on the way now," Jim said.


    "I don''t know about you Jim but I think Unique FC have this match in the bag.


    The SD Eibar yers passed the ball around trying to look for an opening to do something but Unique FC seemed to have closed down every gap that made them vulnerable in their previous matches.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Unique FC are doing great in shutting Eibar out so far but the Spanish side are still with the ball," Steve said.


    "Borja," Jim said as soon as the yer with the number seven written on the back of his jersey received the ball down the middle.


    He seemed to be a bit slow to react as Martinez quickly closed up on him and muscled him off the ball before quickly passing it to Norman.


    "Nice work from Martinez, it''s his debut match and he''s showing us what he can do," Jim said.


    Norman had to quickly pass the ball back to Dave inside the box before both of the yers quickly heading toward him could get to him.


    The yers had slowed down now as they knew Dave could pick up the ball as soon as they got too close, but the goalkeeper wasn''t nning on doing that.


    "Here goes nothing." He muttered before taking in a deep breath and letting it all out at once.


    When the yers saw that he was hesitating, they quickly rushed toward him as fast as they could.


    Everyone expected him to pull the ball back and carry it, but he did the exact opposite.


    "What''s Dave doing?"


    He pushed the ball toward them a little before he sent it flying toward the goalpost with a powerful shot just before one of them slid toward him.


    The goalkeeper who was off his line followed the ball which was heading toward the right side of the goalpost.


    He jumped up and tried to punch the ball out, but there was no point in that as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before falling over for a goal kick.


    "Oh my goodness! What was that?!" Jim eximed. "I have never seen anyone attempt a shot so casually from that far out and it was even close to going in."


    "He did the same thing against Manchester United but it wasn''t from that far out and Patti Moreno ended up saving it but this one would have definitely gone in if the elevation was a little lower," Steve said.


    "I never knew Dave Richards had such monstrous shot power and the uracy to back it up too," Jim said.


    The shot seemed to have taken everyone by surprise as the fans in the stands were all talking about it now.


    "I should have tweaked down the shot power a bit." The goalkeeper muttered.


    <Then remember it next time, using that training method is making you forget that you don''t need that much shot power to score from here>


    ''Alright, I''ll remember it next time, after all, I''m not done yet.''


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 195 A Nuisance

    The match had entered the twentieth minute now and so far Unique FC were the ones bossing the match.


    Their string of passes was neat and organized, keeping Eibar from touching the ball while slowly advancing toward their goalpost.


    They were ying well but they had not been able to get any good chances as they seemed to get choked up anytime they entered their opponent''s box.


    They had managed to get three shots which were all off-target including the first shot from Dave.


    Eibar on the other hand had not been able to fire any shot at their opponent''s goalpost, they hadn''t even had the ball long enough to do it.


    Martinez received the ball from Rnd and ran through the middle to cover the free ground and just before shing with an Eibar yer, he turned to the right and passed the ball to Frankie.


    "Frankie."


    Frankie moved forward with the ball a little, dragging two yers with him, and just before they could make contact with him, he passed the ball to Martinez.


    He quickly got past the yer in front of him with a neat nutmeg and sent the ball rolling to Carlos on the right wing.


    "Oh¡­..that was neat from Martinez," Jimmented.


    Carlos tried to get past the left winger who was trying everything possible to stop him from getting past him.


    He struggled with the defender and had almost lost the ball to a throw-in against him but he was quick enough to pull the ball back and that was when he broke free from the defender and sent the ball to Fred who was right at the edge of the box now.


    "He''s broken free and he''s sent the ball to Fred who seems to have enough space to do something here."


    Fred received the ball, and just as he was about to turn with the free space he thought he had, he was brought down right at the edge of the box under a reckless challenge.


    The referee didn''t need to check twice before blowing his whistle.


    "Oh, he''s been brought down, is it a penalty? It sure looks like one." Jim said.


    "I don''t think it was a penalty, I don''t think the point of contact was inside the box," Steve said.


    Steve was right, it wasn''t a penalty but it was a very good chance for them to take the lead as scoring a free kick from that close was one of the things Mateo had been practicing after recovering from his injury.


    Mateo was on the pitch now after Merino had sustained an injury in the twelfth minute of the game from an aggressive tackle from Eibar''s right midfielder, the yer was shown a yellow card but Merino had to leave the pitch limping and was quickly reced by Mateo who felt sorry for his teammate but was d that he didn''t have to wait till the second half to be part of the match.


    "It''s not a penalty kick but it''s still a massive chance for Unique FC to take the lead and I don''t think there''s any doubt about who''s going to be taking it given the fact that Ferran isn''t on the pitch at the moment," Jim said.


    SD Eibar had set up their four-man wall inside the box with a couple of yers from both teams moving around in the area and Mateo standing over the ball.


    "Mateo Smith yed seven free kicks for Unique FCst season and ended up converting three of them, he has a good free-kick conversion ratio, let''s see if he can convert this one," Steve said.


    "If he scores this, it will mean that he has consecutively scored in all their matches so far," Jim said.


    The winger stood over the ball with his hands on his waist waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he slowly took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball.


    During a free kick, the thing thates to almost everybody''s mind is to go from the top, they seem to forget that you can go from below too and Eibar had just made the mistake of forgetting to put someone below on their wall.


    The winger sent the ball flying toward the left bottom angle and luckily for him none of the yers in the box were able to make contact with the fast-moving ball.


    The goalkeeper seemed to have gotten a bit confused and by the time he dived toward the ball, it was toote for him to get his hand on it and all he could do was watch as the ball entered the just before he hit the floor.


    "Oh my goodness! He actually put it in from below and I thought he was going to go from the top!"


    Unique FC fans broke into cheers after witnessing that goal from Mateo but the winger didn''t do any big celebration, he just pointed up with a bright smile on his face before his teammates began to gather around him.


    "He has done it again, he scored against Manchester United, he scored against Benfica and now he has scored against SD Eibar, what a yer," Stevemented.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "To think that he''s just neen years old and has be a very important yer for Unique FC," Jim said.


    ''I think we''re going to win this match.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    <Don''t get too confident andfortable, you don''t think you guys are the only team that can turn into apletely different team after the first half do you?>


    ''I know, I never said I was going to getfortable because I knew we were going to win, the goal is to get as many goals as possible and prevent the ball from going into this goalpost.''


    The match continued and Eibar pulled a quick attack from a tiny space they discovered in Unique FC''s defense but the ball ended up flying over the bar with Dave holding onto the right post.


    "There were a lot of ways that could have gone right, that was a waste but it''s a good thing to get their first shot of the game even though it was off target," Steve said.


    "Hey, Rnd!" Dave called as he pushed the ball to the edge of the box inside the eighteen-yard box.


    "Yeah," Rnd replied.


    "I''m going to give you the ball now, just stretch it toward the edge of the box for me okay."


    "Okay," Rnd replied.


    As soon as he said that, Dave passed the ball to him and he quickly set it up for him nicely near the edge of the box.


    Dave didn''t hesitate as he quickly raced toward the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    "Oh, it''s Dave with one of his impossible shots again!" Jim eximed.


    The ball was sent flying toward the right side of the goalpost with a curve.


    "Not this again." Eibar''s goalkeeper muttered before gritting his teeth.


    He dived toward the ball and was only able to get the tip of his gloves on it and the speed of the ball didn''t give him the chance to push it properly but that small was all that was needed to push the ball a little up to hit the crossbar.


    The ball hit the crossbar and the rebound was sent flying toward the edge of the box right down the middle.


    "Wonderful save from Mikovi? but they have to clear their line quickly now.


    Fred and a center-back were the main contenders for the ball and it looked like Fred was going to get there first until the defender extended his legs with a slide and sent the ball rolling to his goalkeeper.


    "That''s nice thinking, if he hadn''t done that, Fred would have surely finished that," Steve said.


    "Yeah," Jim said. "I never thought I would see a goalkeeper be a serious nuisance to his fellow goalkeeper from his own goalpost."


    "His uracy is mind-blowing, I think he has put a lot of work into this, at this point he might as well be a striker."


    "That guy''s not normal," Mikovi? said with his gaze on Dave.


    *****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 196 Nice But Risky Move

    "Fred!" Jim eximed as Fred quickly jumped up to send the ball flying toward the goalpost from twenty yards out.


    The shot power behind the volley was powerful and the goalkeeper was pinned to the spot but it was no use as the ball ended up hitting the right post before rolling out for a goal kick and as soon as that happened, the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    "Oh, that was so close but it was not meant to be," Jim said.


    "Come on!" Fred yelled in frustration before crashing to the floor.


    "That''s the end of the first half, it has surely been one-sided but it has been entertaining enough, the chances from the Bilbeth Premier League side have been really good, especially both of those shots from Dave, it''s crazy that he has two shots on target in three matches and both of them hade all the way from his goalpost." Jim articted. "The first halfes to an end with Unique FC leading with one goal, I think they should have gotten more."


    "Yeah, they wasted a lot of chances, twelve shots and only four of them were on target," Steve said.


    "Yeah, let''s hope SD Eibar can use this to their advantage and make a possibleeback in the next half, that will be nice to see don''t you think Steve?"


    "Yeah, really nice."


    Unique FC yers were in the locker room now with the ones who had been doing most of the running with water bottles in their hands as they needed to refill some of the fluid they had lost.


    Norman was standing in front of them as usual and he didn''t have a pleased look on his face which was a surprise to the young ones who thought maintaining lead was all that really mattered despite wasting all those good chances.


    "You guys are ying well alright, as expected but have you forgotten how to score? Especially you Fred, Dave from the goalpost has better uracy than you."


    "Getting roasted by the coach isn''t a regr thing but that''s the truth," Minino said. That was meant to annoy Fred as he was sitting right beside the striker.


    "I know we''re leading but you guys should know that it''s not over yet, and leading a match with just one goal isn''t enough to rx as it can be canceled at any time with just a slip of concentration.


    "Our team is a good example of how teams can change and y way better than they did in the first half, you had your chances and you wasted them, who knows if they might just get better than us in the second half."


    "Then a change of tactics will be good if that should happen," Adolf said.


    "Yeah, and I know just the right tactic but we''ll have to wait and see how they y in the second half."


    The break was finally over and the yers were making their way back to the pitch now for the second half to kick off.


    "The break hase to an end and the yers are making their way to the pitch now to give us the rest of the match," Jim said.


    "Unique FC could either cling on to this one goal lead and win the match or they could get more goals and end it on a higher tone and Eibar could either get an equalizer and be content with that orpletely turn the match around but honestly I don''t see them doing any of that if they continue ying the way they did in the first half." Steve expressed.


    "I''m sure there''s going to be an improvement as a couple of yers have been reced but it looks like there''s no change on Unique FC''s side," Jim said.


    Fred was standing over the ball now and as soon as he heard the referee''s whistle, he quickly passed the ball to Frankie who didn''t hesitate to roll it back to Norman before they could get to him.


    "We are on the way once again and it looks like Unique FC are not going to give up possession anytime soon," Jim said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The yers passed the ball around in their own half, toying with Eibar yers who were getting frustrated now and were beginning to get aggressive with the way they were chasing the ball but that was no use as the Bilbeth Premier League side just increased the tempo of their passes and made it more interesting.


    Rnd received the ball from Martinez and just before the right winger heading toward him could get to him, he quickly shifted toward the middle and took off.


    "Rnd''s been set loose on one of his runs," Jim said.


    "And usually when he goes on these runs, something good happens for his team," Steve said.


    The yer chasing him tried to get hold of him but he was just too fast and just before he could run into somewhere he could lose the ball, he quickly sent it rolling to Mateo who was quickly trying to cover up on the left wing but the right back there was quick to react stopping him from doing anything dangerous and forcing him to roll the ball back to Harry to avoid losing it.


    "Looks like the attack has been slowed down, but it''s not over yet," Steve said.


    With almost all the yers on the other side now, Dave had the free space to leave his box and even walk a little closer to the middle just in case.


    Harry passed the ball to Rnd in a tricky spot with two yers around him but the left-back managed to find the space to set up Fred with a through pass inside the box but before the striker could get to the ball, it was cleared by the defender there, Rnd seemed to have over hit the pass a little.


    "Nice clearance, that was a dangerous moment there."


    The ball was sent flying directly toward Dave with Borja quickly heading toward him to try and knock the ball off him but before the striker could get to the ball, Dave got a touch on the ball and moved away from his path with it.


    "Nice thinking from Dave, nobody was back there and it would have been over if Borja had gotten that ball," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but it was also a risky move, if Borja had gotten that ball from him, there would have been no stopping him," Steve said.


    Two SD Eibar yers were heading toward the goalkeeper but he didn''t care as he pushed the ball past the middle line and pulled back his leg to send it flying toward the goalpost.


    "It''s another one of his impossible shots and this time he''s close enough!" Jim eximed.


    The ball flew through the middle and halfway through, it curved a little to the left.


    "Dave!" Jim eximed as the goalkeeper dived toward the ball with both of his hands.


    ***


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 197 Dominating The Game

    The goalkeeper dived toward the ball but it was no use as the ball smashed past his hand making little contact with the tip of his gloves in the process before hitting the back of the.


    "It''s got in!" Jim eximed. "It''s a goal from Dave Richards right from the middle of the pitch! It''s unbelievable!"


    Unique FC fans broke into cheers and chants of joy as Frankie quickly made his way to the goalkeeper and pulled him down on the floor.


    While the fans were celebrating the wonderful goal, most of the people from the other fan base were just too stunned to do anything and a few of them couldn''t help butmend the goal.


    "He''s been looking for the goalposts since the start of the match and he has finally found it," Steve said. "Unique FC are two goals up now and SD Eibar are just getting swallowed here."


    "Shots from his goalpost and now scoring from that far, there''s no way that you can tell me that that guy is normal," Milko? mumbled before sitting up against the left post.


    "Nice work, Dave," Adolf muttered before patting the goalkeeper on his shoulder and after that, he quickly made his way back to his goalpost.


    While the match was about to resume, a few Unique FC fans in the stands who had been watching Dave since the day he made his debut for the club had a few things to say.


    "I can''t believe that''s the same Dave Richards, he used to be clumsy in the goalpost and made poor choices but now he''s like a giant rock in between the goalpost, a rock that is hard to prate and then you talk about his shot power and uracy, the guy''s turning into something of a deadly striking goalkeeper." Ady expressed.


    "All I have to say is that his growth isn''t exactly natural, it''s like something from a novel, I just hope he isn''t using any kind of enhancements because that won''t end well for him and the club is going to get dragged in on it." The man beside her said.


    "I don''t think that''s the case, drugs don''t improve uracy or the ability to tell where a ball is going and stop it do they?"


    "No, but they improve speed to be able to make saves like that and also improve strength to be able to fire shots like that asionally."


    The match had resumed now and two minutes had already passed with Eibar still holding onto the ball but they were getting pressurized here.


    One of the center backs had almost lost the ball to Fred right inside the box and if that had happened, it wouldn''t have ended well for them.


    "Looks like Unique FC have already sealed this game but anything can happen," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but I doubt that they will be able to get past Unique FC''s defense and get the ball past Dave with the way they are ying now. They should change their attacking approach and they should do it fast if they want to make an impact in this match." Steve expressed.


    "I agree."


    The Spanish side were still with the ball, the central midfielder moved a little closer to the middle with the ball and just before Martinez could get to him, he passed it to the right midfielder who was quick enough to break past Harry with the ball.


    He raced down the right with Unique FC yers chasing him from behind and Jonas waiting for him to get closer.


    The midfielder was nning to pass the ball to anyone close by to avoid losing it but just then, he spotted Borja making a run into the box while raising his hands and calling for him.


    The midfielder did just as he was told and pushed the ball a little bit forward before he sent it flying into the box from the top.


    The ball seemed to have been overhit and had gotten close enough for Dave to spring up and catch it.


    "That was over hit and Dave is there to take it," Jim said.


    After catching the ball, the goalkeeper didn''t waste any time and quickly rolled the ball to Rnd who had been keeping his eyes on Frankie who was open on the right.<novelnext></novelnext>


    He pushed the ball toward the direction before he sent it flying to him from the top.


    "Nice move from Rnd, Frankie''s got the ball and he''s got a lot of space here," Steve said.


    Frankie wasn''t the only one who had the space to do something, Fred also had space in the middle but two yers were closing up on him from the left and two yers seemed to be hot on the midfielder''s trail.


    He knew he didn''t exactly have the pace to keep up with those yers at this point in the match, so he passed the ball to Fred, who quickly pushed the ball forward and zoomed past both of the yers right from the middle.


    "Nice work from Fred and now he''s one on one with the goalkeeper!"


    Fred quickly rushed toward the goalkeeper who was quickly heading toward him at the same time and just as he got close enough to him, he attempted lobbing the ball past him but his lob wasn''t that good and the goalkeeper ended up making contact with the ball and knocking it out for a corner kick from the left side.


    "What a save from Milko? and what a horrible attempt from Fred," Jim said.


    "He should have gone for a direct shot instead of trying to finish off with a ssy lob," Steve said.


    "This was your chance to get a goal and you messed up again Fred," Norman said before sticking both of his hands into his pocket. "I think it will be best to give Fredinho and Gregory more ying time in the next matches.


    "Unique FC have a corner kick now, another chance to triple their lead after Fred failed to do it, that was supposed to be an easy finish." Jim expressed.


    Frankie was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and it didn''t take long before the official blew his whistle.


    The midfielder wasn''t in a haste to take the corner kick as there was no reason to be in a haste, the clock was showing sixty-two minutes and they currently had a two-goal lead.


    He studied the movement in the box for a while before he pulled his leg back and sent the ball flying into the box from where he was standing.


    The ball was quickly nodded away from an SD Eibar yer but it was quickly recovered by Mateo at the edge of the box.


    The winger avoided a deadly slide to get the ball into the goalpost and once he was in there, he feigned shooting at the goalpost to get the yers rattled up before he quickly passed the ball to Carlos who was surprisingly unmarked on the right and had a clear sight of where to put the ball from there.


    "Carlos is open here!" Jim eximed.


    "There''s no escaping this one." The winger muttered before he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost, many would hold back on their shot being that close to that goalpost but he didn''t hold back one bit.


    "Carlos!"


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 198 Totally Outclassed

    The goalkeeper wasn''t that fast enough to react and only to stretch his hands toward it, but that wasn''t enough to stop the ball as it ended up bouncing off his arm before falling into the goalpost.


    "It''s in! What a goal from Carlo!" Jim eximed.


    "I think this match is too far from Eibar''s reach now," Steve said.


    Carlos quickly raced to the sidelines and did a sliding celebration before his teammates gathered around him and pulled him downpletely.


    ''I told you we had this one in the bag, Cat.'' Dave said subconsciously with a bright smile on his face.


    <Yeah, but you should remain focused if you want the match to end with you grabbing a clean sheet>


    ''Of course, no cking off.''


    <You''ve scored a goal, your first goal as a goalkeeper, I was never expecting the goal toe this early> Catherine said with a low tone that wasn''t exactly clear to Dave.


    ''Huh?''


    <You''re going to get a lot of surprising rewards if this match ends without you conceding a goal>


    ''Really?''


    <Yeah>


    ''Then it has to end with a clean sheet.'' He replied before joining both of his gloves together.


    "We have sixty-eight minutes on the clock now with Unique FC leading the match three goals to nothing," Jim said. "I believe the Bilbeth Premier League side already has this sealed but will they be able to get the fourth one or will Einar end up pulling one back or two maybe?"


    Eibar were still with the ball after the restart and just like it had been since the start of the match, finding the gaps in their opponent''s defense was proving to be a difficult task for them.


    "Borja," Jim said as the striker received the ball at the center of the pitch from a pass from one of the center-backs.


    Martinez was quickly heading toward him at that time and just before the defensive midfielder could get to him, he pushed the ball to the central midfielder who was just beside him.


    The defensive midfielder pulled back with the ball pulling Martinez along with him giving Borja enough space to cover down the middle, the idea was to give the ball back to the striker once he had that space, and that was exactly what happened.


    The striker had gotten dispossessed by Adolf in the process of receiving the ball but he quickly sent the ball to the right winger but Rnd wasn''t going to allow the ball to get to him as he quickly closed up on him and sent the ball over the sidelines with a neat tackle.


    "That was nice defensive work from Rnd," Steve said.


    With the ball out of y now, it was time for Norman to make his changes and since this was a friendly match, he had a lot of changes to make as there was no limit to the number of substitutions in friendly matches, the coach could go ahead and change the entire squad if he wanted to.


    Frankie was reced by Merino who had been waiting tirelessly to enter the pitch, Aima had to make way for Pirlo, Fred had to make way for Fredinho, and Martinez was reced by Ferran which meant that the team was going to be ying with an attacking midfielder instead of a defensive midfielder.


    "Norman deciding to bring on the rest of the star yers in his team now isn''t something good for Eibar," Jim said.


    The ball was thrown to the right midfielder who didn''t waste time to send it back to the central midfielder who quickly stretched the ball to Borja.


    Borja had Pirlo heading toward him but he wasn''t startled by the defender and quickly got past him with a backheel nutmeg that stirred up quite a reaction from the fans.


    The striker had a clear sight of the goalposts from twenty-five yards out and just before Adolf and Pirlo could close up on him, he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost from the top.


    "Borja!"


    There was no need for Dave to react as the ball ended up flying over the bar but it got really close to going in.


    "Oh, that was so close," Jimmented.


    Borja had a frustrated look on his face but the only thing he could do was let out a deep sigh before walking back to his side of the pitch.


    Eighty-five minutes was showing on the clock now as Unique FC were leading an attack toward Eibar''s goalpost an attack that had broken off after Borja clumsily lost the ball to Adolf right at the edge of the box.


    Ferran pushed the ball forward and just before getting to the edge of the box, he sent it to Carlos who was brought down by a push as soon as he got his foot on the ball.


    The linesman had his g raised and the referee had to blow his whistle as that was clearly a foul.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "With just four minutes of regr time left, Unique FC have won a free kick, a chance to get their fourth goal of the match maybe," Jim said.


    "Are you going to take it?" Mateo had made his way to Ferran to ask.


    "No, take it, I''ll take the free kicks in the next match," Ferran replied.


    "Okay," Mateo said before he began to slowly make his way toward the ball.


    The free-kick spot wasn''t as close as the first one, but it was close enough to be taken directly.


    "The taker and converter of the first free kick Unique FC won close to the box has stepped up to take another free kick," Jim said. "Will he be able to convert this one?


    SD Eibar had set up their wall and this time, they didn''t forget to put someone below.


    The winger stood over the ball with both of his hands on his waist waiting for the referee''s whistle and it didn''t take long before the official blew his whistle.


    He stared at the ball for a few seconds before he raised his head and slowly took three steps backward.


    "He converted the first one. Can he do the same to this one?"


    The winger quickly closed up on the ball and quickly sent it flying toward the area but that didn''t look like a shot.


    The ball was sent flying toward Fredinho at the far left and the striker didn''t hesitate to spring up and meet the ball with a header.


    There was a defender in that part of the goalpost but the ball ended up zooming past him from the top while the goalkeeper was glued to the middle.


    "Fredinho!" Jim eximed. "They''ve done it again! What a cross from Mateo! What a finish from Fredinho, they are on fire!"


    Fredinho quickly rushed to the sideline and quickly jumped as high as he could and once his feet touched the ground again, he screamed at the top of his lungs.


    "It''s over, Unique FC really came prepared today," Steve said. "The defense, the midfield, the attack, everything has been too much for Eibar in this match."


    After that goal, Eibar tried everything in their power to get at least one goal forcing out two close saves from Dave in the process but they just couldn''t seed until the whistle was blown thrice to bring the match to an end.


    "There you have it, the conclusion of the match, Unique FC yed out of their skin today, I''ve never seen them look so strong before and SD Eibar has suffered another humiliation this time in the hands of a Bilbeth Premier League side." Jim expressed.


    "They were totally outssed," Steve said.


    Mateo Smith was announced as the man of the match as expected, the youngster was so exceptional in the match, and no one needed to look twice to see that.


    Dave had a bright smile on his face as he quickly made his way down the tunnel, he was the first yer to head down the tunnel but before he could go any further, he was stopped by two men who were putting on white coats.


    By their appearance, Dave knew they were medical specialists.


    "Mr. Dave, pleasee with us." One of them said.


    "Why?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "We were asked to conduct a doping test on you as soon as the match is over and that''s why we''re here." The other one said.


    "A doping test?" The goalkeeper said with a confused expression on his face.


    <I knew they were going toe soon>


    ***


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 199 Double Level Up

    The doping test didn''t take that long and right now, Dave was sitting on the hospital bed while both of the medical specialists who had just conducted the test were standing by the far corner conversing among themselves with low tones but they didn''t know that Dave could hear them, it wasn''t clear but he could make out the important parts of what they were saying.


    "It''s hard to believe that his system is clean." The bald one putting on sses said.


    "Yeah, but the fact that he didn''t flinch when we told him to follow us or show any form of resistance gave me the hint that he might be okay."


    "And I thought after these years we will find a doping yer." The bald one said before turning his gaze to the goalkeeper. "But I guess all those thingse naturally from him which is very surprising."


    ''So, everyone thinks I''m using drugs now.''


    <Yeah, and I don''t me them for thinking so but don''t worry, once these results are out publicly, no one will bring that up again officially>


    "Mr. Dave."


    The goalkeeper slowly raised his head to see both of the medical specialists standing close to him now.


    "You can go now."


    "It''s about time." The goalkeeper said before he quickly got up from the bed and made straight for the door.


    ''Catherine, please show me my post-match rewards.''


    <Now?>


    ''Yeah.''


    <If you say so>


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Two crucial saves: +20 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded (0): +50 exp ]


    [ Goals scored(01): +100 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 8.8 ]


    ''Wow, so I get a hundred exp for every goal I score in a match.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    <Well goalkeepers don''t usually score goals but it''s not done yet>


    ''Huh?''


    [ Well done, you were superb today and managed to get a goal for yourself, your first career goal in a friendly match, for that, the system has decided to give you two big rewards ]


    [ Rewards ]


    [ Instant level up ]


    [ +15 skill upgrade points received ]


    [ Congrattions, you are now level six ]


    [ +3 stat points received ]


    [ +1 skill point received ]


    [ Congrattions, you''re now level seven ]


    [ +3 stat points received ]


    [ +1 skill point received ]


    ''Woah.'' Dave reacted with a bright smile on his face.


    <Looks like you leveled up twice>


    ''Yeah.'' He replied.


    "Hey, are you okay?"


    The goalkeeper snapped out of his daze to find a blonde-haired young woman standing in front of him, she had a microphone in her hand so she had to be a reporter.


    "Huh?"


    "You''ve been standing there for quite a while, are you okay?" She asked again.


    "Yeah, I''m okay." He said abruptly with a nod.


    "Okay, good to know that." She said. " You''re Dave Richards right?"


    "Yeah." He replied with a nod.


    "Okay, do you mind sharing your opinion on a few things that happened in the match that just came to an end?"


    ''I knew this wasing.''


    "I''m sort of in a hurry to go meet my teammates but it''s okay if you keep it short." He said.


    "Cool." She said with a smile on her face before gesturing to her cameraman toe closer.


    After the short interview, the goalkeeper made his way back to the locker room which happened to be way quiet than he expected.


    He returned to the locker roomte which meant that the yers were done with their locker room celebration or maybe it was just a short one this time around.


    "Hey, where have you been?" Mateo asked as soon as he spotted him. "You were one of the first people to head down the tunnel."


    "Yeah, but I was never able to make it here because some people had to pick me up for a doping test." The goalkeeper replied.


    "A doping test?" Rnd said.


    "Yeah." He said with a nod.


    As soon as Jonas heard that word from the goalkeeper, he raised his head and focused his ears on what they were saying.


    "I think it was expected, your strength was unmatchable today and you don''t even look tired as you''re standing there now," Minino said.


    "So, what was the result of the doping test?" Ferran asked.


    "Negative of course, I would never do anything like that." The goalkeeper said before moving closer to Mateo and sitting down in the space beside him.


    "Yeah, and no one should ever think of doing it, most footballers in the past were banned from the game because of it, as the years advanced, things became lighter and the yers only got a few years ban but even after returning to the game, the shame of what they did and the reactions from the fans and media would be too much to bear and the yer will end up retiring sooner than expected." Adolf expressed. "If you want to have a wasted career, make doping an option and it''s not only in football, other athletic sports too."


    "I can''t believe he wasn''t using drugs," Jonas muttered under his breath before rxing his back on his seat. "Then what is it? What is it that gave him such a boost in such a short amount of time? Or maybe the doping test wasn''t done well, it has to be that."


    The sky was filled with bright stars and the moon was also present to brighten the sky.


    The yers were currently inside therge bus heading back to the hotel.


    It was a long drive there and some of the yers had already fallen asleep there, that included Mateo who had fallen asleep with his smartphone on his body and his earphones in his ears.


    Dave was one of those who were still asleep, he felt sleepy but the force wasn''t that great to suddenly push Jim down.<novelnext></novelnext>


    ''So, I leveled up twice, Cat.''


    <Yeah>


    ''Why didn''t I get a new skill?'' He inquired.


    <That''s not exactly how it works, I don''t think you need any skills to do what you''re currently doing against the not-so-bright teams but you will get new skills to unlock, yourst set of skills, they will be avable when you reach a certain level>


    ''A certain level? What level is that?''


    <You''re going to have to keep leveling up to find that out, but you should know that you''re not close to that level at the moment>


    ''So, I still have a long way to go before I can get there.''


    <Exactly>


    ''Okay, that just makes things more interesting.''


    [ yer Profile ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ yer Level: 7 ]


    [ 100/100 HP ]


    [ 65/800 EXP ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Goalkeeping Skills ]


    [ Double jump: level(01) ]


    [ Ball ma: level(02) ]


    [ Goalkeeping attributes ]


    [ Shot stopper: level(01) ]


    [ 127/127 Energy ]


    [ Unused stat points: 8 ]


    [ Skill points: 9 ]


    [ Skill upgrade points: 20 ]


    [ Physical Status ]


    [ Strength: 34 ]


    [ Dexterity: 41 ]


    [ Endurance: 30 ]


    [ Career info ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ Age: 21 ]


    [ Height: 187 cm ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Strong foot: right ]


    [ Developed qualities: Shot stopper ]


    [ Developing qualities: Sweeper Keeper, ball ying keeper. ]


    [ Current Team: Unique FC ]


    [ Status: Starter ]


    [ Market value: a??10,000 ]


    [ Matches yed: 78 ]


    [ Goals: 1 ]


    [ Assists: 4 ]


    [ Shots faced: 152 ]


    [ Goals conceded: 80 ]


    [ Saves made: 58 ]


    [ Penalties faced: 20 ]


    [ Penalties saved: 02 ]


    [ Clean sheets: 02 ]


    [ Career average rating: 6.7 ]


    [ Awards ]


    [ Man of the match awards: 02  ]


    [ Trophies: 0 ]


    [ Records set/broken: none ]


    ''My market value hasn''t gone up a bit, still as low as ever.'' He said subconsciously. ''But it''s really nice to see that I have a goal to my name as a goalkeeper, it makes me want to get more goals.''


    <Then you go for it>


    ***


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 200 High Expectations

    Mateo had gone straight to bed just after having his dinner and it didn''t even take him up to a minute to fall deep into his sleep.


    Dave on the other hand was still lying on his bed staring at the ceiling and waiting for sleep to take over.


    It didn''t take long before he had also fallen asleep and just five minutes into his sleep, he found himself in the endless white space with Catherine standing a little distance away from him.


    "Hey, Cat." He said after getting close to her.


    "You''vepleted your long-range shot training, it''s time to get back to what we were doing." She said,


    "I don''t thinkpleted is the right word to use but you''re right, I have mastered it to some extent so yeah, it''s time to return to focus training." He said.


    "Okay," Catherine said before the area began to change until he was standing on his goal line with both of the balls at the edge of the box and before he knew it, one of the balls was shot out toward him.


    The ball was sent flying through the middle and when it got close, it hit the human doll there and deflected toward the right with a little more elevation.


    Dave was fast enough to react, he seemed to have reacted a little bit too early, but he was able to push the ball out with the tip of his left glove just before falling off its range.


    "That was close."


    The next one was pretty easy as the ball hit the human doll and was sent flying directly toward him.


    "Two in a roll, alright." He said with a bright smile on his face.


    "Looks like this one is starting to get easy for you, I think we will add a little spice to it starting tomorrow," Catherine said.


    "That''s cool, I like anything that has spice."


    ______ ______


    After a few minutes of training in the dream world and about seven hours of sleep in the normal world, the goalkeeper opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling for a while before turning his gaze toward Mateo''s bed to find the winger still fast asleep.


    ''Yesterday really tired him out.'' He said subconsciously before sitting up on his bed. ''I wonder if he will be fully fit for the match against Young Boys today.''


    <Even if he is or ims to be, I don''t think your coach will start him>


    ''Yeah, you''re right.''


    Just like yesterday, the yers had their breakfast and once it was 9:00 AM, they all made their way to the stadium for their training session.


    Today''s match was going to kick off by 9:00 PM which meant that the yers that were tired out by yesterday''s match had a good amount of time to recover and be part of the match even though they were going to start from the bench.


    The training sessionsted an hour and some minutes just like the one yesterday and after that, Norman asked the yers to gather around.


    He wasn''t about to give them the details about the tactics of the match, what he wanted to do was tell them the yers that were going to start, and his decisions were based mainly on what he had noticed from the yers during the training session.


    "Dave will start in the goalpost, he was really less busy during yesterday''s match except for the extra efforts he put up on his own but he will be immediately reced by Alexander as soon as the first half is over," Norman said.


    ''That''s fine by me.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.


    "Luis Roberto will start in the right back position, our two starting center backs will be Pirlo and Aima and on the left will be Jonas."


    "I can''t believe I''ve been reduced to a team B yer," Jonas muttered under his breath with his gaze on Rnd.


    "Henry will start in the attacking midfield position, Frankie will start on the right, and la on the left." He stated. "And then for the attack, Gregory will be our striker, I know it''s not your natural position but you will be starting on the left wing, Fredinho, the same thing goes for your Minino, you''ll be starting on the right wing."


    "I don''t think that''s a problem, coach, I''ve always wanted to start in that position," Minino said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yeah, coach, we''ll do our best," Fredinho said.


    "That''s good to hear, the rest of you will start on the bench then." He said. "After lunch, we''ll all meet in our meeting ce to discuss the tactics of the match."


    "Okay, coach," Adolf said.


    "Hey," Dave said as he walked back to the hotel with Mateo walking beside him.


    "What?" The winger asked.


    "Do you think you''re fit to start the match? If the coach had picked you to start would you be able to and still deliver?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "My body still feels a bit sour from yesterday but I think I will be able to start, the matter of being able to deliver depends on how the team is ying, if the team is ying well and I get the ball in good positions, I''ll try my best to do the little I can do in my position." The winger expressed. "We won''t get congested matches like this during the season so it''s pretty nice to see it happen and it''s also nice to see Fredinho and Minino ying off positions, I have a feeling that Minino will surprise us, and maybe Fredinho too."


    "Yeah, I get the feeling that it''s going to be a fun match too." The goalkeeper said.


    "Are you going to try those shots of yours?"


    "Of course."


    "Good, you should do it and see if you can get your second career goal." The winger said. "It''s really nice to see a goalkeeper score a goal, and scoring the goal from that far out makes it even more awesome. It''s only a matter of time before you be the best goalkeeper in the world and probably be the third goalkeeper in history to win the Ballon d''Or and the second to win the FIFA best yer award."


    The only response Dave could give to him after hearing all that was a warm smile.


    <I know you already know this but this kid is somebody you should never let go of, he has so many high expectations for you, and he''s always believed in you>


    ''Yeah, they have that personality and it''s one of their wonderful features.''


    _______ _______


    Once it was time for lunch, the yers had their lunch and reported to the room to discuss the tactics with the coach.


    The sun was going down now as they all stood in front of the entrance to the hotel with their backpacks on their back.


    "I guess we''re going to arrive way early today," Minino said.


    "Yeah, that way we get more time to warm up," Rnd said.


    It didn''t take long before the bus pulled up in front of them and it was to move out.


    ****


    We just hit two hundred chapters, it was your support that kept me going.


    The five chapters mass release will being soon, expect it on any day from now to the 25th.


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 201 Kicked Off With A Bang

    It took the yers a while to get to the stadium and once they got there, they made their way straight to the locker room, changed into their training outfits, and made their way to the pitch to start warming up.


    They were on the pitch for about forty-five minutes before the Young Boys yers arrived.


    The yers from both teams warmed up together on the pitch and once the time was 8:30 PM, they were all asked to make their way down the tunnel and get ready for the match.


    For this match, they were going to be putting on their orange home jersey with the ck polka dots while the goalkeeper was going to be putting on the ck kit with no special designs.


    Just before heading out of the locker room, Norman had a few things to tell them, things that might help them during the match, and after telling them that, it was time for them to start heading out for the match.


    They met up with the Young Boys yers on the part of the tunnel where they had to line up before they would be given the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    The Swiss super league side were putting on their away jersey which was a white jersey that had yellow and ck intersected lines running down through the middle of the shirt and breaking on the point where they had the name of their sponsor before continuing further down.


    It didn''t take long before they got the signal to start making their way onto the pitch and just as they stepped out of the tunnel, the stadium started to get filled with apuse from the fans.


    "Wee to our viewers from all around the world, it''s your regrmentator, Jim Waterson, and joining me in the studio as always to offer his expert analysis and opinion is Mr. Steve Jefferson."


    "Thank you, Jim, it''s really nice to be back here once again and it looks like we have an interesting match ahead of us," Steve said.


    "Yeah, unlike Unique FC, this is BSC Young Boys'' first pre-season match that alone is a reason why they should be more preparedpared to Unique FC, but then again Unique FC have yed a couple of matches and should be more agile, I think their only downside in this match is that their match against Eibar was just yesterday, the yers who yed the most minutes in the match won''t be starting in this one." Jim expressed.


    "You''re right, Jim, I see a lot of non-starters in Norman''s squad and a few of them are also going to be ying off position," Steve said. "Fredinho will be starting on the left wing of attack while Minino will be starting on the right wing of attack."


    "Uh....I think it won''t take long for Minino to adapt to that position given the fact that he is a central midfielder who ys down the right naturally, Fredinho, on the other hand, may need some time to fit into that position but who knows, he may adapt quickly and surprise us all." Jim articted.


    The match was all set to kick off as Gregory was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he rolled the ball to Frankie who tried to dribble his way past the yer in front of him, he had to send the ball back to Luis Roberto after almost losing it.


    "There''s no Mateo, Ferran, Carlos or Merino, Adolf, and Rnd on the pitch but they''ve got a couple of good yers on the pitch and it''s a good thing that they have Dave in between the sticks too," Steve said.


    "Yeah."


    BSC Young Boys were pressing high against the Bilbeth Premier League side but they were doing their best to keep hold of the ball and avoid getting it too close to their box.


    Jonas received the ball from Henry and pushed forward with it a little before he sent it flying toward Minino from the top.


    The yer was running down the wing at that time with a yer heading straight for him and the ball.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The midfielder had a n quickly formted in his mind, he waited for the ball to get close enough and low enough before he quickly raised his right leg and sent the ball over the yer heading toward him with his back heel before quickly zooming past him to bring it down with a neat touch and continue his run toward the box.


    "Woah! That was beautiful from Minino!" Jim eximed.


    The now winger raced toward the box and just before he could run into both of the yers there he sent the ball to Gregory and then asked for the ball back as soon as he made his way into the box, Gregory was almost muscled off the ball, but the youngster managed to get the ball to his teammate before crashing to the floor, yet there was no reaction from the referee but that didn''t matter.


    Merino received the ball with a neat touch and quickly wriggled away from the yer marking him with neat footwork before he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost with just a little bit of elevation, the ones from behind couldn''t get to him on time.


    "Minino!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the right side of the goalpost and the midfielder made sure to keep it as far away from the goalkeeper as he could and it worked perfectly as the goalkeeper was only able to get the tip of his gloves on it before the ball flew into the back of the.


    "It''s in! What a smashing kick from Minino! I said it wasn''t going to take him long to adapt on that wing and he has just proved me right!" Jim eximed.


    "That was a fabulous goal, talk about the run and the pass to Gregory to create space to get into the box and Gregory did well to return the ball to him, that was a wonderful goal just in the third minute of the match," Steve said.


    His teammates, the ones who wanted to join in on the celebration were all gathered around him now as the fans chanted the name of the club.


    "Well, that was fast," Dave murmured from where he was standing at the edge of his box with his arms crossed. "I guess Mateo was right, ying on the right wing won''t be that hard for him."


    <I want to say the same but you can''t just jump to conclusions like that because of one goal, the goal was great but there are other things that makes a right winger good, we''ll just have to keep watching and see what he''s going to do next>


    ''Okay, but. I think you have more surprisesing your way.'' The goalkeeper replied.


    "That was their fastest goal so far in their pre-season tour and it had toe from a Midfielder filling in on the right wing. All I can say is that this match just kicked off with a bang."


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 202 Wasted Chances

    The match was nearing the fifteen minutes mark and so far Unique FC were in lead and bossing the game, they were dominating more than they did against SD Eibar, the Swiss Super League side had not been able to get a shot on their opponent''s goalpost talk more of getting a shot on target.


    Although Unique FC were leading and dominating the match, their finishing after that goal from Minino was awful.


    The first attempt was a crossing from Minino which Gregory was supposed to send into the back of the with a header but he sent it over the bar instead.


    The striker got another chance from a neat through ball from Henry but he shot the ball directly at the goalkeeper so he didn''t have any problem saving it.


    The third chance came from Fredinho, he received the ball from la and quickly caught into the right to quickly escape from the right back marking him and do something before the yer would be upon him again, he decided to try a shot but his aim wasn''t anywhere close to the goalpost and was sent flying wide from the top.


    "That was horrible," Steve said.


    The look on Norman''s face suggested that he wasn''t happy even though his team had gotten an early lead and was currently bossing the game. Of course, he wasn''t going to be happy, they had gotten the opportunity to go two goals up and three goals up but they bottled them all.


    Frankie got past the midfielder heading toward him with a neat snake bite before he quickly sent the ball toward Henry but his pass was too sloppy and that resulted in the ball getting stolen by the central midfielder there who quickly moved forward with the ball before he sent the ball to the right midfielder.


    They were ying the five-four-one formation so they didn''t have any wingers upfront.


    Jonas quickly raised his hand and called for offside as the midfielder happened to be way in front of him when he received the ball but there was no reaction whatsoever from the referee or the linesmen.


    The midfielder moved forward a little with the ball before he sent the ball flying toward their striker from the top.


    The striker quickly wriggled free from Pirlo''s hold and quickly rushed toward the ball to send it flying toward the goalpost with a high diving header.


    "Pierson!" Jim eximed.


    Dave had already gone off his line to try and stop the problem before it got close but that turned out to be a mistake.


    There was nothing he could do at the moment besides watch as the ball flew past him right into the goalpost.


    "Goal!!!!!!! They''ve finally gotten that equalizer!" Jim eximed. "What a nice way to get the ball into the goalpost and keep Dave Richards pinned."


    Pierson quickly rushed to the sidelines and did a sliding celebration before his teammates began to gather around him but Jonas wasn''t going to have any of it, the left-back was currently saying something to the referee who had not been able to blow his whistle to confirm the goal.


    "What''s this? It looks like Jonas isining to the referee about something and the referee''s heading out of the pitch now toward the VAR monitor." Jim said.


    "He hasn''t confirmed the goal yet," Steve said. "Looks like something must have happened during the build-up and he''s going to check it out."


    "It looks like Charleston was offside when he received that ball before sending it to Pierson," Jim said.


    "Yeah, it''s a bit hard to see given the fact that Aima and Pirlo seem to be close on the same line but his right foot was a little ahead of theirs if you look closely so yeah he was offside," Steve exined.


    It didn''t take long before the referee returned to the pitch and pointed at the spot where the offside had taken ce and pointed toward Young Boys'' side of the pitch after blowing his whistle.


    "As expected, the goal won''t stand, Charleston was offside not clearly offside but he was offside." Steve articted.


    "All that celebration and it turned out to be for nothing," Jim said.


    Young Boys yers didn''t fancy that decision but it was the right call from the referee.


    Jonas decided to y the free kick shot to Henry and just like that, their match domination kicked off again with their well-aligned stream of passes.


    <You''re lucky that goal was an offside><novelnext></novelnext>


    ''Yeah,'' The goalkeeper replied, scratching the back of his head. ''I hate lobbed balls.''


    [ Pre-season quest ]


    [ Progress ]


    [ Goals conceded: 1/9 ]


    ''This is our fourth match so far and I''ve only conceded one goal.''


    <That''s good, you''re doing great so far but the next set of matches next week will be harder than this one''s>


    ''I know, I''ve got mixed expressions of fear and excitement, I just can''t wait to face Barcelona but I don''t want to get humiliated.''


    <You''re the only person that can stop yourself from getting humiliated>


    The match continued but this time, Young Boys put up an extra effort in the back to stop Unique FC from easily prating, the Bilbeth Premier League side still managed to squeeze themselves through the small spaces but their finishing was still bad.


    Three extra minutes had been added to the time after it hit forty-five minutes and Unique FC had just won a free kick right at the edge of the box in the first minute of that added time.


    It was so close to being a penalty but he was brought down right at the edge of the box.


    With just two minutes of added time left, Unique FC have won a free kick in a very good position." Jim said.


    Young Boys quickly formed their four-man wall with someone below.


    Minino was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly took four steps backward before he quickly raced toward the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost with a powerful shot.


    "Minino!"


    The goalkeeper was glued to the spot as the ball flew toward the left side and hit the crossbar before falling off right toward Fredinho.


    "This is my chance." The striker muttered before he pulled his leg back and sent it toward the ball.


    Instead of flying into the open, the ball was sent flying high and wide and now that it was out of y, the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half of the match to an end.


    "Oh, that was just horrible, the post was open for him and he sted it wide," Jim said. "The first half should havee to an end with them having a two-goal lead at least but another good chance has been wasted."


    "What the heck is wrong with me?" The striker muttered to himself before slowly sitting on the floor.


    "Sure, they''ve missed very good chances but they''re still going in on the break with the lead, let''s just hope that those wasted chances don''te back to haunt them in the second half." Steve articted.


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 203 Very Much Sealed

    The second half was about to kick off now and just like Norman said, Dave was on the bench now and Alexander was standing between the sticks.


    "Norman has decided to give Alexander a chance and it looks like it was the only change he made," Jim said.


    "This would have been a great change if they had been able to get a strong grip on the game in the first half but I guess he just wants to give the youngster a chance to participate, he didn''t do that bad when he started against Benfica, so Unique FC may still be able to hold on to the lead." Steve articted.


    "I guess my job in this match is done." The goalkeeper said before taking his seat beside Mateo.


    "You did great, now it''s Alexander''s time to show us what he can do," Mateo said.


    "Did great? I didn''t even get to do anything, the closest they got to testing was from that goal which doesn''t count at all because it was offside." The goalkeeper said.


    "I think it sounds better to say that we''re defending pretty well which is a good thing, I''ve never seen our team maintain such stable defense for so long, they haven''t been able to fire a single shot at our goalpost." The winger expressed.


    "Yeah, the defense has been pretty solid, I just hope they can maintain that defense in this half and secure the win," Dave said before turning his gaze back to the pitch where the match had already kicked off.


    ''I''m just d I got to y in the first half and keep my quest intact. ''


    <Yeah, just hope that he doesn''t ditch you on any of the match days remaining like he is about to do to some of the yers sitting on the bench now, but I doubt they''ll be upset about it, this match is pretty boring>


    ''Don''t worry, I have a n to make sure that doesn''t happen and for the match being boring, you''re right.''


    He paused for a while to observe the movements on the pitch.


    ''Yeah, you''re right. ''


    It didn''t take long before Unique FC dispossessed them off the ball after the kick-off and the Bilbeth Premier League side were still with the ball closing up on their box with their smooth string of passes while looking for the slightest defensive leaks.


    Minino received the ball from Frankie and just before the yer aggressively chasing the ball could get to him, he passed the ball to Henry.


    Henry got to the ball before it could get to him and with a single touch, he sent the ball flying to Fredinho.


    Fredinho got a neat touch on the ball and quickly turned with it to move the yer marking him out for a while, and during that time that the yer was out of the way, he sent the ball flying into the box.


    "He''s sent it into the box," Jimmented.


    The ball was quickly cleared by one of the defenders in the box but it was sent toward Henry who quickly cut past the yer heading toward him before he pulled his right leg back and sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    "Henry!"


    Unfortunately, the ball ended up hitting the right side of the crossbar before flying off for a goal-kick, the goalkeeper had dived toward it but it was no use as he wouldn''t have gotten his hand to it if the ball''s elevation had been a bit lower, the ball would have ended up hitting the back of the with great force.


    "Oh, that was so close," Jim said


    "Really close."


    The match had entered the seventieth minute now and the scoreboard was still showing Unique FC one, Young Boys nil.


    Ferran hade on to rece Henry now and Frankie had been swapped out for Harry Norman, Jonas had to make way for Rnd too but there was no change in the attack which was the main area where the fans expected Norman to pull out yers but for some reason, he just wanted to leave them there.


    The match had gone this far and Young Boys still had not been able to get a single shot on target although they had managed to fire two shots at their opponent''s goalpost.


    The first shot was from about thirty yards out and added up flying over the bar but it ended up flying over the bar but it was really close to hitting the crossbar.


    The second one came from a shot from the right winger after wriggling his way past Rnd but the ball ended up hitting the post and the rebound was quickly cleared by Pirlo.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Unique five had also gotten their chances, three chances that were saved by the goalkeeper and one which was sent flying wide.


    The first chance was a wonderful volley from Fredinho after receiving a cross from Minino.


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right hand of the goalpost with the volley but the goalkeeper was quick enough to dive toward the ball and tip it over the bar with the tip of his gloves.


    "Oh, that was so close," Jimmented. "It looks like Fredinho is starting to get his shooting boots straight from that wing.


    The second chance came from the corner kick was sent flying in by Frankie, Fredinho managed to get his head to it and sent it low toward the right side, but the goalkeeper was right there to fumble it.


    The third chance came from a counter-attack and Minino really should have scored there, but the ball ended up hitting the goalkeeper''s legs which he had stretched out right on time, and the rebound from the block was quickly cleared by the center-back there.


    "Oh, that should have been in the back of the," Jim said.


    "I have to say, Freya is really turning up clutch to make sure their opponents don''t go two goals up in this second half," Steve said.


    The chance which had been sted over the bar came from Ferran, it would have been great if he had worked on his elevation a little.


    Right now, Unique FC were still with the ball and pushing forward, they wanted a second goal, and now they were starting to press high, something they don''t do quite often.


    Ferran raced down the middle with the ball and just before he could get to the yers waiting to stop him, he sent the ball flying to Minino.


    Minino stopped the ball with his chest and used the momentum of the ball falling down from his chest to quickly get past the left back in his way and once he was in the box, he sent the ball to Fredinho who was closing up toward him.


    "This doesn''t look good for Young Boys," Jimmented.


    All Fredinho needed to get on the ball was a single touch to send it rolling toward the bottom right side.


    The goalkeeper seemed confused and wasn''t even able to dive toward the ball as it rolled past the line and toward the.


    "It''s in! They''ve finally gotten the second!" Jim eximed.


    Minino quickly rushed toward Minino and the two met right in front of the goalpost with a hug while their teammates pped along with the fans.


    "What a calm finish from the Brazilian, he has been looking for that goal since the start of this half, and he''s finally found it," Steve said. "The match is very much sealed now."


    ''I told you you were in for more surprises, Cat.''


    <That was a nice goal but this match isn''t pushing you guys in any way, if Norman uses this squad against strong teams, he''ll lose>


    ''I''m pretty sure he knows that, but it is still nice to see yers contribute to the team''s victory while ying off position.''


    <They are the main reason for the victory>


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 204 Look What Almost Happened

    Just like Steve said, the match was very much sealed and there was no bluff in those words as the match had nowe to an end with the score line remaining Unique FC two, Young Boys nil.


    The Swiss Super League side tried all they could, but they still weren''t able to get a shot on target against their opponent which was proof of how defensively good the Bilbeth Premier League side had been in this match.


    "This match isn''t exactly something you would call a super entertaining match but it was a good one. I thought it was going to be a tough match for Norman''s team given the fact that he excluded his main stars from the match but they managed to pull off a fine performance. Young Boys looked very poor from the beginning to the end, they need to work on themselves before the season kicks off." Steve articted. "I think changing their goalkeepers was pointless as none of them got to face a direct shoot today, they had absolutely nothing to do."


    "That brings us to the end of our coverage today, we''ll have to start heading home now, good night to you all."


    Minino was announced as the man of the match as expected, he really took charge of that right wing just like he said, and carved out a goal and an assist.


    Besides that, he was also tearing up the defense from the right, his passes were mostly urate and his crosses were good just that his teammates weren''t able to put them to good use.


    Dave was among the first yers to head down the tunnel along with Mateo who didn''t get to be part of the match because there was no reason to bring him on in a friendly match which they were already winning and dominating, that would be wickedness to Young Boys.


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Zero crucial saves: 0exp ]


    [ Match rating: 6.9 ]


    ''Hey, Catherine, what''s the point of showing me this when I got no exp?''


    <Even if it doesn''t pop up now, it will eventually pop up when my function is down at night and I can''t keep it from popping up>


    ''I feel like you''re trying to troll me here.''


    <Why would I troll you, it''s not like the shots were fired at you and you failed to stop them>


    ''I still feel offended by it.''


    <I cannot apologize because it wasn''t my doing>


    ''Of course, it wasn''t.'' He replied. ''But shouldn''t I have gotten something for the clean sheet?''


    <Yeah, you should have, if you had yed the whole ny minutes or at least eighty minutes>


    ''What are you talking about?''


    <You only yed forty-five minutes and didn''t y any major role in keeping the clean sheet so the system doesn''t see any need to reward you> She exined.


    ''Is that so?''


    <Yes>


    ''But it counts as a clean sheet for me at least, right?''


    <Why don''t you check and see for yourself?>


    [ Clean sheets: 03 ]


    ''That''s good to see.''


    "We have a free day tomorrow right?" The goalkeeper asked as he entered the locker room with Mateo and a few of his other teammates.


    "Yeah," Mateo replied as he made his way to the seat over his designated locker. "It would be crazy to have three consecutive matches, a lot of yers could get injured just like Merino and that''s not something good for the team."


    "Yeah," Dave said before sitting beside him.


    "I''m just d we managed to grab a second consecutive win, Minino''s a pretty good right winger don''t you think, Carlos?" Mateo said before turning his gaze to Carlos.


    "Yeah," Carlos said with a nod. "But that''s not the full context of it."


    "Huh?"


    "This match was very easy so he didn''t get to feel the kind of pressure I feel when we y against big teams with defensive towers, we need to see that happen before we can fully conclude but I think he has what it takes to make the right-wing one of his good positions," Carlos exined.


    "What about me? I was pretty good on the left wing, don''t you think?" Fredinho said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Don''t get ahead of yourself, Fredinho, you weren''t able to fit in there until the second half, you may have what it takes to develop under that role but you need a lot of work, you''re a good striker but the left wing isn''t your ce yet." Mateo articted.


    "Mateo," Fredinho grumbled but the winger just smiled at him before he opened his locker and picked up his phone from where it was lying.


    It didn''t take long before the rest of the yers, the coach, and the other staff got to the locker room and after changing out of their kits, they started heading back home.


    They got back, freshened up, had something to eat, and just like yesterday, everyone went to bed early including Dave who decided to turn off his dream control feature just for the night.


    The goalkeeper woke up before his roommate the next morning but after returning from the bathroom, he found him awake and waiting for him toe out so he could go in.


    After brushing their teeth, the roommates were both lying on their beds now while waiting for their breakfast to arrive.


    "Hey, Mateo," Dave called before sitting up on his bed.


    "Huh?" The winger said before turning his gaze to him.


    "Do you mind going for a stroll outside?"


    "A stroll, sure." He said before sitting up on his bed. "As long as it''s not the same ces we visitedst time."


    "Sure, we can check out new ces." The goalkeeper replied.


    "And maybe we can find a shop around the area that sells sports equipment." The winger said.


    "Sports equipment? Why?"


    "Uh¡­I sort of lost my shin guardsst night."


    "Both of them?"


    "Yeah."


    "That''s quite a bummer but now that you''ve mentioned it, I also need new gloves, these ones are starting to be loose and I didn''te with my new ones."


    "Okay, so, we go check out new ces and then find a shop to buy a pair of shin guards and a pair of gloves before leaving," Mateo said.


    "Yeah," Dave said with a nod.


    "Let''s go then." The winger said before quickly getting up from his bed.


    He quickly slid his leg into his sneakers and made for the door.


    He had almost run into thedy who was bringing them their food and was just about to knock on the door.


    She was quite startled and if Mateo had not held onto the frame to stop himself, something bad would have happened.


    "Sorry." The winger said with a nervous smile on his face.


    "Um¡­I think we should have breakfast first, Mateo." Dave said with his hand at the back of his head.


    <I told you to wait and have breakfast first but you didn''t listen and look what almost happened>


    ''You don''t have to be loud about it.''


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 205 At The Sports Equipment Shop

    Dave and Mateo had spotted a shop for sports equipment at the start of their stroll but they ignored it and now that they were returning, it was time to go check it out.


    The shop was prettyrge and the exterior was mostly made of ss.


    "It''s a nice shop," Dave muttered as the two made their way into the building.


    The shop was just asrge as the outside suggested with different sections of different sports equipment.


    "So what are we looking for?" The goalkeeper asked as he looked around the area.


    "A pair of gloves and a pair of shin guards, right?" Mateo said.


    "Yeah," Dave replied with a nod.


    There weren''t many people in the shop so none of the areas or sections were crowded.


    After looking around for a while the two began to work closer to the products to find what they were looking for but it looked like the only things in the first stacks of counters were boots, balls, and football kits of some of the stars of Laliga.


    "I understand that the ce is huge and all but it''s a shop for sports equipment, it''s not like looking for sports equipment in a random grocery store, finding those things isn''t supposed to be this hard." Mateo expressed as soon as they stopped in front of a veryrge shoe rack filled with nice-looking boots.


    "I was just about to say the same."


    <Are you sure about that>


    "I see you guys are having trouble finding what you''re looking for too."


    That was a soft and feminine voice and just as the two turned back to see who it hade from, they realized that they were right.


    Standing in front of them now was a slender looking female with blonde hair, she had an oval face, a pair of green eyes, a small nose, and small pink lips.


    She was a pretty girl, nothing much to say there.


    She seemed to be as tall as Mateo but on closer look, Mateo happened to be the taller person and she was putting on the gold Barcelona shirt with a pair of ck trousers.


    "Hello." She said as soon as the two men turned to her and they had to return the greeting.


    "So, what are you two looking for?" She asked.


    "Um¡­ .a pair of gloves for him and a pair of shin guards for me. " Mateo replied.


    "Gloves and shin guards." She muttered. "You guys are clearly looking in the wrong ce."


    "Huh?"


    "You should have just gone to the west side." She said.


    "West side?" Dave said with a confused expression on his face.


    "Just follow me." She shook her head and rolled her eyes before she turned and began to make her way toward the area.


    "So, do you like¡­ work here?" Mateo asked on their way to the area.


    "I think that''s pretty obvious when someone just decides to show you where the things you''re looking for are." She replied.


    "Oh."


    ''I guess that was a pretty stupid question.''


    "No, I don''t work here." She said,


    That wasn''t something Mateo was expecting to hear after listening to the first response she gave him.


    "Huh? Then why are you taking us to where what we want is?" The winger asked.


    "My dad owns this shop." She replied.


    "Oh." The winger said.


    "I juste here to help him sometimes or whenever I need to take something."


    "Take something? What could you possibly want to take in a shop for sports equipment?"


    "A pair of boots, socks, shin guards, and maybe a new kit." She replied.


    "Oh, so you y football," Mateo said.


    "Yeah." She replied with a nod.


    "And what did youe to take this time?"


    "New boots." She replied. "My dad says I have to start paying for the things I take but who cares, he''ll have to catch me first." She added with a little chuckle that forced out a smile from Mateo.


    "I think this is the ce, Mateo," Dave said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    He had stopped moving and was now looking around the long counters filled with boots, and shin guards. There were even whistles and other things hanging around in the area.


    "Mateo." The girl muttered with her gaze on Mateo.


    "I guess you should get going now." The winger said.


    "Yeah." She said with a nod.


    "Ummm¡­ .you know I never got your name." The winger said.


    "You want to know my name?"


    "Yeah."


    "Okay, it''s Sofia, Sofia Andres." She said,


    "Sofia," Mateo said.


    "What about you?" She asked.


    "Mateo Smith," Mateo replied.


    "So, it really is you." She said as her face suddenly lit up.


    "Huh?" Mateo was a bit confused here.


    "You''re a Unique FC yer, right?" She asked.


    "Yeah." The winger replied with a nod.


    "Then that means that your friend over there is Dave Richards, your goalkeeper." She said,


    "Yeah." The winger replied.


    He was about to say something but before he could say it, she was gone and when he turned toward the area where Dave was trying to find the right gloves, he could see that she was standing right in front of him.


    The winger let out a deep sigh before he began to make his way to the area.


    "I was at the stadium that day when you guys faced off against Manchester United, I thought they were going to pound you guys but to my greatest surprise that didn''t happen because you were imprable, those saves were crazy. "


    She was now acting like a little girl who saw something cool for the first time and just couldn''t stop talking about it.


    "You single-handedly stopped them from scoring."


    "My teammates had big roles to y in it too," Dave said.


    "Stop trying to be modest, everyone knows that defense was shit." She said,


    "They got better in the second half have you forgotten?"


    "Yeah, but you were exceptional that day, I can''t believe I wasn''t able to recognize you."


    "Okay, thanks for the recognition." The goalkeeper said before turning his gaze back to the boots.


    "Um¡­you know I was about to head to the small pitch where I train with my friends, um¡­maybe you could show up as a special guest if you''re not busy that is." She requested.


    "Special guest," Dave muttered.


    "And you too." She said before turning her gaze to Mateo who was looking through the shin guards section now.


    "Huh?" The winger said before turning his gaze to her.


    "You''re a wonderful yer too, the way you y reminds me a little of Ciro and that goal that day was exceptional, it would have secured the win for you guys that day if that own goal had not happened." She expressed. "Please will you guyse train with us today?"


    "Uh... I don''t know." The winger said before bringing up his watch to his gaze to see that the time was 11:50 AM.


    "Sure, we''ll go with you, we still have a lot of time left, we don''t have any match today and our training session was canceled." The goalkeeper articted. "I was thinking of having a private training session, so it works for me."


    "Really?" She said as her face suddenly lit up with a bright smile.


    ***


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 206 First Day

    "I can''t believe you managed to get two professional footballers toe here with you."


    They had been training for a while and right now, the girls were sitting around each other on the floor to catch their breath for a few minutes before they continued what they were doing.


    "They''re not that popr maybe because they y in a low league but they''re pretty good at what they do."


    "Yeah, I watched their match against Manchester United and those two were the ones that mainly caught my attention, Dave is just a wonderful goalkeeper, an imprable rock and Mateo is just a good artist with the ball." Sofia expressed.


    "Yeah, his ying style is sort of simr to Ciro''s but he does a lot of different things differently." One of the girls said.


    "Yeah and he''s cute too."


    "I didn''t bring him here for you to check out how cute he is, Miranda," Sofia said before shooting a sharp stare at her.


    "It''s hard to miss," Miranda said to annoy her more.


    Sofia didn''t react immediately as she turned her gaze to where Dave and Mateo were passing the ball around and kept her gaze there for a while before she slowly got up from the floor.


    "He should already have a girlfriend, what makes you think you stand a chance?" She said before she began to make her way to the two.


    "These girls are pretty good with the ball, better than expected, they have what it takes to be good footballers," Mateo said before passing the ball to his teammate.


    "Yeah, it''s a shame their coach didn''t show up today," Dave said before passing the ball back to him.


    "Hey."


    The two quickly turned to see Sofia standing there.


    "Hey," Mateo said with the ball trapped under his foot.


    "I guess it''s time for you guys to start going, your ny minutes areplete." She said,


    "Yeah, but we''re nning to stay a little longer," Dave said.


    "Really?"


    "Yeah," Mateo said before passing the ball to her.


    "That''s great." She said with a smile on her face.


    ''Now''s my chance.'' She said subconsciously with her gaze on the open space between Mateo''s legs.


    Before the winger knew what was going on, she sent the ball rolling toward Dave and where did the ball pass through? Right in between his legs.


    "Ha! I finally got back at you for that nutmeg." She said with a hysterical look on her face.


    "So, you''ve been thinking about that all this while." The winger said.


    "Not really, I just remembered it as soon as I saw your legs like that." She said with a grin on her face.


    _______ _______


    The second andst session had juste to an end and right now the girls along with Dave had gone to grab some water by the sidelines but Mateo and Sofia were still on the pitch sitting close to each other.


    "That''s hrious." She said with a little chuckle.


    "You think so?" The winger said.


    "Yeah." She replied with a nod. "So, which team are you guys going to face tomorrow?"


    "Sheffield United."


    "Oh, that sounds like it''s going to be a boring match." She said,


    "I think it''s going to be the opposite," Mateo said.


    "I don''t think so." She said, shaking her head.


    "Okay, if you say so but we''ll be facing Barcelona after that at the Camp Nou." The winger said.


    "Really?" She said before turning her gaze to him.


    "Yeah."


    "That''s a match I''ll love to see." She said,


    "You think it''s going to be an interesting match?"


    "Um¡­ not really, I just think it''s going to be really fun to watch my team grind you guys into dust."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Is that so? Don''t be surprised if you see the opposite that day."


    "There''s no way you guys can beat Barcelona." She said.


    "That''s true on paper but football is a practical game, impossible things happen most times."


    "Yeah, I guess that''s right." She said.


    There was a little moment of silence between the two before she picked up her phone from where it was lying on the floor beside her.


    "Hey." She said to call back his attention. "So, I did a little google search on the both of you and realized that Dave is married to a woman named Emma Smith." She said before showing him the picture. "Do you know who she is? She bears the samest name as you and she sort of looks like you."


    Mateo pulled his face closer as if he was trying to figure out who it was while he already knew who it was at a nce.


    After looking at the picture for a while, he slowly pulled his head back.


    "Yeah, she''s my big sister." He replied casually. "You would have known that if you had just scrolled down and read what was written there."


    "Big sister? So Dave''s your brother-inw." She said


    "Yeah." He replied. "I didn''t know you were googling about us, so what did you find out about me?"


    "Nothing special." She replied. "It says on all the sites that you don''t have a girlfriend but I know you''re just trying to keep her out of the spotlight."


    "Is that what you think?"


    "Yeah, because I know you have a girlfriend."


    "Um¡­.sorry to disappoint you but they''re right." The winger said.


    "You''re lying." She said,


    "No, I''m not." He said. "Why are you so interested in my rtionship status?"


    "Nothing exactly." She said before turning her gaze to the side where his teammates were watching them from. "It''s just that a certain someone is trying so hard to get your attention."


    "Who?"


    "Never mind, it''s a good thing that you didn''t notice her, but are you really single?"


    "Yeah, why would I lie about it?"


    "Yeah, it doesn''t really make sense." She said before bringing her head down.


    After resting for a little while, it was now time for the yers to start heading back to the hotel.


    The girls made sure to thank them properly before they left, especially Sofia who was the most grateful of them.


    On their way back, Mateo just couldn''t get off his phone and Dave had to say something about it.


    "You know you can wait till we get back before you start texting Sofia, it won''t do you any good if you get hit by a car." The goalkeeper said.


    "Huh?" He said before raising his gaze to look at him.


    "You know what I''m talking about."


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about." The winger said before returning his gaze to his phone.


    "Of course, you don''t." The goalkeeper said before letting out a sigh. "She''s a pretty nice girl and she''ll make a good footballer."


    "Yeah, but she doesn''t want to be a footballer," Mateo said. "She says football is something she does for fun, her dream is to be awyer, she just graduated from high school."


    "And that was all that was needed to get your attention, you seem to know a lot about her, and you just met her today." The goalkeeper said with a smile on his face.


    "Leave me alone, Dave." The winger said before he turned his attention back to his phone and increased his pace.


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 207 Rainy Day

    "Yeah, it was a very nice day but I''m pretty sure Mateo enjoyed it more than I did." The goalkeeper said before turning his gaze to Mateo who was lying on his bed, going through his phone and pretending not to hear what they were saying.


    Dave was also lying on his bed with his phone ced, the call was on loudspeaker so it was easy to tell that he was speaking with Emma.


    "I see you guys are having a lot of fun over there." She said.


    "Hey, are you okay? Your voice sounds sort of strange." He said.


    "Well, I''ve been feeling a bit nauseous recently but it''s nothing to worry about, I''m okay." She replied.


    "Are you sure?"


    "Yeah, don''t worry, just focus on what you''re doing over there." She said, "You have something to deal with tomorrow, right? I think I should allow you to get some sleep."


    "Hey, not yet, I''m not feeling sleepy yet." The goalkeeper said.


    "You rarely feel sleepy at night but it''s necessary that you go to bed early if you have something important to do the next day, especially when it''s something that requires physical energy." She expressed. "Is there something you want to talk about?"


    "Yeah, but I guess they can wait." He replied.


    "Okay, then, good night." She said, "I love you." She added before ending the call.


    "I love you too." He muttered before dropping his phone and turning his gaze to Mateo. "You should also get some sleep, Mateo."


    "Yeah, you''re right." The winger said before dropping his phone.


    He stretched his hands and body before turning to face the other side.


    "Good night roomie." He said.


    "Good night," Dave said before turning to face the ceiling.


    ''Now, let''s get to training, Cat.''


    ______ ______


    After hours of sleeping, a new day came forth but it wasn''t a bright new day like the previous days, the sky was dark, and looking out from the windows in the room, tiny drops of water were beginning to drop from the sky.


    Dave was the first to get up today and after opening his eyes, he turned his gaze to Mateo to see that he was very much still fast asleep on his bed.


    ''That was pretty spicy, Cat, but not spicy enough, you should think of adding a little more spice next time.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously after sitting up on his bed.


    <Noted>


    "Would you look at that?" He said after turning his gaze to the windows to see that the sky was dark, and it was starting to pour down now.


    He got up from his bed and slowly made his way to the window on the right, he stared through it for a while before he heard Mateo move on his bed.


    "It''s raining? Seriously?" The wingerined. "I just hope it dies down before our morning training session."


    "I think it will be pretty nice to train under the rain," Dave said.


    _______ ________


    The match against Sheffield United was going to kick off in the evening but unlike the other ones, it was going to kick off early in the evening by 5:30 PM so they had to take care of the training session as fast as possible and go get ready to start moving out when the time to move out arrives.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The yers were currently training on the pitch near the hotel, and to Mateo''s detest, it was still pouring down from the sky but it wasn''t as heavy as it was earlier that morning.


    They thought slowing down meant that it would soon stop, but it kept pouring down little by little and kept on doing its job of keeping everything wet.


    The yers werepletely drenched but the effects of their body and the terrain wasn''t enough to stop them from getting the job done.


    "I don''t see any trouble with ying in the rain, yeah it can affect the y on the field, makes our body heavy and one could possibly catch a cold out here, but it''s not that all bad." The goalkeeper said before passing the ball to his teammate.


    "You just listed the reasons why I hate it, but what choice do I have?" The winger said before passing the ball back to him.


    The training session hade to an end and now the yers had to quickly make their way back to the hotel and get warm before they would meet up with Norman in therge room to listen to what he had to say about tactics and which yers were going to be starting.


    After having their lunch, the yers reported to the room all wearing Unique FC''s ck and orange jackets and trousers, it was still raining outside so those were the only proper outfits for them to put on.


    They met up with Norman there all dressed up for the match because immediately after filling them in on all those information, they will immediately make their way outside and start their journey to the Reale Arena.


    "Alright guys, before I start with the tactics, you guys should know who and who will be starting this match," Norman said. "We''ll be facing FC Barcelona after this match so it''s necessary to try as much as possible to conserve as much energy as we can, it''s clear that match is going to be our toughest."


    ''I can''t wait.''


    "Dave will be starting in between the sticks but may be reced by Alexander soon, I just need to get a feeling of the match. "


    "Soon?" The goalkeeper muttered.


    "In defense, Norman will start on the right, Adolf and Pirlo in the middle, and Jonas on the left. In midfield, we will have Harry on the right, Henry in the middle but he will be switched to attacking midfield soon and Minino on the right."


    "I guess I''m back to my old position," Minino said.


    "In attack, we have Fred in the middle, Carlos on the right, and Mateo on the left."


    ''That''s pretty much everyone in the starting eleven.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    "I studied the highlights of Sheffield United''sst five matches and discovered that their manager used almost the same tactics in those matches and with that piece of information, I think I know how to cut their wings."


    After filling them in on the tactics, the yers made their way outside to find the bus already waiting for them.


    After an hour and about forty minutes on the road, the yers arrived at the Reale Arena and they arrived pretty early as the time being disyed on all their watches was 4:41 PM.


    It was also raining there, and the worst part was that the rain happened to be more intense there so the yers had to quickly rush into the building before they gotpletely drenched by it.


    "I thought it was going to be less here but it turned out to be the exact opposite," Mateo said as he let out muffled breathing.


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 208 What A Start To The Match

    The yers were all in the locker room now pulling off their wet clothes and changing into their training outfits but Mateo didn''t like the idea of going out to train under that intense rain.


    "Let''s go boys, I know some of you don''t like the idea of going out there to warm up but Sheffield United yers are already out there," Norman said. "This is the only way that we can get used to the condition before the match kicks off."


    "Yeah, coach is right, it''s quite harsh out there but we''re going to have to y under it anywhere, we don''t have a choice."


    ''Yeah, that''s right.'' Mateo said subconsciously. ''I just wish it wasn''t raining.''


    The yers made their way to the pitch to find Sheffield United yers already warming up there but it didn''t look like they had been there for a long time.


    "Hey, Mateo, why don''t youe give me a few long shots?" Dave said after cing his hands on his shoulders.


    "Okay." The winger replied.


    "Let''s go then." The goalkeeper said before dragging him onto the pitch along with him.


    Both teams got on the pitch for their warm-up prettyte so it didn''t take long before they all had to return to the locker rooms and start getting ready for the match.


    For this match, the Bilbeth Premier League side were going to be putting on their orange jersey with the ck polka dots while the yers from the opposing side were going to be putting on their ck away kit.


    Both teams met in the tunnel where they had to wait before they were asked to start making their way onto the pitch.


    They waited there for a while before they were asked to start making their way to the pitch and just as they made their way into the area, the whole stadium began to ring with apuse from the fans.


    "Wee to all our viewers from all around the world, it''s your regrmentator Jim Waterson and joining me in the studio to offer his expert analysis and opinion is my regr comentator, Mr. Steve Jefferson."


    "Thank you, Jim, it''s really nice to be back here, wee everyone," Steve said.


    "We have a nice matchup here today but first we have to talk about the weather, this is clearly the type of weather the yers willin about, it''s been raining since morning and it''s still raining." Jim articted.


    "Yeah, this kind of rain isn''t nice for anyone and we will be hoping that it stops soon, but for the moment that it''s still pouring down, the yers will just have to do their stuff under it," Steve said.


    After going through all the processes before the kick-off as bothmentators went through the lineups, it was now time to start the match.


    Unlike before, Carlos was the one standing over the ball with Mateo standing a little distance ahead of him.


    "The match is about to kick off, and just like I said earlier, I have a feeling that this match is going to give us the tingles," Jim said.


    Carlos was waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he passed the ball to Mateo who quickly lobbed it far ahead toward Fred who had quickly escaped from the yers around him right on time.


    "What''s this?" Jim said as soon as Fred caught hold of the ball with the yers hot on his trail.


    There was no way that they were going to get to him before he did what he wanted to do as he had already closed up on the goalkeeper.


    "He''s surely going to put it away now!" Jim eximed.


    The goalkeeper quickly rushed out to try and stop him, but before the goalkeeper could get to him, he sent it past him from the low right where his hands just couldn''t get to it.


    "Fred!" Thementator eximed. "It''s in! It''s a goal! What a start to the game! What a finish from Fred Miles!"


    The fans in the stands went wild with apuse, chants, and cheers as the striker rushed to the sidelines and did a neat backflip.


    Once his feet touched the floor again, he screamed at the tip of his voice.


    "We''re here!" He yelled. "We are not going to give a damn this season!"


    It didn''t take long before a few of his teammates gathered around him including Mateo who he had to give a special high five.


    "I''m d that went right." The goalkeeper muttered before he turned to face the fans behind his goalpost with both of his hands raised and a grin on his face.


    "That was perfectly executed, perfect timing, neat and pin-point uracy from Mateo, and what a wonderful finish from Fred, I think this match is already starting to give us those tingles I talked about. What a way to start the match." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, that was a nice first impression, an early lead is essential for a very good boost in confidence but let''s see how Sheffield United responds. This Unique FC side has been impressing me for quite a while." Steve articted.


    That goal seemed to have stirred up a lot of reaction online and a lot of people had a lot of things to say about it, of course, that wasn''t all they were talking about.


    ''Did you guys see that goal?!''


    ''What a goal, Mateo Smith is wonderful with his passes but I did not expect Fred to finish it so smoothly.''


    ''These guys have only managed to lose one match so far in their string of friendlies and it wasn''t even a bad loss, they held Manchester United down to a draw and now they''re putting up executions like this, I have to say, these guys are really lighting up.''


    ''Right from thest matchesst season, I noticed a big change in this team, especially from their goalkeeper. The dude started getting good and now he''s turned into a rock. That performance against Manchester United was all the proof that I needed.''


    ''They''re certainly doing good but let''s see how they cope when the season kicks off.''


    ''Brilliant goal, wonderful finish, things I like to see from Unique FC.''


    ''Watch out Bilbeth Premier League, my team is back and they''reing with a bang this season!''


    "Let''s see how Sheffield United will respond," Jim said.


    One of their yers was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he blew it, he attempted to lob the ball to the yer behind Henry but the ball didn''t go as high as he wanted it to so it was an easy interception by Henry who quickly sent it flying to Jonas.


    "Oh, that was a clumsy attempt," Jimmented.


    "If you want to do something, go all out and do it, nod they''ve lost the ball to Unique, they''ll wish they hadn''t lost it this soon, Sheffield United has already started the match with mistakes and if they keep up like this, Unique FC will bring them down."


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 209 A Chance To Level It

    The match was already thirty minutes gone and so far, Sheffield United had just not been able to get back into the game.


    They''ve done great to minimize their mistakes and we''re doing well to move the ball upfield but once they got to Unique FC''s box, they seem to enter a serious state of confusion, their decision-making was poor once they got there and that would result in the Bilbeth Premier League side quickly clearing their line.


    They managed to force out a very good save from Dave when the ball was fired toward the right side of the goalpost right from the edge of the box.


    Dave dived toward it right on time knowing full well that he would only get so close to it and won''t be able to touch it but that wasn''t a problem as ball ma already had him covered.


    The goalkeeper was supposed to push the ball out but he ended up catching it with both of his hands.


    Unique FC were with the ball now, and they were slowly approaching their opponents with their neat strings of passes.


    Unlike Sheffield United, they knew exactly what to do once they got to the box and had even created two good chances but both of them were saved by the goalkeeper.


    The first chance was one that caused the jaws of almost everyone in the stadium to drop.


    Mateo received a wonderful pass from Harry and quickly drifted away from the midfielder that was about to grab him.


    Instead of racing down the wing, he decided to move directly toward the box, he feigned shooting at the first yer like that to drop him off.


    He continued trailing down the edge while using the same trick to drop all the defenders who thought he was going to shoot.


    "Mateo''s nicely dropping all the defenders here," Jimmented.


    Once he got to the middle where he had enough shooting space, he sent the ball flying toward the right side of the goalpost with just a little elevation but his shot seemed to have gotten nerfed before he released it and that was because of the yers from behind who made contact with his leg just before he hit the ball. The shot wasn''t that strong and it wasn''t that far from the goalkeeper either so it ended up being an easy save for him.


    "Oh, that was so close," Jim said.


    "Yeah, he should have finished that," Steve said.


    Mateo didn''t look happy about missing that chance but the look didn''t stay on his face for long, he was just going to try again.


    ''I just wish this rain will stop already.''


    The second chance was also a pretty good one, Mateo pulled back in midfield to receive the ball from Adolf after the defender thwarted an attempt to get the ball into his box.


    He quickly raced down the middle with the ball and once he spotted Fred making a quick run toward the box with only one yer hot on his trail, he quickly sent the ball flying toward him from the top.


    Fred managed to keep away from the defender on his trail and got a good header to the ball, he wanted to send the ball over the goalkeeper with that header, but it ended up flying directly toward him so catching it wasn''t a problem for him.


    "That was a good chance but it''s been wasted," Stevemented.


    The time disyed on the clock now was thirty-two minutes and finally just as Mateo wanted, the rain was beginning to slow down.


    Unique FC were still with the ball and they were slowly building up toward Sheffield United''s goalpost.


    Henry received the ball and waited for the yer heading toward him to get closer so that he could humiliate him in the best way possible.


    As soon as the yer got closer, he controlled the ball properly to get it away from him, and instead of passing the ball to any of his teammates, he waited for the yer to try taking the ball from him and when the yer attempted it again, he got past him again and this time with a clean nutmeg that got a nice reaction from the fans.


    "Looks like Henry''s just toying with him here."


    After that, he quickly moved down the right with the ball and passed it to Carlos.


    "Carlos."


    Carlos moved toward the box with the ball before he sent it to Fred who had a couple of yers quickly closing up on him but that wasn''t a problem as he quickly linked the ball to Henry who had quickly moved ahead of him.


    Henry got a single touch to the ball before he quickly set up Mateo inside the box, cing the ball right where he knew he was going to need it but before the winger could get to the ball, the goalkeeper quickly left his goal line and fumbled the ball causing the winger to jump over him.


    "Oh, he had almost gotten to it but the goalkeeper did really well to deny him," Jim said.


    This was Sheffield United''s chance to create a counter-attack and the goalkeeper knew it, he quickly got up from the floor, threw the ball up, and sent it flying toward their right winger who had been lurking around just around the line dividing the pitch into two parts.


    The winger already had Jonas in front of him with Adolf and Pirlo a little ahead of him on their own sides but that wasn''t a problem to him.


    The winger trapped the ball neatly and just before Jonas could close up on him, he zoomed off.


    "Sheffield United are starting a counterattack here," Steve said.


    Adolf and Pirlo were a little ahead of him in this race but that was just all he wanted.


    The other yers were also quickly heading toward the area including Sheffield United''s talisman Andy, the winger got closer to the box and pulled in a little before he sent it to Andy who had closed up on the box now with a few Unique FC yers behind him and the two center backs right in front of him.


    The right winger quickly moved into the box and was about to release the shot when he was brought down from behind by Henry.


    It wasn''t a tackle, it seemed to be a push which he quickly raised his hands to deny but the referee wasn''t convinced and even rushed to the area to show him a yellow card.


    "That''s a foul right inside the box of Unique FC and Henry just got the first booking of the night," Jim said.


    "It''s a penalty, a chance for Sheffield United to get back into the game," Steve said.


    Unique FC yers weren''t exactly happy with that situation and would be pestering the referee now if this was an important match.


    <Another penalty for you to try and save, Dave>


    ''I don''t like penalties but in situations like this, what can I do?'' The goalkeeper replied with a shrug.


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 210 Taking It Back Immediately

    Andy was standing over the ball now with his gaze on the ball while Dave was standing on his goal line.


    Most goalkeepers would be jumping on their goal line while trying to get into the head of the penalty kick taker but Dave wasn''t really good with the whole getting into someone''s head that most goalkeepers do although he should be.


    With all the yers out of the box now, the referee blew his whistle.


    After hearing the whistle, Andy stared at the ball for a few more seconds before he slowly raised his head and took two steps backward.


    ''You know I would really appreciate a few tips in situations like this.''


    <Well, you should have asked earlier>


    Andy quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the left side of the goalpost from below while Dave dived toward the right side of the goalpost.


    "It''s in! They''ve finally gotten that equalizer! What a finish from Andy!"


    "He sent Dave the wrong way," Stevemented.


    <As I said, you should have asked earlier>


    ''Keep quiet, now I''m two goals down.''


    Andy didn''t really celebrate that goal, he just smiled before a few of his teammates got to him to either rub his head, give him a high five, or just hug him.


    "They''re back on level terms now," Jim said.


    "I think this is the first time they''re being on leveled terms, Unique FC didn''t even wait for the first minute to pass before they took the lead." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, I guess you''re right," Jim said. "By effort, Unique FC should be leading this match by at least three goals but their effort hasn''t really paid off for them and now they''re on leveled terms with Sheffield United, this is one of the aspects of football that I love the most, sometimes effort just isn''t able to cut it but this is still the first half, it''s going toe to end soon, let''s see how Unique FC reacts before the break."


    Carlos was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he passed the ball to Mateo and at that point, a lot of people thought they were going to repeat that move but Mateo wasn''t that stupid, he could clearly see that everyone in the position to quickly move forward was being heavily marked so he pushed the ball to Harry who quickly pushed it back to Jonas.


    Jonas sent the ball to Adolf and Adolf quickly sent it rolling to Henry who quickly got past the yer behind him and sent the ball to Minino.


    "Minino."


    Minino moved a little forward with the ball before he quickly turned and sent the ball flying back to Dave.


    "He''s sent it back to the goalkeeper which is a bit odd because he could have just passed it to any of his teammates but knowing what Dave Richards can do with the ball from that far, I''m not surprised he sent the ball back to him." Steve expressed.


    Dave initially wanted to try a shot until he spotted Mateo trying to escape from the yer marking him.


    He pushed the ball forward and just before it could get to the edge of the box, he sent it flying toward Mateo.


    "I was expecting a shot but looks like he''s decided to go for a long pass instead," Jim said.


    The winger had to battle for the ball in the air and fortunately for him, he was able to win it but that didn''t mean he was free from the yer yet.


    He struggled to keep the ball no matter the amount of physical pressure the yer put on him and finally, he was able to send the ball to Fred.


    "That was a real battle between those two there," Jimmented.


    Jim got to the ball before the yer heading toward it from the side and after getting his foot on the ball, he quickly shifted away from the yer with it and now he had his sight on the goalpost.


    The striker quickly pulled his leg back andunched the ball toward the goalpost with a powerful shot.


    "He''s going from outside the box?"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand corner of the goalpost and although the goalkeeper had dived toward it, he just couldn''t keep up with the speed so the ball ended up smashing into the back of the as the goalkeeper crashed to the floor.


    "Oh, what a massive strike from Fred! What a goal!" Jim eximed.


    That goal would hype anybody up and Fred was part of anybody.


    The striker quickly raced to the sidelines and slid on the floor with his whole body on the ground.


    Mateo didn''t hesitate to quickly make his way to the area and fall on his body before their other teammates joined.


    "I didn''t think he would try a shot from that far out but he tried it with a nice shot and it worked out fine for him, the goalkeeper just couldn''t deal with it." Steve articted.


    "That was awesome," Dave muttered with a bright smile on his face.


    <Yeah>


    Sheffield United yers had devastated looks on their faces, especially the goalkeeper who was sitting on his goal line. Who wouldn''t be devastated to see themselves go behind again just a few minutes after leveling the game?


    "We thought they could keep it leveled for long but Unique FC just couldn''t agree with that, it''s the same yers stepping up to punish them again, Mateo struggled to give the ball to him and he made sure to put it away in the best way possible, it is now Unique FC two, Sheffield United one." Jim articted.


    The fans were very happy and were chanting the name of the team as the yers returned to their positions for the kick-off after the goal.


    Sheffield United tried their best to get it leveled again and managed to pull off two good chances but those shots weren''t really a big deal for Dave although they were sort of tricky.


    Unique FC managed to pull off one more chance, a good cross from Carlos to Mateo but the winger ended up sending the volley over the bar.


    Unique FC did their best to hold on to the ball after that and they kept on holding onto the ball until the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    "That was quite an epic first half, don''t you think, Steve?" Jim asked.


    "Yeah, it''s been an entertaining match so far, Unique FC has clearly been the superior side but it''s nice to see that Sheffield United are not gettingpletely overshadowed by them, they''re trying their best and they''re getting their chances." Steve expressed. "Unique FC''s finishing has been better in this match and it''s because Fred seemed to have worked on his finishing but they still need to work on it more, Sheffield United also needs to work on their finishing if they don''t want to lose this match."


    "The yers are heading down the tunnel now and they''ll be back soon to continue this entertaining match so stay tuned."


    ****


    Sorry guys but I will be releasing the five chapters mass release tomorrow instead of today.


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 211 Special Training

    The yers were back on the pitch now for the second half to kick off, Unique FC were still leading two goals to one and now it was time to see if Sheffield United will be able to get back in the game.


    The rain had stopped now which was a good thing for the yers.


    Andy was standing over the ball on the kick-off spot waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly sent the ball rolling toward the closest teammate to him.


    "That''s the kick-off, the second half is on the way," Jim said.


    "It''s time to see what Sheffield United has cooked up for the second half and see how Unique FC are going to react to it but they may end up being the ones to strike again." Steve expressed.


    Sheffield United just like Unique FC were a team that loved to slowly build from their side, they loved to keep the ball but against Unique FC, they didn''t seem to be keeping much of the ball.


    Their first attacking attempt was foiled by Adolf who was quick enough to intercept the through pass from midfield before it could get to Andy.


    "Nice work from Adolf there, who knows what would have happened if that ball had gone through to him," Jimmented.


    Adolf quickly sent the ball to Rnd who quickly sent it flying toward Minino on the side.


    "Switching nks now."


    Minino quickly got hold of the ball and sent it to Henry before both of the yers close to him could gang up on him.


    Henry lost the ball to the midfielder marking him but Pirlo happened to be close enough to win the ball back with a neat tackle.


    "What a way to win the ball back, nice work from Pirlo," Steve said.


    Pirlo quickly pushed the ball to Harry on the left side of midfield.


    The midfielder slowly got past the yer marking some neat footwork before he quickly took off.


    "He''s broken through and leading an attack now."


    Just before getting close to the box, he yed a short pass to Mateo who attempted to dribble past the yers in front of him before he yed it back to Henry who was super quick to understand what the winger was about to do.


    He quickly sent the ball back to him as he quickly broke free from the defense and made his way into the box.


    "Mateo''s trying to do something here," Jimmented.


    The winger received the ball, quickly turned with it, and drilled it toward the bottom left side of the goalpost. There was a yer right in front of him but he knew exactly where to put the ball.


    "Mateo!"


    The goalkeeper stretched his right leg right in time to block it and luckily for Mateo, the rebound came rolling back at him.


    "Oh, he''s stopped it but it''s not over yet."


    Three of the defenders in the area quickly rushed toward the winger to try and bring him down but he was quick enough to send the ball back toward the goalpost before they could get to him.


    The keeper stretched his body to stop the ball but before his whole body could touch the floor, the ball zoomed past him through his legs and rolled into the goalpost.


    "What a way to take care of it!" Jim eximed.


    The goalkeeper had been brought down by the defenders right inside the box after taking that shot but he didn''t care, he quickly rushed to the sidelines and did a knee slide.


    "The first one was saved but he remained calm and neatly put the rebound into the goalpost," Jim said.


    The fans were going wild with their chants and cheers now as the winger''s teammates joined him to celebrate.


    "What a yer, he has now scored in every single match they''ve yed so far in their pre-season tour," Steve said.


    "I know right, he''s an exceptional talent," Jimmented. "Adding to Sheffield United''s misery, Unique FC have now put a two-goal cushion between the sides. There''s still a lot of time for them to make a fulleback but do they really have what it takes to do it?"<novelnext></novelnext>


    "At least we can breathe easy now," Dave said before letting out a deep breath.


    The match continued after the celebration, that one goal from Mateo was all that was needed to demoralize Sheffield United as their gamey seemed to have slowed down more now giving Unique FC to grab hold of more control of the match.


    Despite having almost absolute control over the match, the Bilbeth Premier League side just couldn''t get another goal well, because Sheffield United were more defensive now although their gamey had slowed down.


    The time had hit the sixtieth minute and now it was time for Norman to bring off a lot of the yers on the pitch.


    Dave was the first to be reced before Mateo, Minino, Carlos, Fred, Adolf and Harry were brought off and reced by the yers on the bench.


    The yers had to watch the rest of the match from the bench now, but that wasn''t a problem as they continued to dominate the game and even for very good chances but they just weren''t able to convert them.


    After thirty minutes and seven minutes of added time, the match finally came to an end with none of the sides being able to get any more goals.


    The man of the match was none other than Mateo Smith.


    "That''s the whistle to mark the end of the match, I was really expecting something good from Sheffield United in this half but I didn''t get to see it, it was a good match but they were quite disappointing in the second half." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, they just fell asleep after that goal from Mateo," Steve said.


    "They had a little bit of fighting spirit in the first half but they just lost it in the second half. Sheffield United have some work to do on themselves and once again, Unique FC has shown us that they are improving." Jim articted. "That brings us to the end of our coverage today, goodbye and we''ll see you all next time."


    ''Only two goals conceded so far with four matches to go.'' Dave said subconsciously as he walked down the tunnel with his teammates.


    <The impressive thing is not that you''ve only conceded two goals in five matches, the impressive thing is that none of those goals were open y goals, the first one was an own goal and this one came from a penalty kick>


    ''Yeah, I haven''t even thought about it, that is pretty impressive.'' The goalkeeper replied.


    <Yeah, but your next opponent is Barcelona so you have to look sharp or that may be the day you see that quest failed message on your screen>


    ''I know that, and I''m not really that scared to face them.''


    <You''re not?>


    ''Yeah, I''m just excited about it, besides small teams beat big teams sometimes but it''s not going to be easy.''


    <Of course, it won''t, just do me a favor and leave your dream control feature active tonight>


    ''Is there a reason for that?'' He inquired.


    <Yeah>


    ''What is that?''


    <I have an idea for a special training that will help you be more efficient against a team that tends to attack more often and shoot more often>


    ''A special training.'' The goalkeeper repeated subconsciously as he walked into the locker room with his teammates.


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 212 How Fast Are Your Reflexes?

    The yers were on the bus now heading back to the hotel and as always, Dave was sitting right next to Mateo who was going through his phone with his earphones in his ears.


    Dave was also minding his business going through his phone until Mateo quickly pushed his phone right in front of him to show him a video, he also unplugged his headphone so that the goalkeeper would hear what was going on in the video.


    Just five seconds into the video, the winger''s phone began to vibrate, and quickly transitioned from the Facebook app to the call screen.


    "So-fi-a." Dave slowly read out the name of the caller before Mateo slowly pulled his phone back and plugged in his headphones.


    He slowly shifted away from the goalkeeper to the far end of his seat and turned to face the window before clicking the answer button.


    "I didn''t even get to watch the video." The goalkeeper muttered before bringing his phone back up to his field of view.


    ''Just show me my post-match rewards, Catherine.''


    <Roger>


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Two crucial saves: +20 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded(01) 0exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.9 ]


    After looking at his rewards and taking a peak at his stats, the goalkeeper turned to Mateo to see that he was done with his call, he didn''t need to look to know that as he knew he was done as soon as he stopped talking.


    "I cleared the page by mistake and I can''t seem to find the video again." The winger said as he scrolled through his phone.


    "That''s okay, I wasn''t eager to watch the video anyway since I didn''t know what it was about."


    The winger slowly turned his gaze to him before turning it back to his phone.


    "Okay."


    Dave smiled at him before turning his gaze to his phone.


    After returning to the hotel, the yers had their dinner and now, it was time for them to get some sleep that only applied to those who were tired and not only wanted but needed to get a good night''s rest, a few of the yers were still awake and having fun.


    Dave and Mateo were in their room lying on their bed, they talked about a few things together before the winger fell asleep and after a few minutes, the goalkeeper followed suit.


    About five minutes into his sleep, the goalkeeper found himself in the endless white space with Catherine standing right in front of him.


    "Hey, Cat." He said with a smile on his face. "So what''s this special training of yours?"


    "It''s quite simple," Catherine replied.


    "A special training but it''s simple." The goalkeeper said with a confused expression on his face.


    "I didn''t mean it like that." She said.


    The two suddenly found themselves standing on a football pitch but there were no stands and just as he turned back, a goalpost appeared behind him with him standing right in the middle of the goal line.


    After that, his gloves, boots, and kit appeared on his body.


    "What I meant by it being simple is the concept, the concept is pretty simple," Catherine said.


    "Okay, so what''s the concept?"


    As soon as he asked that question, three random yers appeared at the edge of the box with each one having a ball trapped under his foot.


    "I don''t think I''ve seen these yers before." The goalkeeper.


    "Yeah, you haven''t because they don''t exist." She said.


    "They don''t exist? Don''t you think it would have been better if you had brought yers that existed?"


    "I don''t think that''s what you should be worrying about."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Fine, go ahead and exin your simple concept then."


    By the way, he was speaking, it was sort of clear that he didn''t want to be here tonight but he had to be.


    "The concept of the training is to test how fast your reflexes are, we are going to start with five seconds, these three yers will fire threatening shots toward the goalpost and you have just five seconds to get ready for the next ball which will be sent toward the goalpost once the five seconds is due." She exined.


    "Okay, so when are we starting?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Now." She said before tilting her sses a little to the right.


    The yer in the middle was the first to send his ball flying toward the right side of the goalpost but luckily for Dave, it wasn''t stretched that far so he was able to quickly knock it over the bar.


    Before five seconds, he was ready for the next ball which was quickly formed toward the right side but this time from below, but he was able to get to it with both of his hands as it wasn''t stretched that far from him.


    The third one was the trickiest, it was sent toward the bottom left-hand corner but he seemed to have anticipated it on time and was able to push it out with the tip of his right glove.


    "Your reflexes are quite fast but let''s see if they''re that fast, four seconds!" She yelled.


    This one was trickier but the goalkeeper was able to keep them all out somehow.


    "I see, your reflexes are quick enough to keep up with four seconds but let''s see if they can keep up with three seconds."


    Unlike the first two rounds, the yer on the left was the first to shoot this time.


    He sent the ball flying toward the right side with a little elevation and as expected for the first shot, Dave was able to get to it but the same couldn''t be said for the other two.


    The next one was shot by the yer on the right, and he chose to send the ball flying toward the top left-hand corner.


    Dave was able to get the tip of his glove on it but it wasn''t enough to stop it from going in.


    The goalkeeper was glued to the spot as the ball rolled into the goalpost from the bottom left-hand corner.


    "Would you look at that? It looks like three seconds is your limit." Catherine said as she moved closer to him.


    "At least I tried."


    "Yeah, but we''re going to keep practicing on this one now until you get it then we can move to two seconds and after that, a second." She articted.


    "Two seconds and a second?" He said with a shocked expression on his face.


    "Yeah, that''s why I called it special training."


    "You should also add ''intense'' to the name, I would be panting by now if this was happening in the real world." The goalkeeper said.


    "Intense special training, yeah, that sounds nice." She said. "Remember this, for you to be able to react quickly and get the job done in situations like this, you have to stay focused, I hope all that training on staying focused paid off."


    "Staying focused, huh." He muttered. "I think I can do it."


    "Are you sure?"


    "Of course, two seconds and one second are going to be tough but I''ll surely smash them."


    ****


    Three more chaptersing up soon!


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 213 Tomorrows Going To Be A Nice Day

    The goalkeeper blinked his eyes a few times before he opened them and after doing that, he quickly turned to the side and picked up his phone to check the time.


    "6:59 AM." He muttered with a surprised expression on his face before turning his gaze to Mateo to see that the winger was still fast asleep.


    ''That was quite intense, Catherine.'' He said subconsciously before sitting up on his bed.


    <Yeah, but you''re starting to get the hang of it, it was quite impressive to go past three seconds after just a couple of tries>


    ''Yeah, but two seconds is something else, it''s going to take me a lot of time to get past that one.'' He replied before getting up from his bed.


    <I''m certain that you will get past it soon, we''ll try again tonight>


    ''Yeah, but before that.''


    [ +3 stat points added to dexterity ]


    [ Dexterity: 41~44 ]


    [ Unused stat points: 5 ]


    <You''re giving yourself a speed boost, that''s going to help but its effect isn''t going to be that much>


    ''Small effects pile up to create arge effect.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he made his way to the bathroom. ''I need all the small effects I can get.'' He added before pulling the door open and entering the room.


    About an hourter, the two roommates were lying on their beds, the winger was going through his phone while the goalkeeper had both of his hands at the back of his head as he stared at the ceiling.


    Mateo went through his phone for a while before he suddenly dropped it on the bed and quickly turned his gaze to the goalkeeper.


    "Aren''t you nning on going anywhere today?" He asked.


    "Do you want to go somewhere?" The goalkeeper asked with his gaze still on the ceiling.


    "Um¡­.not exactly, I was just wondering if we could go for a stroll like we did the other day, we''re going to have our training sessionte in the evening so we don''t have to worry about it for now." The winger expressed.


    Dave was quiet for a while before he slowly turned his gaze to him and sat up on his bed.


    "Sure, let''s go." He said.


    Just like the first time, they ignored everywhere they had gotten a good look at and decided to check out the ces they hadn''t been to before.


    Taking a look at the new ces took them about an hour toplete and now, they were starting to make their way back, and just as they came across therge sports equipment shop, Mateo paused for a few seconds to nce at the building.


    "Is there a problem?" Dave asked.


    "No, it''s nothing," The winger said before turning his gaze back to the goalkeeper.


    "You know we can go take a look at the shop if you want to." The goalkeeper said.


    "No, let''s keep going, it''s pointless to go in there when we don''t need to get anything there, it''s a waste of time." The winger said before walking ahead of him.


    "Okay," Dave said with an awkward expression on his face.


    "Hey!!" The yers heard someone tell from across the road and quickly turned their gaze to the area to see that it was the blonde-haired girl.


    She quickly made her way across the road and was now standing in front of the yers.


    "I wasn''t expecting to see you two out here today." She said with a bright smile on her face.


    She was putting on a yellow dress with a ck jacket on top and a small bag with a hand made out of little designed chains hanging over her shoulder.


    "We just came out for a little walk," Dave said.


    "Okay, you guys are quite inseparable." She said. "I watched the highlights of the matchst night, to be honest, I didn''t expect you guys to bully them like that, you were the number one bully." She added before turning her gaze to Mateo.


    "I had to do what I had to do." The winger said.


    "Yeah."


    "You look like you''re going somewhere." He said.


    And just like that, Dave waspletely cut out from the conversation.


    "Yeah, it''s some kind of seminar for aspiringw students." She said before checking the time on her watch. "I have to get going now."


    "Okay." The winger said.


    "Good luck in your match against Barcelona tomorrow but that doesn''t mean you guys still won''t get trashed by them." She said as she walked away from them.


    Mateo kept his gaze on her until she took the turn to the right junction and disappeared out of sight.


    The two were about to continue their walk to the hotel when the goalkeeper felt his phone begin to vibrate in his pocket.<novelnext></novelnext>


    He quickly brought out the phone to see that it was his wife.


    "Hello, Mrs. Richards." He said after picking up the call and cing the phone against his ear.


    "Mrs. Richards." She said with a little chuckle.


    "How are you?" He asked before he continued walking down the road with Mateo taking the lead now.


    "I''m fine, what about you?" She asked.


    "I''m okay."


    "And Mateo?" She asked.


    "He''s fine too, we''re heading back to the hotel together now." The goalkeeper replied.


    "Okay."


    "So, what''s up? You sound really excited today."


    "I sound excited?"


    "Yeah, you''re almost chuckling with every single thing you say." He said.


    "Okay, why don''t you take a guess?" She asked.


    "You know I''m not good at guessing, Emma."


    "Just try."


    "I don''t even know where to start, just tell me what it is." He said.


    "Fine, I''ming to Spain tomorrow, Barcelona specifically, Camp Nou to be more precise." She said,


    "Camp Nou? Does this have something to do with work?" He asked.


    "Yeah, the match is stirring up quite a reaction from people online so my boss asked me to head there tomorrow and see how things y out and also talk to a few yers, especially the big ones in the Barcelona squad." She expressed.


    "That''s nice, but you''re going to head back as soon as the match is over."


    "Yeah," She replied.


    "It will be nice to see you there."


    "Yeah, Emilia ising too." She said.


    "Emilia?" He said with a confused expression on his face.


    "Yeah."


    "I thought she wasn''t a sports reporter." He said.


    "She''s one now, they needed to fill in the space after two of the workers in that department resigned so she volunteered for it and got it." She exined.


    "So she finally did it, that''s good for her." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah." She replied. "Um¡­.I have to take care of something urgent, I''ll call you back or you can just call me backter."


    After saying that, she ended the call and the goalkeeper had to return his phone to his pocket.


    He had already gotten to the hotel but Mateo wasn''t there as he had already gone inside.


    ''Catherine.'' He called.


    <Yeah>


    ''Tomorrow''s going to be a nice day.''


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 214 At Camp Nou

    The evening training session was over now and the yers were back to their rooms to get some rest and look for something fun to do for those that wanted to do something fun.


    As for Dave and Mateo, they were both in their rooms but Mateo was sitting on his bed with both of his legs ced on the small table beside his bed, which was an indicator that he was going to leave the room soon.


    "How do you see tomorrow''s match ying out?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "I don''t know exactly, it''s going to be a tough match, a really tough one but we''ll try our best, beating them is going to be hard so we should try and get the first goal and then enter a defensive mode." The winger articted.


    "I don''t think getting the first goal is going to be easy," Dave said.


    "I never said it was going to be easy." The winger said before getting up from his bed.


    "Going to y FIFA?"


    "Yeah, just for a few minutes, I''ll be back." He said before quickly making his way out of the room.


    ______ ______


    About five minutes into his sleep, the goalkeeper found himself in the endless white space with Catherine standing right in front of him.


    "Reflex training A.K.A special training." He said.


    "Yeah, let''s get to it." She said.


    After about thirty minutes of training, the goalkeeper slowly opened his eyes and picked up his phone to see that the time was 6:20 PM.


    ''I think you brought me back a little too early, Catherine.'' He said subconsciously.


    <You were the one that asked to be taken back>


    The goalkeeper didn''t reply to her and just let out a sigh before sitting up on his bed.


    Mateo was still fast asleep and he wasn''t going to be getting up for the next hour.


    "A short run would be nice." The goalkeeper muttered.


    After taking care of everything they had to take care of at the hotel, the yers were now on the pitch for their training session.


    The training sessionsted for about ny minutes plus before the yers gathered at the sidelines for Norman to fill them in on the tactics and the yers who were going to be starting in the match.


    "As you all know, this is going to be our toughest match so far, it doesn''t really matter if we win, draw or lose but we should try our best not to lose." He said. "For this match, we will be using the four-four-two formation for defensive purposes mainly but we''re not going to be all defense so we will have an attacking midfielder, and a defensive midfielder."


    <That makes sense>


    "Dave will be the man between the sticks, Norman Kole on the right side of the defense, Adolf and Aima in the middle, and Rnd on the left. Martinez Alejandro will be starting in the defensive midfield position, Ferran in the attacking midfield position, Harry on the left, and Minino on the right. The attack will be led by Fredinho and Mateo in the striking position." The coach articted.


    ''That''s our starting eleven, I just wish Merino was fit toe on as a substitute at least.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.


    With the yers aware of their tactics, formation, and the yers that we''re going to be starting, the yers made their way back to the hotel to start heading out.


    The match was kicking off by 4:00 PM so they had to be at the Camp Nou by at least 3:00 PM.


    Camp Nou wasn''t as far away from them as the Reale Arena so it wouldn''t take them long to get there.


    The yers moved off by 2:20 PM and by 3:05 PM, they were already at Camp Nou.


    "You would think the Reale Arena is huge until you see this stadium," Mateo said as he slowly raised his gaze from the bottom to the top of the stadium.


    ? "Yeah, but still, it isn''t thergest stadium in the world," Dave said with his gaze on the highest point of the building.


    The yers were weed inside and were shown to the locker room where they were changing into their training outfits.<novelnext></novelnext>


    After that, the yers made their way out of the room and we''re heading to the pitch now.


    "The home of legends." The goalkeeper muttered as he looked at the wallpapers of the club''s legends ced all over the wall in the hallway.


    The dim rays of the setting sun shone on them as they stepped out of the tunnel, there were some people already in the stands and as expected, FC Barcelona yers were already warming up on the pitch.


    "So, Emma''s going to be here," Mateo said as he looked around the area to see if he could spot her.


    "She should already be here by now," Dave said.


    "Hey, over here!"


    The two quickly turned their gaze to the right side where the voice wasing from to see the person they were just talking about heading toward them with a microphone in her hand.


    She was putting on a red short-sleeved shirt with a pair of ck trousers to go with her ck shoes. It looked like she tried really hard to make her hair straight but the curls were still there in the parts where it was difficult to get rid of them.


    "It''s really nice to see you." She said before wrapping her arms around Dave in a hug.


    "I feel the same way." The goalkeeper said.


    "And you too." She said before leaving Dave and pressing his little her little brother''s face against her body, he was caught off guard.


    "Hey, cut it out." The winger said before struggling his way out of her grip. "I thought we talked about the hugs already."


    "Sorry, I forgot." She said before turning her gaze to Dave.


    "You look nice." The goalkeeper said.


    "Thank you." She smiled.


    "You said your twin is going to be here, where is she?" Mateo asked.


    "She''s over there talking to Vasquez." She said before pointing toward the far end of Barcelona''s side.


    The winger turned his gaze to the side and spotted her immediately, he thought there was something wrong with her hair but he didn''t jump to any conclusion as he thought that it may be because she was not that close enough.


    It didn''t take long for him to find out as Emilia was done speaking with Vasquez and was now heading toward them.


    The closer she got, the more he realized that his eyes weren''t ying with him and now that she was close enough, he could see it clearly, his gaze couldn''t leave her head.


    "Hey, guys." She said.


    "What the heck happened to your hair?" The winger asked.


    Dave was also asking the same question.


    She was known for having red hair but that wasn''t the case here, her hair was dark just like Emma''s, slightly darker to be precise.


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 215 Struck Back

    "What happened to your hair?" Mateo asked.


    "I knew this was going to be a problem." She said.


    "What happened?" Dave asked.


    "rk got me this new shampoo and I didn''t know when it was a hair-darkening shampoo until I used it and it turned my hair into this." She exined.


    "What are you two getting on her kneck for? Dark hair suits her fine." Emma said.


    "I never said that it didn''t suit her, the problem is that now there''s no way to distinguish the both of you." The winger said.


    "We''re putting on different clothes," Emilia said.


    "Hey, Dave! Mateo! Over here!" Minino yelled as he waved his hands to call the attention of the two.


    "We have to go now," Dave said before turning his gaze to Mateo. "We''ll see you guyster."


    The warm-up carried on until the time hit 3:40 PM, which was when the yers were asked to go down the tunnel and get ready for the match.


    For this match, Unique FC were going to be putting on their ck away jersey with orange polka dots and for Dave, it was the lemon green kit.


    FC Barcelona were putting on their home jersey, the jersey with the blue and red design.


    The yers were all dressed now and ready to move out but before that, Norman had something that he wanted to say to them.


    "Alright, boys, I know this is a tough match but we''re also tough, they are strong but you all have to y with confidence that''s the only way we can win, do you get that?"


    "Yes." The yers said in unison.


    "Good, now let''s go out there and show them what we can do!"


    Apuse resounded in the stadium as the yers from both teams made their way to the pitch.


    There were a lot of yers therepared to the other matches they yed but they weren''t enough to fill the stadium up as there weren''t many Unique FC fans there.


    "This is going to be an interesting match, don''t you think, Steve?" Jim said.


    "Current European champions versus a team that seems to have shown what they can do in the friendlies they''ve yed so far, it''s going to be an entertaining match but I think a lot of people are already saying they know which team is going toe out on top." Steve expressed.


    "They may be right but sometimes things don''t go as expected, Unique FC looks like a team that can give them a run for their money, and the fact that Norman is fielding his starting eleven goes a long way to tell us that he''s taking this match seriously." Jim articted.


    "Yeah, but the Catns have three of their deadliest forward on the pitch, they''re taking it seriously too if you ask me," Steve said.


    Lelemar was on the left, Vasquez in the striking position, and Ciro on the right, the only person from the starting eleven in the midfield was Andres Frednado but that wasn''t a problem, the other two were also good enough.


    Vasquez was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he rolled the ball back to Frednado.


    "And we are on the way," Jim said. "Let''s see how Unique FC holds up against the masters of possession keeping.


    The Catns kicked off the game with their famous tiki-taka and no matter how hard Unique FC yers chased the ball, they just couldn''t get to it.


    They were slowly moving toward their box now but they weren''t hasty and would slowly move the ball back when Unique FC''s box got stuck up, that was a tactic to draw out the defenders.


    "Seven minutes already gone and FC Barcelona still have a hundred percent ball possession.


    Frednado got hold of the ball and quickly drilled it to Ciro who moved a little closer to the box and just before  Rnd could get to him, he quickly sent the ball to Lelemar inside the box.


    "What a pass from Ciro," Jim said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The left winger broke free from Norman and got to the ball first.


    With a single touch, he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost but Dave was quick enough to block it with his body.


    "Oh, what a save from Dave but the rebound is still up for grabs!" Jim eximed.


    The ball was sent rolling down the middle toward Vasquez and the striker didn''t make any mistake to put it away right down the middle before Dave could get his hands on it.


    "It''s in! It''s an early opener from the home side!" Jim eximed.


    There wasn''t much celebration of that goal, the striker just gave high fives to his teammates starting with Lelemar and Ciro.


    "There was nothing Dave could do about that and now he has conceded his first open y goal since their pre-season tour and his third goal in six matches," Steve said.


    "And now it''s three." The goalkeeper muttered before slowly getting up from the floor.


    The match kicked off again with the referee''s whistle, Barcelona were pressing high against the Bilbeth Premier League side, but they were trying their best to keep hold of the ball.


    Rnd received the ball from Harry after the midfielder had almost lost the ball and just before Ciro could get to the left back, he sent the ball back to Dave.


    Dave already knew what he was going to do with the ball before he got it.


    Vasquez was quickly heading toward him now but he wasn''t fazed and moved the ball a little to the right before he sent it flying to the other side.


    Ferran jumped up way above Frednado and sent the ball flying toward Minino, the midfielder quickly raced down the wing with the ball before he drilled it low toward Fredinho.


    "Looks like Unique FC are trying to hit back by all means possible here," Steve said.


    The striker was being heavily marked so sending the ball to him was a mistake but just before the striker was brought down, he managed to tip the ball toward Mateo who was surprisingly free on the left.


    The winger didn''t even wait for the ball to touch the ground before he sent it flying toward the right side of the goalpost.


    "Mateo!"


    Frank dived toward the ball but it was just beyond his reach and ended up hitting the crossbar before falling into the goalpost.


    "Unbelievable! He''s sent it in!" Jim eximed as the winger quickly raced to the side.


    Ferran chased him down and quickly brought him down before the rest of their teammates got to the area.


    "The wonder kid strikes again! They''re back in the game just three minutes after going behind!"


    The fans were going wild with cheers now, that goal was one of the best they''d seen so far from this team.


    "They left him unmarked, it seems that they don''t know how dangerous this guy is and he did well to punish them for that," Steve said.


    "Mateo." Dave said before letting out a sigh of relief.


    ****


    That''s thest mass-release chapter, hope you enjoyed them.


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 216 Getting Overwhelmed

    With every kick of the ball, the match was getting more and more intense, twenty minutes had already been exhausted so far but the match was still leveled.


    Unique FC were getting bullied here but they were doing well to hold their ground so far in defense that was the reason why the match was still leveled.


    Ciro had been a real menace to the Bilbeth Premier League side, he had not attempted any shot so far but his through balls into the box were deadly, something that the away side would term as annoying.


    Dave had to leave his goal line to foil the ones that he sent toward Vasquez.


    For the ones that did escape him, Lelemar used them to force two crucial saves out of him and the other one that he couldn''t get to was quickly cleared by Adolf before Vasquez could do anything with it.


    "FC Barcelona are trying everything they can to take back the lead but Unique FC are saying no, they''re getting overwhelmed but they''re not backing down, I just hope they can keep this up for long," Jim said.


    Frednado raced down the middle with the ball and just before he had to confront Martinez, he sent the ball to Lelemar.


    The winger tried to get past Norman with leg overs and shy leg movements and after doing that for a while, he sent the ball to the left midfielder behind him, the yer didn''t waste time inunching the ball toward Ciro.


    "Ciro''s with the ball now."


    Unlike Lelemar, he didn''t start any shy movements all he wanted to do was get past Rnd and he knew how to do that without wasting time.


    Hebined his speed with his S-level ball control, that was all he needed to get past the left back.


    "Ciro''s moving," Jim said. "And he''s past Rnd!"


    Once the Barcelona talisman got to the edge of the box from the right side, he pulled his left leg back and sent the ball flying toward the right side of the goalpost.


    "Ciro!"


    Dave quickly dived toward the ball as soon as he saw him release the shot and was able to the ball right on time to push it out for a corner kick.


    "Oh, what a wonderful save!" Jim eximed. "That was so close to going in but Dave said no."


    Ciro was going to be the one taking the corner kick and he didn''t waste time in moving the ball to the spot.


    "I think it''s pretty obvious which team is superior with what we''ve seen so far in the match but sometimes the superior team doesn''t win the match," Steve said.


    "Yeah, you''re right, Steve but I don''t think this is one of those cases," Jim said.


    Ciro was standing over the ball now, and as soon as he heard the referee''s whistle, he slowly took two steps backward before he closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    "The ball has been sent flying into the box," Jimmented.


    The ball was sent flying toward Lelemar who was being marked by Aima inside the box, both of the yers jumped up to get their heads on the ball and Lelemar happened to be the one who got his head on the ball but the pressure Aima put on him made him fail to get a proper header on the ball.


    The ball slid off his head and was now heading toward the right side of the goalpost.


    Dave moved toward the ball to catch it and just as she left the middle of her goal line, the ball deflected on Norman''s legs just as he tried to clear it and was now heading toward the goalpost from the middle with Vasquez quickly making his way toward it.


    "This is what you''ve been training for, Dave." The goalkeeper muttered to himself before he quickly stretched his hands and caught the ball right on time to quicklyy low and avoid Vasquez''s leading to the striker crashing on top of him.


    "That was close to going in, but Dave was there to show safe hands," Jim said.


    "If he hadn''t gotten there fast enough, Vasquez would have pushed the ball and his leg would have definitely made contact with his face, I''m just surprised he managed to get there first and also avoid that leg." Steve expressed.


    ''Looks like adding three stat points to my dexterity earlier was a good choice, I need to be fast to keep up with these guys and I don''t want stamina running low.'' The goalkeeper said before he sent the ball flying into the pitch toward Minino.<novelnext></novelnext>


    [ +5 stat points added to dexterity ]


    [ Dexterity: 44~49 ]


    <And now you''ve used up all your saved stat points>


    ''It''s the best thing to do in a situation like this.'' He replied.


    <Are you really sure about that>


    Minino moved forward with the ball before he rolled it back to Minino who quickly sent the ball rolling to Ferran.


    "Ferran."


    Ferran moved forward with the ball before he quickly sent it flying toward Mateo on the left but that was a mistake as the right back there was quick enough to steal the ball before Mateo could get his foot on it.


    "What a nice way to steal the ball."


    The yer quickly rolled the ball to one of the center backs who quickly sent the ball flying toward Vasquez.


    "And now they''re starting a counterattack." Steve said.


    Vasquez had Adolf on him but he managed to get his foot on the ball first, he knew he couldn''t cleanly escape from Adolf so he sent the ball to the beat man for the job, the man on his right.


    Ciro received the ball from him and quickly broke free from Rnd.


    "Ciro has broken free from Rnd and it looks like we''re going to have a one-on-one situation here," Jim said.


    The winger was racing toward the goalpost with Rnd chasing him from behind and the two center-backs trying to shut him down from the middle but the forward was just too fast for them to catch up to, with how far away they were from him.


    "Oh, it''s a one-on-one situation here!" Jim eximed.


    Dave quickly rushed off his goal line to try and stop him but that was all the winger needed to deal his final blow, he waited for the goalkeeper to get close enough before he quickly lobbed the ball over him.


    The ball flew toward the goalpost and made little contact with the crossbar before falling into the back of the.


    "What a way to finish it!" Thementator eximed. "The ball seemed to have made little contact with the crossbar there but it wasn''t enough to stop it from going in."


    "Come on." The goalkeeper muttered with a frustrated voice before crashing to the floor on his back.


    ? <The only way that ball could not have gone in was if he made a mistake but saving it was impossible and that will be the same even for the most skilled goalkeeper>


    "Unique FC were a little light on the back, you don''t do something like that when you''re defending against this Barcelona trio and they just got punished for it. It''s Barcelona two, Unique FC one, the Catns have the lead back." Steve expressed.


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 217 Sent Off

    The first half of the match had finallye to an end with Barcelona still leading two goals to one.


    Unique FC had tried their best to convert with the few chances they had gotten after that goal from Ciro but getting the ball past Frank wasn''t as easy as Mateo made it seem when he got the ball past him for that equalizer, the goalkeeper was one of the best shot-stoppers in the world and he wasn''t afraid to sweep whenever he gets the chance to do so.


    Unique FC had gotten a few chances after that goal from Ciro but FC Barcelona had gotten a lot of chances but Dave didn''t want to concede any goal and the defense were trying their best to prevent that too.


    Dave had been the most crucial yer for the Bilbeth Premier League side so far, the goalkeeper had been saving shots from Lelemar, Vasquez, Ciro, and even the midfielders who wanted to try their luck from far out and ended up being on target.


    The best save of the shot so far came from a shot from thirty yards out, Vasquez received the ball from Frednado and just moved a little closer down the middle before he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand corner of the goalpost.


    Just to be on the safe side, Dave decided to turn on something as he dived toward it.


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    That would have been a great goal but Dave made sure that Vasquez didn''t get to celebrate a goal that wonderful as he pushed the ball over the bar with the tip of his glove.


    [ 50% stamina remaining ]


    ''This is the first time since we started this pre-season matches that my stamina has fallen this low during the first half, the lowest it fell was against Manchester United until now.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he walked down the tunnel with his teammates.


    <Well, your opponent is Barcelona so there''s nothing to be surprised about, it would have been lower than this if you had not added those stat points to dexterity>


    ''Yeah.'' The goalkeeper replied.  ''At least my energy didn''t fall that low and a little percentage of it will be recovered at the locker room along with my stamina.''


    [ 89/127 Energy ]


    After getting scolded, informed, and reshuffled a bit in the locker room, the yers made their way back to the pitch to kick off the second half.


    "Wee back everyone, the second half is about to kick off as we can see the yers making their way back to the pitch now," Jim said.


    [ 77% stamina remaining ]


    [ 99/127 Energy ]


    ''I think I won''t have any problem with these until the match is over.'' The goalkeeper said before he began to make his way onto the pitch.


    "This scoreline is very surprising from what we''ve seen so far in the first half, Barcelona should be five goals up now at least but they''re just one goal up." Steve articted.


    "Dave Richards is a beast, he''s the reason why they aren''t getting trashed yet, if the defense had been a little more efficient in doing their job, the match would still be on leveled terms by now," Jim said. "Unique FC usually turn into a different team in the second half whenever their performance in the first half isn''t that good, let''s just hope this is one of those times, I want to see a heated match."


    Mateo was standing over the ball now at the kick-off spot waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly sent the ball back to Martinez who received the ball and quickly sent it back to Dave who moved closer to the edge of the box to receive the ball.


    "They''ve moved the ball back to Dave, it looks like he''s going to try that impossible shot of his," Jim said.


    "That''s definitely what it looks like, alright," Steve said.


    The winger moved the ball back before he pulled his right leg back and quickly sent the ball flying toward Barcelona''s goalpost.


    "Have a test of this!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side and just as it got closer, it curved a little to the middle.


    Frank dived toward the ball and had almost missed it but luckily for him, his arm wasn''t out of the picture yet so the ball ended up hitting it before flying off toward the left side, right where Mateo could easily pick it up just as he had done now.


    "That was a wonderful save but Mateo''s with the ball now, things aren''t looking good for Barcelona," Jim said.


    The winger quickly made his way into the box and was about to release a shot toward the goalpost when he was quickly brought down under a rough challenge.


    "Oh, that was rough," Jim said.


    "And I don''t think there was any contact with the ball," Steve said.


    The referee blew his whistle before he quickly rushed to the area and booked the yer but it was just a yellow card.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "As expected, he is going straight into the books and now Unique FC have a massive chance to level the game once again." Jim articted.


    The fans, the coach, and his teammates were all happy to see the winger get up from that tackle like it was nothing, it was nice to see that he wasn''t injured.


    "This game is going level again." The goalkeeper said as he moved closer toward the edge of his box.


    <You think?>


    Mateo was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle with both of his hands on his waist.


    After making sure that all the yers were out of the box, the referee moved to the side and blew his whistle.


    "A massive chance for Unique FC to once again level the game," Jim said.


    Mateo removed his hands from his waist and slowly took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it rolling toward the far right of the goalpost with no elevation.


    Frank was glued to the spot as the ball rolled into the goalpost to put the Bilbeth Premier League side back on level terms with the Catns.


    "It''s in! Unique FC has started the second half of this match with a bang! What a perfectly executed penalty kick from Mateo and now they''re back on leveled terms with the Spanish giants."


    "I think Barcelona must have gotten the idea now, the idea that the team they''re ying against are no pushovers," Steve said.


    "I''m just surprised by how that guy was able to make a shot from that far that powerful," Frank said with his gaze on Dave who was standing inside his box now.


    "I told you to watch out for it, you would have known if you had watched the highlights of their match against Eibar, the guy scored from the middle of the pitch," Frednado said.


    The yers were really happy to get that equalizer but Mateo didn''t go that crazy for the goal, he never goes crazy after scoring a penalty.


    "Let''s just hold onto this one, I''ll be fine with a draw against Barcelona," Dave muttered.


    <Yeah, but I don''t think they''ll agree with you>


    The match resumed with Barcelona immediately going for the attack, it seemed like Unique FC had finally clicked their rage mode button.


    Ciro raced past Harry and passed the ball to Frednado before he zoomed past Rnd and received the ball back from Frednado.


    "Barcelona are going on a full-fledged attack here, they''re clearly not happy," Jim said.


    The winger feigned shooting toward the goalpost before dropping the ball off to Vasquez down the ball, just where he wanted it.


    "Vasquez!"


    The shot was sent flying directly toward Dave so blocking it wasn''t a problem but the rebound was sent rolling toward Ciro and since there was no one there, the goalkeeper quickly rushed outside of the box to stop him before he fired the shot.


    "This could be the moment!"


    Ciro still got to fire the shot but it ended up getting blocked by Dave again, this time from outside the box but this time something seemed to have gone wrong as the referee blew his whistle before making his way to the goalkeeper.


    "What''s going on here?"


    The referee pointed toward his hand to indicate that he had used his hand to block the ball outside the box before showing him a straight red card.


    "Oh, my goodness! Dave Richards'' been sent off for handling the ball with his hands outside of the box."


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 218 +10 Boosts And Still Nothing

    "Things aren''t looking good for Unique FC here, they just got their equalizer and now the most crucial yer in their team is being sent off," Jim said.


    "No way! That ball didn''t touch my hand!" Dave asserted before walking closer to the referee. "The VAR is there for a reason, right? Why don''t you go get a clear look at the footage?"


    "Yeah," Adolf said.


    The referee was about to say something when he heard one of the video assistant referees say something through his earpiece.


    "Looks like Dave Richards won''t be going out just yet, the referee is heading to the VAR monitor now to confirm his decision," Dave said.


    "It looked like he was telling the referee something about the ball not touching his hand there, maybe it didn''t touch his hands, let''s get a closer look," Steve said.


    After rewatching the footage carefully on the VAR monitor, the referee quickly made his way back to the pitch and called off the red card.


    The fans, his teammates, and the coach all breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the referee call off the decision.


    "As expected, the red card will not stand, that was the right call but he shouldn''t have been shown the red card in the first ce," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but I don''t really me him," Steve said. "I mean when you look at it from one angle, it did look like it touched his arm, that''s the essence of the VAR to step in during situations like this, the referees are human beings too so making one or two mistakes at some point in the match is inevitable."


    ''I''m d that was taken care of well.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he slowly moved back to his goalpost.


    <You''re lucky or maybe it''s because this is just a friendly match, some referees wouldn''t have bothered to check the VAR and you would be taken off the match like that>


    ''Yeah, you''re right.''


    There was a drop ball because of the interruption which wasn''t actually a foul and because it was done close to their box, the Bilbeth Premier League side were the ones to win the ball.


    "It''s nice to see that Dave Richards didn''t have to be cut off from the match, things would have gone straight downhill for them if that decision hadn''t been called off." Jim vocalized.


    Dave pushed the ball a little further toward the edge of the box before he sent it flying in, this time he wasn''t aiming for the goalpost, he just wanted to give the ball to someone in a very good position.


    Minino caught hold of the ball and quickly flicked it to Martinez with his back heel.


    Martinez caught back with the ball before he passed it to Rnd who was going on the offensive now.


    The left-back quickly took off down the middle and just before having to face two Barcelona yers, he passed the ball to Minino who was free on the right now.


    "Unique FC are doing well to move the ball around here." The midfielder caught hold of the ball and quickly took off down the right wing.


    A couple of Barcelona yers were trying to close down on him from the box area.


    The midfielder looked confused for a second there until he quickly evaded the defender who got closer to try and stop him and now that he was closer to the edge of the box, he quickly drilled a pass low to Ferran who was right at the edge of the box.


    "Nice work from Minino."


    The midfielder would have loved to shoot from there but his path was blocked.


    "Fredinho!" He yelled before quicklyying off the pass to the striker inside the box.


    "This could be the moment."


    The striker feigned shooting toward the goalpost to bring down both of the yers right in front of him before firing the ball toward the goalpost.


    "Fredinho!"


    Frank dived toward the right side of the goalpost to keep out the ball but it was no use as the ball ended up hitting the post before rolling out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, it hit the post! That was so close!" Jim eximed.


    Fredinho pped his face with his palm and let out a deep sigh before he slowly began to retreat.


    "That could have gone in and to think that he had already taken care of those two by faking to shoot that first time, that could have gone right in a lot of ways." Steve expressed.


    The match continued with both teams trying their best to get a goal that could probably be considered the winning goal.


    Just like in the first half, FC Barcelona were still dominating the match but they weren''t getting past Unique FC''s defense as easily as they were doing in the first half.


    Frednado got hold of the ball from Vasquez after the striker failed to get past Adolf.


    The midfielder quickly moved back with the ball to avoid Martinez but the defensive midfielder was still chasing him so he had to give the ball to the right midfielder who quickly sent the ball to Ciro.


    "Ciro''s with the ball now."


    The winger raced toward the box with the ball glued to his feet but just before he could do anything with it, the ball was taken off him by a neat tackle from Mateo, he was right behind him but he was able to neatly win the ball back.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Nice tackle from Mateo to stop Ciro from cooking up something menacing," Jim said.


    "He''s not always that defensive, chasing the ball isn''t exactly but I guess he realized that he has to do it in a match like this," Steve said.


    The match had just entered the eightieth minute and FC Barcelona had won a free kick just twenty-five yards away from the box after Fredinho was brought down under a careless challenge by Martinez.


    "This doesn''t look good," Dave muttered as he adjusted his gloves.


    There was no question on who was going to take it, Ciro Martinez was one of the most formidable free-kick takers the world of football had ever seen, which made him the most formidable long ball specialist among all the active footballers.


    He scored fifteen free kicks from twenty-seven attemptsst season so who else would it be but him?


    Unique FC made sure to form a four-man wall in the direction the ball was facing and they made sure to put someone below.


    "This could be FC Barcelona''s chance to take the lead once again with just ten minutes of regr time left," Jim said.


    [ Ball ma unable to activate ]


    [ 6/6 triespleted ]


    [ Cooldown time left: 17 minutes ]


    ''Damn, I''ve used up my ball ma tries, and I need seventeen minutes before I can use it again.''


    <The match would be over by that time>


    ''I know that, I''m going to have to do this without ball ma.


    [ Shot stopping attribute activated ]


    [ +10 stat points added to all physical stats ]


    [ Strength: 34(10) ]


    [ Dexterity: 49(10) ]


    [ Endurance: 30(10) ]


    <You haven''t used that for a while>


    ''Yeah, because it can only be used during matches and I hadn''t really had any use for it in the previous matches.''


    <Yeah, you have a point, just keep your eyes in the air>


    ''Roger.''


    "Can the long ball specialist convert this one?" Jim said as soon as the referee blew his whistle.


    Ciro didn''t take off as soon as he heard the referee''s whistle, he stared at the ball for a little while before he slowly took three steps backward and paused for a while before he quickly closed up on the ball.


    He pulled his left leg back and sent the ball flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost.


    "Ciro!"


    Dave quickly dived toward the ball and despite the ball being fast, he was able to get a hand to it but because he didn''t have ball ma activated, he wasn''t able to get a proper feel on it and the ball was just too fast to be pushed out like that.


    The ball ended up smashing past his hand and hitting the angle of the crossbar before falling straight into the goalpost.


    "Oh, what a goal!" Jim eximed as Ciro''s teammates rushed toward him and brought him down right where he was standing. "Dave did his best to stop it but it was just too strong for him! The long ball specialist strikes again! That was magnificent!"


    After crashing to the floor, the goalkeeper just didn''t feel like getting up quickly.


    "I had plus ten boosts in my stats." He muttered.


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 219 Out Of Their Reach

    Mateo received the ball from Ferran and quickly got past the right back with a snake bite and when the next yer tried to stop him, he got past him with wonderful ball control and neat footwork to get inside the box.


    "Mateo''s through and he''s got a shooting opportunity here," Jim said.


    The winger was about to release the ball toward the goalpost when the ball was aggressively taken off his foot causing him to fall in the process.


    He raised his hands and called for a foul and a penalty kick but there was no response from the referee.


    "Nice defending, they''re trying their best to hold on to the lead with Unique FC attacking aggressively now," Jim said.


    "Never in my life would I imagine Unique FC putting this much pressure on Barcelona," Steve said.


    Since that wonderful free-kick goal from Ciro, Unique FC seem to have gone into rage mode, attacking with everything they had and quickly recovering the ball after they''ve lost it.


    The only thing good about Barcelona at this point of the game was that their defense could handle that ferocious style of attack well and their midfield still make important interceptions but their attack had be less efficient.


    The clock had just hit the nieth minute and the Catns were still with the ball, all they wanted to do now was stall them by passing the ball around pointlessly until the added time wasplete but not everybody agreed to that.


    The official with the board raised his board to indicate that there was going to be five minutes of added time.


    Unique FC yers thought it was going to be enough time for them to get their equalizer until something happened.


    Vasquez received the pass from Lelemar inside the box and was about to fire toward the goalpost when he was pushed down by Pirlo inside the box.


    The referee didn''t need to look twice before blowing his whistle while pointing to the penalty.


    "Vasquez has been brought down inside the box and it''s a penalty for FC Barcelona in added time," Jim said.


    The yers tried to talk the goalkeeper into rethinking his decision but it didn''t look like he was going to listen to them, the penalty was going to stand and that was that.


    "The match is about toe to an end and now they have been given the chance to end it with a two-goal lead." Steve said.


    The ball was dropped at the penalty spot as Ciro Martinez made his way toward it.


    ''If he scores this, it will mean that he haspleted his hat trick against me.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he adjusted his gloves.


    <You should know that there''s a deduction for conceding a hat trick>


    ''A deduction? Seriously?''


    <Yeah, the exp will be deducted from your match rewards and if the exp you earned there is not enough, it will be taken from your exp bar>


    ''I don''t like the sound of that.''


    <And you shouldn''t but don''t worry, the exp isn''t that much>


    ''Are you sure?''


    <Yeah>


    Ciro was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle with the rest of the yers standing behind him outside the box.


    "If Ciro scores this, it willplete his hat trick," Jim said.


    The referee blew his whistle but the winger didn''t quickly move toward the ball, he quickly observed Dave''s movements between the sticks for a while before he slowly took two steps backward.


    ''His penalty kicks are mostly to the right with a little elevation.''


    <But you can''t be too sure, the only way to be sure and save this penalty kick is to use that skill>


    ''That skill? No, I''m not using that painful skill.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he shook his head.


    <Suit yourself then>


    Ciro quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    Dave guessed right in the direction but he was pretty wrong with the elevation, the winger had fired the ball toward the top right-hand corner while his dive was mid so he wasn''t able to get his hand on the ball and it ended up falling into the back of the.


    "What a way to put it away, Dave went the right way but he couldn''t get the elevation," Steve said.


    "And that''s his hat trick, Ciro Martinez doing what he does best," Jim said.


    <And now you''re going to get that deduction><novelnext></novelnext>


    ''Keep quiet.''


    "Unique FC tried their best but it looks like it''s another win in the bag for FC Barcelona," Steve said.


    There was nothing more Unique FC could do and once the added time wasplete, the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end.


    Other teams would be sad after losing a match like that but not Unique FC, the fact that they were able to put up a fight against FC Barcelona was enough reason to be happy with themselves.


    Norman was even smiling at them as they came off the pitch and the coaching team were really happy with them.


    The statistics board showed that they had a total of forty-six percent ball possession in the match while Barcelona had fifty-four percent. They yed sight shots with five being on target while Barcelona yed twenty-five shots with eighteen being on target, Dave had a lot to deal with in the match, and the fact that he faced all those shots and only conceded four goals was proof of how impressive he was.


    The goalkeeper didn''t hesitate to make his way to Ciro to ask for his shirt as soon as the match was over.


    "Unique FC had just proven today that they have what it takes to fight for the Bilbeth Premier League title this season and that Conference League trophy, I can''t wait for the season to kick off so we can see how things will y out." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, they''re showing a lot of promise." Steve said."


    "Alright, that brings us to the end of our coverage today, goodbye and we''ll see you all next time."


    Ciro wasn''t that good with English and Dave wasn''t that good with Spanish either but he still managed to get the shirt.


    Just looking at the number on the back was enough to put a bright smile on his face.


    "Hey, guess what I got?" The goalkeeper asked as soon as he caught up with Mateo just as he was about to start heading down the tunnel.


    "Ciro''s shirt." The winger replied.


    "How do you know?"


    "Because I saw you exchanging your shirt with him." He replied.


    "Oh," The goalkeeper said before bringing down his gaze to see that his teammate was also holding a Barcelona shirt with the number eleven on it. "I see you got Lelemar''s shirt."


    "He was the one that asked for the swap and how could I ever refuse? I wanted to get Ciro''s but you were already there so¡­." The winger said.


    "Oh, I see." The goalkeeper said.


    "Hey, guys!"


    The two turned their gaze toward the area to see Emma and Emilia standing near the stands.


    "What''s up?" Dave said after getting to the area with Mateo.


    "At some point, I thought you guys were going to draw with Barcelona until Ciro struck with that free kick and I realized that it was just impossible," Emma said.


    "Did you call us here to taunt us?" Mateo said with a grim look on his face.


    "Hey, Mateo!"


    The winger quickly looked up to see Sofia in the stands right above them.


    "I thought you had gone down the tunnel but it''s a good thing you''re here." The blonde-haired teenager said. "Nice work but you guys still got trashed just as I predicted!"


    "Two goals isn''t exactly trashing, you know." Mateo said.


    "Who''s she?" Emma asked after taking a nce at her.


    "She''s¡­um¡­ Mateo''s friend." Dave replied.


    "Friend." She said before returning her gaze to the blonde girl, she kept her gaze on her for a while before bringing it down to her little brother.


    *****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 220 Prepare Yourself

    After taking care of everything they had to take care of outside, the two roommates were making their way to the locker room now and while Dave had a somewhat clueless expression on his face, Mateo wasn''t putting on his best of expressions, he seemed upset.


    "Why does she always have to jump to conclusions like that." The winger muttered.


    "She didn''t mean it like that, you know your sister, she wouldn''t do anything to intentionally upset you," Dave said.


    "But I''m upset now, how do you exin that?" The winger asked but there was no response from the goalkeeper. "Oh, forget it, let''s just go."


    Dave allowed him to walk past him before he slowly turned toward him.


    "You, know your attitude has been a bit off since that day, maybe she does have a point." The goalkeeper said.


    Mateo''s movements slowed down for a bit but he didn''t stop and continued walking until he got to the locker room.


    After watching him enter the room, Dave let out a deep sigh.


    <It''s funny how you people perceive the same thing in a lot of different ways>


    ''Yeah, but that''s what makes us human.'' Dave replied.


    Back at the locker room, the yers were all dressed up and ready to leave, and that included Dave too.


    ''Just show me my post-match rewards before I leave, I want to see what this hat trick point deduction is like.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before slowly sitting down on his seat.


    [Post-match rewards ]


    [ Match status: lost ]


    [ Twelve crucial saves: +120 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded (4): 0exp ]


    [ Conceded a hat trick: -100 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.0 ]


    ''You have to be kidding me, I lost a hundred exp just because I conceded a hat trick?'' The goalkeeper was quite baffled to see such an amount of exp go like that.


    <I told you that you weren''t going to like it>


    ''Why would I like losing exp, even if it was just one exp, I wouldn''t be happy and now that I''ve struggled to make twelve crucial saves and get that amount of exp, it has been reduced to the reward of making just two crucial saves in a less busy match.''


    <Whining won''t bring your experience points back because it''s nevering back, if you don''t want to lose your hard-earned experience points like that again, then don''t concede hat tricks>


    ''This is the first time I''ve conceded a hat trick since I got this system but I have a feeling that''s going to be hard in the uing season, especially against Supreme United and that Rnd Hills.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.


    <Are you serious? You were able to keep Manchester United at bay and stop Barcelona from banging a goal fest against you guys and now you''re afraid of Supreme United, you faced them when you were still a low-ss goalkeeper, remember>


    ''I never said I was afraid of them, I''m just saying that it''s not going to be an easy match.''


    <I don''t know about that, with the way you guys are ying now, it might turn out to be a walk in the park, the only way what you''re thinking can happen is if the chemistry and work rate of the team breaks down at the end of this pre-season tour>


    ''So, you''re saying that we have what it takes to fight for the title this season, like battle it out with Supreme United and Dynamo FC.''


    <Yeah, that''s what I''m saying>


    The goalkeeper didn''t reply immediately as he slowly got up from his seat.


    ''Although you''re not always right, you''re right most of the time so if you say we can fight for the league title then we''re going to fight for it.'' He said subconsciously before folding his right hand into a fist.


    The yers were outside now with the bus waiting for them a little distance away, it was time to head back to the hotel but before that, Dave had to go bid his wife and her friend farewell, Mateo had to tag along because he needed to say something to his sister.


    "I guess I''m going to head back to Bilbeth and leave you here again," Emma said.


    "Yeah, but don''t worry, we''ll be back in a couple of days, it''s almost over, we just have three matches left now." The goalkeeper.<novelnext></novelnext>


    After hearing him say that, she stepped closer to him and pulled him in for a hug.


    "Just get it over with ande back quickly, the house is quite lonely without you around and¡­."


    "And what?" Dave asked.


    "It''s nothing." She shook her head before turning her gaze to Mateo who was standing right beside Dave.


    "Hey, I''m sorry about what I said back there." The winger started with his right hand on the back of his head. "I shouldn''t have reacted that way."


    "Hey, I think I should haven''t jumped to conclusions like that, it''s just that it''s been a long while since I''ve seen you smile at someone like that," Emma said.


    "It''s okay." He said.


    "Hug?" She said before opening her arms with a bright smile on her face.


    Mateo stared at her for a while before opening his arms to ept her hug.


    "Sure."


    "You know I spoke to Sofia after you left and I know one conversation isn''t enough to judge someone but she seems to be a pretty nice person and¡­."


    "And what?" Mateo asked.


    "Never mind, you wouldn''t want to hear it anyway." She said.


    ''What''s with her and that?'' Dave thought.


    "We have to go now and so do you guys." She said before she turned to Dave and kissed him.


    "Don''t forget to wash off that shampoo on your hair, Emilia it''s really confusing for both of you to have the same color, that difference in hair color was the only distinctive feature you guys had and it should stay that way," Mateo said.


    "Don''t worry, Mateo, it will wash it in a few days," Emilia said with an awkward smile on her face.


    The two watched them until they were out of sight before they turned and began to make their way to the bus.


    _______ _______


    About five minutes into his sleep, the goalkeeper found himself in the endless white space with Catherine standing right in front of him just like he expected.


    "Hey, Cat."


    "You see how important that reflex training was but still you weren''t able to save a few of them." She said.


    "Yeah, it was impossible to keep those balls out." The goalkeeper said.


    "For your level, yes, three seconds is still your limit although you''re starting to get the hang of it now." She said. "You''ll have to master three seconds tonight and after that, we''ll move to two seconds and one second and once you''ve mastered those two, keeping out balls like that won''t be a problem to you anymore."


    "You say it as if it''s going to be a walk in the park."


    "But you know that it''s not going to be a walk in the park so prepare yourself and make sure you don''t turn off your dream control until we''re done with it."


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 221 Leaning About The Former System Holder

    Unlike thest two free days they had, Norman decided that they were going to have a morning training session today before they face off against Dynamo FC on Thursday.


    The training was set tost for ny minutes only and right now the yers were having their forty-five minutes break.


    Most of the yers were sitting on the sidelines getting some rest but Dave had not exhausted enough energy and stamina to be resting yet, the goalkeeper was still on the pitch practicing his long-range shots.


    "His stamina is quite abnormal for someone who just stays in between the sticks," Rnd said before turning his gaze to Mateo who was sitting beside him. "He has what it takes to be a forward, don''t you think?"


    "Yeah, but his spot is in between the sticks, that''s the position he has trained in his entire life, it''s his favorite position and he''s currently one of the best in that position." Mateo expressed.


    "Yeah, you''re right, I was just saying, I wasn''t asking you to try and convince him to be a forward," Rnd said.


    "I know."


    ''I''m not asking you to tell me the name of the system holder before me because it''s pretty obvious you can''t do that but can you tell me what he was like at least?'' The goalkeeper asked before he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    The ball flew toward the left side of the goalpost, hit the angle, and bounced on the goal line before bouncing into the goalpost.


    <Fine>


    ''Finally.'' Dave replied before rolling another ball to the edge of the box inside the eighteen-yard box. ''So, start, what was this person like? Was he just like me before he got the system?''


    <No he was the opposite of you>


    ''Huh?''


    <He was known as one of the best goalkeepers in the Bilbeth Premier League>


    ''So, he was also a Bilbeth Premier League yer.'' The goalkeeper replied. ''That makes sense given the fact that I also got the system here.''


    <As I said, he was a good goalkeeper even before he got the system and it just made him better, a force to be reckoned with in between the sticks>


    ''He does sound coolpared to me, so he''s one of the greatest goalkeepers to ever exist.''


    <Yeah but despite that, he was only able to win two European titles with his club and just a few league titles and league clubs>


    ''All that talent plus the system and he only won two European titles and I''m guessing it''s Europa Leagues since no Bilbeth Premier League team has won the UEFA champions league to date.''


    <Yeah, it was the Europa League and a UEFA Super cup title>


    ''I still don''t get it, he could have won more with what he had but he ended with just a few titles to his name.''


    <Yeah, but it wasn''t exactly his fault>


    ''What do you mean?''


    <He remained loyal to a particr team throughout his career but that team wasn''t really that good when it came to contesting for Europeanpetitions, they qualified for the champions league a couple of times but ended up getting disqualified or dropping to the Europa, he was a goalkeeper so there wasn''t much that he could do about it, his job was to stop their opponent''s from scoring, just that, so he couldn''t control the game or score a goal for his team and no matter how tough someone was, no one was invincible. Things were always tough for him against strong opponents that their defense couldn''t deal with>


    ''And despite all that, he remained loyal to the team.''


    <Yeah, and he finally led his team to a Europa League triumph, that triumph wouldn''t have happened because of him, he still went on to lead them to the UEFA Super cup triumph making it two European trophies for his club>


    ''Which team did they face in the UEFA Super cup final?'' Dave asked.


    <I see what you''re trying to do there, I''m not telling you>


    ''Fine, just continue saying what you''re saying.'' He said subconsciously. ''Winning two European titles is no small feat but he could have won more if he had just gone to one of the teams that had better chances with thosepetitions, I''m sure a lot of those teams wanted to sign him.''


    <Yeah, but he chose not to leave his boyhood club>


    ''I guess he didn''t care much about titles.''


    <There is some truth to that but winning something with his club meant everything to him>


    ''How was his run in the national team?''


    <I thought you would never ask. I think the best parts of his career was with the Bilbeth national team>


    ''Really?''<novelnext></novelnext>


    <Yeah, he won three Euros, the first two consecutively and thest one after six years, they got to the finals five consecutive times and won it thrice so he has three Euro gold medals and two silver medals>


    ''They could have won it five times in a row.'' Dave said subconsciously with a shocked expression on his face.


    <Yeah, but Spain and Germany were there to stop that from happening>


    ''I see, so they were beaten by Spain and Germany in those finals they lost.''


    <Yeah>


    ''He had a very good run with the national team I see.''


    <Yeah, did I forget to mention that he also has a Euro bronze medal>


    ''Cool, what about the world cup? Bilbeth doesn''t have a world cup but how far did he go in the world cuppetitions he participated in?''


    <He only got to be part of the world cup thrice and during the first two times, they were knocked out in the round of sixteen and thest time, they made it to the semi-finals>


    ''Bilbeth has made it to the semi-finals eight times in history so which one was it?''


    <I can''t go into details>


    ''Yeah, you won''t, looks like this guy before me had a pretty good career.''


    <Yeah, but you''re going to have a better career>


    ''Seriously? You just said he was a better goalkeeper than me before the system.''


    <Yeah, but he didn''t have the ambition to grow with the system, he didn''t explore it to its fullest and reached his peak pretty soon, it took him a year to get to your current level with the system>


    ''Really?''


    <Yeah, just don''t ck off at anything point in your life>


    ''I don''t think that''s ever going to happen again with you in my head.''


    <Hmph>


    "Hey, Dave, over here!"


    The goalkeeper raised his head to see Minino waving at him from the center of the pitch.


    He had been lost in his mind for quite a while now but hearing Minino''s voice from afar was enough to snap him out of it.


    ''Hey, Cat.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he got up from the floor.


    <Yeah>


    ''You do know that I can find out who the former system holder was with everything you''ve told me just now. ''


    <Oh, really? Then you should also know that I can erase all those things from your mind whenever I want to>


    ''You''re not being serious.'' The goalkeeper said with a shocked expression on his face.


    <JUST TRY ME>


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 222 Unique FC Vs Dynamo FC

    "That was really fun," Dave said before crashing down on his bed.


    "Yeah," Mateo said before crashing down on his bed t on his face. "But tiring too."


    "You got that right." The goalkeeper said.


    ''My stamina and energy have fallen so low.''


    [ 15% stamina remaining ]


    [ 25/127 Energy ]


    <I told you to stop but you wouldn''t listen>


    "You''re really fast Dave, you weren''t that fastst time, it''s like you''re getting better every single day." The winger said.


    Dave stared at him for a while before replying.


    "I''ve been working hard to improve every day and I''m d that I''m getting results although it isn''t exactly as you just put it now." He replied.


    "Yeah, it may not be exactly as I put it but still, you''re improving rapidly, it''s something that seems impossible but you''re doing it." The winger said.


    "Yeah, I guess so but I think anybody can do it."


    <Yeah, but the person won''t get all the skills and power-ups that you have now>


    "Yeah, maybe but I don''t think I know anyone else who has improved as rapidly as you did but there are a lot of people in the world so there may be someone else out there." Mateo expressed.


    "You improve fast too, Mateo, at such a young age you''ve already be known as a threat to teams'' defenses." The goalkeeper said.


    "Not as fast as you''ve improved recently." The winger said.


    ''I think it''s time to change this topic about improving fast.''


    <Yeah>


    "So, we''re going to face Dynamo FC tomorrow, right?" He said.


    "Yeah, the only Bilbeth Premier League team that we''re going to be facing in this pre-season tour," Mateo said.


    "How do you think the match is going to y out?"


    "Well, on paper they are weaker than most of the teams we''ve faced so far but that doesn''t mean we can beat them easily."


    "You know our team is different and stronger now." The goalkeeper said.


    "That''s not what I am talking about."


    "Then what are you talking about?" Dave asked.


    "We both y in the same league so they''ve had more experience ying against us than any of those other teams, they know a thing or two about our style of y, and to add to that, we weren''t able to beat them in any of ourst five meetings, one was a draw and we were beaten in the other four." The winger expressed.


    "Yeah, I get what you''re trying to say but doesn''t that apply to us too, we also have a good experience in facing them and now that we have a better team, coach cane up with a way for us to beat them." The goalkeeper said.


    "You''re right, it also applies to us and I trust the coach toe up with something good but it''s still not going to be easy, I can feel it."


    ______ ______


    Unique FC vs Dynamo FC was a long drawn-out battle between both teams, both teams gave it their all.


    Unique FC kept most of the ball and tried to attack with every good chance they got.


    Dynamo FC on the other hand didn''t care about keeping the ball for long, they attacked every time they got the ball and they made sure to shoot with every chance they got but luckily for Unique FC, Dave Richards was there to stop most of those shots, especially the deadly and tricky ones.


    Unique FC controlled the match thanks to their coordinated midfield, their passes were neat and their build-up was a sight to behold.


    Dynamo FC were ferocious with their attacks all in the attempt to force out a goal from Unique FC but despite that, the match ended in a goalless draw.


    Mateo hade really close to scoring just before the final whistle, he received the cross from the other side from Luis Roberto and quicklyid the pass off to Ferran.


    "Unique FC are starting a quick build-up with the match about toe to an end," Jim said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Ferran moved forward with the ball and just as he got closer to the edge of the box, he feigned shooting toward the goalpost before sending the ball back to Minino with his back heel.


    Minino understood what Ferran wanted to do and quickly sent the ball flying toward Mateo from the top.


    The winger waited for the ball to get in front of him and just before it could touch the floor, he sent it flying toward the goalpost with just a little hit.


    "Mateo!"


    There was nothing the goalkeeper could do as the ball quickly flew past him but luckily for him, the ball ended up hitting the right post before flying past the line for a goal kick.


    "That was so close to being the ultimate moment of the match," Steve said.


    Mateo had a disappointed look on his face as the referee blew his whistle thrice to finally bring the match to an end.


    The goalkeeper was sitting on the bench by the time the match came to an end and he seemed pretty satisfied with the result.


    ''At least I didn''t concede any goal, six goals conceded with just two matches left.''


    <Remember that thosest two opponents are Wolfsburg and Real Sociedad, those two are going to be tough and unpredictable so don''t take them lightly>


    ''I know.''


    "It ended goalless but it was not boring by any means, both teams gave it their best, I guess maybe because they''re from the same league, they just canceled each other and ended it on equal grounds," Jim said.


    "Mateo Smith had scored in every match they''ve yed in this pre-season tour until today, he was brought on prettyte in the seventy-fifth minute but he put on a nice show for us, he should have gotten that goal at thest minute but it seems like it was not meant to be." Steve articted.


    "That marks the end of our coverage for today, goodbye and we''ll see you all next time."


    Dave was dered the man of the match as soon as the final whistle was blown and there was no doubt about that, he was just exceptional today, stepping up in crucial moments to keep his team in the match, stopping two one-on-one situations was what really won him that man of the match award.


    ''Two man of the match awards in seven games.'' Dave said subconsciously as he walked to the locker room with his teammates and the rectangr man of the match award in his hand.


    <Yeah, that''s pretty impressive for a goalkeeper and now you''ve also kept two clean sheets in seven matches>


    ''Yeah, I guess.'' He replied. ''Show me my post-match rewards.''


    <Now?>


    ''Yeah, I want to run through it quickly.''


    <If you say so>


    [Post-match rewards ]


    [ Eight crucial saves: +80 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded(0): +80 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 9.1 ]


    ''I guess I yed a big role in keeping the clean sheets this time around despiteing off in the sixty-ninth minute.''


    <You were the main key to that clean sheet>


    ''I wonder the amount of exp I will get for doing something like this against Barcelona.''


    <A huge amount of exp>


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 223 My Teammates Stats

    "You guys did your best today, especially in midfield but the defense had a few leaks that slowly turned to holes in thest minutes of the match, if it wasn''t for Dave, they would have beaten us like they''ve always done in the past." Norman expressed before turning to face the exit. "I thought I was starting to fix it but it looks like our defense has to go under renovation."


    "What does he mean by renovation?" Mateo said as soon as he left the room.


    "Get new defenders, maybe," Dave muttered.


    <None of your right backs are that good, you guys need a new center back that can do his job properly and apart from Adolf, the other two center backs aren''t that good>


    ''You''ve been observing, huh?''


    <Of course, that''s what I do during every match, the data of all your teammates are registered in my memory, I know who''s faster, has more stamina, and many other things that define a yer''s style>


    ''Seriously? You know all that?''


    <Yeah, just yesterday, Mateo''s pace increased from eighty-six to eighty-eight>


    ''All that running must have caused it.''


    <You''re right>


    ''What about mine?''


    <I can''t show you because it''s not part of the system functions but I can tell you>


    ''Okay.''


    <Two aspects of your stats improved, your pace improved by one to make it eighty-seven and your shooting power improved by two to make it ny-four>


    ''I didn''t know my pace could improve without me having to add any stat points to my dexterity.''


    <Dexterity isn''t just your pace, it measures your agility which is pace, reflexes, and bnce, anytime you add a point to dexterity, it goes to any of those three attributes but you can train them differently and improve them without having to add any stat points to what the system disys as your dexterity stat points, that is why your system has gotten so good but if you look at your dexterity stat points, it''s not supposed to be that good, the same goes for your agility and bnce>


    ''Oh, I get it now, training and improving physically and improving with the stat points the system offers me are two different things but the stats correspond well in making me better.''


    <Exactly, that''s why you''ve gotten so good so fast, you''ve been improving at a double rate just like Mateo said>


    ''Yeah, it all makes sense now.'' He replied. ''With the way I''ve improved, I never knew Mateo was faster than me.''


    <You guys were equal in terms of pace earlier that morning but right now he''s faster than you>


    ''I see, what about shooting power?''


    <His shots can''t get that powerful but it''s enough for him to get the ball into the goalpost, he relies more on technique and cing more than shot power but that doesn''t his shot power isn''t strong enough, his shooting power sits at eight one currently>


    ''That''s nice, I guess he doesn''t need an enormous amount of shots to finish with the way he ys.''


    <Yeah>


    ''So, I have a shooting power of ny-four, who has more?'' He inquired.


    <Currently, none of your teams has more shot power than you>


    ''It''s funny to think the yer with the most explosive shooting power in the team is the goalkeeper who rarely ever gets involved in the attack but you used the word ''currently'' so, what''s up?''


    <There are four yers in the team whose shot powers are closer to yours and may soon surpass you in that department from what I''m seeing>


    ''Really? Who are they?''


    <Ferran Phil has a shooting power of ny-one, Fredinho also has a shooting power of ny-one and Fred Miles has a shooting power of ny-three just one behind you>


    ''If Fred Miles is that close to me, doesn''t that mean that he can score from the goalpost too?''


    <I think you meant to say that he can shoot the ball from that far but scoring from that far requires uracy which is something he has to work on big time>


    ''Oh, I see.'' The goalkeeper replied. ''What about the fastest, who''s the fastest yer in the squad? I mean just tell me the top five fastest yers in the team.''


    <Okay, in the matter of speed, you sit at that fifth ce with eighty-seven pace, Mateo sits in fourth ce with eighty-nine pace along with Christian Merino, the second spot goes to Ferran with ny pace and the fastest yer in the team is Rnd Ryle with ny-two pace><novelnext></novelnext>


    ''Of course, he''s really fast when he breaks free with the ball.''


    <Their pace was judged by how fast they can move without the ball, a yer can be faster than his teammate without the ball but be slower than his teammate when they''re both with the ball>


    ''So, who sits at the top in that category?''


    <Rnd still sits at the top in that category followed by Mateo but it''s pretty close between the two, you''re not really that fast with the ball, Dave>


    ''I know, what about the other yers?''


    <I''m still processing their stats in that department, I''ll tell you when I''m done>


    ''Wow, Catherine, you''re really something else, you told me the stats of my teammates, I never knew you could do that.''


    <It takes a while before I can get that information from the yers but once Iplete it, I don''t need to do anything else>


    ''You''re the best, Cat.''


    <Thank you>


    _________ ________


    The training session had been shifted to the evening and right now, Mateo and Dave were both lying on their beds thinking of what their move was going to be for the day.


    "I want to go train for a little while but I wish at least four more of them would agree toe with us." The goalkeeper muttered.


    "You do know that most of them have already gone out and the few that are left are probably ying video games," Mateo said.


    "Yeah, the coach told us to rest and have fun today and that''s what they''re doing but I don''t really feel like doing anything rxing today." The goalkeeper said.


    "Same here, I didn''t even get up to thirty minutes of ying time."


    "I see you''re still pretty upset about that but the coach was just making sure you don''t get injured like Merino who has one week left before he recovers fully."


    "I know that, I just wish coach had brought me on earlier like in the sixty-fifth minute." The winger said.


    "Don''t worry, we''ll meet them twice in the league and the super cup maybe, you''ll probably start in those matches ."


    "Maybe."


    The winger heard the notification sound from his phone and quickly picked it up to see that it was a message from someone.


    After reading the message which was a brief one, he turned his gaze back to Dave.


    "Hey, since our teammates don''t want to train, how about we go somewhere with people who want to train?" The winger asked.


    "Are you talking about the ce Sofia took us to the other day?" Dave asked.


    "Yeah," Mateo replied.


    "So, that message was from her, right?"


    The winger responded with a nod and an awkward smile on his face.


    ***


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 224 Last Day Off

    "Hey, Dave! Mateo over here!"


    Just as they stepped onto the pitch, Sofia started yelling their names while waving toward them but that wasn''t enough.


    "I can''t believe you guys actually came." She said with a bright smile on her face after getting close enough to them.


    "Well, today''s going to be ourst free day before we leave here so our coach told us to get a little breather before thest two matches," Dave exined.


    "Last free day? When are you guys leaving?" She asked before turning her gaze to Mateo.


    "Um....we''ll y against Real Sociedad on Sunday and then leave on Monday." The winger said.


    "Oh, well, never mind that,e there''s something that I want to show you." She said before grabbing Mateo by his arm and pulling him along with him.


    Dave watched them until they got to the middle of the pitch before he began to make his way to the area.


    Unlike thest time they were here, the girls'' coach was here today and he was really d to have them there.


    "Hey,e on, I''m sure I can stop it."


    Right from the start, the team''s goalkeeper, a tall girl who happened to have dyed her hair pink had been pestering Dave and just wouldn''t leave him alone.


    "Are you sure you can stop it?" Dave asked after letting out a deep sigh.


    "I know I can." She said.


    "You sure have a lot of confidence in yourself." He said. "Moreno and Frank, those two world-ss goalkeepers had trouble taking care of my shots, you know."


    "I know but I have a feeling that I will be able to do it." She said.


    ''Since when do people be able to do something just by having the feeling that they can?''


    <At least she has confidence in herself, something you''vecked for a very long time>


    ''You don''t always have to say something whenever I make ament, you know.''


    "Fine, just head to the other goalpost, quickly." The goalkeeper said before he picked up the ball lying on the floor and began to make his way to the goalpost going to do it.


    "He''s really going to do it," Sofia said.


    "Yeah," Mateo replied.


    "Wow, Sofia, have you always been this touchy around guys?"


    "What are you talking about, Miranda?" She said before turning her gaze to Miranda and that was when she realized that she had both of her hands on Mateo''s shoulder.


    ''Oh.''


    The first thought that came to her mind was to quickly remove her hands from there and quickly apologize but just as she was about to take her gaze off Miranda, something different came to her mind.


    Instead of removing her hands, she slowly rxed her head on his shoulder toplete what her body had been trying to do subconsciously.


    "What''s wrong, Miranda?" She said with a smug look on her face.


    The only thing Miranda could do was pout with an unpleasant look on her face and once she got that reaction from her, she quickly got off Mateo''s shoulder.


    ''That was a bit stupid.''


    She expected Mateo to be mad or at least have a stunned look on his face but there was no reaction from the winger as he still had his gaze on the pitch.


    <So, you''re going to go full power on her>


    ''That''s the essence of it, if I don''t, the shot won''t really have that much power and she''ll probably end up saving it.''


    <Yeah, I guess so>


    The goalkeeper dropped the ball at the edge of the box inside the eighteen-yard box and slowly took four steps backward before he quickly sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    The ball was flying directly toward her at first, but just as it got closer, it quickly curved a little to the left, she dived toward the ball with both of her hands but she wasn''t able to get a hand to it as the ball flew past her gloves and smashed into the back of the.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "You''ve got to be kidding me." One of the girls standing by the side said with a shocked expression on her face.


    "He actually scored from the goalpost."


    "The shot power is understandable but that level of uracy is out of this world."


    "If he attempted it at Camp Nou and put Frank Christensen to the test then this small pitch is nothing for him," Sofia said.


    "He did it at Camp Nou?"


    "Yeah, and at the Reale Arena a couple of times, he scored against SD Eibar from the middle of the pitch."


    "And he''s supposed to be a goalkeeper?"


    After hearing that from Sofia, the girls who didn''t know about it before slowly turned their gaze to Dave with amazed looks on their faces.


    "Hey," Dave said before squatting in front of the girl who was still sitting on the floor after failing to stop Dave''s shot. "You did pretty well to get your dive right toward the ball, but you dived a bit too early, that''s why you weren''t able to get the elevation right, or maybe you just weren''t able to jump high enough."


    "Even if I had gotten my hands on it, I wouldn''t have been able to push it out anyway." She said.


    "That may be true but you would have been happier if you had gotten your hands on it, wouldn''t you?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Yeah, I guess so."


    "You''re a great goalkeeper, just keep building yourself and you''ll be able to stop shots like that in no time."


    "Thank you, I''ll keep working on myself." She replied with a nod.


    The training sessionsted for an hour and just a few minutes after that, almost all the girls were gone.


    "Are you guys going back to where you''re staying?" Sofia asked as both of them made their way toward the exit.


    "No, not really, we''ll take a walk around and see if we can see something interesting although we''ve seen almost everything in this area." Dave expressed.


    "Maybe I can help you with that." She said.


    "Huh?" Dave said before the both of them turned their gaze to face her.


    "I grew up here so I know every single ce around here and even a little beyond, there''s a certain interesting ce that I think you guys will like to see." She expressed.


    "Really?" Mateo said.


    "Yeah, follow me." She said before she walked past them and began to walk ahead of them.


    ________ ________


    The first ball came rolling toward the bottom right side of the goalpost and he quickly dived toward it and kept it out with the tip of his glove.


    The second one was sent toward the bottom left side and he quickly dived toward it and kept it out but the third one wasn''t so easy.


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost but he didn''t even bother diving toward it because he knew he was never going to get to it on time to keep it out.


    "You''re starting to get the hang of it, you can now keep out two balls within the time interval of two seconds, you''ve done it consecutively for ten tries to show how you''ve mastered it but we can''t really call it mastering it until you can keep our three, isn''t that right?" Catherine articted.


    "I''m trying my best here, Catherine."


    *****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 225 Personal Quest

    The goalkeeper slowly opened his eyes and turned to the side to see that Mateo was still fast asleep.


    <Good morning, Dave>


    ''Morning.'' The goalkeeper replied before slowly getting up from his bed.


    After that, he slowly turned his gaze to the clock to see that the time was just hitting 7:00 AM.


    The match today was starting by 1:30 PM and that meant that there was not going to be any training session before the match, all they had to do was have their breakfast and start getting ready to move out.


    Norman had already filled them in on the formation, tactics, and the yers who were going to be starting but he told them that he was going to let them know if he decides to change anything.


    [ Quest ]


    [ Do not concede more than nine goals in the nine pre-season matches ]


    [ Progress: 6/9 goals conceded ]


    [ Matches left: 02 ]


    ''The maximum amount I can concede in thesest two matches is three, if I concede more than that, the quest will be over for me.''


    <And you don''t want that to happen>


    ''Yeah, it''s never going to happen.''


    The goalkeeper made his way into the bathroom and brushed his teeth really quickly before making his way out of the room to go for a quick walk outside, Mateo was still sleeping by the time he left the room but just a few seconds after closing the door, the winger slowly opened his eyes.


    The goalkeeper met their coach Norman in the hallway and after exchanging greetings with him, the two made their way into the elevator as he also happened to be heading downstairs.


    There was a few seconds of silence between them after the elevator closed up and began to move them downstairs.


    "You''ve been doing great, Dave," Norman said.


    "I know that but still we''ve lost two matches." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah, but have you forgotten that we''ve won three and drew too? We even had a three-match winning streak which was broken by Barcelona on Thursday." Norman expressed. "We''re doing fine so far, losing is also part of the game and besides those, we escaped a possible trashing from Barcelona."


    "Yeah, that match could have gone differently in a lot of ways."


    "If it weren''t for you then that trashing would have happened," Norman said. "I don''t know what you''re doing, Dave but keep doing it as long as it''s not something bad, you''ve be a formidable goalkeeper and you will be very essential to everything we''re going to do next season."


    "I''ll try my best, coach." He replied.


    As soon as those words left his mouth, the ding sound from the elevator was heard to notify them that they had reached the bottom floor and after that, the elevator opened up for them to step out.


    "Speaking of formidable." Norman continued speaking as they made their way toward the exit. "I haven''t really gotten the chance to properly examine Alexander''s skill so far in this pre-season tour, do you mind stepping down so that he can y the whole game against Wolfsburg today?"


    ''He wants me to step down? But if I miss a single match or don''t y up to forty-five minutes in a match, I''m going to fail this quest.''


    "But he''s beening in to rece me a lot, why don''t you just rece me with him as soon as the second half is about to kick off?" Dave said.


    "I just want him to y till full-time today," Norman said.


    "I understand what you''re trying to do coach but I don''t really want to be left out of any match, I''ll be d to have forty-five minutes," Dave said.


    "So, you don''t really feel like being left out of the match." The coach said.


    "No, you can give him ny minutes in the charity match against Supreme United but I don''t want to be left out of any of thesest two matches." The goalkeeper said.


    "You''re really persistent," Norman said. "Very well then, you''ll start the match and be taken off in the sixtieth minute, as for what''ve you asked me to do in the charity match, I don''t think I can do that."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Thanks, coach, you''re the best." He said before running off in a different direction.


    Norman kept his gaze on him until he took the right turn and disappeared.


    "A new era." He muttered before he turned and began to head in the other direction.


    ______ _______


    The time disyed on Dave''s watch just as he stepped down from the bus was 12:01 PM


    They had arrived at the Reale Arena early but that didn''t mean they had any time to waste.


    They quickly made their way to the locker room and changed into their training outfits before making their way to the pitch to find out that Wolfsburg yers were already warming up there.


    "Why do the opponents always have to arrive before us?" Mateo said as he stepped onto the pitch with Dave and his other teammates.


    "It''s quite odd but it''s not like we got herete or anything, let''s just go start warming up," Dave said before he began to make his way toward the goalpost on their side.


    Most of his teammates had gone clear of the goalpost area to do something else that didn''t involve the ball but Dave was still there, he had a lot of balls at the edge of the box now and was hitting the crossbar with every single kick from there, his uracy was already good enough from far away so there was no doubt that it was going to be superb from this close.


    "You know for a goalkeeper, your uracy is top tier."


    The goalkeeper slowly turned to see a Wolfsburg yer standing there.


    A blonde man who was neither pale nor huge, he just had a good body and seemed to be a bit muscr.


    "You practice shooting a lot I see." He said.


    "You''re Michael Anderson," Dave said.


    Michael Anderson, one of Wolfsburg''s most formidable yers. He didn''t have any weak foot and because of that, he could efficiently switch from right wing to left wing and he was also a pretty good striker.


    "Yeah, and you''re Dave Richards, right?" Michael said.


    "Yeah." The goalkeeper replied with a nod.


    "I''ve heard quite a lot from you, what you did against Manchester United, how you almost scored against Moreno from the goalpost and that goal against Eibar from the center of the pitch was out of this world." Michael expressed. "A goalkeeper who is not only formidable between the sticks but also formidable with shooting coupled with wonderful uracy, you''re a rare one, Dave."


    "Thank you."


    "I know this is just a friendly match but I am sure going to celebrate wildly if I manage to score against you." He said. "Well, I have to get back to warming up now, see youter, and don''t forget, I asked for your shirt first." He added before running back to the other side.


    <He''s a nice guy>


    ''Yeah, people like that are usually formidable in the field of y, I''m giving myself a personal quest.''


    <And what is that?>


    ''To stop him from scoring against me by all means, there''s no reward but I have to do it.''


    ****


    New year mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 226 First Attempt!

    The match was about to kick off and the yers from both teams were in their locker rooms getting ready for the match.


    For this match, Unique FC were going to be putting on their orange home jersey with ck polka dots while Wolfsburg were going to be putting on a dark green away kit which had the edge of the short sleeves, the cors, and the logos on the kit outlined with a lighter green.


    "Just like I said before, Wolfsburg is a very strong team, imagine beating Bayern Munich home and awayst season, that''s just how good they are so you guys have to look sharp and make good use of every single opportunity you get." Norman expressed.


    "Okay, coach." Some of the yers said.


    "They may be strong but we''re strong too so let''s go out there and show them what we can do."


    "Yes!"


    Both teams met up right in front of the exit where they had to wait before they would be asked to start making their way to the pitch.


    They stayed there for a while before they were given the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    "Wee to our viewers from all around, it''s your regrmentator Jim Waterson and joining me in the studio today to offer his expert analysis and opinion is my regr comentator, Mr. Steve Jefferson." Jim articted.


    "Thank you, Jim, I''m really d to be back here," Steve said. "Well, it looks like we have quite the match-up today."


    "Yeah, Unique FC versus Wolfsburg, two teams that have been giving it their all recently, we''re in for a ride on this one." Jim vocalized.


    "I agree."


    Unique FC were using the four-three-three C formation which two be precise was the four-one-two-three formation, now that they had a proper defensive midfielder in the squad, Norman had seen the importance of having a good defensive midfielder in his squad and had decided that he would be using formations that required a defensive midfielder quite often and that meant that Martinez Alejandro was now a starter on the squad.


    Norman had almost all the first squad yers starting in this match and he would have loved to start all of them but he didn''t want to show everything he had yet, it was best to keep something under his sleeves and use it when the needes.


    Luis Roberto was going to be starting as the right back, the center back positions were being upied by Pirlo and Aima, this was the first time Adolf was starting on the bench since this pre-season tour. The right-back position was being upied by none other than Rnd Ryle.


    Martinez was starting in the defensive midfield position with Minino and Ferran being the other two midfielders up front.


    It would have been okay to use the two as central midfielders and have them create chances from the back and control the midfield but Norman wanted to hit his opponent with an attacking style of football and that was why the two were starting as attacking midfielders, Minino on the right side and Ferran on the left side.


    ''This is the second time I''m being yed out of my natural position on this pre-season tour, but it''s not like I''ve never yed as an attacking midfielder in a match before.'' Minino thought.


    The attack was being led by Fred in the striking position, Mateo on the left, and Carlos on the right, the right winger was going to be the captain for this match as Adolf wasn''t starting.


    Wolfsburg were also using the four-three-three formation, but they were using the B version of it which meant that they had two defensive midfielders and one attacking midfielder, it was just perfect, Unique FC''s two attacking midfielders were going to be facing Wolfsburg''s two defensive midfielders while Wolfsburg''s attacking midfielder was going to be facing Unique FC''s defensive midfielder.


    Michael Anderson was starting in the match and he was starting on the right wing just like Dave expected.


    Unique FC won the coin toss which meant that they were going to be the ones to choose which goalpost they were going to be attacking and they were going to be the ones to kick off the match and get the first possession of the ball.


    They chose the goalpost on the left which meant that they were going to be attacking the goalpost on the right side of the pitch.


    "Unique FC had only conceded four goals in this pre-season tour until they met Barcelona on Thursday and conceded four goals from them which means that they have now conceded eight goals in seven games, it''s not bad given the fact that it could be worse." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, but if you''re counting goals conceded individually, Dave has only conceded six goals in seven games, Alexander was the one in between the sticks when Benfica put the ball past them twice and after he came on to rece Alexander in the second half, the Portuguese side was no longer able to get the ball into their goalpost." Steve articted.


    "Well, if you put it that way, you''re right," Steve said. "I know this is going to be a tough match and it''s about to go down."


    Minino was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he sent the ball rolling back to Martinez.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    <Remember, Dave, if you must concede a goal in this match it must not be more than one>


    ''I know, it''s going to be tough, but I''ll make sure that the ball doesn''t go past me twice, that is if it manages to slip past me once.'' The goalkeeper replied.


    Unique FC were still with the ball and they were controlling the game fluidly.


    Martinez received the ball from Ferran and just before both of the yers heading toward him could get to him, he quickly sent the ball back toward Rnd.


    "Rnd."


    The yers quickly made their way toward Rnd to block the space for him to attempt his run, the left back had no option but to quickly send the ball to Dave.


    The yers weren''t going to give the goalkeeper space too so he had to quickly send the ball out toward the other side to nobody in particr but it still managed to find its way to his teammate.


    Carlos won the aerial duel and quickly sent the ball to Minino.


    Mateo had left his wing to give Ferran space to move in toward the box and as soon as Minino spotted him unmarked, he sent the ball rolling to him.


    "Mateo''s with the ball now."


    The winger got hold of the ball and swiftly moved past the defensive midfielders from the middle, it was like they didn''t notice him.


    "What the heck was that?!"


    The winger quickly sent the ball to Ferran who quickly got past the yer right in front of him to get to the ball before someone else and with a single touch, he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    "Ferran!"


    The goalkeeper was glued to the spot as the ball flew toward the top right side of the goalpost and hit the crossbar before flying over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, I can''t believe it! That didn''t go in?" Jim said.


    "That was so close."


    Ferran was so frustrated after seeing that chance go to waste that he had to crash to the floor.


    "It''s quite a bummer to see that chance go to waste," Jim said.


    "That was supposed to go in," Dave muttered.


    _____ _____


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 Chapter 227 Weak With Aerial Balls

    The match had just entered the twentieth minute and so far, things were still leveled between both sides ording to the scoreboard.


    However, Unique FC were the ones dominating the match so far but it was only by a little bit as Wolfsburg had used every opportunity they had gotten to put the Bilbeth Premier League side on edge, they had fired five shots toward their goalpost so far but all of them had been off target, the only shot that hade close to bing a goal was the one that hit the left post before rolling off for a goal kick but Dave was on it anyway so there was high doubt that it would have gone in.


    Unique FC had gotten two shots on target but there had been poor shots from Fred which were easily saved by the goalkeeper.


    "Both teams have been getting their chances but they need to work on their finishing although one thing is quite certain," Jim said.


    "What?" Steve said.


    "Both goalkeepers have not been given the time to rx and that''s how a match should be."


    "Yeah, you''re right."


    Unique FC were slowly building up their y to Wolfsburg''s goalpost when Ferran suddenly lost the ball to a neat but aggressive tackle.


    "That seemed aggressive but it doesn''t look like the referee is going to do anything about it," Jim said.


    "Yeah, and now Wolfsburg are attacking in a nice condition as Unique FC seemed to be a little light on the back," Steve said.


    The midfielder quickly sent the ball to Michael who quickly raced down the right wing with it while being chased down by Rnd from behind.


    He knew the youngster was going to catch up to him soon so he had to offload the ball to one of their attacking midfielders.


    Who quickly sent it to their striker who was close to the edge of the box now.


    "Kendra."


    The striker maneuvered his way past Pirlo to create enough space for him to be able to shoot from and just before Roberto and Aima could get to him, he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    "Kendra!"


    The ball was sent flying a little to the right from below and all Dave needed to do to block the ball was stretch his left leg toward the area.


    "Nice block from Dave but he''s sent the ball toward Michael now!"


    The winger forced his way past Rnd to get his leg on the ball but because of the slight pull on him from Rnd, his shot ended up being a weak one which was easily blocked and caught by Dave.


    "That was a close call there, Unique FC would have been one goal behind now but it''s always a good thing for them to have Dave in between the sticks," Jim said.


    ''If he had sent that ball toward the top with all his shot power, I''m not sure I would have been able to stop it.'' Dave said subconsciously before getting up from the floor.


    "Well, I didn''t expect scoring against you to be that easy, I''ll just have to try again," Michael said before he began to make his way out of the box slowly.


    ''They''re attacking more just like we''re doing, I just hope they get worn out before us, or else the coach will have toe up with something better with what we''re currently doing.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before he threw the ball up and sent it flying toward the other side of the pitch.


    The match continued with both sides doing their best to get the goal in their opponent''s goalpost.


    After seeing how offensive Wolfsburg were being, he switched from an all-out attacking style of y to a more defensive style of y and just like that, Wolfsburg''s frequent burst attacks were reduced.


    "Looks like Unique FC has figured out a way to stop Wolfsburg from getting past them easily but let''s see which side will figure out how to score against the other first," Jim said.


    "Telling Merino to lie deep and help Martinez out while moving forward whenever he got the chance was a brilliant idea from Norman, he''s intercepting Wolfsburg''s attacks wlessly, he''s currently their number one nuisance, they are going to have to find a way to deal with him." Steve expressed.


    Minino quickly caught through the middle to intercept a pass being sent toward Kendra and quickly rolled the ball to Dave.


    "Nice interception from Minino."


    The goalkeeper didn''t even wait for the ball to get to the edge of the box as he quickly raced toward it and with a single touch, he sent the ball flying toward their opponent''s goalpost.


    "It''s Dave!"


    Wolfsburg''s goalkeeper quickly retreated to his goalpost while keeping his eye on the ball.<novelnext></novelnext>


    ''This isn''t good.''


    He jumped up to get his hand to the ball before falling into his goalpost but it was no use as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before falling over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that was so close!" Jim eximed.


    "Where does that guy even get the power to do something like this?" The goalkeeper said before slowly getting up from the floor.


    "Oh,e on," Dave muttered before crashing to the floor.


    The fans had gotten rattled by that shot, even the opposing fans couldn''t help but acknowledge how wonderful what they had just seen now was.


    "Dave was so close to giving his team the lead from so far away but his uracy was slightly off today," Steve said.


    ''That was supposed to be my second career goal.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before sitting up on the floor.


    <You''ll get that second career goal, just keep trying that shot in this match>


    ''You told me not to overdo it in thest two matches and now you''re telling me to start overdoing it, what''s up?''


    <That goalkeeper is not so good with aerial balls, that''s why he''s pinned on a spot almost every time one of your teammates sends the ball flying over the bar, if that shot had been on target it would have gone in for sure>


    ''Yeah, I know that but are you really sure that he''s not that good with aerial balls?''


    <Yeah, tell your teammates about it if you want to, this could be your ticket to winning this match>


    ''Of course, I''m going to tell them about it, there''s a lot that you can do that I don''t know yet, Catherine.''


    <Yeah, you''ll get to know them slowly>


    ''Is that the only weakness you pointed out from their side?''


    <I''m afraid so>


    ''That''s okay, I think this will be enough to give us the lead.''


    Just as the clock hit the fortieth minute, Mateo received the ball from Minino after a tremendous run from way back, the winger didn''t even try to get through with his dribbling or co-ordinating a pass, he pushed the ball a little further to position it well before he pulled his right leg back and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    "Dave!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost as the goalkeeper dived toward it but he wasn''t able to get his hand to it as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar and bouncing on the goal line before flying into the goalpost.


    "Oh, what a magnificent finish from this young boy here!" Jim eximed. "A shot from that far out and he finished it exquisitely!"


    "Looked like the crossbar was about to deny him there but the ball won this time and they have the lead now."


    "That worked like a charm," Dave muttered with a smirk on his face.


    <You''re wee>


    ****


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    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


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 Chapter 228 No Stopping That

    "That marks the end of the first half," Jim said as soon as the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end. "Both teams gave it their all but it was Unique FC who came out on top in this half thanks to a tremendous long-range strike from Mateo Smith."


    "Apart from theirst match against Dynamo FC, he has now scored in every single match they''ve yed since the start of their pre-season tour," Steve said.


    "Yeah, and he didn''t get that much time against Dynamo FC, I think that if he had started or at least been brought in earlier, he would have gotten a goal, thatst attempt from him was the closest Unique FC came to getting a goal in that match." Jim expressed. "The yers will being back soon for the second half, Unique FC are leading and will want to hold on to that lead but I don''t think Wolfsburg will agree to that, let''s just wait and see how the German side will respond in the second half. "


    In Unique FC''s locker room, they were all sitting in their locker room with Norman standing in front of them as usual.


    "Good job, everyone, especially you Mateo." The coach said.


    "I know that I was the one who took the shot and scored the goal but it wasn''t my idea, I don''t usually attempt shots from that far out." The winger asked.


    "What are you talking about? You were the ones that told us to start trying to score from above instead of below and when you tried it, it worked just like you said it would." Carlos said.


    "No, I wasn''t the one that figured that out." The winger said as he shook his head.


    "Then who was it?" Fred asked.


    ''You couldn''t just take the credit for yourself, Mateo.''


    "It was Dave," Mateo said before turning his gaze to his roommate. "Dave was the one who figured out that weakness."


    Dave told Mateo about the aerial weakness and told him to rte the info to the other forwards and the attacking midfielders and right now those yers were looking at the goalkeeper with shocked expressions on their faces.


    "Seriously? You were able to figure that out." Carlos said.


    "Coach wasn''t even able to see it," Minino said.


    "How were you able to figure it out?" Ferran asked.


    "Um.....well, since you asked, I guess I can exin it." The goalkeeper asked. "You guys have fired a lot of flying shots that ended up going over the bar or hitting the crossbar before falling off and during most of those shots, he was glued to just a particr spot, despite noticing that, I wasn''t able to confirm my theory until I tried out my shot from the goalpost, he got disoriented and that ball would have gone in if it had been on target, that was when I figured it out."


    "Nice way to read the game and see things that even I wasn''t able to see, coaching may be an option for you after hanging your boots," Norman said. "Are there any other things you spotted apart from this one?"


    "No," Dave replied.


    "Okay, that''s not a problem, with the one you''ve told us we can try to get more goals against them and extend the lead, what we should be thinking about now is how to counter whatever they''re going to throw at us in this second half." Norman expressed.


    The halftime break had finallye to an end and now the yers were slowly making their way to the pitch as the fans cheered for them.


    "Wee back everyone, the second half is about to kick off and the yers are making their way to the pitch now to resume y," Jim said.


    "The first half was great and I don''t think asking for more of the same is asking too much," Steve said.


    The yers spread out in their different wings on their sides with Kendra standing over the ball in the kick-off spot.


    It didn''t take long before the referee blew his whistle and as soon as he did it, Kendra sent the ball rolling back to the midfielder behind him.


    "There''s the whistle and the second half is in motion," Jim said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The German side wanted to hold onto the ball and try to break Unique FC with their passes but that didn''t quite work out for them as they lost the ball in less than two minutes, Unique FC couldn''t even keep hold of the ball as long as the German side and lost it to them again.


    "This isn''t a very strong start to the second half for both teams, none of them seem to be able to keep hold of the ball for long," Jim said.


    The cycle continued until Unique FC won the ball and decided to trap back and organize their y from the back and it worked quite well for them.


    "Both teams lookedckluster from the start but looks like Unique FC has finally snapped out of their daze," Steve said.


    Martinez moved back with the ball before sending it to Rnd who quickly sent it flying toward Minino with a single touch.


    The midfielder got a neat touch on the ball and quickly sent it past the yer trying to stop him from above just as the yer was about to knock the ball off him.


    "Nice work from Minino there."


    The midfielder raced down the right with the ball before quickly turning toward the center to send the ball to Ferran, Ferran made a little run down the middle before the ball was taken off his foot with a neat tackle but before any of the Wolfsburg yers in the area could recover the ball, Mateo quickly stole the ball and quickly broke off into the box.


    "This could be Mateo''s chance to double the tally for his team," Jim said.


    The yer behind the winger was quite desperate to stop him from doing whatever he was about to do and ended up pushing the winger down right inside the box.


    The referee blew his whistle and quickly rushed to the area to show the yer responsible for the foul.


    "Mateo''s been brought down inside the box, there''s a yellow card and now it''s a penalty for Unique FC, a massive opportunity for them to put a two-goal cushion between the sides." Jim expressed.


    After having a little chat with Carlos, Mateo slowly stepped up to take the penalty kick.


    "Looks like Mateo''s going to be the one to take the penalty kick, if he scores this, it will be his second goal in the game," Steve said.


    The referee made sure that all the yers were out of the box before he made his way to the left edge of the box and blew his whistle.


    "That''s the whistle, can Mateo Smith give his team a two-goal lead over Wolfsburg?"


    The winger stared at the ball for a while before he slowly took two steps backward and quickly closed up on the ball.


    The goalkeeper was glued to the spot as the ball hit the right side of the crossbar before flying into the goalpost.


    "There was simply no stopping that, Unique FC are two goals up now, courtesy of their wonder kid," Steve said.


    *****


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 Chapter 229 Trying To Pull One Back

    "That was a nice penalty but it was a risky one too, I''m just d he managed to put it away and now we''re just a few steps closer to winning this match." The goalkeeper muttered.


    <You guys have a clear advantage but don''t let your guard down>


    ''I know, you don''t have to remind me of that every time.''


    <I''m just making sure that you keep it in mind>


    "I want to say that the game is pretty much sealed but there''s still a lot of time left and two goals aren''t really much toe back from with the time still left in the game," Jim said.


    "Unique FC can either enter defensive mode to keep their two-goal lead safe or they can keep up attacking as they are doing and try to get a third goal, if they start ying like they''ve already won the match, things might not end well for them but I don''t think they''ll do that." Steve articted.


    "The German side has to wake up from their slumber and do something quickly or they''re going to lose this one," Jim said.


    The match had already resumed and so far Wolfsburg were still with the ball, they were doing everything possible to make sure that they didn''t lose the ball to Unique FC.


    "They are finally keeping possession of the ball for longer periods, that''s a good sign," Jim said.


    One of the midfielders quickly sent the ball flying toward Kendra but Martinez was close by and quickly rushed toward the area to engage the striker in an aerial duel.


    The defensive midfielder won the aerial duel and sent the ball flying toward Rnd with a headed pass but before the ball could get to Rnd, it was stolen by Michael Anderson who quickly got hold of the ball and quickly zoomed past the left back heading toward the edge of the box.


    "Nice interception from Michael and he''s in a really good position to do something meaningful now," Steve said.


    The winger knew that it was only a matter of time before Rnd caught up to him and apart from that, the center-backs would also stop him if he didn''t do something or pass the ball quickly.


    Just as he got the ball into the, he sent it flying toward the bottom left side of the goalpost.


    "Michael!"


    Dave was quick to dive toward the ball with his right hand stretched toward it, the ball ended up hitting his right arm before rolling off toward the right but that wasn''t a problem as Luis Roberto had things under control there and cleared the ball as soon as it touched his feet.


    "Nice save from Dave as always and the danger has been averted, that was a close one," Steve said.


    "What does it take to score against this guy?" Michael said before he let out a sigh and began to head toward the ball.


    The match had just entered the sixtieth minute and things weren''t looking good for Unique FC at the moment as Wolfsburg were currently leading a counterattack toward their goalpost after a failed attack from them.


    The attacking midfielder quickly sent the ball to Michael who was quickly racing down the right wing with Rnd hot on his trail.


    The winger received the ball and paused to allow Rnd to zoom past him, and once the left back realized that and paused, he zoomed past the left back and sent the ball to Kendra whom he had created a chance for on the left side of the box by keeping Rnd at bay.


    "This could be their chance to pull one back!" Jim eximed.


    ''This doesn''t look good.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    The striker was about to send the ball flying toward the goalpost while Dave was wondering if he would be able to stop a powerful shot from that close distance when the striker was brought down under a challenge from Martinez right inside the box.


    "Oh, that was a horrible challenge."


    The referee blew his whistle before he quickly made his way to Martinez and showed him a yellow card.


    "He could have gotten a red card for that challenge but the referee has decided to be less extreme and it doesn''t look like Wolfsburg willin, they''ve been given a chance from the penalty spot to pull one back." Steve expressed.


    "A penalty kick, oh dear," Dave muttered.


    Kendra stepped up to take the penalty kick with the other yers outside the box.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The yer had his gaze on the ball before the referee blew his whistle and as soon as he heard it, he slowly took three steps backward.


    "This is their chance, missing this is not an option," Jim said.


    The striker stopped and stared at the ball for a few seconds before he quickly raised his gaze and closed up on the ball to send it flying toward the goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying toward the right side of the goalpost and this time, Dave ended up going the right way but it was no use as the ball ended up making slight and insignificant contact with the post before rolling out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, no he''s missed it," Jim said.


    Kendra bit his lower lip in frustration after watching his shot go to waste like that.


    "Heckedposure and that resulted in him sending the ball wide," Steve said.


    ''I guess there was nothing to worry about after all.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he got up from the floor.


    "That was their chance to pull one back and it''s gone to waste, they''ve lost more time, they''ll have to work harder to get back into the game now, it would have been so much easier if that shot had gone in." Jim expressed.


    ? That penalty kick had been taken in the sixty-second minute and in the sixty-sixth minute now, Wolfsburg were leading another attack toward their opponent''s goalpost after Carlos lost the ball to a strong but fair challenge.


    Norman had made a few changes after that penalty kick miss and one of the people who had been taken off was Rnd.


    The midfielders helped Kendra work his way into the box with neat passes that Unique FC yers just couldn''t deal with.


    The striker received the ball and quickly cut past Pirlo to get closer to the box and release a shot toward the goalpost but Dave was right there to block the shot.


    "Saved!"


    The rebound was sent rolling toward the right side and just the first time, it wasn''t close enough for Dave to get to it fast enough.


    Michael broke free from Jonas and was now racing toward the ball along with Aima who was heading there to stop him.


    The winger got to the ball first as Dave dived toward the right side but that was a mistake as the winger ended up pushing the ball toward the middle of the goalpost, it wasn''t intentional, but it worked for him.


    There was nothing the goalkeeper could do as the ball rolled past the line into the goalpost.


    "It''s past the line and Wolfsburg have finally pulled one back!" Jim eximed as Michael quickly took off to the side and jumped up with a scream before crashing on the floor.


    "For a friendly match, he sure is pulling up the celebration," Stevemented.


    Dave stayed on the floor for a while before slowly sitting up to rest his back on the post.


    ''Looks like I failed my personal quest.''


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 230 Emerged Victorious

    "Michael!" Jim eximed as Michael sent the ball flying toward the top left-hand corner of the goalpost with a powerful shot.


    Dave quickly dived toward the ball just in time and with both of his hands, he was able to push the ball over the bar.


    "Another marvelous save from Dave," Steve said. "He''s doing everything possible to make sure his team stays on top."


    "Yeah, Unique FC have to reinforce their defense because it looks like Wolfsburg just unlocked it," Jim said.


    Michael quickly made his way to the left corner kick spot where the ball had already been dropped for him.


    "It''s a corner kick, could be a chance for Wolfsburg to finally get that equalizer," Jimmented.


    <You''re already one goal down, Dave, remember you cannot concede any more goals in this match or else you''ll have topletely avoid scoring in the next match which I believe will be a lot more difficult>


    ''I know, I''m not going to concede any more goals, coach will bring me off soon anyway.''


    The box was filled with Unique FC and Wolfsburg yers, they were only two goals in situations like this and it was to either get the ball out of the box for the defending team or get the ball into the box by all means possible for the attacking team.


    Michael had already taken two steps backward before the referee blew his whistle, and as soon as he heard the sound of the whistle, he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box near the goalpost to enable any of his teammates who would be able to get to the ball to finish easier but that didn''t go exactly as nned.


    Seeing that the ball was sent flying closer to him, the goalkeeper quickly jumped up before the other yers could react and caught the ball with both of his gloves.


    "Dave''s stepped up to grab the ball and prevent whatever could have happened inside of his box, that''s a nice precaution," Jim said.


    The goalkeeper wanted to quickly start a counterattack but none of his teammates were in a really good position and the only person that was close to being in a good position was Minino.


    Minino wasn''t in a tight position like the other yers but there was a yer just a few distances in front of him but Dave believed that he would be able to get past the yer so he quickly sent the ball flying toward him.


    "He''s sending the ball out quickly, trying to start a counterattack but I don''t think it will work."


    The defender quickly headed toward Minino as soon as he saw the ball flying toward him, the two got engaged in an aerial duel and the defender ended up winning the duel but he sent the ball flying past the sidelines in the process and that meant that Unique FC had won a throw.


    "Nice defending, didn''t even give him a chance," Steve said.


    Now that the ball was out of y, it was time for Norman to make his final changes in the game, Wolfsburg''s manager was also going to make some changes.


    ''Looks like it''s finally time for me to go rest and enjoy the rest of the match from the bench.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as soon as he saw the official raise the board.


    <Yeah, as if you need any rest>


    [ 69% stamina remaining ]


    [ 89/127 Energy ]


    ''I don''t really need it but it''s necessary.'' The goalkeeper replied. ''And it looks like I''m the first person toe off.''


    The board had the number one disyed in red and the number thirty-two disyed in green.


    The fans gave the goalkeeper an ovation as he made left the pitch and he couldn''t help but smile.


    "Go do your best, don''t let me in." He said before giving the young goalkeeper a hug.


    "I''ll try my best," Alexander said before quickly making his way into the pitch.


    He shook hands with Norman who also patted him on the back before making his way to the bench where a few of his teammates were sitting.


    Fred was pulled off and reced by Gregory, Minino was reced by Frankie and Luis Roberto was reced by Norman Kole.


    Apart from substituting Dave, the change that was going to affect them mostly was pulling out Minino and Norman knew that but he no longer needed anybody to run the game, make interceptions and killer passes, what he needed now was someone to help strengthen the defense for the final moments of the game and Frankie happened to be the right person, Frankie wasn''t naturally a defensive midfielder but Norman had to use him as one at this moment, he switched his formation from four-three-three B to four-three-three C which meant that he had two defensive midfielders now just like his opponent Wolfsburg.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Unique FC wanted to defend their lead and see the match through to the end and Norman had just implemented the right tactics to make that happen.


    Their defense was quickly reinforced and all those spaces that Wolfsburg attackers had discovered had been closed and which forced the German side to start shooting more often from outside the box.


    Most of them were low shots that got blocked, two of the shots from Kendra were quite tricky but Alexander managed to save them because they went straight to him, the deflected ones were also easy to save although one had almost gone in but he managed to stop it on the goal line.


    The few that were sent toward the goalpost with high or low elevation went wide and over the bar mostly but there was one that was really close to going in.


    Michael broke loose from the middle of the pitch with the ball and as soon as he was as close as he wanted to be, he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost, he was thirty yards away from the goalpost.


    "Michael!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost with a powerful shot.


    Alexander dived toward the ball but instead of using both hands to take care of it, he dived toward it with his right hand in the direction of the ball.


    He got the tip of his glove on the ball but that wasn''t enough topletely keep out the ball as the ball ended up hitting the post before bouncing close to the goal line.


    The ball was about to fly into the goalpost when Pirlo quickly closed up on it, he fell in the process but he managed to send the ball far away from the goalpost with an overhead kick.


    "That was a very hectic moment there but it looks like they got rid of it," Stevemented.


    "That was a wonderful strike from Michael but it looks like Unique FC''s young back goalkeeper Alexander is no joke either," Jim said. "He couldn''t get a proper touch on it but Pirlo was there to clear and with that effort, they''re still leading the match."


    ''That was a close one.'' Dave said subconsciously before breathing a sigh of relief.


    Wolfsburg totally lost their control over the match after their coach pulled out both Michael and Kendra, their attacks slowed down and Unique FC slowly began to regain control over the match.


    In due time, the German side realized that there was nothing they could do anymore and that was after the match hit the nieth minute and the official with the board raised his board to show that there was only going to be three minutes of added time.


    In the second minute of that added time, Unique FC won a free kick in a pretty good spot after Mateo was brought down close to the left edge of the box.


    "Just one minute of added time left and Unique FC have won a free kick in a pretty good position," Jim said. "Will they be able to end the match with a two-goal cushion?"


    Mateo was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he slowly took two steps backward.


    ''He''s not good with aerial balls.'' He said subconsciously before quickly closing up on the ball.


    He floated the ball over the wall to try and get a perfect curve on the top right-hand side of the goalpost but the ball ended up flying over the bar while the goalkeeper was glued to a spot, it was pretty close to going in though.


    "Oh, that was very close to going in," Steve said.


    "Yeah, so close and the goalkeeper was pinned to the center of his goal line, there was nothing he would have been able to do about it," Jim said.


    As soon as that ball went over the bar, the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to a conclusion.


    "It was a pretty tough match but there''s the final whistle and surprisingly, the Bilbeth Premier League side emerged victorious."


    *****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 231 Random Quest

    "It''s a deserved win for Unique FC, they fought hard for it, there were certain scenarios where Wolfsburg could have equalized but they hung on and saw the match through to the end." Jim expressed. "Wolfsburg were also solid and it would have been fair to see them get that equalizer but their chances were spoiled and Unique FC did well to prevent them from getting too much space."


    "Yeah, but I don''t think they''re saddened by that loss at all, they did well in this match but they weren''t at their best, they weren''t totally outssed by the Bilbeth side but they know they were better than them." Steve articted.


    As soon as that final whistle was heard, Michael met up with Dave to collect the shirt that he asked for during the warm-up session.


    Both of the yers were putting on their team jackets with their shirts in their hands.


    "You see I did get the ball past you," Michael said after collecting the goalkeeper''s shirt and handing his own to him.


    "Yeah, that was a tricky kick," Dave said.


    "Yeah, I guess you''re right because it wasn''t exactly my intention to kick it to the middle but I''m d it worked out for me." Michael expressed. "But I have to say, you''re one of the toughest goalkeepers that I have ever faced, definitely in the list of the top five toughest goalkeepers I have ever faced."


    "Really?" Dave said.


    "Yeah, but I''ll have to face you more to solidify your name on that list." The forward said.


    "I''m not sure we will meet again for quite a while but we''ll meet again someday."


    "I''ll look forward to that day then," Michael said before shaking hands with him. "I''ll have to head down now, it was nice ying against you, Dave."


    "You too."


    The goalkeeper watched him make his way down the tunnel and as soon as he was out of sight, he turned his gaze to his right side to see Minino standing there.


    "A formidable goalkeeper is always respected by strikers and forwards generally," Minino said. "Looks like you earned his respect."


    "No, he''s just a nice guy." The goalkeeper said before he began to make his way toward the tunnel.


    Mateo was announced as the man of the match a few minutes after the final whistle and that was pretty obvious, he wasn''t that good in the match, he seemedckluster a few of the times when he got the ball but he was the one that scored both goals for his team, those goals coupled with the good moments he had in the game were enough to win him the man of the match award.


    After spending some time in the locker room, talking to each other and listening to what Norman had to say about the match, the yers were now on the bus, heading back to the hotel in Barcelona.


    "I''ve gotten three important shirts so far in this pre-season tour," Dave said to Mateo who wasn''t going through his phone today, surprisingly.


    "I''ve gotten eight but the only one I really asked for was Lelemar''s, I got Kendra''s shirt today." The winger said.


    "And you could possibly make it nine tomorrow, looks like you''ve already be a popr name in the world of football," Dave said.


    "Maybe, but I haven''t really won any trophies yet, I have to win something to start climbing up thatdder of G.O.A.T.S., I haven''t started yet." The winger said.


    "Ladder of Goats huh?" Dave said. "With the standards, the current goats of the game have set, that''s going to take quite a while, you certainly have the talent but it''s going to take quite a while."


    "Yeah, I know that but I know I can do it, I may not be able to reach Ciro''s or Fernandez''s level but I''ll befortable to go down as one of the goats of the game." The winger expressed.


    "You''ll surely go down as one of the goats of the game, I know that. You could possibly surpass those two but given the fact that none of them is retiring soon, it looks like an impossible quest." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah."


    <He has great talent and if he doesn''t pick up a bad habit and get distracted, he''ll have a great career>


    ''I don''t think Mateo will let anything get in the way of him having a great career.''


    "I think you can get up there too, Dave." The winger said.


    "Goalkeepers aren''t really given as much recognition as the other yers on the pitch." The goalkeeper replied.


    "Yeah, but a goalkeeper has won the Ballon d''Or before," Mateo said.


    "That was a very long time ago."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "It can still happen again." The winger said. "Besides, you''re no ordinary, you do things other goalkeepers find difficult to do, your passes are urate and so are your shots from the goalpost, I''ve never seen a goalkeeper pack so much shot power from the goalpost. You even have a career goal and it came from the middle of the pitch, we''ll be ying the UEFA Conference League qualifiers soon, imagine doing that in one of our matches, it will surely be the goal of the tournament."


    "I get what you''re saying but it''s not going to be easy." The goalkeeper said.


    "Nothing good is ever gotten easily in this world but you have the talent, skill and you''ve recently developed the habit of working hard, that''s all you need to get there."


    <He''s right, Dave, with the help of the system, you''ve be a rare kind of goalkeeper, getting to that level is possible, it''s going to happen, if you don''t suddenly start cking off that is>


    ? ''You don''t have to always add thatst part, you know, as long as you''re in my head, I don''t think I''m ever going to start cking off again and besides, working out is something I just dopared to before when it was something that I decide before doing.''


    <And you didn''t have to give me that long response>


    "Alright, Mateo, I think I''ve made up my mind." The goalkeeper said.


    "d to hear that."


    "I''m going to be the second goalkeeper to win the Ballon d''Or and maybe the FIFA best men''s yer award." He affirmed.


    "I''ll be d to see that happen," Mateo said.


    "Me too," Minino said before raising his head from behind so that the two could see him.


    "What does he think the Ballon d''Or award is?" Jonas muttered from where he was sitting on the other side of the pitch.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Complete ten kilometers tomorrow before 7:30 AM ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +2 skill points ]


    [ +50 exp ]


    [ +2 stat points ]


    After reading the contents of the quest, the goalkeeper let out a sigh of relief.


    ''Oh, thank goodness, I thought it was a punishment quest because of what I just said.''


    <If I couldugh, I would beughing at you now, just know that>


    ''Well, then it''s a good thing you can''t, I don''t think I will be able to stand youughing in my head all the time.'' The goalkeeper replied. ''What''s up with a quest randomly popping up like this?''


    <Like you said, it''s just a random quest, now that your daily quests have been canceled, you''ll be getting random quests sometimes, you should also bear in mind that some of them will have absolutely nothing to do with football or working out>


    ''Okay, I guess I''ll have to get up early toplete this one.''


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 232 Pre-Season Quest: Last Match Day

    [ Questpleted ]


    [ You have sessfullypleted ten kilometers ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +2 skill points received ]


    [ +50 exp received ]


    [ +2 stat points received ]


    The goalkeeper had stopped just before taking a turn into another part of the street, now that he hadpleted the quest, he didn''t need to run down that street.


    He had his hands on his knees while panting softly and after staying like that for a while, he slowly stood up straight and brought his watch to his gaze to check the time.


    ''7:10 AM, twenty minutes earlier.'' He said subconsciously.


    He looked around at the area for a while to see that there were only a few people walking around.


    ''I guess I should start heading back now.''


    The goalkeeper returned to his room to find his roommate wide awake on his bed with his phone in his hands.


    "Hey, where did you go?" The winger asked as soon as he entered the room, he didn''t even take his gaze off his phone.


    "I went for a little jog outside." The goalkeeper said as he slowly made his way to his bed and sat down on it.


    "Oh."


    "Today''s the final day." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah, I''m probably going to start on the bench," Mateo said.


    "Of course, you''re going to start on the bench you yed the whole ny minutes against Wolfsburg," Dave said.


    "Yeah, I just hope we win or draw at least."


    "I think I''ll be happy with any result." The goalkeeper said.


    "Even a loss?"


    "As long as we don''t concede more than two goals and give it our all, I''ll be satisfied."


    <If you concede more than two goals, it''s over>


    ______ ______


    The match was set to kick off by 8:00 PM and right now that time had drawn really close.


    The yers were on the pitch now, Real Sociedad were putting on their home jersey while Unique FC were putting on their second away jersey, the lemon green one with stripes being shared halfway by ck-orange colors.


    A Real Sociedad yer was the one standing over the ball and as soon as the time hit 8:00 PM, the referee blew his whistle to signal the start of the match.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way," Jim said.


    The game was a pretty tough one but not exactly, Real Sociedad outssed the Bilbeth Premier League side in every department, their midfield was more fluid, and their defense was really hard to get through.


    Unique FC''s defense on the other hand appeared to be quite mediocre in the match.


    Real Sociedad were getting past them quite easily during the first twenty minutes of the game but that didn''t mean that scoring was also easy for them, they missed a lot of clear chances and Dave was there to take care of the deadly ones that were on target.


    After realizing how his defense was suffering, Norman had to give the instructions to reinforce it and after pulling up two defensive midfielders to help out in defense, Real Sociedad started to find it a little difficult to get past them, they still had the option of shooting from afar but far shots were Dave''s favorite kind of shots and he was there to stop them all.


    Unique FCckedposure and couldn''t do anything for thirty minutes straight, they couldn''t even get a shot on target but once the clock hit the thirty first minute, they slowly began to regain theirposure.


    They yed really well for thest fifteen minutes of the match despite not having yers like Mateo, Ferran, and Minino on the pitch, they managed to test the goalkeeper thrice and had almost scored in those situations but the Real Sociedad yers were really quick to take care of the situations and prevent Unique FC from taking the advantage in the match.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The first half came to a goalless end but thementators had a feeling that something more interesting wasing up in the second half.


    Jonas was reced by Rnd before the second half kicked off and that was where things began to change.


    Unique FC began to control the match and Real Sociedad began to look like the weaker side.


    Rnd was running riot on the left wing with every opportunity he got and the Real Sociedad couldn''t get hold of him, he was just too fast for them to keep up with.


    The left-back used his speed to create a scoring opportunity for Henry, the attacking midfielder took the shot neatly from the edge of the box and sent it flying toward the bottom right side of the goalpost.


    The goalkeeper dived toward it but he wasn''t able to stop it as the ball ended up hitting the post before somehow squeezing itself into the goalpost.


    The yers and the supporting fans celebrated the goal as Jim screamed and said what he had to say but five minutester, Real Sociedad struck back.


    It was a terrible mistake from Dave to try and hit out the ball sent into the box from the corner kick spot.


    The striker got his head on the ball and re-directed it, Dave ended up colliding with the yer as the ball flew into the goalpost but there were no injuries sustained as he used his hand to shield his head from hitting the striker''s head instead of the punch he had prepared earlier.


    The match continued with both teams trying their best to get the winning goal but it finally came to an end on leveled terms.


    "That marks the end of our coverage for today, we''ll see you all when the season kicks off," Jim said.


    Rnd was announced as the man of the match and it was well deserved given the amount of effort in the second half, Mateo who had joined the game in the seventieth minute wasn''t even able to do anything to give his team the win, he had scored in every match in this pre-season tour except for this one and the one against Dynamo, it was better to say that he scored in every match he started in.


    [ Post Match rewards ]


    [ Seven crucial saves: +70 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.3 ]


    The yers spent some time in the locker room and listened to what Norman had to tell them regarding the match and after that, they began to make their way back to the hotel.


    It took them an hour plus to get there as always and after getting there, the yers made their way straight to their rooms.


    "It''s finally over." The goalkeeper said before crashing down on his bed.


    "Yeah," Mateo said before crashing down on his bed.


    "I think we had a pretty good run."


    "Yeah, four wins, three draws, and two losses," Mateo said. "If we start the season like this, it won''t be the best start but it''s a good start, grabbing fifteen points in nine matches is okay."


    "Yeah," Dave replied. "I can''t wait for the season to start."


    "Same here."


    ''Can I see my pre-season questpletion screen now, Catherine?''


    [ Pre-season questpleted ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    Dave''s face lit up in amazement as he looked at all the rewards he had been granted forpleting the quest.


    ''This is awesome.''


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 233 A Warm Welcome

    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ All skills have gone up a level ]


    [ Shot stopping attribute is now level two ]


    [ +70 exp received ]


    ''Wow, all my skills have gone up a level, that means my ball ma is at level three now.''


    <Yeah>


    [ Ball ma: level (03) ]


    ''It''s going to be stronger now and I have more tries before the cooldown time.''


    <Absolutely>


    ''I''ll have to wait till our next match to see how the shot-stopping attribute has improved.''


    <Yeah, but you''ll be shocked to see how much you get from just a single level jump, attributes are hard to level up for a reason, I think you got lucky in this one>


    ''A big jump? That sounds interesting, but isn''t this big jump going to affect my stamina and energy more?''


    <You''ll have to wait and see>


    "I have to go get some hot water on my body," Mateo said before he got up from his bed and made his way to the bathroom leaving the goalkeeper all alone in the room now.


    [ Dream control deactivated ]


    ''I know the reflex training isn''t over yet but I want to feel like I really slept today.''


    <It''s okay, I understand>


    ''Thank you.''


    The goalkeeper stared at the ceiling for a while before he slowly closed his eyes and dozed.


    _______ ________


    The yers were set to leave for Bilbeth by 10:00 AM and right now, they were all getting their things ready to start heading out.


    Mateo was arranging his things on his bed when something clicked in his mind.


    He turned to the wall clock to see that the time was 8:45 AM before he quickly turned his gaze to Dave.


    "Hey, could you please help me arrange these things, I''ll be back really quick?"


    He didn''t even give the goalkeeper the time to say what he wanted to say before he quickly dashed out of the room.


    "Fine." The goalkeeper said with a sigh before turning his gaze to the pieces of stuff he had asked him to help him park and arrange.


    <You know where he''s going, right?>


    ''Yeah.'' Dave replied as he kept on arranging his stuff inside his backpack.


    After getting ready to leave, the yers were all taken to the airport and right now, they were standing near their private ne with Norman standing in front of them.


    "I must say, you all have surprised me, you all did really well, even the new faces in the team, with the way we''ve yed so far, I believe that we can fight for the title this season or at least get a Champions League spot, I just hope you guys continue to y with your hearts." Norman expressed. "As you all know, Merino here picked up an injury in one of our matches now but it wasn''t that serious and he''s fit now so we won''t be starting the new season with an injured yer which is a good thing."


    "You got that right," Merino said.


    After telling them about the other things he wanted to tell them, the yers made their way into the ne and were now on their way to Bilbeth.


    After a few minutes in the air, Mateo opened the small bag he had with him and brought a rectangr object which Dave couldn''t clearly tell what it was from where he was sitting.


    "What''s that? The goalkeeper asked before leaning closer to see what he was holding and after seeing it, he couldn''t help but feel amazed. "Where did you get that?"


    What Mateo was holding happened to be a painting, to be precise, it was an illustration, an illustration of the winger''s first goal against Barcelona in their four goals to-two defeat, the illustration was urate from the minor details to the major details, the beautiful lob and the way Frank moved toward the ball, that was why Dave was shocked when he saw it.


    "It was a gift." The winger said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "A gift? From who?" Dave asked.


    The goalkeeper had an idea of who it may be but he just wanted to be sure.


    Mateo stared at the picture for a while and just as a smile appeared on his face, he turned his gaze to Dave.


    "It was from Sofia." He replied.


    "Wow, where did she get something like this?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "She didn''t get it from anywhere."


    "Huh?"


    "She drew it herself." The winger said.


    "Seriously?"


    "Yeah, she''s an artist, a very good one."


    "Wow, I didn''t know that."


    "I didn''t know either until today, she said this was a parting gift since I came to see her before leaving but it looked like she was nning to give it to me from the start." Matei expressed. "She looked like she was getting ready to head someway and also, my name is written at the top."


    Dave looked at the top to see that Mateo''s name was written there with a ck pen but the writing was a little hard to see unless you look hard enough.


    "A parting gift huh? Hope you have her one too?" Dave asked.


    "Yeah, she should be receiving it just about now." The winger asked.


    "I see," Dave said.


    The yers arrived at the Unique FC airport after about two hours in the air and before going anywhere, they had to head to the Wondanmo stadium and greet the fans who were all waiting for them there.


    "It''s nice to be back home," Dave said before taking a deep breath.


    "Yeah, but it was just two weeks," Merino said.


    "For you guys, it was just two weeks, it was a month plus for me." The goalkeeper said.


    "Oh, yeah, I totally forgot about that." The winger said with an awkward smile on his face.


    "Let''s go meet the fans," Mateo said before making his way toward the bus.


    The fans were all gathered in front of the entrance to the building as the yers made their way toward it but the guards made sure to restrict the entrance with ropes so that the yers won''t get swallowed by the crowd on their way into the building.


    The fans were chanting the name of the yers and this time, Dave could hear his name loud and clear, a lot of balls, shirts, and other things were thrown his way and he was happy to sign them all, well, technically not all of them because he wouldn''t go home if that were to happen.


    The other staff along with the president of the club were already waiting for them inside to give them their own share of a warm wee.


    Tom quickly made his way to his son as soon as he spotted him and hugged him.


    "Wee back son, you''re really starting to make a name for yourself."


    "Thanks, dad, and I''m d to be back."


    "This is a surprise, I didn''t expect everyone to be so warm and weing here," Martinez said.


    "It hasn''t always been this way but I guess things are starting to change and I have a good feeling about how things are going to turn on from here onwards." Mateo expressed.


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 234 Current Market Value

    After staying at the stadium for a while, after listening to all the president had to tell them, it was now time for the yers to start heading home.


    "Season''s about to kick off," Dave muttered as he stepped out of the building with Mateo.


    The two had already gotten to the exit point of the area when Dave''s phone began to ring in his pocket.


    He brought his phone out of his pocket to see that it was someone he should have called as soon as he arrived at Bilbeth and now he was hesitant to pick up the call.


    "Hey, what''s wrong?" Mateo asked after noticing how he suddenly stopped.


    "It''s Emma." The goalkeeper said.


    "Oh, pick up the call then," Mateo said.


    "Are you kidding me? She has to be super mad at me now."


    "Super mad at you? Why?" Mateo asked.


    "I was supposed to call her as soon as we arrived here but I forgot and now she''s the one calling me." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah, she gets mad about stuff like that, but still, you have to pick the call, it''s not like she can hit you from over there." The winger said.


    "Yeah, you''re right." He said before he slowly pressed the answer button. "Hey, babe."


    There was no response from her side for a little while which Dave didn''t take as a good sign.


    "Hey, how are you doing?" She finally said something, something that Dave wasn''t expecting to hear from the get-go.


    "I''m okay, I''m heading home right now." He replied.


    "Heading home? Have you guys already arrived at Bilbeth?"


    <I guess she doesn''t even know yet>


    "Yeah." The goalkeeper replied.


    "And you didn''t call me?"


    "I forgot, sorry."


    She was quiet for a while before letting out a sigh.


    "It''s okay, just get home quickly okay." She said.


    "Sure thing, I''ll be there in a few minutes." He said.


    "You better be." She said, "And one more thing."


    "What?"


    "Is Mateo there with you?" She asked.


    "Yeah, he''s right here." He replied with his gaze on the winger.


    "What?" Mateo asked.


    "Bring him home with you okay, bye." She said before ending the call.


    "Did you two just bring me into your conversation?" The winger asked.


    "Umm¡­sort of, she asked me to bring you home with me," Dave replied.


    "Why?"


    "She didn''t say, but I''m guessing it''s something important, let''s go." The goalkeeper said before he began to make his way out of the area.


    It didn''t take long for the two to arrive and approaching his house now, the goalkeeper could see that the flowers were well trimmed, and he also discovered that thewn was also cut nicely.


    ''I guess she''s been keeping herself busy.''


    The goalkeeper stood at the door for a while before raising his folded right hand toward it to knock on it twice.


    It didn''t take long before the door was opened by Emma who had a bright smile on her face.


    "Hey." She said before wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. "I''m so d you made it back safely."


    "So, why did you tell Dave to bring me here?" Mateo asked before making his way into the house.


    "Hey, you can''t just walk into my house like that." Emma quickly turned to him to say.


    "Why not? You were the one that asked for me toe here." The winger said before turning his gaze to the dining section on the left to see that the table was set with a variety of dishes on the table. "So, that''s where that smell wasing from."


    Emma let out a deep sigh before slowly making his way to her brother.


    "It was meant to be a surprise but, oh well." She said,


    "A surprise," Dave said before walking closer to the two.


    "Yeah, I thought you guys were going to be tired and hungry after all that, so I prepared special dishes for you." She said,


    "I just hope they taste as good as they look and smell," Mateo said.


    "What''s that supposed to mean?" She asked before turning to him with a dead stare.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "No, I didn''t mean it like that, it''s just that your cooking didn''t use to be that good in the past but I''m sure your cooking is awesome now, right, Dave." The winger said before putting on a nervous smile.


    She stared at him for a while before turning her gaze to Dave.


    "You guys need to take off your backpacks first."


    After taking off their backpacks, the three sat down to eat together, Emma had a lot of questions to ask.


    "Hey, Mateo, can I see the painting or illustration?" Emma asked.


    They had to bring up the painting atst and now Emma wanted to see it.


    "Um¡­sure," Mateo said before he reached into his bag which was hanging on the chair he was sitting on and brought out the painting.


    "This looks so pretty." Those were Emma''s words at first nce. "Everything looks so nice, you really got this from one of your fans."


    "Well, she isn''t exactly my fan although you may put it that way but I see her as a friend." The winger said.


    "She?"


    "Yeah, that was a parting gift from Sofia." The winger said.


    "Oh, the blonde girl," Emma said.


    ''I guess he isn''t going to avoid talking about her.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    "Um¡­"


    "What?" Mateo asked.


    "Never mind, it''s nothing." She said before giving the painting back to him. "She''s a really good artist."


    After spending about two hours with them, Mateo had to leave and that meant that the couple was alone in the house now.


    "It''s been quite a long day." The goalkeeper said before slowly getting up from the couch where he had been sitting with Emma.


    "Yeah, but where are you going now?" She asked.


    "Upstairs, are youing?" He asked.


    "Okay." She said before getting up from where she was sitting.


    "I wanted to ask this earlier but forgot at some point." The goalkeeper said as they made their way upstairs.


    "What?" She asked.


    "Today''s Monday, aren''t you supposed to be at work?" He asked.


    "Yeah, but I did a lot of hectic work for my boss yesterday so she decided to give me a day off today." She exined.


    "Oh, I see." He said. "So you didn''t ditch work to prepare a surprise meal for us."


    "Ditch work? Why would I ever do that?" She said with a little chuckle.


    "Yeah, it''s not something you would do but that means that I won''t feel guilty doing this now."


    "Doing¡­"


    Before she could finish what she wanted to say, he had already lifted her up and was making his way toward the room now.


    "Hey, slow down."


    After getting to the room, he slowly made his way to the bed and dropped her there.


    "You got a silky bed sheet, that''s good." He said after feeling the texture of the bedsheet.


    "I''m d you like it." She said before she sat up on the bed and leaned closer to him.


    The two stayed like that for a while before they slowly locked lips and just as that happened, something else happened.


    [ Market value alert ]


    [ Your market value has gone up by a huge margin ]


    [ Old market value: €10,000 ]


    [ Current market value: €510,000 ]


    ''My market value went up that much?''


    <I told you it was going to happen>


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 235 Endurance

    The goalkeeper still had his dream control feature deactivated so he didn''t get any trainingst night but that was okay since he sleptter than usual.


    He pulled the white nket off his body and put on one of his casual sports outfits before putting on his running boots and making his way downstairs.


    "Our firstpetitive match of the season will be on Monday against Spree City, so it''s back to business." He muttered before he opened the door and made his way outside.


    <But you guys are going to face Supreme United in the charity match on Thursday, there''s a trophy involved, right?>


    ''That match doesn''t really hold any value to mepetition wise but beating Supreme United will be nice.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he walked down to the road.


    <Do you really think you guys can beat them?>


    ''We were able to hold Manchester United and Real Sociedad down to a draw and defeated Wolfsburg so yeah, I think we can beat them.'' He replied.


    <You should know that there are a lot of other things that determine how a match turns out, we''ll just have to wait till Thursday and see how everything ys out>


    "Yeah," Dave muttered before taking off.


    After about an hour and some minutes, the goalkeeper could be seen sitting somewhere in the woods breathing heavily.


    "What the heck was I thinking trying toplete fifteen kilometers without taking any break?"


    <Well, you didplete it>


    ''Yeah, but look at me now.'' [ 17% stamina remaining ]


    [ 22/129 Energy ]


    <At least you didn''t lose all of them, a little rest and you''ll be good to start heading home>


    ''Yeah, I''ll have to walk fifteen kilometers back.''


    <You got rewarded for it, so quit whining>


    [ +2 stat points added to all stats including Energy ]


    ''Somehow, I just feel like that isn''t enough.''


    <You know you should think of increasing your endurance more with your unused stat points>


    ''Huh?''


    <I know you think endurance isn''t that important and that''s why you''ve been ignoring it but you don''t know how wrong you are>


    [ Strength: 36 ]


    [ Dexterity: 51 ]


    [ Endurance: 32 ]


    ''Yeah, I have been ignoring it, but what''s your point?''


    <You think that the only thing that can make your staminast longer is dexterity that''s why you''ve been putting almost all your stat points in it and that''s not wrong given the fact that you don''t use much stamina as a goalkeeperpared to the other yers but in situations like this, having a high dexterity point just can''t help you maintain your stamina for long>


    ''I know Endurance is good for things like getting hit or tackled in a really bad way but how does it help with stamina.''


    <You don''t really know the definition of endurance, do you? Although you have the basic knowledge of it, endurance is what determines how long you can do something without getting tired, in other words, it means the level at which you can keep pushing yourself even after reaching your limit, you didn''t exactly know this definition of endurance but at least you know the other one>


    ''Huh?''<novelnext></novelnext>


    <The one you just talked about, your level of resistance against something that can also be ssified as endurance, that''s the reason why you''ve never improved it because you think you don''t really need it but do you know that improving that particr stat can make you highly injury resistant and you wouldn''t have to start feeling tired as soon as your stamina goes less than twenty percent and your Energy goes below thirty>


    ''Oh, I get it now, I''ve been so fixated on dexterity, stamina, and getting faster that Ipletely overlooked endurance and how I could get so much better with it, I think it''s time to start giving it some attention.''


    [ Unused stat points: 0 ]


    ''But that will have to wait, I''m out of stat points.''


    <I''ll advise you to try and keep your stats a little even, don''t let one get too ahead of the others like dexterity is quite far ahead of the other two now>


    ''Got it, strength is also useful in a lot of ways, I''ve been neglecting that one too.'' He said subconsciously before getting up from where he was sitting. ''It''s time to start heading back.''


    ______ ______


    Emma had gotten up quite a while ago and had even finished making breakfast and setting up the table but her husband wasn''t back yet.


    She would have called him to check on him but he didn''t go out with his phone and she was starting to get worried.


    "What could be taking him so long? He just got back and can''t even take a day off." She said before making her way to the kitchen.


    She opened the freezer and was about to pick one of the bottled waters there when she felt a wave of nausea sweep over her.


    She quickly made her way to the back door in the kitchen and pushed it open before falling on her knees to let out what that nauseous feeling had pushed out from her stomach.


    "I thought this had already stopped two days ago." She said before cleaning her mouth with the back of her head. "And now my head feels so heavy and my body."


    She slowly got up from the floor and closed the door before making her way back to the fridge.


    She picked up two bottles of water and made her way to the dining area to drop them on the table, after that, she turned her gaze to the wall clock to see that the time was 7:42 AM.


    "I should go get ready for work, he''lle back anyway."


    She wanted to head toward the staircase but her body led her toward the couch and before she knew it, she crashed down on the couch and slowly closed her eyes.


    "What is wrong with me? I can''t go to workte or Miss. Nelly will say that I am taking advantage of the privilege she''s been giving me." She muttered before slowly opening her eyes.


    It was quite a battle with her body, but she managed to get up from the couch.


    "What the heck is wrong with me?" She said with a weak voice as she made her way toward the staircase. "I just hope Dave gets back soon."


    Going up the staircase was quite tough but she managed to get there, however, that required a lot of energy from her and she was panting now.


    "At this rate, I''ll never be able to make it on time." She said to herself. "No, I have to try, I can''t arrivete for work."


    She made her way into the room and instead of heading toward her wardrobe, she made her way to the bed and crashed down on it.


    "I just woke up, why do I feel so tired?" She muttered. "Maybe I''ll be okay if I just get a little more shut-eye." She added before finally giving in to her body.


    "Just a few minutes." She said before slowly closing her eyes.


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 236 My Goal Is Different

    "That was a very long walk." The goalkeeper said before opening the door to his house.


    He took off his running boots and threw them to the side before turning his gaze to the already set up table in the dining area.


    "She must have already left for work." He muttered as he made his way to the table and when he got closer, he discovered that something wasn''t exactly right. "She never leaves the food open like this before leaving, she must still be here then."


    He made his way upstairs and to the room where he found her fast asleep on the bed.


    "Why would she go back to bed after making breakfast?"


    He made his way to the cupboard beside the bed and picked up his phone to see that the time was 8:11 AM.


    "That''s strange, doesn''t she n on going to work today?" He said before slowly sitting beside her.


    <She said she had to get to work early today, so it''s odd to find her sleeping here by this time, something must be wrong, check her body temperature>


    "We don''t have a thermometer here but I can use my body to check if she''s burning up, she doesn''t look that good." He said before he slowly ced the back of his hand on her neck. "Her temperature is slightly higher but that happens to people a lot of times and randomly."


    <Her temperature may still be going up, that''s how fevers work, I think it''s clear now that she isn''t okay>


    "Hey, Emma." He said before tapping her softly on her forehead.


    There was no response from her but after a few more taps on her forehead, she slowly began to open her eyes.


    Her vision was blurry when she opened her eyes but after blinking thrice, she could clearly see who was sitting beside her.


    "Oh, it''s you." She smiled before slowly cing her hand on his left cheek.


    "Yeah." Dave smiled back at her. "You''re runningte for work."


    As soon as those words got transmitted into her ears, she quickly sprang up on the bed before jumping down from it.


    "What time is it?" She asked abruptly.


    ''For someone who we thought wasn''t okay, she''s gone hyperactive quickly.''


    "What is the time, Dave!"


    The goalkeeper was startled by her suddenly yelling at him and had to quickly raise his phone to check the time.


    "8:17." He replied.


    "8:17?" She said with a stunned look on her face before quickly making her way to the wardrobe area and before the goalkeeper knew it, she returned with her towel tied around her body. "If I can just be fast enough and have you drive me to work, I''ll get there just on time."


    Dave wanted to say something but before he could open his mouth, she had already fled the room.


    He stared at the exit for a while before letting out a deep sigh.


    ''I thought she was supposed to be sick or something.''


    <I guess my evaluation was wrong>


    _______ ________


    The hallway was pretty quiet as the goalkeeper walked through it with both of his hands in his pockets, the hallway was quiet because the staff were on a lunch break but they were still a few of them around and almost all of them waved toward the goalkeeper happily as he walked past them and he was happy to return the waves with a smile on his face.


    ''It really feels good to be loved and respected.''


    He expected Catherine to say something after saying that, but there was no response from her.


    He continued walking through the hallway until he got to his destination.


    Right now, he was standing in front of a door with a white tag ced on it, and on that tag was written the word ''President.''


    He stared at the door for a while and took a deep breath before opening it.


    He entered the office to find his father sitting on the couch by the side with a ss of wine in his hand.


    "I didn''t expect you to get here this early," Tom said with a smile on his face.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Hey, Dad." He said before walking closer to him.


    "How''re you doing, Dave?"


    "I''m okay."


    "And your wife?"


    "She seemed sort of wonky today but she''s okay." He replied.


    Tom smiled at him before taking a sip from his ss of wine.


    "You know I never thought you would get married so early, I just wish your mother was here to see the fine young man you''ve grown into."


    "You don''t have to talk about mom every time we discuss something, dad." The goalkeeper said.


    "I know, but I just can''t help it," Tom said. "Why don''t you have a seat?"


    Dave sat beside him on the couch and watched him finish his ss of wine before dropping the empty ss on top of the small table in front of him.


    After that, he cleared his throat before turning his gaze to his son.


    "I called you here to hear your thoughts about extending your contract for one more year, the official meeting and decision will be made on Saturday, that is if you agree to extend your contract."


    "You''re doing this so that I don''t leave as a free agent next season, right?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Yeah," Tom replied.


    "But are you aware that I want to leave the club next season?" "I had the feeling that you would feel that way, but you don''t have to leave as a free agent. If you perform well in the League this season and we break through the qualifiers in the conference and you also perform well in thepetition, your market value is going to rise pretty well, the transfer money will help the club in a lot of ways especially in getting a recement for you." Tom expressed.


    ''My market value has already risen unexpectedly recently, I wonder how much it will rise after all that.''


    "So, you''re saying that you''ll let me go if I want to leave." The goalkeeper said. He was quite surprised.


    "Yeah, if you want to leave, I''ll find a way to make it happen but you should know that we''ll be entitled to ept the club with the highest bid."


    "Club with the highest bid, okay, as long as the club is in any of Europe''s top five leagues." The goalkeeper said.


    "Europe''s top five leagues, I see, you want to go to any of those leagues but which one do you want to go to the most?"


    "I think I like Laliga better but the English Premier League is a pretty awesome league." He replied.


    "I guess you''re different from him then," Tom said.


    "Huh?"


    "My father, your grandfather," Tom said. "He wanted nothing more than to y for Unique FC and he went down as a legend of the club."


    "That was grandpa''s choice, his goal was to go down as a legend of the club but my goal is a lot different." He said before getting up from the couch. "I have to get going now, dad."


    He made his way to the door and opened it before turning back to face father.


    "Don''t worry, dad, I''ll make sure to leave my mark on the club before leaving and if I don''t seed, then I''ll make sure toe back and do it." He said before closing the door.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 237 Quite The Opposite

    "I don''t care what anyone thinks, I know Unique FC are for the title race this season, their team has beenpletely refined and best of all, Dave Richards is now a formidable rock covering the goalpost every time he steps on the middle of the line."


    Dave was watching the sports segment with a smile on his face but he was also feeling a bit uneasy.


    "I just hope we can meet your expectations, it will be cruel to disappoint after putting so much faith in us." He muttered.


    He brought his phone up to his view to see that the time was 7:00 PM.


    ''She''s supposed to be back by now.''


    Just as that thought left her mind, he heard three knockse from the door.


    He slowly got up from the couch and made his way to the door and after getting there, he opened the door to find Emma standing there.


    "Hey." She said with a smile on her face.


    "Hey," Dave said.


    She tried taking a step forward but she happened to have misced her foot in the process and almost crashed to the floor in the process, but Dave was there to catch her before that happened.


    "Hey, take it easy." He said.


    "What is wrong with me? The feeling was therest week but it wasn''t this intense." She said,


    "What are you talking about?" Dave asked.


    "Remember when I told you I was feeling nauseous and a bit tired when I wasn''t supposed to be?" She said before getting up on her feet.


    "Yeah." He replied with a nod.


    "Well, this was what I was talking about, it was really embarrassing dozing off every minute and having Matthew wake me up all day." She expressed.


    She was about to start making her way toward the stairs when she felt a strong wave of nausea sweep through her body, she quickly made her way out of the house and fell on her knees before letting out everything the nauseous feeling had stirred up from her stomach.


    "It''s okay," Dave said as he slowly rubbed her back.


    ''She''s clearly not okay.''


    <I guess I was right after all>


    ''I wouldn''t have let her leave for work if I knew that it was like this.''


    After letting out everything the nauseous feeling had stirred up, she cleaned her mouth with the back of her hands before she was slowly helped up by Dave who took her inside and straight to the couch.


    "You''re definitely down with some kind of illness but I hope it isn''t the flu-likest time." He said.


    Emma stared at him for a while before slowly sitting up on the couch.


    "Hey, what are you doing? Don''t try to get up." The goalkeeper said.


    "Don''t worry, I just feel nauseous and tired, it''s not like I''mpletely overwhelmed by fever or anything, I don''t need to be lying around in one ce." She said before getting up from the couch.


    "Okay, just be careful so that you don''t fall on the stairs."


    "Don''t worry, I won''t." She said before she began to make her way toward the staircase.


    ''I should go make sure she doesn''t fall on the staircase, I won''t be able to forgive myself if that happens.''


    Just as he took a step forward, she slowly turned her gaze to him.


    "Hey, Dave, is there anything that I can eat now, I''m hungry?" She asked.


    "Um...not really." He said, shaking his head.


    "Oh, so you were waiting for me to get home and do it myself."


    The tone of her voice suddenly went from soft to cranky, something that took Dave by surprise.


    "It hadn''t been long since I got back, you always do it yourself after getting back from work so I thought you would do it this time too." He said.


    "Do it this time, in my condition? I thought you were a caring man."


    "Fine, I''ll just order something then." The goalkeeper said before picking up his phone from where it was sitting beside him.


    <I haven''t seen her like this before>


    ''Me too, I just hope she didn''t get into an argument with someone at her workce.''


    "You better do." She said before she began to make her way upstairs.<novelnext></novelnext>


    He followed her with his eyes until she got to the other floor.


    The night was quite hectic for the goalkeeper up until the point where she ate the food he ordered and then fell asleepter in his arms.


    "I''m sorry." She mumbled before slowly closing her eyes.


    "It''s okay." He said before cing his hand on her head.


    The two stayed like that for a while until he began to feel sleepy and decided to carry her upstairs.


    He carried her upstairs and dropped her on the bed slowly before changing into morefortable clothes for sleeping.


    After that, he slowly made his way to the bed andy down beside her.


    He stayed at the ceiling for a while before turning his gaze to her, her breathing was so peaceful unlike what she had shown him tonight.


    "I just hope whatever that''s bothering you goes away tomorrow." He muttered.


    <Trust me, it will most likely get worse tomorrow>


    ''What are you talking about?''


    <Looks like the seed is finally starting to grow>


    ''What are you talking about, Catherine?''


    <If you had taken Biology seriously you would know by now>


    ''Biology?''


    <Yeah>


    ''So you know what''s wrong with her.''


    <Yeah, but don''t think I''m going to spare you the research or thinking, you''ll have to find things out on your own, I think she has an idea of what''s going on with her body, she just wants to be sure it''s really it>


    ''You know you shouldn''t have said anything about it if you''re not ready to exin.''


    <Maybe, but now you know where to start looking thanks to me>


    "Where to start looking." The goalkeeper muttered.


    He turned his gaze to the ceiling and kept his gaze there for a while before certain thoughts began to run through his mind.


    ''Tiredness which results in her dozing off most of the time, nausea leading to her vomiting, she''s already done that twice tonight, and then she was way too cranky for her level tonight.'' He thought. ''Those are symptoms, right?''


    <I''m not helping you out>


    ''Of course, they''re symptoms, they''re clearly symptoms.''


    He ran through a lot of other things in his mind before he picked up his phone.


    He slowly typed what he had managed to scramble from his mind and just before clicking the search button, he turned his gaze to his wife.


    "Are you sure it''s not anything bad, Catherine?''


    <No, it''s nothing bad>


    ''Okay.'' He said subconsciously before clicking the search button.


    The google search bar quickly loaded and in the next second, he had his answer right in front of him.


    After reading the contents of the first result, a shocked expression appeared on his face.


    <You see, it''s quite the opposite>


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 238 Break The Blame

    "Hey, what are you doing?" She said with a smile on her face before slowly opening her eyes and turning to the side to see that no one was there. "Oh, he''s gone."


    She slowly raised her gaze toward the exit and kept it there for a while before she slowly began to get up from the bed.


    "I still don''t feel good but I have things to do before going to work, I was lucky that Miss. Nelly didn''t notice myteing yesterday." She mumbled to herself as she made her way out of the room.


    ''This is bing too much, I have to take that test again, but what if¡­."


    Just as she stepped onto the first step of the staircase, the sweet smell of something getting fried swept past her nose.


    "What''s that?" She said before increasing her pace down the staircase.


    She got down the staircase and made her way to the kitchen to find Dave there, he was certainly frying something and he was putting on her red apron.


    "Dave?" She said with a surprised expression on her face.


    "Oh, hey you''re awake already." He turned to her with a bright smile on his face.


    "You''re making breakfast?"


    "What does it look like to you?" The goalkeeper asked.


    She didn''t say anything again until she slowly walked closer to him to see what he was making.


    "Pancakes." She said after seeing them piled up on a te.


    "Yeah, pancakes to go with milk and if you feel like you can''t eat them, then I''ll make some toast." He said with his focus on what he was doing.


    "No, no, there''s no need for that, the pancakes are okay." She said.


    "That''s good to hear." He said before turning to her with a smile. "Now go upstairs and clean your mouth, everything will be ready soon."


    She stared at him for a while before responding with a nod and a smile on her face.


    _______ _______


    "You''re eating quite a lot for someone who appears to be sick," Dave said after watching her take away thest pancake on her te before he knew it, it had already gone down her throat before she used thest milk in the ss to wash it down.


    ''I wish I could have that but sadly I am on a diet that prohibits me from eating things like that.''


    <You can go ahead and try it, you won''t die or get punished, you''ll just simply fail the quest>


    ''And you want me to do that now that I am almost two months up, no thank you.''


    "Thank you, babe," Emma said with a smile on her face.


    "That''s not a problem, you do it for me all the time so the least I can do is take over just for today so that you can rest." The goalkeeper expressed.


    "You''re so sweet." She said before getting up from her seat. "Well, I have to go get ready for work now."


    "Do you really have to go to work in your condition?" Dave asked.


    "Yeah and besides, I''m feeling a lot better now." She said.


    "Okay, if you insist on going, then I''ll have to help you get ready." The goalkeeper said as he got up from his seat and made his way to her.


    "No, Dave, that''s not necessary, I can handle myself now." She said.


    "Keep quiet." The goalkeeper said before lifting her in a bridal manner. "Who knows what will happen if you mistakenly fall in your condition."


    ''A miscarriage.''


    She couldn''t resist as Dave slowly carried her up the staircase.


    ''Condition.'' She thought.


    "Hey, why don''t we go see the doctor today after you return from work?"


    "Okay." She replied in a low voice.<novelnext></novelnext>


    ______ ______


    Unique FC had a charity match against Supreme United on Thursday and a trophy was involved, but there was a big doubt about if they would be able to beat Supreme United.


    Theirst ten matches against Supreme United had not been so good, they had only managed to get one draw while suffering nine big defeats.


    Most of the fans thought that this could be the start of their redemption from the red supremacy but some believed that it would end the way it has always ended.


    The seven goals-to-one defeatst season was the biggest defeat and humiliation Unique FC had suffered at the hands of Supreme United and Norman didn''t want that to repeat itself, not while he was still the coach.


    The yers had gathered for a short training session in the afternoon and after doing the basic warm-ups, they dived straight into business.


    ''Supreme United have humiliated us for so long but I believe that this season will mark the end of our humiliation in their hands, our team is stronger now and I believe in all of you.''


    Norman''s words ran through the goalkeeper''s mind as he kept out Rnd''s shots from twenty yards out.


    "Your reaction speed and reflexes are unbelievable," Rnd said after watching him punch out thest ball which he sent flying toward the top right-hand corner.


    "Thank you," Dave said after getting up from the floor.


    "You will be very crucial when we face Supreme United tomorrow." The young left-back said.


    "I hope I can be." The goalkeeper said. "I was the reason why we got humiliated in ourst match against them."


    "Um¡­.I don''t think so." Rnd said, shaking his head.


    "Huh?"


    "Sure you made a lot of mistakes but the defense was partly to me for that humiliation, at some point they just stopped defending, and that resulted in Supreme United scoring more goals." Rnd expressed.


    "I guess you''re right but I think most of the me should be on my head and I am looking forward to breaking that me tomorrow." The goalkeeper said with his gaze on the sky.


    <I thought the match didn''t hold much value to you>


    ''Well, the narrative has changed now.''


    The training session hade to an end and now it was time for the yers to start heading home but before that, Norman had one more thing that he wanted to say to them.


    "Remember the way that we yed in unity in our pre-season matches, if we are linked in unity, mistakes won''t happen and our gamey, you guys will have to remember that if we''re going to win tomorrow." He said.


    "Hey, coach, can I get my starting position back?" Jonas asked just as Norman was about to turn.


    "I thought I''ve already made this clear to you, Jonas, Rnd is now the starting left back," Norman said.


    "But I''ve regained my form, I can do well as a starter now."


    "What the heck is wrong with him?" Minino muttered.


    "I will be the one to decide that, Jonas, you''ll be gooding off from the bench." The coach said.


    "Seriously? Then maybe I should go look for a club where I will be a starter." The left-back said.


    "If that is what you want to do, then go ahead," Norman said before he began to make his way out of the area.


    The left-back stood there with a look of despise on his face as his teammates walked past him.


    "You should work on your attitude, Jonas, then maybe you can start making requests like that," Mateo said as he walked past him.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 239 Level Up And Reduce The Risk

    Dave and Emma were sitting on the bench outside when the doctor opened the door and walked out with a small file in his hand.


    "What''s the result, doctor?" Dave got up from the seat to ask.


    The doctor turned his gaze to Emma and turned it back to Dave before handing him the results of the test.


    "Congrattions, Mr. Dave, your wife''s been pregnant for a while, she''s three weeks gone." The doctor said,


    "Three weeks?"


    As soon as Emma heard those words, she covered her face with both of her hands before putting her face down.


    "Hey," Dave said before he slowly sat down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. "Why are you crying?"


    "I''m not crying, I''m smiling." She said before turning to him to reveal the warm smile on her face but her face was also covered with tears.


    "I included a lot of things you should do and avoid and also dietary habits you should follow in that file, since this is your first time, it will e in handy."


    "Thank you, doc," Dave said.


    "You''re wee." The doctor replied. "I have other matters to attend to, goodbye."


    After watching the doctor leave, the goalkeeper turned his gaze back to his wife and helped her clean her tears.


    "You knew about it, that''s why you did all those things this morning and suggested that wee here this evening." She said as soon as they got to the car.


    "Well, at first I had no clue of what was going on with you but then I made a google search ording to what I noticed from you and got that answer which has been confirmed right now." The goalkeeper exined.


    She stared at him for a while before quickly wrapping her arms around him, pushing him against the car in the process.


    "I''m going to be a mother." She said,


    "Things are moving so fast, I''m going to be a father soon," Dave said. "I just hope it''s a beautiful girl."


    "No, it''s definitely going to be a boy," Emma said.


    ______ ______


    With everything confirmed now, Dave was more eager to help out his wife and make things a lot easier for her.


    He had officially taken over the role of making breakfast and helping her get ready for work, it was going to be hard to take care of lunch and dinner too now that the season was about to kick off in earnest but he was trying to think of something.


    <If I had to say, I would say that this is the worst time for her to get pregnant>


    ''It doesn''t matter because there is no perfect time, the pregnancy still covers roughly nine months so no matter whenever she gets pregnant, it''s still going to affect me somehow.'' The goalkeeper replied.


    He was in his car now heading to the Wondanimo stadium.


    The match was set to kick off by 2:30 PM so all the yers were expected to be at the Wondanimo stadium by 12:30 PMtest so that they could start heading to the Supreme stadium in Supreme city for the match.


    Dave was one of the first yers to arrive at the stadium but it didn''t take long before the other yers got there.


    Norman briefed them on the tactics and the yers who were going to be starting and by 1:00 PM, the yers were already on their way to Supreme City.


    "Hey, I couldn''t help but notice that you''ve been smiling quite a lot since we arrived at the stadium, what''s up? Are you having a good feeling about the match?" Mateo asked.


    "Yeah, I''m having a good feeling about the match but that''s not it." The goalkeeper replied.


    "Oh, then what is?"


    "Nothing out of the ordinary, it''s just that we''ll be weing a new member of the household in a couple." He replied.


    "New member of the household in a couple of months." Mateo ran through the words again. "Wait, do you mean that Emma''s pregnant?"


    Dave only responded with a nod.


    "That''s awesome." The winger said with an ted voice. "I can''t believe I spoke to Emma this morning and she didn''t tell me a thing about it."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I heard her telling your parents about it, maybe she expected me to tell you about it," Dave said.


    "Yeah, I guess so." The winger said. "So, now I''m going to be an uncle."


    "Yeah."


    Supreme city wasn''t that far from Unique City so it took them only thirty-two minutes to get to the Supreme stadium.


    The supreme stadium was the secondrgest stadium in the Bilbeth premier league after the grand strike stadium that belonged to Dynamo FC.


    The yers were weed warmly by their fans in the area and after entering the building, they were taken to the locker room where they would be doing their changing.


    The yers quickly changed into their training outfits before making their way to the pitch for the pre-match warm-up.


    As expected, Supreme United yers were already there putting on their red training outfits.


    ''There they are, we have to win this match but it''s not going to be easy.''


    [ Ball ma: level 03 ]


    [ Tries: 09 ]


    [ Cooldown time: 28 minutes ]


    ''I now have nine tries before the cooldown, and the cooldown has now been shortened by two minutes, this will help in this match.''


    <Don''t forget, your shot-stopping attribute has leveled up too>


    ''I know, but I''ll have to wait for the match to kick off to test that one out.''


    <Yeah, I''m just reminding you to test it out when the match starts>


    [ Double jump ]


    [ Double stamina ]


    [ Focus ]


    ''I can''t believe I have all these skills and can''t properly use any of them.'' He said subconsciously. ''Double jump is too obvious to the eye, double stamina makes my stamina drop faster after boosting it and then focus causes a lot of pain.''


    <Yeah, but the more you level them up, the better they get and the less effective those risks be>


    ''The fastest way for me to level up a skill is by using them constantly and the only skill I can use constantly is Ball ma.''


    <That''s true but you''re receiving skill upgrade points now, you can use them to level up those skills and get them to the level that those risks will be less effective on you>


    ''And what level will that be?''


    <Level five at least>


    ''That''s going to be hard if I don''t receive a good amount of skill upgrade points soon.'' He replied.


    <There''s no rush, just pick the skill you think you will be needing more often and start upgrading it with your skill upgrade points, keep upgrading it slowly till it gets to level five, and then you can pick another skill>


    ''That sounds like it''s going to be long, but that''s not a problem, I can hold my ground well with the ones I can use at the moment.'' He said subconsciously before he began to make his way to the goalpost.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 240 Biased Decision

    The match was about to kick off as the yers were now in the locker rooms getting ready to start heading to the pitch.


    Unique FC were going to use their ck jersey with ck polka dots while Supreme United were going to use their in red home jersey.


    The match was set to kick off by 2:30 PM so by 2:10, the yers from both teams had already met up in the hallway close to the exit from the tunnel.


    They waited there for a while before they were given the okay sign to start making their way to the pitch and just as they stepped out of the tunnel, the whole area got covered by apuse from the fans.


    ? The stadium waspletely filled up for two reasons, one because this was Supreme United''s home turf so their fans didn''t have any trouble getting to the Supreme stadium and the second reason was that Unique City wasn''t that far from Supreme City so Unique FC fans didn''t have much trouble getting to the stadium.


    "Wee to our viewers from all around the world, it''s your regrmentator Jim Waterson and joining me in the studio today is your regr comentator, Mr. Stege Jefferson," Jim said as the yers made their way to the pitch.


    "Hello everyone, it''s really nice to be back here again to talk about the match as it goes on live," Steve said.


    "Yeah, and speaking about the match, we have an interesting match-up today, it''s the first Audiz derby of the season, it''s a friendly match between these two rivals but there''s a trophy on the line and I''m pretty sure none of them is going to pull their punches." Jim articted.


    "It''s the Bilbeth charity cup, it''s not a major trophy but a trophy is a trophy, and what every club in this world wants is more trophies," Steve said.


    The yers lined up, shook hands as they went around and after that, it was time for the coin toss which the captains from both teams had to take care of, Adolf Alexis from Unique FC and Rnd Hills from Supreme United.


    "Unique FC has quite the tough record against Supreme United, theirst ten encounters had ended in ten significant losses and one draw," Steve said. "Will they be able to do something this time around or will they break their record for the most wins against a single club, the record was first created against Lave City with nine straight wins against them andst season they tied that record against Unique FC, beating them today will mean that they have broken the record and the team with the team with the most straight losses against a single opponent in Bilbeth will be Unique FC only."


    "I don''t think Unique FC will want that to happen, the odds are in the favor of Supreme United but they are not strongly in their favor, Unique FC has a refined team now, I think they can keep this interesting and even go ahead to shock us." Jim expressed.


    Unique FC won the coin toss so Adolf chose the goalpost on the left before making his way to his teammates, winning the coin toss also meant that they would be the ones to start the game which was a good thing for them, they could try something with their first spell of possession.


    After getting their teammates on their sides and in their positions, it was time to start the match.


    Norman was using his main starting eleven which consisted of Dave in the goalpost, Norman Kole in the right back position, Adolf and Aima as center backs, Rnd as the left back, Martinez in the defensive midfield position, and the attacking midfield being led by Ferran and Minino.


    The attack was being led by Fred in the striking position, Mateo on the left wing, and Carlos on the right wing.


    Supreme United mostly had their starting eleven yers on the pitch, the others that weren''t there were not avable yet, they were still enjoying the break probably.


    Mateo was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he sent the ball rolling to Minino who quickly sent it back to Martinez.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way," Jim said.


    Unique FC were taking things slowly, they wanted to start their build-up slowly from the back because they knew that rushing things would result in them losing the ball, and losing the ball wasn''t something they wanted to do yet.


    Supreme United yers were chasing the ball quite aggressively but Unique FC yers were wless in keeping the ball away from them with neat passes.


    Martinez received the ball from Adolf and quickly got past the yer in front of him with a roulette, he moved the ball forward a little before quickly sending it to Minino with a through pass.


    Martinez''s pass was a bit too much and Minino had almost lost the ball to a Supreme United yer but he slid toward the ball just before it could get to the yer and sent it rolling toward Ferran instead.


    "That was a close one, they had almost lost the ball there," Jim said.


    "It''s only been four minutes since the match kicked off and Unique FC are smoothly dominating the match," Steve said.


    Ferran seemed to have forgotten what to do after receiving the ball and that resulted in him getting dispossessed with a sliding tackle but fortunately for them, Minino raced toward the area right on time and sent the ball rolling to Mateo before the yer could pass it to his teammate while he was still on the floor with Ferran.


    "That''s the second time Minino is preventing their opponent from getting the ball after a mistake from his teammate, he''s starting out quite hyper in this match," Stevemented.


    Mateo got hold of the ball and feinted his body left to confuse the defender before quickly cutting into the box from the right.


    "Mateo doing what he does best, can he put it away?!"


    The winger had the space to shoot but he also had a good space to give the ball to Carlos who was racing toward the goalpost now.


    He wanted Carlos to finish before the goalkeeper who still had his eyes on him could get to that side so he sent the ball rolling to him with enough speed that it would only require a little touch from him to put it away.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "He''s decided to cross it low," Steve said.


    Carlos had almost gotten his foot on the ball when he was brought down from behind by a Supreme United yer and that resulted in the ball rolling out for a goal kick without making contact with anyone.


    "The ball had gone past the line with no contact, looks like there was a collision in the box though but there''s no whistle," Jim said.


    This was just a friendly match but Carlos was quite pissed off that the referee didn''t do anything about that, the yer had clearly brought him down to prevent him from scoring but the referee acted like he didn''t see it.


    Heined to the referee but it didn''t look like the referee was going to listen to him so he kept onining until Mateo got to him.


    "Hey, it''s okay," Mateo said before pulling him away from the referee.


    "Why do they always have to make biased decisions like that? I was pushed in there, that was supposed to be a penalty." Carlos said. He was fuming.


    "Calm down, we don''t need to get a yellow card now, there''s still a lot of minutes left, trust me we''re going to win this match just calm down."


    "I don''t even know the purpose of VAR if they can''t review decisions like this," Carlos said before he began to walk away from his teammate.


    "Carlos had almost risked getting the first booking of the night there but I don''t me him, he was clearly pushed down in the box, the referee should have made that call," Jim said.


    "Yeah, Unique FC should be leading by now."


    ''I didn''t expect the match to start with biased decisions against us.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    With the ball out of y, it was now time for Supreme United to get possession of the ball for the first time since the match kicked off.


    The goalkeeper ced the ball on the edge of the box inside the eighteen-yard box before quicklyunching it into y.


    The right midfielder quickly got hold of the ball and sent it flying toward Rnd from the top.


    "Supreme United are attacking with long flying balls."


    The ball seemed to have been over hit so Adolf ended up clearing it with a header but it wasn''t exactly cleared as the ball fell right to the feet of Supreme United''s central midfielder who quickly sent the ball rolling to Rnd.


    The striker quickly got past Martinez with a neat three hundred-and-sixty rotation to get enough space to shoot and once he had that space, he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    "Rnd!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side with a powerful shot but that wasn''t a problem as Dave was already on it.


    He dived toward the ball with both of his hands, many expected him to just punch out a shot that powerful, but he caught the ball with his gloves before crashing to the floor.


    That save generated loud gasps from the fans and the Supreme United yers who had no idea how well the goalkeeper had improved had shocked expressions on their faces.


    "When they said that he had gotten better, I didn''t expect it to be at this level," Rnd muttered.


    There was no chance for a counter-attack but Mateo was free on the left and there was a chance that he could create a counterattack all by himself so Dave quickly got up from the floor and sent the ball flying toward him.


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 241 Rock Solid Defensive Strategy

    The match had just entered the twentieth minute with none of the side being able to get a goal but Unique FC were fluently dominating the game, something that was quite surprising to see.


    They had seven shots so far while Supreme United had two shots with only one of them being on target.


    Mateo had been tearing up the defense from the left, firing with the spaces he got and sending in dangerous crosses, the winger had fired three shots which had been saved by the goalkeeper, the other two shots on target were headers from Fred which were sent over the bar by the goalkeeper.


    Right now, Unique FC had won a free kick after Mateo was fouled close to the edge of the box.


    "Who would have thought that we would ever get to see Supreme United being outssed by Unique FC in every department?" Jim said.


    "Their team has gotten better, there''s no doubt about that," Steve said.


    Ferran and Mateo were both standing over the ball so nobody knew exactly who was going to take the free kick except for the both of them.


    "I think it''s going to be Mateo," Jim said. "Ferran has that massive shot power and good uracy but Mateo has cement and good technique and I think he has better uracy too."


    The wall had been set up and everything was ready, all that remained was for the referee to blow his whistle and it didn''t take long before he did that.


    There was no movement from the winger and midfielder for a few seconds before Mateo quickly closed up on the ball.


    "I knew it was him," Jim said.


    The winger just moved past the ball without touching it before Ferran quickly closed up on it.


    "Oh, he was the decoy."


    The midfielder sent the ball flying toward the goalpost with a power shot.


    "It''s Ferran!"


    The goalkeeper was clueless and remained glued to the spot as the ball flew past him but fortunately for him, the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before falling off for a goal kick.


    "That was so close," Steve said.


    "Hecks cement and that''s why most of his balls end up hitting the crossbar," Jim said.


    The match continued with Unique FC still dominating the game, Supreme United couldn''t get past their defense because it seemed like they knew every single move that they were going to make and then make the right move to stop them and that was working very well for them so far.


    ''The coach''s defensive strategy is working way better than I thought it would, we''refortably controlling the game.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    <Yeah, and you''re having things easy so far, you''ve only faced one shot so far>


    ''Yeah, but that shot was a deadly one, they would be leading now if he had reacted a secondter.''


    "Supreme United are suffering in the hands of Unique FC here, getting past their defense is a difficult task for them now, apart from that earlier shot from Rnd which he superbly took care of, Dave has had things easy so far but I''m sure he wouldn''t mind one or two shots." Jim articted.


    Mateo received the ball from Ferran and quickly raced down the wing before crossing the ball low to Fred, but before the striker could get his foot on the ball, the goalkeeper rushed out of his goal line.


    "That was a very close call from the goalkeeper, if Fred had gotten his foot on that ball, Unique FC would definitely be leading now," Jim said.


    "Yeah, Mateo''s still tearing up their defense from the left and they still don''t know how to contain him, they have to find a way to contain him," Stevemented.


    The match had entered the fortieth minute now as Martinez bodied Rnd off the ball before he could do anything with it and sent it rolling toward Norman who quickly sent it flying toward Minino from the top.


    Minino quickly got hold of the ball and passed it to Carlos who was beside him at the moment before zooming past him and both of the yers heading toward him at that time.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Carlos knew that he wouldn''t be able to hold his ground against two yers so he quickly sent the ball to Ferran with a backheel pass.


    "Ferran."


    Ferran stretched a little forward with the ball before he sent it rolling to Minino who was heading toward the edge of the box now.


    "Minino."


    Minino got past the yer right in front of him with a nutmeg but he still wasn''t free as there was another yer right in front of him with Ferran and Fred heading toward the goalpost from the middle, dragging the other center back and the right back with them in the process.


    The midfielder quickly sent the ball to Ferran who had the best opportunity to shoot toward the goalpost even with the center-back marking him but Ferran had a better idea.


    He moved toward the ball with the defender but he didn''t touch it and allowed the ball to move past them toward Mateo who was unmarked on the left.


    There was nothing the goalkeeper could do as the left winger slotted the ball into the goalpost for an easy finish.


    "Nicely done by Mateo! Brilliant idea by Ferran to leave the ball for him, they''re one goal up...oh, wait looks like there''s amotion there."


    Supreme United yers had gathered around the referee now to talk about Mateo being offside before scoring the goal and it looked like the referee was having a hard time deciding on whether to give the goal or not but it should have been an easy decision as both linesmen had their gs down.


    "What the heck is going on?" Mateo said before making his way to the referee.


    ''If this goal gets canceled, I am going to lose it.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    <I wouldn''t me you>


    Unable to decide by himself, the referee made his way to the VAR monitor to confirm things.


    "I understand him going to the VAR monitor to be very sure but I don''t think there should be an offside contemtion, Mateo was clearly on side." Steve expressed.


    It didn''t take up to five minutes before the referee returned to the pitch, he blew his whistle and pointed to the kick-off spot which meant that the goal was going to stand.


    As soon as that decision was confirmed, Mateo''s teammates quickly headed over to him to continue their celebration and the fans increased the tempo of their screams of tion.


    "Yes!" Dave screamed before raising both of his hands.


    "That was the right call, both of the yers marking Ferran and Fred in the middle area clearly kept him on side, there was no need to check VAR, I''m d no controversial decision was made." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, and now Unique FC have the lead with just a few minutes to go before the first-half break, I think they have what it takes to win this match, all they have to do is protect this lead and maybe try to get a second," Steve said.


    "They have what it takes to win quite alright but I have a feeling that they''re not going to find things this easy with Supreme United in the second half."


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 242 First Yellow Card

    Supreme United yers and coach were desperately waiting for the referee to blow his whistle and bring the first half to an end as Unique FC yers were still mercilessly tearing up their midfield and defense.


    Fortunately for them, Unique FC weren''t able to get a second goal until the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end although they had gotten really close to creating that two-goal cushion and it would have been a massive hit to Supreme United.


    "That marks the end of the first half, it has been quite an interesting and surprising first half as well." Jim expressed. "I never thought that I would get to see Unique FC overpowering Supreme United like this, I knew they would be able to beat them at some point because that''s how football works but outying them with their current squad was out of the question."


    "Yeah, Jim, it looks like it''s time for teams to stop underestimating this Unique FC team because if you do that, they''ll hit you like they''re hitting Supreme United right now." Steve articted. "Anyway, the match isn''t over yet, we''ll have to wait and see how Supreme United responds in the second half."


    "Yeah, but at the moment, the first halfes to an end with the score, Supreme United nill, Unique FC," Jim said.


    The statistics board had a clearer depiction of how much dominance Unique FC had over Supreme United in the first half.


    The guest had fifty-nine percent ball overall in the first half while Supreme United had forty-one percent ball possession.


    Unique FC had released eleven shots with seven of them being on target while Supreme United released only three shots with just one of them being on target.


    Right now, the guests were in their locker room and Norman had quite a lot to tell them.


    "You all have done well so far, but as always our finishing has been really poor, we should be at least two goals now." He said. "We''re dominating the game but that doesn''t mean we should rx and lose our guard, remember that a one-goal advantage can be erased at any point in the game, and who knows what they''re plotting now but one thing is certain, things won''t be this easy in the second half so listen carefully to me."


    After getting the required amount of rest and listening to what their coaches had to say, the yers were now making their way to the pitch to resume the match.


    "Wee back, everyone, the second half is about to kick off here as we can see the yers making their way to the pitch now," Jim said.


    Supreme United were going to be the ones to start the second-half kick-off and right now, Rnd was standing.


    "Looks like there have been two changes to the Supreme United side, both of the attacking wingers have been removed and they will be reced by Melody on the right wing and Segito on the left wing. But there is no change from Unique, looks like Norman believes that his boys will continue doing what they''re doing." Jim articted.


    The referee blew his whistle to begin the match as Rnd quickly passed the ball to the midfielder beside him who quickly sent the ball to Melody who in turn sent it to Segito.


    By the time the ball got to Segito, Rnd had already broken free to create enough space to do what they wanted to do.


    With a single touch, Segito sent the ball flying toward Rnd who had just gotten past Adolf and Aima but before he could get to the ball and do what he wanted to do, Dave was right there to clear the ball, the goalkeeper was away from his box when the ball was sent flying over and this was the only thing that came to his mind.


    "That was a clever move from Supreme United trying to get an early equalizer with that move but it looks like Dave was in the right ce and at the right time to thwart their n." Jim expressed.


    "It''s a good thing that he went directly for the ball instead of retreating to the goalpost as we can see, if he had attempted to head back to his goalpost one bit, Rnd would have put that ball away."


    <Nice thinking, Dave>


    ''I wasn''t really thinking, my body did what it had to do.''


    Just like Norman thought, Supreme United had gotten better in the second half, their attacks were more direct now without them always losing the ball to Unique FC defenders and it looked like they were starting to find the spaces in their defense but, Unique FC still had the upper hand and they were still controlling the game possession-wise.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Mateo received the ball from Ferran and quickly got past the yer in front of him with his pace and confusing feints before drilling the ball low into the box for Fred.


    "Nicely done by Mateo," Steve said.


    Fred was fast enough to get to the ball first as the defender ended up getting to it first and with a single touch, he sent it flying far away from their goal area.


    "Nice clearance from the defender and this could be trouble for Unique FC!" Jim eximed.


    The ball was sent flying toward the left on the other side close to their box area, Norman was marking Segito but in the process of trying to read the ball and clear it, he slipped causing Segito to get his foot on the ball.


    "This could be their moment."


    The winger had enough space toward the goalpost and get that goal but before he could do that, Dave had already closed up on him and with a sliding tackle, he took the ball off his feet and past the line for a throw-in.


    "Wonderful thinking from Dave, this is the second time he''s doing something like this but things don''t still look good," Steve said.


    Segito quickly rushed to the sidelines and caught the ball thrown to him by one of the ball boys but before he could throw it so that his teammates could strike while Dave was still away from his goalpost, the goalkeeper quickly rushed to the ball he had sent past the sidelines and quickly threw it into the field of y before quickly making his way to his goalpost, a pissed off Segito threw the ball at him but he didn''t care and continued heading toward the goalpost.


    "That was a smart move by Dave, bringing the ball into y so that Segito won''t be able to throw the ball he was holding," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but he''s definitely going to get booked for that," Steve said.


    Just as he said that, the referee who had now gotten to the goalkeeper with a yellow card in his hand, raised it toward him before bringing it down to write down the details.


    "As expected, he has been booked, the fourth booking of the night and Unique FC''s first booking," Steve said.


    "That''s the first time he''s getting booked since he became a professional footballer, his first yellow card," Jim said.


    ''Who would have thought that my first ever yellow card woulde like this but it was definitely worth it.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.


    ***


    ? Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 243 Sealing The Game

    The match had just entered the seventieth minute as Unique FC were still keeping theirposure while trying to find a second goal while Supreme United were desperately looking for that equalizer.


    The ball possession was getting more and more even as the match got drawn out further but Unique FC were still the more efficient team when it came to attacking although finishing was still a problem for them.


    "If only this team can get rid of their finishing problem, they will do lots of things this season and be known as a formidable team," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but most of those wasted chances had from Fred, I know he has his moments but I think he is the worst striker Unique FC has in terms of finishing which is a striker''s main duty." Steve expressed.


    The cross from Carlos was brought down by Fred with his chest and had a really good space to put it away but just like the earlier shots, he ended up sending the ball over the bar.


    "Oh, another good chance sent flying over the bar," Jim said.


    Now that the ball was out of y, it was time for Norman to make the changes that his team needed.


    As expected, the first yer toe off was Fred and he was going to be reced by Fredinho, the next yer toe off was Carlos who was reced by Merino, and thest yer toe off was Ferran who was reced by Henry.


    "They have Fredinho on the pitch now, he''s not a deadly finisher himself but I think he''s a better finisher than Fred.


    The game resumed with both teams trying their best to get the job done but right now, both of them were finding it quite difficult to get past each other''s defense and make an impact.


    So far Dave had only managed to save two shots but the second shot which hade from Melody in this second half didn''t really carry that much power to it and was easily saved by him so you could say that he was still having things easy in this match.


    The right midfielder moved down the wing with the ball before passing it to the central midfielder who quickly sent it over to Melody.


    Melody quickly caught toward the center to avoid Rnd who had been a pain in his neck so far and as soon as he was about twenty-five yards away from the goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying directly toward Dave from the top but it was a tricky one so the goalkeeper ended up hitting it over the bar.


    "One wrong move and that ball could have gone in." The goalkeeper muttered before adjusting his gloves.


    "Dave Richards takes care of the third test he''s faced tonight and now Supreme United have won their second corner kick of the game," Jim said.


    Melody was going to be the one to take the corner kick spot and right now, he was standing over the ball on the spot waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle.


    Melody observed the box for a while before he took two steps backward and closed up on the ball to send it flying into the box.


    The expectation was to put it right in the middle or close to the goal area where any of his teammates would be able to get to the ball and put it away, but the winger had a different idea.


    He sent the ball flying toward the edge of the box where Rnd happened to be free surprisingly.


    The ball got to the striker who sent it flying toward the goalpost with a volley.


    "Rnd!"


    The ball didn''t carry much elevation but Dave was a bitte to react as he dived toward the ball with both of his hands.


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    With the help of his ball ma, the goalkeeper was able to pull the ball a little closer to his hands without anybody noticing but unlike the other times when he would just end up hitting the balls out because of the weak maic force, this time was a bit different as the goalkeeper ended up catching the ball with both of his hands.


    "Oh, what a save from Dave!" Jim eximed."


    "That was unbelievable, I thought it was going in," Steve said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The crowd was going wild now as Dave quickly got up from the floor.


    ''The force is stronger now.'' He said subconsciously before he found Fredinho making a run toward Supreme United''s side with his right hand up, he was calling for the ball.


    ''Perfect space for a counterattack.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before he threw the ball up and sent it flying toward the striker.


    "They''re trying to create a counter-attack here," Jim said.


    There was only one yer in front of him with the others quickly heading toward him from behind but the striker kept hisposure.


    He used the momentum of thending ball to get past the yer heading toward him with a neat nutmeg and right now he was heading toward the goalkeeper with the other yers all racing toward him from behind.


    "He''s one on one!" Jim eximed.


    The striker quickly headed toward the goalkeeper with the ball and as soon as the goalkeeper moved out of his goal line to attempt his sweeping, the striker lobbed the ball over him before jumping over him.


    He watched carefully as the ball bounced on the goal line before entering the goalpost and at that moment, he quickly took off to the side.


    "Goalllllll!!!!!!" Jim eximed. "Unbelievable! They have gotten their second, magnificent pass from Dave, a wonderful run from him, and a magnificent finish to wrap it all up!"


    Fredinho didn''t even get the chance to do anything as his teammates rushed toward him and brought him down on the floor.


    "That was beautiful, Dave Richards just can''t stop giving assists," Steve said.  "We have eighty-two minutes on the clock, I think everything is pretty much sealed now."


    "I agree, Supreme United don''t look like they''re going toe back from this one," Jim said.


    The crowd were chanting the name of the club now as Fredinho got up from the floor and raised both of his hands before blowing a kiss to them.


    ''The fifth assist in my career.''


    "Dave Richards now has one goal and five assists to his name, that''s very good stats for a goalkeeper if you ask me," Jim said.


    "Yeah."


    <You haven''t really been tested in this match except for the first andst shots you''ve faced so far but you''ve been quite crucial to keep the scoreline in your favor>


    Fred couldn''t celebrate without thanking the person who had given him the ball.


    "Hey, buddy, thanks and keep doing what you''re doing, you''re the best." The striker patted him on the shoulder before quickly running toward the kick-off spot.


    ''I will.'' The goalkeeper responded subconsciously with a smile on his face.


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 244 Minor Trophy

    Supreme United tried their best but even they knew that it was futile at this point in the game and once the fifth minute of added time waspleted, the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end.


    "There''s the whistle, it''s all over!" Jim eximed as most of Unique FC''s yers including Dave raised their hands in victory as the fans screamed and threw chants all over the ce. "They have finally broken Supreme United''s winning streak against them and prevented them from setting a new record against them but they still have the record against them alongside Lave City."


    "The first time Unique FC ising out on top in the Audiz derby in thest four years and they came out on top with a convincing two-nil win," Steve said.


    "We did it," Dave said with a bright smile on his face as he made his way to Mateo who was heading toward the bench area to sit down maybe.


    "For the second time in history, Unique FC are the winners of the Bilbeth Charity cup, this is quite a coincidence because the first time they won it in neen ny-five, they beat Supreme United two goals to nothing, and today on October twenty-third two thousand and twenty-five, history has repeated itself." Jim expressed.


    "Do you know what else happened that season, Jim? Unique FC went on to beat Supreme United in the Bilbeth super cup final and ended the season as League runner-ups just one point behind Supreme United." Steve articted.


    "Yeah, that was a good season for them, but it wasn''t their best," Jim said.


    It was time to hand over the trophies before giving the winners their trophy but before that, the yers from both teams would have to be given their medals, silver medals for Supreme United yers, and gold medals for Unique FC yers as they were the champions.


    The medal wasn''t the only thing that Dave was going to be getting as he had been announced as the man of the match at the end of the match.


    There was nothing really special about how everything was done, it was just the organizer of the yearly charity cup and the person who would be giving the yers their medals.


    The first team toe up was Supreme United, they would shake hands with the man who created this tournament for the sake of charity before they would be giving their medals, it didn''t take long before they were done and now it was Unique FC''s turn.


    Dave was the seventh yer toe after Mateo and just as the medal was put over him, he felt some kind of sensation run through his body.


    After walking a little distance toward the area where his teammates were standing while waiting for Adolf to bring the trophy, he paused before grabbing the gold part of the medal.


    He rubbed his hand on it for a moment before bringing down his gaze to look at it.


    <You know this was just a friendlypetition with a trophy attached, this trophy isn''t recognized by UEFA or FIFA and will be ssified as a minor trophy>


    ''I know that, but still, it''s quite wonderful to win something with this team.'' He said subconsciously before he began to make his way to his teammates.


    Adolf was handed the trophy after collecting his medal and now he was making his way to his teammates holding the trophy.


    There was nothing really special about the trophy, it had a silver coating with a rectangr mold on the bottom but there was hands on it, it looked like a smaller version of the Bilbeth Super Cup.


    The captain slowly brought the trophy up and down as he made his way to his teammates and once he got to the spot made for him, he raised the trophy high as his teammates let out screams but they weren''t the only ones as the fans joined in on the shouting and jumping from the stands.


    "It''s their first trophy in six years so I think it''s worth the hype," Jim said. "I think this marks the beginning of a new era in Unique FC."


    After celebrating for a little while longer with the trophy, some of the yers began to make their way down the tunnel.


    Dave was part of those who had left the celebration band to head down the tunnel but he wasn''t allowed to do that as Emma quickly rushed to him as soon as she spotted him and wrapped her arms around him, using his body to elevate herself a bit.


    "Hey, I didn''t know you were here." The goalkeeper managed to say with her body pressed against his face.


    "Of course, I''m here, I''m a sports reporter, have you forgotten?"


    "No, it''s just that I wasn''t expecting to see you here, are you the only sports reporter in that workce of yours?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "But I am the most reliable ording to Miss. Nelly." She said before turning her gaze to Matthew who had gotten close to them now.


    "Miss. Nelly never said anything like that," Matthew said.


    "Why don''t you go ask her and see?"


    Matthew let out a sigh before turning his gaze to Dave.


    "Congrattions on your trophy, Dave." He said.


    "Matthew, right?"<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yeah," Matthew responded with a nod.


    "Thank you for congratting me." The goalkeeper said before turning his gaze back to his wife. "Are you feeling okay? You know you shouldn''t be stressing yourself."


    "I''m not stressing myself, I feel...."


    Before she could finish that sentence, she felt something strongly rising to her throat and quickly covered her mouth before holding her breath to take it back in.


    "I feel fine." She said afterward.


    He stared at her for a while before he slowly took off his medal.


    "Just hold onto this for me and take it home if you must." He said before putting the medal on her. "I have to go now, see youter."


    She turned around to watch him until he disappeared down the tunnel.


    "Why did he ask you if you were feeling okay?" Matthew asked.


    "Let''s go." She said before she began to make her way toward the tunnel area.


    Most of his teammates were already in the locker room and boy was the celebration going on, a lot of pictures were taken, a lot of running around was done, and a lot of singing, chanting, and dancing.


    <This is what happens when you don''t win a trophy for six years and end up winning the Charity cup>


    ''Give me a break, Catherine, I only became a first-team yerst year so whatever you''re saying doesn''t really apply to me.'' Dave replied to her as he jumped up and down with his teammates.


    After jumping up and down and running around the room for a while, the goalkeeper decided to call it quits as he slowly made his way to one of the seats and sat down there.


    ''Show me the post-match rewards now.''


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Five crucial saves: +50 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded(0): +100 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 8.2 ]


    ''I guess I yed a huge impact in keeping this clean sheet.''


    <Yeah>


    [ Congrattions on winning your first minor trophy ]


    [ The system will now grant you the rewards required ]


    ''I get rewarded by the system for winning trophies?'' He said subconsciously with a marveled look on his face.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 245 Title Rewards

    [ The system will now grant you the rewards required ]


    [ +50 exp received ]


    [ +2 stat points received ]


    [ +2 skill points received ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points received ]


    ''All these just for winning a minor trophy like this one, what will I get then if we win the league title or the conference league?''


    <You''ll have to get there and see for yourself but you should know that this works exactly the same way the reward for keeping a clean sheet is given to you>


    ''So the more contribution and impact I make to winning the trophy the better the rewards I get.'' He said subconsciously.


    <Exactly>


    ''I see, so I won''t get huge rewards for doing nothing while my teammates take us to glory.''


    <No, you won''t>


    ''What if I get injured?''


    <You will be rewarded ording to your level of contribution before getting injured, whatever you may think you could have done if you weren''t injured will be invalid to the system unless you do it>


    The goalkeeper made his way out of the room to go ease himself before the team would start heading home and that was when he met Emilia.


    Her hair was still ck but he knew it was her because she was putting on a ck suit while Emma was putting on a blue dress when he met her outside about forty minutes ago.


    "Hey, Dave." She said before moving closer.


    "Emilia, I was wondering where you were since this is your city and you''re also a sports reporter now." The goalkeeper said. "And I see that color isn''t off your hair yet."


    "I was busy with a lot of things, but it''s a good thing I ran into you here." She said,


    "Why''s that?"


    "Double congrattions." She said.


    "Double congrattions?" The goalkeeper said with a confused expression on his face.


    "First for your victory which I can hear you guys are still celebrating and secondly for your soon-to-be-born child." She expressed.


    "Oh, I should have known Emma was going to tell you about it."


    "I''m so happy for you guys." She said with a bright smile on her face. "I have to go now, see youter."


    "Okay, bye."


    ______ ______


    After all the celebration, the yers were now making their way back to their city and stadium but even after all that celebration, a few of the yers just couldn''t stop talking about the match.


    Dave and Mateo were sitting together as always and both of them were going through their phones.


    There were a lot of write-ups about Unique FCing up fine and their convincing win against Supreme United that Dave couldn''t help but smile.


    In the media group there had to be people who had negative things to say and those people were also present here but he didn''t care.


    [ Career info ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ Age: 21 ]


    [ Height: 187 cm ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Strong foot: right ]


    [ Developed qualities: Shot stopper ]


    [ Developing qualities: Sweeper Keeper, ball ying keeper. ]


    [ Current Team: Unique FC ]


    [ Status: Starter ]


    [ Market value: €10,000 ]


    [ Matches yed: 83 ]


    [ Goals: 1 ]


    [ Assists: 5 ]


    [ Shots faced: 204 ]


    [ Goals conceded: 86 ]


    [ Saves made: 90 ]


    [ Penalties faced: 23 ]


    [ Penalties saved: 02 ]


    [ Clean sheets: 05 ]


    [ Career average rating: 7.0 ]<novelnext></novelnext>


    [ Awards ]


    [ Man of the match awards: 03  ]


    [ Trophies ]


    [ Minor trophies: ¡Á1 Bilbeth Charity cup ]


    [ Major trophies: 0 ]


    [ Records set/broken: none ]


    ''Minor trophies has now been differentiated from major trophies.'' He said subconsciously after going through the information on his screen.


    <You''ve gotten a minor trophy, that''s a nice step towards achieving legendary status>


    ''Yeah. Five clean sheets after eighty-three matches with eighty-six goals conceded isn''t very good for a goalkeeper aiming to be world-ss.''


    <Yeah, but you have a goal and five assists some world-ss goalkeepers end their careers without being able to achieve that, and yet you are still very young>


    ''Yeah, I guess.''


    It didn''t take long before the yers arrived at the stadium and after that, Norman filled them in on when they were going to be meeting for their training session before their first match of the season on Monday but before that, Friday was a day off for all of them.


    They had spent quite a lot of time celebrating after the match, so Dave ended up getting home by 7:30 PM.


    "What a day." He said before stepping down from his car.


    ''Emma must be home by now.''


    He made his way to the door and opened it with his key before stepping into the house.


    "Hey, babe, I''m home." He said but there was no response. "Emma."


    ''Maybe, she''s not home yet.'' He said subconsciously before he began to make his way upstairs. ''Why shouldn''t she be home by now?''


    He made his way straight to his room nning to give her a call but Just as he entered the room, he was shocked to find her on the bed fast asleep with the medal he gave her still on her neck.


    <I think she''s been home for a while>


    ''Yeah.'' The goalkeeper replied before he slowly made his way toward her.


    He sat down beside her and stared at her for a while before slowly taking the medal from her.


    He got up from the bed and dropped the medal on top of the cupboard before making his way toward the door.


    He didn''t have the strength to do anything in the kitchen so he ordered something.


    He didn''t need to wake her as the smell of the food was enough to wake her up when he took the food up to her.


    The couple ate together and after that went downstairs to watch a couple of shows together before finally going to bed.


    The two talked about a couple of things together but Dave was the one talking the most and he didn''t even know when she stopped listening and fell asleep.


    "And then." He said before turning to her to realize that she was already fast asleep.


    ''And she''s asleep.'' He said subconsciously before a warm smile appeared on his face.


    He made sure the nket was covering her body properly before turning his gaze to the ceiling.


    He stared at the ceiling for a while before turning his gaze back to her.


    "In a couple of months now, we''ll have a third member in the house."


    <They could be twins>


    ''That''s even better.''


    <Yeah, with twice the work rate>


    ''It''s still better.''


    <Whatever you say, but don''t you think it''s quite odd that you haven''t told your father that you''re expecting a child?>


    ''I know, I forgot to tell him today because of the match and everything but I''ll inform him tomorrow.''


    <Okay>


    There was a little moment of silence in the room before Catherine decided to bring up something.


    <Now, that the season is about to start, don''t you think it''s time to resume your reflex training, you haven''t mastered two seconds yet you know>


    ''I know.''


    [ Dream control: activated ]


    <Good>


    It didn''t take long before the goalkeeper fell asleep after that and just ten minutes into his sleep, he found himself in the endless white space with Catherine standing right in front of him.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 246 House Interview (01)

    The second ball was sent flying toward the left side of the goalpost with no form of elevation and because Dave was still getting up on his feet close to that side of the goalpost, he was only able to stretch his right leg toward it and luckily for him, that was all that was needed to keep the ball out.


    The third ball was elevated pretty high toward the middle as the goalkeeper quickly got up from the and dived toward it, but he only managed to make slight contact with it before the ball fell into the goalpost.


    "That was so close." He mumbled before getting up from the floor.


    "Yeah, you''re starting to get there, you can now make the first two balls and get up fast enough to pursue the third ball but not fast enough to save it," Catherine said. "You''re getting somewhere, most goalkeepers wouldn''t be able to make it to this point and I must say you''re getting better at seconds faster than I expected."


    "Really? Faster than the person before me?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Just slightly faster, it isn''t that much of a big deal." She replied.


    "Now, you''re just trying to make me feel bad."


    "It''s time for you to head back now, we''ll continue tonight."


    After saying that, the pitch, the balls, the unidentified yers, and the goalpost all began to disintegrate along with him and soon, he could feel his body on his bed again.


    "So, you''ve decided to sleep a little bit longer today."


    Emma''s voice was the first thing he heard while his eyes were still closed and it wasing from above him.


    He slowly opened his eyes to see that she was directly above him but she wasn''t on top of him, she used the bed to support herself instead so that she wouldn''t have to wake him up.


    "Oh, you''re awake?" She said with a bright smile on her face. "Good morning."


    "Hey, good morning." The goalkeeper said. "What''s up? What''s got you smiling like that this morning?"


    "Well, first, I don''t have to go to work today." She said.


    "Really?"


    ? "Um¡­no, I think it''s better to put it this way."


    "Huh?"


    "I''ll be working from home today, that''s a better way to put it." She said,


    "And why is that?" He asked. "What will you be doing?"


    "Why don''t you take I guess, you know that I am a sports journalist so I think it will be pretty easy to guess what it is." She said.


    "Umm¡­.you''ll be writing an article." He said.


    "No." She said before shaking her head.


    "Then what! Article writing is the only thing I can think of." The goalkeeper said.


    "Really?" She said before rolling her eyes. "Let me give you a hint then. Why will a football journalist visit a football yer?"


    "Um¡­to interview him, or maybe she''s his girlfriend or something like that." He replied.


    "I didn''t say the journalist had to be a female."


    "You didn''t specify any gender either." He said. "Wait, are you¡­?"


    "Yeah, you got that right." She said before sitting up in front of him.


    She didn''t even wait for him to finish asking the question.


    "Start getting ready, I''m going downstairs to do some cleaning." She said before she stepped down from the bed and began to make her way toward the door.


    "Hey, wait, are you sure you should be doing that? I can take care of it." The goalkeeper said.


    "You know I''m just three weeks pregnant." She said after turning her gaze to him. "It''s not like I have a humongous baby bump now that will disable me from doing things properly, don''t worry, I can handle myself."


    "O¡­Kay." The goalkeeper said with his gaze on her.


    "Good, now go get ready, I''m going downstairs, but first, I need to pay a visit to the bath¡­room.." She quickly covered her mouth with her hands before quickly making her way out of the room.


    It had been about thirty seconds since she left, but the goalkeeper still had his gaze on the exit.<novelnext></novelnext>


    <Are you nning to keep your gaze there all day?>


    ''That is not possible even if I try to.'' He replied before sitting up on the bed.


    "So her work today is interviewing me, a house interview in her house, and she seems so excited about it." He smiled before getting up from the bed.


    _____ _____


    It took Emma about an hour plus to do her cleaning and also do something in the kitchen and right now, she was getting ready upstairs while Dave was already dressed up and waiting in the living room.


    "I guess I didn''t have anything to worry about after all." He said as he looked around the area.


    While Emma was still getting ready, he went through his phone to find out what was going on around the world.


    It took Emma about forty minutes toe down the staircase, she was putting on a ck skirt to go with her white short-sleeved shirt with a little blue design on it, there was nothing special about the way she dressed but she looked okay.


    "You look nice." The goalkeeper said after watching her make her way downstairs.


    "Thanks." She said with a smile before she began to make her way to the dining area. "Matthew will soon be here with the cameras, light, and everything else, but we''ll have breakfast together before we start."


    "Okay," Dave said, and after saying that, three knocks suddenly came from the door.


    "That must be him," Emma said before quickly making her way to the door.


    She quickly opened the door to see that it was indeed Matthew who was standing there.


    "Hey, you look nice," Matthew said with a smile on his face.


    "Oh, Thank you. Did you bring everything?"


    "Yeah, but I''m going to need help bringing them all in." He said.


    "Hey, babe." She called after turning her gaze to Dave.


    "Yeah." He replied.


    "Do you mind giving us a hand here?" She asked.


    "Okay." The goalkeeper said before getting up from the couch.


    After getting everything inside the house, the three sat down to eat together and after that, it was time to begin the interview.


    "So, is this going to be a live interview or..?" The goalkeeper asked before sitting down on the couch.


    "It''s going to be live," Emma said.


    "Okay, but I still don''t get why you didn''t tell me about itst night."


    "Uh¡­it was meant to be a surprise and it sure worked in surprising you." She said before she closed her mouth to apply lip balm to her lips. "Okay, everything''s set."


    She picked up the card where she wrote down some important things before making her way to the couch to sit beside Dave.


    "Okay, and we are live in three, two, one," Matthew said before pushing the necessary button to start the live interview.


    "Wee everyone to this Month''s segment of, in the yer''s house, I am Emma Richards your host and today we are in Dave Richards'' home." She expressed herself fluently. "Yeah, Unique FC''s number one and ball ma, Dave Richards."


    ''Who would have thought that my first house live interview would be with her.'' The goalkeeper thought with a smile on his face.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 247 House Interview (02)

    The idea behind interviewing Dave now was because he was one of the yers who was being talked about mostly now and doing this now would bring them(Unique City Publishing Company) a lot of viewership from Bilbeth and also from around the world.


    "As I said earlier, Dave Richards is here with us, no, we''re in his home," Emma said.


    "It''s your home too," Dave said.


    He managed to get a smile out of her with those words but she knew exactly what to say.


    "Yeah, but right now, I''m here as a journalist from Unique City Publishing Company, not your wife so technically it''s just your home, not ours." She expressed. "Now, back to what I was saying, I am here to ask Dave here a couple of questions and see the interesting responses he''s going to give us. Are you ready Dave?"


    "Yeah." The goalkeeper responded with a nod.


    "Okay, first question. You were on a pre-season tour with your teammates for two weeks and only returned on Monday, how was the tour?"


    "Well, it was a nice experience having to spend two weeks in another control with matches to be yed, Barcelona''s a really nice city, I really loved it there and the matches were also great, I was surprised to see a lot of fans there to cheer us up during those games even though they were just friendly games but I was really d to have them. There''s a lot to talk about but overall it was a very nice tour, I want to y in Spain one day so it was an awesome tour to give me that experience although we only got to face three teams from Spain." The goalkeeper expressed.


    "Okay, I think Barcelona is a great city too, now the next question. What were your best moments or parts of the tour?"


    "I can''t really say, I have a lot of those moments."


    "Okay, why don''t you just tell us about one of those moments?"


    "Okay, there was this time that I felt really bored so I decided to take a walk and then I found this boyining about something. He seemed really sad, Iter found out that he was in the final of a football-tennispetition and his friend who was his teammate couldn''t make it.


    "I decided to help him out and we ended up winning the final very convincingly."


    If it was another person interviewing him, the goalkeeper wouldn''t be speaking so freely as he was doing, he was speaking like he was just having a normal conversation with his wife, perhaps Miss. Nelly had a point of assigning the interview to her.


    "Yeah, I heard about that and now because of you, they are going to prohibit professional footballers from taking part in the tournament," Emma said.


    "Yeah, I''m just d it wasn''t part of the rules then, Diego would have been devastated after getting disqualified like that." He said.


    "Well, it''s a good thing it wasn''t a rule then, now."


    "Yeah."


    "Now, moving on to thest question regarding the pre-season tour. Which match will you call your favorite in all the matches?"


    "Favorite match." He said before cing his hand on his chin. "That''s a tough decision to make but I''ll have to say the first match."


    "Against Manchester United?"


    "Yeah." He replied with a nod.


    "Why is it your favorite? You scored a goal in the match against Eibar, the first goal in your career, that should be something special to you." She said,


    "Yeah, you''re right, that goal is very special to me but I picked the match against Manchester United for a reason." The goalkeeper said.


    "And what reason is that?"


    "Eibar didn''t really do anything to upset, that''s why they were the only ones we were able to get four goals against without conceding any, but Manchester United were all over the ce against us, those guys could have easily scored eight goals against us but we held our ground and even managed to score before them.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "They were the most dangerous attacking team we faced after Barcelona but somehow we got really close to beating them, we could have defeated them."


    "I see, it''s because you guys managed to hold down a team like Manchester United, that''s why it''s your best match," Emma said.


    "Exactly." He responded with a nod.


    "Okay, that was thest question regarding the pre-season tour, now moving on from that. You guys just defeated Supreme United, the current champions of Spain to win the Bilbeth Charity cup and you guys didn''t just defeat them, you guys outyed them." She expressed. "A lot of people, especially Unique FC fans, are saying that you guys have what it takes to fight for the title and possibly win it this season, what do you have to say about that?"


    "I wouldn''t say they''re wrong because ording to the improvement our coach is bringing to the team and with the new yers in the squad, I believe we can fight for the league, but, I think my teammates will agree with me here when I say that the league isn''t our main focus this uing season." The goalkeeper expressed.


    "Really? Then what is your focus this uing season?" She asked.


    "We all fought so hard even when it seemed impossible to qualify for the conference League qualifiers and now that we''re there this season, I think that is our main focus this uing season, winning the conference League."


    "I see, that is a good main focus but do you guys think you have what it takes toe out on top in thatpetition?"


    "It''s been a long time since we werest in a Europeanpetition and now we can be in one again and that is if we make it past the qualifiers. This is also going to be the first time for some of us to y in one of the big stages of Europe, the pressure''s going to be there but I believe that we will be able to get through it, I know we''ll go a long way in thispetition and we may even go ahead to reach the finals."


    "It''s nice to see that you have a lot of confidence in yourself and your teammates," Emma said with a smile on her face.


    ''He''s changed a lot from the time I met him.'' She thought.


    "We are about to go on a short break but before that, you need to answer one more question, Dave."


    "Okay." He replied with a nod.


    "Do you think you have what it takes to get your hands on Bilbeth Premier League''s golden glove this season?" She asked.


    "That''s going to be a toughpetition given the fact that we have a lot of good goalkeepers here in Bilbeth but why not? If they''re fighting for it, I''m going to fight for it, and it would be really awesome to win it." He expressed.


    <You''re just being modest>


    "Alright, we''re going to go on a short break now, don''t go anywhere, we''ll be back soon." She turned to the camera to say.


    After saying that, Matthew quickly paused the video so that ads could be shown at this point.


    "Great answers," Emma said before getting up from the couch, and before the goalkeeper could say anything in response, she quickly made her way to the staircase and disappeared upwards.


    ''I knew she was starting to get ufortable.''


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 248 Extension Completed

    Dave''s daily workout had be limited since he found out about Emma''s pregnancy, he had to put something like training with the ball ster in hiswn and he had to reduce his training duration, he now returned from runs earlier and began to spend less time in the gym.


    She could still handle himself at this stage of her pregnancy just like she told him but she still needed help especially in the morning when her nausea gets serious.


    Yesterday was a pretty nice day for the couple, they spent the rest of the day together after the interview and today was even going to be better as she was given a day off and Dave was also off work.


    The season was kicking off tomorrow with the first match day but there was no rush for Unique FC as their first match was going to be on Monday against Frono FC.


    The sun shone brightly in the morning sky as the couple worked together in the kitchen.


    Well, working together isn''t the right term to use since Dave seemed really happy to be helping her out but she didn''t look pleased.


    "You don''t do it like that." She said before quickly taking the spoon from him.


    "Okay, you don''t have to be harsh about it." The goalkeeper said as he slowly moved to the side to make way for her.


    "I appreciate you helping out here but if you can''t do it right then I don''t need you in here." She said before she put the spoon in the boiling soup and began to stir it.


    "Did you really have to put it that way?"


    ''Is there really a right and wrong way to stir soup ande to think of it, that was the exact way I was stirring it.''


    <Don''t say it>


    ''No, I''m not that brave.''


    "Well, it looks like you have everything under control here, I''ll go find something else to do then." He said with an awkward smile on his face before turning to the exit.


    "Where do you think you''re going?" That grumpy voice was enough to stop him on his track.


    "Huh?" He said before slowly turning his gaze back to her.


    "You''re not a good cook but you can stay here and pass me the things I need but can reach from here, okay." This time her voice didn''t sound grumpy at all and she even smiled at him but the goalkeeper wasn''t going to get tricked again.


    "Okay." He said before moving closer to the wall cab to get the salt.


    She seemed to have cooled off after breakfast and in the next hour, she fell asleep giving Dave that free time he had been looking for all morning.


    He had already done his usual morning workouts so he just wanted to have a rxing moment and clear his head.


    He watched her sleeping peacefully on the bed from the exit and after watching her for a while, he slowly closed the door.


    He made his way downstairs and straight to the couch.


    "Now, what will be good for rxing?" He said after taking a deep breath.


    He slid his hand into his pocket and brought out his smartphone and just as he was about to turn the screen on, the phone began to vibrate as the name ''rk'' popped up on the screen.


    "rk." He smiled before picking up the call. "Hey, rk, what''s up?"


    "I''m okay, bro, what about you?"


    "Same here."


    "And Emma?"


    "Well, she''s fine but she''s getting grumpier every day." The goalkeeper replied.


    "Well, that''s normal for her condition but I''m sure it''s nothing that you can''t handle," rk said.


    "Of course, I''m handling it well, for the moment at least."


    "That''s good to hear. You''re going to sign the one-year deal today, right?"


    "Yeah, I should be there by noon."


    "Okay, that''s a good move for the club but I hope they let you leave when you want to leave next season, a lot of offers have beening in for youtely and some of them have even contacted the club directly but I don''t want to talk about that now."


    "Don''t worry, my dad gave me his word," Dave said. "When you say a lot my mind starts thinking of really huge numbers, can you specify the number of offers please?"


    "It''s eight offers in total so far."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Okay, that wasn''t the number I had in mind but that''s still a lot."


    "Yeah, that''s what I said." He said. "I have to go now, there''s still a lot that I want to talk to you about so I''ll call youter."


    "Okay, bye," Dave said before he ended the call from the other side.


    He stared at the wall quietly for a while before he stretched his hand to the table and picked up the remote control.


    _____ _____


    The contract signing didn''t take much time so Dave was able to leave the stadium by 12:40 but he didn''t go home immediately and decided to go get something first.


    He got home by 1:10 PM and after parking his car, he made his way to the door with his left hand behind him as he seemed to be hiding something there.


    He opened the door and entered the house to find Emma in the living room sitting on the couch and she seemed to be enjoying herself.


    There was a tray on the table where both of her legs were resting and on the tray were the wraps of the chocte bars that she had consumed, about twelve wraps and she was still consuming more.


    She noticed Dave as soon as he entered the house and quickly turned his gaze to him.


    "Oh, you''re back, wee." She smiled before taking a bite from the chocte bar she was holding.


    "What are you eating?" Dave asked before moving toward her with his left hand still behind him.


    "A chocte bar, do you want some?" She asked before stretching it toward him.


    "You know chocte is strongly on the list of things that I am avoiding." He said.


    "Oh, yeah, that''s a shame." She said before taking another bite from the chocte bar.


    It didn''t take her long to notice that Dave was hiding something behind his back.


    "What are you hiding there?" She asked before stretching her head to see but he quickly moved toward the couch to prevent her from seeing it.


    She tried again but the goalkeeper quickly turned away from the couch to prevent her from seeing anything.


    "Just what are you hiding?" She said before quickly tackling him down on the couch and that was when she saw it as he held it out of the couch to prevent it from getting squashed. "Is that...?"


    "Yeah, it''s for you." He said before raising the bouquet of roses toward her while she was still on his body.


    "Oh, that''s so sweet of you, Thank you." She said without even bothering to take the flowers from him.


    "You don''t have to say anything." He said with a little chuckle.


    "What''s funny?" She asked with raised eyebrows.


    "Nothing, it''s just that you''ve got chocte all over your face."


    "Oh, is that so?" She said before quickly pressing her lips against his.


    It didn''t take long before she pulled her face back.


    "Now, it''s shared equally." She said with a cheeky smile on her face.


    ''I think this is the first time that I did not enjoy a kiss from her.'' He said subconsciously.


    He was trying hard not to swallow the chocte particles that had already found their way to his mouth.


    ****


    This is the beginning of a new arc, the first arc ended with thest chapter.


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 249 If Things Had Gone My Way

    ''I guess I finally did it, but I know one second is going to be way tougher than this.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously after opening his eyes.


    <You got that right>


    Emma was still fast asleep and had her arms around him, so any wrong move would wake her and he didn''t want not until he was done with his morning run.


    He slowly slipped away from her grip to get off the bed and after that, he changed into his running gear and made his way downstairs.


    He ran just five kilometers before making his way back home, with the level of stamina he had now, doing things like that no longer took that much of his stamina.


    Norman informed them after the match against Supreme United that they will have a training session today by 11:30 AM so he had to do whatever he wanted to do fast so that he would be on his way to the stadium by at least 11:00 AM.


    Fortunately for him, Emma ended up telling him to stay away from her kitchen so he had more time to spend in his gym before having breakfast with her.


    After that, he made his way upstairs, washed up, and got ready to move out.


    "Hey, babe did you see my backpack?" He asked as he made his way downstairs.


    He didn''t need to ask again as he could see the backpack sitting in front of Emma on the table in the living room.


    "Everything you''ll need is in there." She said,


    He smiled as he made his way to the backpack and picked it up before moving closer to her.


    "Thank you." She said before leaning closer to kiss her.


    "It''s my job."


    "I hope you can handle yourself while I''m going?" He said before putting the backpack on his back.


    "Of course, you don''t have to worry about anything, just focus on your training session." She replied.


    "Alright, then, I''ll see you in a couple of hours." He said before he quickly made his way to the door and left through it.


    The goalkeeper got to the stadium by 10:50 AM, and there was only one car parked there when he got there.


    It was a white Toyota SUV Rav 4 hybrid, none of his teammates owned that car thest time he checked.


    ''Looks like someone bought a new car.''


    <And who is always the first person to arrive for training?>


    "Yeah, he bought a new car." He said before he began to make his way toward the entrance to the building.


    He got to the pitch to see that Catherine was right about who owned the car just like he expected.


    Ferran was on the pitch practicing his shooting with the target he set up in the goalpost.


    <It looks like he''s been here for a while>


    ''Why do you say that?''


    <Because everything about his shooting has gone up>


    ''Seriously?''


    <Yeah, he''s got ny-four rated shooting power, same as yours, his uracy has gotten better, his cement and technique too but he seemed to have dropped by minus one in speed>


    ''His short upgraded from ny-one to ny-four by just training here today?'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously with a stunned look on his face.


    <It''s either that or he''s been training a lot at home>


    "That has to be it." He muttered before he began making his way to the pitch.


    "Hey." He waved at the blonde midfielder before started getting ready to run someps around the pitch.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Oh, hey, Dave." The midfielder said before returning the wave.


    The goalkeeper ran a fewps around the pitch and did some push-ups and sit-ups before he dived right into what he wanted to do before the coaching staff and the rest of his teammates arrived.


    He had a lot of balls piled up at the center of the pitch as he was going to try hitting the crossbar as many times as possible from there.


    He wanted to get a quest from this practice session but nothing popped up and that was because his uracy had exceeded the system''s levels of giving him uracy tests.


    The first one hit the crossbar bar, the second one flew past it but was so close to making contact with it, the third and fourth ones were both on target.


    "Your uracy is quite stunning for a goalkeeper."


    The goalkeeper slowly turned around to see Ferran standing there.


    "You will do really well as a midfielder or forward, you already have a couple of assists to your name as a goalkeeper." The midfielder said.


    "Maybe, but I think I''m okay with being between the sticks, it''s my ce." The goalkeeper replied.


    "Yeah, you''re most formidable there."


    Since the incident with Emma, Ferran had invited Dave to dinner twice to make amends and the goalkeeper turned them so he had to plead for forgiveness after a certain training, the goalkeeper told him that he honestly holding anything against him, he was just disappointed and had always wondered what would have happened if things had gone his way.


    Those words struck the midfielder hard and from that day, he started being distant from the goalkeeper and that had to apply to Mateo too since Dave was always with Mateo, but today, he summoned up the courage to go have a conversation with him and see how he would react, he was quite surprised to see that Dave was talking to him like any of his other teammates.


    ''He really isn''t holding anything against me.''


    "Hey, I saw your new car parked outside, it''s a nice-looking car."


    "You think? I bought it two weeks ago but haven''t used it that much so I decided to move it around a little today." Ferran replied.


    "I see," Dave said before returning his gaze to the balls.


    "Um...I heard that you''re expecting a child soon, is that true?" The midfielder asked while bracing himself for something.


    "Yeah," Dave said with his gaze still on the balls so Ferran couldn''t tell what look he had on his face now.


    "Congrattions, then."


    "Thank you." The goalkeeper said before turning his gaze to him with a smile on his face.


    After saying that, he turned to the next ball in line and pulled his leg back before he sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    The ball flew toward the right side of the goalpost and hit the crossbar before falling into the goalpost.


    By the way, the balls were moving, it was easy to tell that he wasn''t using much of his shot power.


    Ferran watched him send ball after ball toward the goalpost with only one thought in his mind.


    ''I guess if things had gone my way I could have ruined his life and mine too, Thank you, Dave, and you too Emma.''


    It didn''t take long before the coaching staff and the rest of the yers arrived and now it was time to officially kick off the training session.


    *****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 250 Frono FC Vs Unique FC: Tactics And Formation

    The team had been training for quite a while and now they were engaged in a practice match.


    The team was divided into eleven yers on both sides and Dave''s side had fewer of the first team yers.


    The only first-team yers on his squad were Rnd, Fred, Carlos, and Martinez.


    The other team had the rest of the first team yers which made them the tougher team but sometimes the tougher teams don''t alwayse out on top, do they?


    Minino received the crossed ball from Rnd and brought it down with his foot neatly before zooming past la.


    He was moving the ball forward swiftly now as Rnd slowly moved back to secure the back and prevent him from getting through, but the midfielder wasn''t nning on going through the wing because he knew how tough it was to get past Ronald.


    He could do it with the momentum of a quick pass but engaging the left back one on one was going to be tough and he knew it.


    He drilled the ball low to Ferran who was now in apetition of who was going to get to the ball first with Pirlo who was also heading toward the ball at the same time.


    Ferran got to the ball thanks to his decision to slide toward it, with the slide he got to the ball first and pushed it in for Mateo who managed to slip past Martinez but before he could get his foot on the ball, Dave stretched his hands toward the ball and covered it with his body.


    "Come on." The winger said before quickly moving back.


    Dave was about to send the ball out when Norman blew his whistle.


    "I think that''s enough for today." He said.


    "I think we have a strong second eleven," Dave said before kicking the ball up.


    "Not really? You were the one saving our asses and we still lost." Martinez said before pulling out both of the gloves on his hands.


    "Yeah, but most of us yed out of position, you know," Frankie said.


    <I must say, most of the yers on this team have improved significantly, your coach should think of giving Frankie more ying time, he has talent>


    ''Yeah, I wish you could tell him that directly but I''ll try telling him.''


    Now that the training session was over, the yers met up in the locker room so that Norman could give them all the information they needed.


    He set up the circr maic objects on the board to illustrate the formation of the yers before turning to the yers.


    "Now, we''ll be heading over to Frono for our first match of the season, the season officially kicked off today which means that there are going to be ten fixtures today some of them are already going on as we speak, and the other ten which we are going to be part of will be tomorrow." The coach articted.


    ''Supreme United are ying against Spree City tonight, which means they''re probably going to be at the top of the table at the end of match day one.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    <Well that depends on the number of goals they win with if they win because they''re not the only team that''s going toe out victorious at the end of this match day>


    "For our match which we will be traveling to Frono tomorrow for, we will be using the four-three-three C formation, that''s one defensive midfielder and two attacking midfielders." Norman expressed. "I know we beat themst time with Mateo scoring a hat trick but that is not a reason to take them lightly, do you guys understand?"


    ''Why would we take a team with a duo of Darwin and Seth lightly?''


    "The back four will be upied by Norman, Adolf, Aima, and Rnd, you all know where you belong. Martinez is our defensive midfielder and the other two will be Henry and Minino."


    ''He''s not going to start Ferran?''


    <I think it''s a pretty smart move, Henry''s a good yer from what I''ve seen and know, Ferran''s better but he can do the job too and if things get tough for the midfield, he can just bring Ferran in to spice things up>


    ''Okay.''


    "Our attack will have Mateo on the left, Fredinho in the striking position, and Carlos on the right."


    ''Fred is getting benched too?''


    <That''s expected given how bad his finishing has always been and there''s only been a little improvement in that category so far, he''s a better all-round yer but Fredinho is the better finisher and that is what this team needs at this moment>


    "Now, for the tactics, I''m going to start with the attack, you scored a hat trick against themst season, Mateo so we''re going to assume that they''re going to man-mark you throughout the game, but that''s going to leave them open most of the time in the position of the yer they''re going to use whether it''s a midfielder or defender."


    "They''re most probably going to use a defender," Adolf said.


    "Yeah and that is why I want you to y deep and be a ball supplier instead, you have good ymaking skills and I want you to put them to good use in this match, y deep be the supplier, and throw them off course." He expressed.<novelnext></novelnext>


    <That''s a pretty solid n but I doubt that Mateo is going to stick to ying deep throughout the game, he''s going to get directly involved in the attack a few if not most of the times>


    ''If he does and it works for us, then it''s fine, besides, he''s starting as a left winger so there''s no way he won''t get directly involved in the attack at some points.''


    After filling the yers in on the tactics, the yers were all dismissed.


    Dave arrived home by 2:30 PM and as he approached the entrance, the smell of something spicy filled up his nose.


    "That smells nice." He said before opening the door. "Hey, babe."


    There was no response to his call so he slowly closed the door before making his way to the kitchen where he saw someone that he wasn''t expecting to see not at this time.


    "Oh, hey, Dave, wee."


    "Mrs. Smith?" The goalkeeper said with a surprised look on his face. "What are you doing here?"


    "Well, my daughter is pregnant, isn''t she? And I know how tough things are going to be for her now, so I decided to visit her today and see how she was doing, you seem to be doing a good job."


    "Oh, thanks." The goalkeeper said before scratching the back of his head. "Where is Emma by the way?"


    "She went upstairs about an hour ago, she hasn''te down since," Martha replied.


    "An hour ago, she must be asleep." He muttered before making his way to the staircase.


    He was about to make his way up the staircase when he saw her making her way downstairs.


    Her eyes looked weak and she was rubbing both of them as she made her way downstairs.


    After removing her hands from her eyes, she blinked a few times before she could see Dave properly.


    "You''re back." She said before stopping in front of him. "Wee."


    "You''ve been sleeping." He said.


    "Yeah." She said before resting her head against his body.


    "Um...I saw that your mother is here now."


    "Yeah, I''m d she came."


    "Any chance your dad''s also here too?"


    "Why are you asking? Are you scared?" She asked before raising her gaze to look at his face.


    "Scared of what?"


    "My dad, I know you''re scared of him, don''t deny it."


    "No, I''m not." He said.


    <Yes you are>


    ''No, I just want to be prepared for him whenever hees, that''s it.''


    ******


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 251 Conjoined Quest

    "Alright, you two, I''m going to head to bed now," Martha said before getting up from the couch where he was sitting together with Dave and Emma.


    "Alright, then, goodnight," Dave said.


    "Good night, mum," Emma said before resting her head on Dave''s thighs.


    "You know you have to go to work tomorrow so don''t stay upte, Emma."


    "Come on, mum, I''m not a little girl anymore." She said before turning her gaze to her mother.


    "Yeah, to others you''re not a little girl anymore but you''ll always be my little girl," Martha said as she made her way toward the staircase. "So, don''t stay up toote."


    Dave waited until she was off the staircase before he turned his gaze to his wife.


    "My little girl." He said with a little chuckle.


    "Just, don''t." She said with a grumpy voice.


    <You better listen>


    She ended up falling asleep on his thighs twenty minutester so he had to carry her upstairs.


    After dropping her on the bed, he brought out his phone from his pocket to see that the time was 9:03 PM.


    ''This isn''tte.'' He said subconsciously before lying down beside her and covering both of their bodies with the nket on the bed.


    ''Um¡­Catherine.''


    <Yeah>


    ''I think, I''m going to pass on tonight''s training.''


    [ Dream control: deactivated ]


    <That''s okay, one second is going to take you a while to master anyway, so it''s best you take it slowly>


    ''Alright, then, good night.''


    <Good night>


    ______ ______


    With Martha in the house, Dave had a lot more time to do everything he had to do in the morning.


    He was able to stretch his running distance to ten kilometers that morning.


    [ +1 stat point added to all physical stats ]


    [ Strength: 36~37 ]


    [ Dexterity: 51~52 ]


    [ Endurance: 32~33 ]


    "It''s sort of hard to get exp without my daily quests but I''m d that I''m still improving nevertheless." The goalkeeper muttered as he jogged back home.


    ''I can''t wait for the match to start. Supreme United are already at the top of the table after beating Spree City five goals to one. I knew they were going to beat Spree City but I didn''t think they were going to score five against them.''


    <That''s how football is, what you expect is not what you get most of the time. Do you think you guys can beat Frono?"


    ''It''s going to be a tough match, I know that bit, but I know we can do it.''


    The goalkeeper got home, sat down to a nice breakfast, and by noon, he made his way to the stadium where he met up with his teammates and coach.


    The match was set to kick off by 3:00 PM so they were all expected to be at Frono by 1:30 PM at least.


    They arrived at the airport with the team''s bus and before 12:30, they were already on their way to Frono in the team''s ne.


    Just like he did during almost every away where they would travel by air, Mateo pulled closer to Dave and raised his phone to take a picture of them together so that he could make a post with it on his Instagram.


    ''First league match of the season. Destination, Frono, Da Best, Frono.'' The winger wrote before clicking the post button.


    ? "So, Emma''s going to be at Frono, right?" The winger asked after turning his gaze back to Dave.


    "Um¡­no," Dave said as he shook his head.


    "Huh? Why''s that?" Mateo asked.


    "She said she had other things to deal with but someone else in her department will take her ce as the reporter in the match." The goalkeeper exined.


    "Okay," He said before turning his gaze back to his phone.


    It took about fifty minutes for them to get to Frono and right there at the airport, their ride was already waiting for them.


    They got to Frono Da Best stadium by 1:22 PM, there were a lot of fans there and they were really happy to see them.


    The yers were shown to the locker room and now all they had to do was change into their training outfits and make their way to the pitch.


    The stadium was already half-filled with fans from both teams with Frono FC yers training on one side of the pitch when they got there.


    "This ce sure feels lively from thest time we were here," Dave said after looking around the area.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I guess most of the fans didn''te to watch that game because they thought we were going to lose, there''s a lot more of them here alreadypared tost time," Mateo said.


    "Most of them believe in us now," Dave said with a bright smile on his face.


    "You got that right, and we''re going to make sure that we don''t let them down.


    "Things could go your way, but it''s going to be really tough."


    The three quickly turned to see Darwin Shaw standing there while Seth was making his way to them from the tunnel.


    "It''s not going to be as easy asst time." The striker said.


    <This guy still hasn''t learned his lesson, I guess arrogance can''t just be shaken off>


    ''I don''t think his words seem arrogant in particr, at least that''s how I see it.''


    "Oh, hey, Darwin," Mateo said.


    "Hey, Mateo," Seth said after pulling up beside Darwin.


    The Frono FC winger always gets excited every time he sees Mateo.


    "Seth." Mateo smiled.


    "I saw what you guys did against Supreme United, it was shocking to see you guys hold them down like that," Seth said. "You guys did a great job."


    "Yeah, that was a great performance but can you guys replicate it in the league? Do you know that there''s a team that did superbly well in all their pre-season matchesst season but now they''re back to division two after endingst season at the very bottom of the table? Yeah, it''s Olona FC." Darwin articted.


    "And what are you trying to say?" Minino asked with a grim expression on his face.


    "Nothing, I was just trying to remind you guys of what happenedst season." The striker said.


    <I told you he had arrogant intentions>


    ''I know and I''m going to put him in his ce right now.''


    "Yeah, Darwin, but you seem to have forgotten the most important part of everything." The goalkeeper said.


    "And what is that?"


    "Olona FC started out wellst season, they destroyed Lave City in their first match of the season six goals to nothing." The goalkeeper said with a poker face.


    He understood Darwin''s mockery quite well and used it against him perfectly.


    "We''ll see about that," Darwin said before he began to make his way to his teammates who were already warming up on the pitch.


    Minino didn''t even wait for him to go out of earshot before he let out theughter he was holding in.


    "Wow, Dave, I didn''t know you had things like this in you." The midfielder said.


    <That was nicely done>


    "I think you should tell him that mind games like that don''t work on us anymore," Mateo said to Seth.


    [ Conjoined quest received ]


    [ Stop Darwin from scoring ]


    [ Make five or more crucial saves ]


    [ Keep a clean sheet ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ 250 exp ]


    [ +5 stat points ]


    [ +10 skill upgrade points ]


    ''Conjoined quests? Nice.''


    <You wouldn''t be saying that if you knew how it worked>


    ''How does it work then?''


    <If you fail one quest, the other quests be invalid and you don''t get any reward>


    ''That is so not cool.''


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 252 Its About To Go Down

    "Are you ready, Dave?!" Mateo asked from where he was standing about thirty yards away from the goalpost with the ball trapped under his foot.


    He wasn''t the only one there as they were also Minino, Merino, Rnd, and Ferran stretched across the area with balls trapped under their feet and what they were about to do now was something that Dave asked them to do, it was simr to the current training he was doing in his dream world but this one was going to be from far range.


    "Yeah!" The goalkeeper replied before raising both of his hands as he jumped up and down on his goal line.


    Mateo quickly rolled the ball forward a little before he quickly raced toward it and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand corner of the goalpost but Dave was able to react and move right on time.


    He got the tip of his left glove on the ball and that was all he needed to stop the ball, he pushed the ball with the tip of his glove and it ended up hitting the crossbar and the post before flying off for a goal kick.


    "That''s three seconds, go Merino!" Mateo yelled to his teammate as Dave was still getting up from the floor.


    The winger quickly pushed the ball forward before he quickly sent it flying toward the right side which was Dave was still returning to the middle from with a little elevation.


    All the goalkeeper needed to do was quickly pause and while he was still off bnce, he stretched his left arm and used it to block the ball.


    "Go Minino!" Mateo yelled.


    The midfielder used Dave being on the floor to his greatest advantage and sent the ball flying to the top left-hand side.


    Dave wasn''t able to get up from the floor on time and the ball ended up falling into the back of the.


    "Yes," Minino said before raising his hands like he had just scored a match-winning banger.


    "Rnd."


    Dave was already back on his feet during Rnd''s turn but the young left-back had something up his sleeves.


    He quickly pushed the ball forward and closed up on it before he sent the ball flying toward the right side of the goalpost but the elevation wasn''t that high.


    The ball looked like it was going out but just as it got closer to the goalpost, it quickly curved.


    "I was expecting that." The goalkeeper muttered before punching the ball out with both of his hands.


    ''His swerve is crazy.''


    <You got that right>


    Ferran didn''t even need Mateo to give him the signal before he quickly pushed the ball forward and while Dave was still returning from the right side, he sent the ball flying toward the bottom left side of the goalpost with only a tiny bit of elevation.


    Dave quickly rushed toward the ball and dived, but he wasn''t able to get to it on time but he got really close and ended up watching the ball fly into the goalpost.


    "That''s how you do it." The blonde midfielder said before doing a little spin.


    "We have two forwards here and only the midfielders ended up scoring even the left-back was close to scoring," Minino said with his gaze on Mateo and Merino.


    "You know I was the one that took the first shot, so he was fully prepared for it, you guys just took the opportunities created by the previous person." Mateo expressed.


    "Isn''t that the point of this?" Minino asked.


    "Merino and Rnd didn''t make good use of their opportunities though," Dave said after getting closer to his teammates. "Rnd tried but you Merino...."


    "I know, that was a careless shot." The winger said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    It didn''t take long before the yers were all asked to head down the tunnel which was going to kick off by 3:00 PM.


    In the locker room, Unique FC yers were putting on their second away jersey, the green one with a design of orange and ck stripes but the short was just in green, Dave''s goalkeeping kit was just ck but it seemed to have been improved by the designer as the jersey now looked like it was a mix of a lighter ck and a darker ck.


    Dave had not used the new boots, gloves, and shin guards given to him by footy wears and today, he was going to test them out.


    The reaction from his teammates as he pulled out the golden boot with little white designs was wow.


    "I didn''t know you got new boots, a nice pair of new boots," Mateo said with his gaze fixed on the boots.


    "Well, I didn''t exactly buy them, they were given to me by Footy Wears." The goalkeeper said before bringing out the purple gloves and shin guards.


    "Oh, yeah, I forgot you signed a deal with them recently." The winger said.


    "Footy Wears aren''t as popr as Adidas, Puma, and Nike but they''re good," Ferran said.


    "Yeah," Merino said with a nod. "They were the firstpany I signed a sponsorship deal with.


    "I see," Dave said before he began to put on his new boots.


    Frono FC were putting on their home jersey which was diagonally divided by red and ck but they had decided to change up the shorts a bit and add only a little detail of red.


    The yers met up in the hallway where they had to wait before they would be given the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    They waited there for about seven minutes before they were given the signal to starting onto the pitch.


    Jim and Steve said their opening words and weed all the people viewing the match from all around the world as the yers made their way to the pitch.


    There were a lot of fans from both teams in the stands and they were all cheering for the yers.


    "Matchday two of the Bilbeth Premier League, Frono FC, and Unique FC will be facing each other in their first match of the season," Jim said. "Matchday one was only able to produce four winners and losers the rest of the matches came was concluded on equal grounds, let''s see how match day two will turn out."


    After going through all the necessary procedures, the captains made their way to the referee for the coin toss which Frono FC ended up winning, so they chose the goalpost on the left side and were going to be the ones to start the match from the kick-off spot.


    "Thest time Unique FC met Frono FC right here in this stadium, Unique FC beat them convincingly four goals to one with Mateo getting a hat trick and now they have a better team than that one, anything can happen but I think Unique FC will win this one or it may end in a draw possibly." Steve expressed.


    "It''s about to go down," Dave muttered from his goalpost.


    ''Stop Darwin from scoring, make five crucial saves, and keep a clean sheet, if  one fails, the others are down.''


    <Yeah>


    ''This is going to be tough.''


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 253 Deadly Situation

    As soon as the referee blew his whistle, Ahmed passed the ball to Seth who quickly rolled it back to one of the defenders before Fredinho could get to him.


    "The sixth match of match day two has now kicked off," Jim said.


    Frono FC were doing everything possible to make sure that they didn''t lose the ball but they didn''t seem too eager to attack so far in the game.


    Frono FC were ying with the five-three-two formation and the two yers they had up front were Seth and Darwin.


    The right-back received the ball from the right midfield before quickly stretching it toward the left back who was making a run away from the box now.


    Minino tried to bring him down and collect the ball with a quick slide, but he was quick enough to escape the slide and send the ball to one of the central midfielders who quickly sent the ball rolling toward Darwin.


    "Over to Darwin.''


    Darwin had trouble right in front of him in the person of Martinez Alejandro but he was quick enough to trap the ball with his back heel and send it back to Ahmed the central midfielder to receive it back from him after zooming past Martinez.


    "Nicely done by Martinez and Ahmed."


    The striker had the shooting space he needed even though Adolf and Aima were quickly heading toward him.


    He sent the ball flying toward the left side of the goalpost with a little elevation but he should have added more power to his shot as Dave ended up grabbing the ball before it could cause any damage.


    "Dave says no," Jim said.


    "If he''s going to beat him, he''s going to have to be a little more creative, shots like that won''t work," Steve said.


    His teammates weren''t in positions to start counterattacks so the goalkeeper had to throw the ball to Rnd.


    Rnd had Seth quickly heading toward him, so he quickly passed the ball to Dave who quickly sent it flying toward Henry.


    Henry brought the ball down with his chest and quickly sent it to Minino before he was dragged down by Ahmed.


    He raised his hands and called for a foul but there was no response from the referee so y continued.


    Minino moved forward to the ball beforeying it off to Carlos down the wing.


    The left-back was following the winger closely to stop him from getting through, Carlos knew that it was going to be difficult to get past him so he decided to go for the second option.


    He slowly approached the winger with the ball before quickly breaking loose further down the wing and just as the ball was about to go out of y, he sent it flying into the box.


    "Carlos is trying to overrun the defender here and he''s sent it in!"


    Fredinho rose high toward the ball with the defender in the area at that time but the striker was the one who got to the ball with a header.


    "Fredinho!"


    The goalkeeper dived toward the right side where the striker had sent the ball but there was no point in that as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before falling over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, no, it hit the crossbar," Jim said.


    Fredinho had a devastated look on his face after missing that chance but he didn''t let it bother him too much, there was still a lot of time left in the game anyway.


    The match continued with both sides trying their best but Unique FC seemed to be doing better.


    They weren''t dominating Frono FC as they had only fifty-two percent ball possession, but their defense was top notch, that shot from Darwin had been the host''s only shot in the game so far while Unique FC had gotten two more shots which were both on target but were somehow saved by the goalkeeper, both of those shots came from Mateo Smith.


    The match had entered the twenty-fifth minute now and none of the sides had been able to provide a goal.


    <You''ve gotten a lot of opportunities to try out that shot, why are you being hesitant?> Catherine asked after Dave sent out another ball to his teammate instead of aiming directly for the goalpost.<novelnext></novelnext>


    ''Don''t worry, Cat, I know what I''m doing.'' The goalkeeper replied.


    <If you waste too much time, something may go wrong and you may be disorganized>


    Dave''s ball was sent flying toward Henry and the attacking midfielder ended up winning the aerial duel against Ahmed before pushing the ball to Mateo.


    "Nicely done by Henry."


    All the winger needed was a single touch to send the ball flying toward Fredinho who was heading into the box at this moment with one of the center-backs hot on his trail.


    The striker didn''t jump up quick enough so the center-back ended up getting his head to the ball first but that resulted in him sending the ball over the bar for a corner kick.


    "Nice way to avert the danger but now they have a corner kick to deal with," Steve said.


    The ball was sent out through the right side so Ferran quickly rushed to the area to take the corner kick.


    "This could be Unique FC''s chance to do something," Jim said.


    Ferran was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle as the yers from both teams roamed around inside the box.


    After observing everything for a while and making sure no one was getting rough inside the box, he blew his whistle.


    Ferran wasn''t too hasty to take the corner kick as he slowly took two steps backward and paused before quickly closing up on the ball.


    He sent the ball flying into the box from the top but unfortunately for him, none of his teammates was able to get to the ball as it was headed back by a Frono FC yer.


    "The rebound is still active," Jim said.


    The rebound was sent down the middle exactly where Henry was standing waiting for it, but before he could get his foot on the ball, it was quickly knocked off by Ahmed.


    "Ahmed and Henry have been on each other''s neck since the start of the match and it just keeps getting more intense.* Steve said.


    The ballnded in the feet of the right back who quickly moved away from Rnd with the ball before heunched it toward Darwin who was in a very good position.


    Both Aima and Adolf quickly raised their hands and called for offside as soon as the striker brought the ball down with his foot but there was no response from the referee as the striker kept moving forward with the ball.


    "Uh oh, things aren''t looking good for Unique FC here," Jim said.


    "This doesn''t look good," Dave muttered as he tried toe up with a way to deal with the situation.


    <What is wrong with that referee?>


    Darwin was quickly heading toward the goalpost to get his goal, and he wasn''t stopping for anyone or anything except the referee''s whistle.


    ****


    I''ve added the relegated and promoted teams in the auxiliary chapter with the team names, check it out, please.


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 254 Dominating

    Nothing was going to stop Darwin apart from the referee''s whistle, and that was there to stop him right on time.


    It turns out the linesman on the left had his g raised as soon as he caught sight of Darwin receiving the ball in an offside position.


    His body was in line with Adolf and Aima''s bodies but his right leg was stretched out a bit and that was what kept him in an offside position.


    The referee didn''t see the linesman raise his g immediately and now he had to blow his whistle before Darwin could get to the goalpost with the ball.


    "So, he was offside," Jim said.


    "Yeah, you can see that his right foot is way past the line, Dave and the entire Unique FC squad will be relieved by that decision," Steve said.


    There was nothing Darwin could do other than stomp his feet on the floor in anger before slowly jogging back.


    ''That was close, who knows what would have happened if he had been on side.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before breathing a sigh of relief.


    <The highest possibility is him scoring the goal and opening the score but there''s a chance that he could have messed up and you would end up preventing the goal, it would be a wild save>


    ''Yeah, but I don''t think I want to take that chance.'' The goalkeeper replied subconsciously.


    The free kick was taken by Unique FC and y continued.


    The guests were holding onto the ball and passing it around smoothly, they didn''t seem to be under any form of pressure from the hosts despite almost conceding a goal.


    There were certain situations in football where things like that would be ignored, and the referee wouldn''t even bother to check VAR no matter how many times the victims ask.


    Minino received the ball from Martinez and tried to dribble past the midfielder right in front of him before quickly passing it to Carlos who had two yers heading towards.


    The winger held on to the ball and tried to find a way past both yers but in the end, one of them ended up sending the ball out for a throw-in.


    He could have passed the ball to any of his teammates in the area but he didn''t get the chance to do that.


    "The ball is out for a throw-in," Jim said.


    "Just look at how Frono FC are keeping tabs on Mateo Smith to make sure that he doesn''t have enough space to do anything dangerous." Steve expressed. "They''ve got the right back and right midfielder watching him, it''s not exactly man-marking, but they are not giving him any space at all."


    "Looks like they haven''t gotten over that hat trick yet, let''s see if that will stop Mateo from doing something today," Jim said.


    Minino was the one taking the throw and because Frono FC yers were making his teammates close by, he had to throw the ball all the way back to Norman.


    "Norman, over here!" The goalkeeper yelled as soon as the right back received the ball.


    Norman didn''t hesitate and quickly passed the ball to the goalkeeper because he had an idea of what he had in mind.


    Dave quickly received the ball and quickly stretched it further toward the edge of the box with Darwin quickly heading toward him.


    "Looks like Dave''s about to do it," Jim said with anticipation boiling in his voice.


    Before the striker could get to him, the goalkeeper pulled his leg back and sent the ball flying to the goalpost.


    "He has sent it flying!"


    The ball was flying down the middle as Frono FC''s goalkeeper retreated toward his goalpost, and just as the ball got closer to the goalpost, it quickly curved toward the left a little.


    The goalkeeper dived toward the ball and only managed to get the tip of his glove on it, fortunately for him, that was all that was needed to keep the ball out as it ended up hitting the crossbar before falling over the bar for a corner kick.


    "Oh, what a save from Emerson!"<novelnext></novelnext>


    After that ball out like that, his teammates quickly gather around him to shake and pat him on the head but most of them were wondering how Dave was able to pull off a shot like that from that far.


    "So close." The goalkeeper muttered before stomping his foot on the floor.


    He wasn''t angry or frustrated, he was just sad that his shot didn''t go in.


    "He didn''t just get better at goalkeeping, but he can do things like that now," Darwin muttered as he stared at the goalkeeper with a shocked expression on his face.


    Dave quickly shifted his gaze toward him and when the two made eye contact, the striker quickly turned away from him and began to walk back to his goalpost for the corner kick.


    "Dave hasn''t really been able to score with those goalpost shots since he surprisingly started pulling them off during their pre-season matches but they get deadlier every single time, he''s going to get a few if not a couple of goals with them if he can keep pulling them off." Steve articted.


    "He did score against Eibar from the center of the pitch, it''s just a matter of time before he scores from the goalpost it may be in this match or not." Jim expressed.


    The ball had gone out through the left and now, Mateo stepped up to take the corner kick.


    The yers were running around inside the box now and the winger was just waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    It didn''t take long before the referee blew his whistle but the winger wasn''t too eager to send the ball in.


    He stared at the ball for about five seconds before he slowly took two steps backward.


    He quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box from the top but he didn''t just send it into the middle to nobody in particr, there was someone near the edge of the box, and that was who he sent it to.


    By the time Frono FC yers could figure out what was happening, the ball had already gotten to Henry who had already pulled his leg back and mmed the ball with it.


    "Henry!"


    He sent the volley flying toward the right side of the goalpost as the goalkeeper dived toward the area, but there was no need for that as the ball ended up hitting the floor before hitting the post and rolling out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, it hit the post, that was so close to going in," Jim said.


    "Unique FC have been getting really good chances but they still have that finishing problem," Steve said. "They need to work on that if they''re going to hold their ground this season attacking-wise."


    "Yeah."


    The match continued with Unique FC still dominating the game and now their domination intensity had gone up.


    Frono FC were lookingckluster now that the first was about toe to an end and Unique FC were using that to the best of their advantage.


    Mateo received the through pass from Henry down the middle and without thinking twice, the winger sent the ball flying toward the goalpost from about thirty yards out.


    "Mateo!"


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 255 Magnificent!

    "Mateo!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost with a powerful shot but Emerson was able to anticipate the shot and dive just in time to push the ball over the bar with both of his hands.


    "Oh, what a save from Emerson!" Jim eximed.


    "To be honest, Emerson is the one keeping Frono FC in this game, Unique FC should be leading by now," Steve said.


    "Yeah, I absolutely agree," Jim said.


    After that save, the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    Mateo wasn''t happy for failing to score with that attempt, but what could get do about it?


    He stared off toward the goalpost for a while before he let out a sigh and began to make his way toward the tunnel.


    "The first half hase to an end on leveled terms, the game has been quite entertaining so far, but Unique FC looked lost in thest minutes of this half. Unique FC couldn''t have gotten goals from them but they''re d that it''s still leveled, let''s just wait and see how the second half will turn out." Jim articted.


    Unique FC yers were in the locker room with Norman standing in front of them and he did not have the happiest expression on his face.


    "What are you guys doing out there, we''re dominating them but why can''t you guys get the ball inside that goalpost?"


    There was no response from any of the yers because that question wasn''t one that any of them could answer.


    Their ying style and everything was coordinated but they just couldn''t get the ball into the back of the.


    After carefully observing all of them for a while, the coach let out a deep sigh.


    "We have to get a goal or two and seal that game in the second half, and that is why we are going to do things differently, we can''t take any chances."


    After filling in the yers on his modification to the tactics, the yers began to make their way to the pitch for the second half.


    "Wee back everyone, the second half is about to kick off and we can see the yers are making their way to the pitch now," Jim said as the yers made their way to the pitch.


    ''At least my quests are still intact.'' Dave said subconsciously as he made his way to the goalpost.


    <Yeah, but you''ve only made three crucial saves so far>


    ''There are only two saves left, so...''


    <Just saying those saves may nevere or you may end up bottling them>


    ''Don''t say that, I am not a bottler.''


    <Well you used to be>


    The goalkeeper just bit his lower lip without responding to her.


    Since Frono FC started the kick-off in the first half, they were going to be the ones to start the kick-off in this half.


    Fredinho was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly rolled the ball back to Martinez who quickly stretched it to Minino.


    "There''s the whistle and the second half is on the way," Jim said. "Unique FC were the better overall in the first half, let''s see if they can continue doing what they''re doing or if the hosts will finally be able to take charge of the game."


    Unique FC had already begun to dominate possession, their passes were clicking well and just like throughout the first half, they seemed calm and weren''t trying to rush things.


    Unique FC got a couple of good chances starting from the first few minutes of the second half. Henryunched the ball down the left wing for Mateo who had broken free from the left midfielder trying to keep him contained.


    The right-back was also heading toward the ball at the same time but Mateo managed to get to the ball first and with a single touch, he sent it rolling toward the box where Fredinho was heading with two defenders trying to stop him.


    "Nicely done by Mateo, can Fredinho finish it!"


    The pressure put on the striker by the defenders didn''t allow him to ce his shot well and he ended up sting it over the bar.


    "Oh, he''s sted it over the bar."<novelnext></novelnext>


    Fredinho crashed to the floor immediately after firing that shot, but he was helped up by a Frono FC defender.


    In the fifty-fifth minute, Martinez got the ball taken off him close to the edge with a neat tackle from Darwin.


    "Nice challenge from Darwin, this could be his chance," Jim said.


    Instead of going directly for the goalpost, Darwin sent the ball rolling to Seth who had managed to slip his way past Rnd but he wasn''tpletely through yet as Rnd was going to catch up to him soon.


    Aware that Rnd would catch up to him soon, the winger quickly sted the ball toward the right side of the goalpost with a little elevation but Dave was right there to hit the ball out with his right hand.


    "Nice save from Dave and now they have a corner kick to deal with," Steve said.


    Before the corner kick could be taken, Norman decided to bring on two fresh legs.


    Henry was reced by Ferran and Carlos was reced by Merino.


    The leaving yers were apuded as they left but that was nothingpared to the yersing on to take their ce, especially Ferran.


    Now that both of the yers were on the pitch, the referee blew his whistle as Seth sent the ball flying into the box.


    The ball was flying close to his goalpost so the goalkeeper had to do what he had to do, he quickly dived toward the ball and punched it out with both of his hands.


    He didn''t just punch the ball out, he made sure to punch it out toward one of his teammates and that was Minino.


    "Nice intervention by Dave and now they can start a counterattack," Jim said.


    Three Frono FC yers tried to gang up on the midfielder and take the ball off him but he quickly pushed the ball to Norman who quickly sent the ball flying to Rnd on the other side.


    Rnd quickly drifted past Seth and ran down the middle beforeying the ball off to Merino who had a lot of space to run down the wing with Frono FC still organizing their attack but they made sure to block his entrance to the box.


    The winger tried to maneuver his way into the box and when he saw that if he pushed it, he would lose the ball, he quickly cut back with the ball before he sent it flying into the box.


    "They''re still pushing."


    The ball was headed away toward the left by a Frono FC yer but Ferran happened to be there.


    "The danger is still lurking around Frono FC''s box," Steve said.


    The midfielder pushed the ball forward a little before he sent it flying into the box again.


    Mateo happened to be in the box at that time but he wasn''t in a good position to get a direct shot but there was something that he could try.


    The winger quickly jumped up to get the ball on his foot in an overhead kick position.


    He wasn''t the only one that went after the ball but he was the one that managed to get his foot to it and with an overhead kick, he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying toward the right side of the goalpost as Emerson dived toward it, but he wasn''t able to get his hand to it as the ball ended up flying into the goalpost and hitting the back of the.


    "Goallll!!!!!! It''s in, it''s finally in! Oh! What a magnificent overhead strike from Mateo Smith!"


    Mateo didn''t even get up from the floor and just slowly put his head down as his teammates gathered around him on the floor.


    "That''s how to do it!" Dave yelled before putting both of his hands up.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 256 One Quest Down

    That wonderful overhead kick seemed to have shattered the morale of Frono FC yers a little, but there was still a lot of time left in the game and they had to keep fighting.


    "They''ve been cooking it for a while and they''ve finally served it to the hosts," Jim said. "Can Frono FC make aeback or will Unique FC end up dragging out their first victory of the season from them?"


    One of the center-backs passed the ball to Ahmed but before the attacking midfielder could do anything with the ball, Ferran came up from behind and stole the ball from him.


    "Nicely done by Ferran," Steve said.


    The midfielder quickly sent the ball rolling to Minino on the right.


    The midfielder used the momentum of the ball to get past the midfielder trying to stop him with a cheeky backheel nutmeg.


    "Woah! What was that?" Jim reacted.


    The midfielder raced down the right wing with the ball before slightly cutting into the middle andying the ball off for Fredinho.


    "Fredinho."


    Fredinho received the ball at the edge of the box and because there were a couple of yers clustered around him trying to get the ball off him, the only thing the striker could do was pass the ball to someone close by and luckily for him, Ferran happened to be heading toward him at that exact time.


    He pushed the ball to Ferran and without thinking, the midfielder fired the ball toward the goalpost with a tiny bit of elevation.


    "Ferran!"


    The shot was heading toward the right side of the goalpost from below but luckily for the guests, one of the center-backs was there to block the shot with his foot and deflect the ball toward Emerson for an easy save.


    "Oh, that was a close one, that could have been Unique FC''s second goal, nice job from the defender to thwart that shot.


    The match continued till the eightieth minute and still, Frono FC had not been able to do anything.


    They were keeping more ball possession now but still, getting past Unique FC''s defense wasn''t something that they could just five into.


    Seth received the ball from Ahmed and feigned shooting toward the goalpost to get Rnd out of the way but the left-back didn''t flinch so he had to pass the ball back to Darwin who was close to the edge of the box in the middle.


    The striker wanted to try a shot, but on second thought, he turned back and passed the ball to Ahmed.


    "Back to Ahmed," Jim said. "I think they''ve run out of ideas here."


    Ahmed pushed the ball forward a little before he sent it rolling to the midfielder on the left.


    The midfielder quickly moved down the left wing in a quick attempt to get past Norman but that didn''t work, so he quickly looked around the box area for a n B and that was when he saw Seth making his way past Rnd.


    He pulled his leg back and sent the ball flying to Seth from the top but before the ball could get to him, Rnd quickly rushed to the area to contest for the ball in the air.


    Rnd ended up winning the aerial duel and sending the ball out for a corner kick and that had resulted in Seth crashing to the floor, the winger raised his hand and called for a foul but the referee didn''t think so as he blew his whistle before pointing to the corner kick spot for a corner kick.


    "Nice defending by Rnd, Seth''s on the floor calling for a foul on him but it doesn''t look like the referee''s going to consider it, it''s a corner kick for Frono FC." Jim expressed.


    Since the goalkeeper didn''t believe that he was fouled, the winger had no choice but to get up and go take the corner kick.


    "I don''t think he was fouled there, he was the one that jumped up and shed with Rnd and then he suddenly crashed to the floor, there was no push or anything from Rnd." Steve articted.


    Seth was standing over the ball at the corner kick spot as the yers from both teams ran around inside the box.


    The referee blew his whistle as the winger took three steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.<novelnext></novelnext>


    This time the ball was kept away from the box so that Dave wouldn''t intervene with it.


    Adolf contested for the ball in the air against Darwin and the striker ended up winning the aerial duel as he got his head on the ball and sent it flying toward the left side of the goalpost from the top.


    "Darwin!"


    Dave would have been toote if he had moved a second slower, he didn''t dive that much, but he was able to get the tip of his left glove on it and that was all that was needed to send the ball over the bar for another corner kick.


    "What a save from Dave, Frono FC aren''t finding this easy, getting past Unique FC''s defense has been quite tough for them, and when they do find a way to get past the defense, Dave Richards is in between the sticks to stop them." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, but I think Dave was a little off bnce when he made that save, like he was nning to go the other way because he thought that was where the ball was going to be sent by Darwin," Steve said. "He was able to quickly get it right, but one wrong move and that ball could have been in the back of the."


    ''That was close.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before breathing a sigh of relief.


    <That could have been a silly mistake, and I don''t think you should start breathing easy, it''s not over yet>


    ''I know, I''m not breathing easy.''


    Seth was standing over the ball at the corner kick spot on the left waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he took two steps backward before he sent the ball flying into the box.


    "It''s floated in."


    This time, Aima was the one who got his head to the ball first, but he wasn''t able to clear it properly as the ball fell to the foot of Ahmed at the edge of the box.


    "That wasn''t well done and now Ahmed''s about to do something, Ahmed!"


    The midfielder didn''t hesitate before firing the shot toward the left side of the goalpost but there was no elevation.


    Dave happened to be closer to the area at that time and all he needed to do was stretch out his leg and block the ball.


    That was quite careless given the fact that the rebound could get to anyone but that was the best he could do at that intense moment and fortunately for him, Norman was able to clear the rebound.


    "Saved by Dave and cleared by Norman, it looks like Unique FC are still holding on to their lead," Jim said.


    "The time''s about to hit the nieth minute, Frono FC will have to think of something fast if they don''t want to lose this game," Steve said.


    ''I told you I was going to make more crucial saves, that part of the quest is done now isn''t it?''


    <Yeah, but the quest won''t bepleted until you clear the other two, and the other two won''t bepleted until the match is over>


    ''I know, and I am ready to fight it out to the end.''


    *****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 257 Fifth Place

    Frono FC tried their best to get an equalizer and grab a point at least from their first match, but Unique FC wasn''t going to allow that as they held back until the referee brought the match to an end and they ended up losing all three points.


    "That''s the end of the sixth match in match day two, two teams have fought out their hearts today. It was a tough match between both sides but all Unique FC needed to seal the game was just one goal and when they got that goal, the game was sealed." Jim expressed. "And apart from that, they were the more organized team, their attack, midfield, and defense were all superb."


    "This victory sees Unique FC move to fifth ce behind fourth-ced Ballena United who defeated Razid FC two goals to one," Steve said. "They don''t usually start their league campaign with a victory but just like I said, they''re different this season, way different."


    "Yeah, Frono FC ran out of luck on their home ground and this loss sees them move to sixteenth ce on the table, I hope they''ll be able to push themselves up when they face Lospeno FC on Saturday," Jim said. "The matches to an end Frono FC nil, Unique FC one."


    After that victory, the yers made their way to the area where the fans were cheering and pping for them to greet them.


    It was really nice to see the fans putting their trust in them once again.


    The man of the match was announced as soon as the match came to an end and unsurprisingly, it was Mateo Smith.


    After the match, a yer from both teams had to be officially interviewed and it happened to be Dave who was pushed off to be interviewed as his teammates made their way down the tunnel.


    The blonde-haired female reporter was still interviewing Seth when he got there so he had to wait for his turn.


    It took about twelve minutes for the reporter to be through with the winger and now, it was time for the goalkeeper to get asked a couple of questions.


    "Good day, Dave, and congrattions on your victory." She said as soon as he stopped in front of the ss board-like structure that had the League''s logo and the logo of all the sponsors on it.


    "Thank you." The goalkeeper replied.


    "So, Dave, your team just beat Frono FC, this is the second time you guys are beating them away from home, how do you feel about that?"


    "I feel happy of course, they''ve been dominating us for quite a while and it''s good to see that we can get the better of them on their home turf, something that was very difficult for us to dost two seasons ago and hopefully this sends a message across to all the teams who thought that we wouldn''t be able to do anything this season." He replied.


    "Okay, next question. How did you feel when Darwin was rushing toward you with the ball and the referee didn''t blow his whistle for an offside?"


    "To be honest, that was quite a terrifying moment not just for me but for my teammates, the fans, the coach, and everyone else who is part of our team, you know Darwin is a great striker, he hardly misses one on ones, I knew it would be impossible to stop him but I was going to try my luck."


    "And when the referee blew his whistle your heart was suddenly at ease I believe." The reporter said.


    "Of course, I''m d that he was caught offside, if not, this match would have probably ended in a draw or they could have beaten us." The goalkeeper replied.


    "Okay, final question." The reporter said after nodding. "This victory this evening sees you guys move to fifth ce and leveled on points with Supreme United, Dynamo FC, Trohmam United, and Ballena United. How do you feel about that and how long do you think you guys can keep this going?" She asked.


    "I think I''m just going to give you simple answers to both of your questions." The goalkeeper said. "My team is currently sitting in fifth ce on the table, we''re happy with that but we''re going to try and move higher, that''s our goal this season and about how long I think we can keep this up, I think we can keep it up for the rest of the season and even beyond but I know it''s not going to be easy."


    "Alright, that will be enough for now, it was nice talking to you." She said before stretching her hand for a handshake which Dave didn''t see any reason not to ept.


    After that, the goalkeeper slowly began to make his way down the tunnel.


    [ Conjoined Questpleted ]


    [ Make five or more crucial saves:plete ]


    [ Stop Darwin from scoring:plete ]


    [ Keep a clean sheet:plete ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ 250 exp received ]


    [ +5 stat points received ]


    [ +10 skill upgrade points received ]


    [ 845/800 exp ]


    [ Level up ]<novelnext></novelnext>


    [ Congrattions, you are now level 8 ]


    [ +3 stat points received ]


    [ +1 skill point received ]


    [ 45/900 exp ]


    ''I''m now at level eight.'' He said subconsciously as he made his way to the locker room. ''It''s going to take a while for me to get to level nine.


    <It will be short if you face a tough team andplete the match quests you''re given concerning the match>


    ''That''s going to be tough.''


    <Of course it''s going to be tough, you don''t expect facing a tough team to be a walk over>


    The goalkeeper got to the locker room to see that his teammates weren''t celebrating at all.


    He wasn''t expecting them to be celebrating wildly as this was just the first match of the season but he was looking forward to seeing them doing something fun or crazy.


    "Oh, well." He muttered before he made his way to Mateo who was sitting on one of the seats while he was untying thece on his boots.


    "Hey," Dave said before picking up the man of the match award which was simr to the UEFA champions league man of the match award in quite a few ways. "Another man of the match award for you."


    "Yeah, but I feel like you deserved it more, I didn''t do much on the pitch today." The winger said before pulling off the boot on his right foot.


    "What the heck are you saying? You created a couple of chances here and there and scored a sensational goal, why shouldn''t the award go to you?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Yeah, but you did better with those saves."


    Dave didn''t want to argue about it any further so he decided to shift away from who deserved the award or not.


    "So, how many man-of-the-match awards do you have now?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "This one makes it twenty now." The winger replied.


    "Nice," Dave said as he nodded his head slowly.


    "How many do you have?" Mateo asked.


    "Just five."


    "Oh, goalkeepers don''t really get appreciated that much, but don''t worry, I''m sure you''ll win a lot of man-of-the-match awards."


    <You know he is right about you performing better than him in this match>


    ''Huh?''


    <Let me show you>


    [ Victory rewards ]


    *****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 258 We Have A Day Off

    [ Victory Rewards ]


    [ Six crucial saves: +60 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded(0): +100 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 8.6 ]


    ''Oh, what was his match rating then?'' The goalkeeper asked subconsciously.


    <8.5>


    ''Oh, just a little less than mine, I don''t think giving him the award was a bad decision then.''


    The yers stayed in the locker room for a while until Norman got there to tell them what he wanted to tell them.


    "It was a tough match but we managed to grab the win and that''s all that matters," Norman said as he paced about the room. "However, that doesn''t mean that we won''t address our current problem which is finishing, all the forwards and midfielders will be put under intensive shooting training and the shooting coach will be in charge, I thought I had already taken care of thisst season but it looks like you guys still need some work."


    After telling them that and many other things, it was now time for the yers to start heading back, but before that, Dave had to meet up with someone who was already waiting for him outside.


    rk lived here at Frono so it would be rude to leave without saying hi to him but the goalkeeper wasn''t able to stop him anywhere since he got here.


    The goalkeeper had to give him a call, and that was when he discovered that he dide to watch the match, he was just hidden among the crowd.


    The yers were already with all their stuff as they made their way outside where the bus was waiting to take them back to the airport where their private ne was waiting to take them back home.


    rk was waiting just outside for the goalkeeper and as soon as the two spotted each other, they quickly walked closer for a fist bump and shoulder bump.


    "Congrattions on your first victory of the season," rk said.


    "Thank you." The goalkeeper replied.


    The two exchanged a few words before Dave had to make his way to the bus which was about to move out.


    "I have to go now." He said as he slowly made his way to the bus. "I''ll call youter."


    "Okay," rk said before he turned and began to walk away.


    The drive from there to the airport wasn''t that long so it didn''t take long before they got there.


    The yers got down from the bus and made their way into the ne which didn''t take long before taking off into the sky.


    Mateo seemed to be in a very good mood, he was shaking his head at the music he was listening to through his earphones.


    "Hey, Dave." The winger said after pulling out the headphones from his ears.


    "Huh?" Dave said before turning his gaze to him.


    "How about we got tomorrow and go have some fun around the city, we''re free tomorrow and our next match is against ck Roz FC on Sunday?" The winger suggested.


    "I don''t know, that sounds nice if we keep it simple but I don''t know." The goalkeeper said before cing his right hand on the back of his head.


    "What''s wrong?" Mateo asked.


    "Nothing, just forget about it." The goalkeeper said before shaking his head.


    "Okay." The winger said with an awkward expression on his face. "So, you''re going toe then."


    "Yeah," Dave replied with a nod.


    "Cool, I''ll ask the others if they''re interested too," Mateo said.


    After about forty-eight minutes in the air, the ne finally got to Unique City.


    The yers were taken to the stadium by their team bus, some yers had to head inside and pick up something that they forgot there but Dave quickly made his way to his car and zoomed off toward his home.


    After parking his car in its normal spot, he got down from it and checked the time to see that it was 7:15 PM.


    "She must be home by now." He said before he began to make his way to the door.


    After getting to the door, he slowly pulled out his keys from his pocket and inserted the key to the house into the keyhole.<novelnext></novelnext>


    He opened the door and entered the house to see that the light in the living room was dimmed but on turning to the side, he could see that the television was on and two people were sitting on the couch watching something on it.


    They didn''t even bother to look in his direction even after he shut the door loudly so he had to head over to them.


    On getting closer to the area, he could see that it was his wife and mother-inw just like he expected.


    "Mrs. Smith, you''re still here?" The goalkeeper said. He was quite surprised to see her there because she told him that she was leaving today.


    "Hey, wee, um...Emma here told me to stay a few more days and help her out with things and I don''t see any reason not to." She said before cing her hand on the head of her daughter who had already fallen asleep on her thighs.


    "What about your husband?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Don''t worry, my husband can take care of himself, he won''t mind," Martha said.


    Emma seemed to have heard Dave''s voice in her sleep as she slowly opened her eyes and blinked them a couple of times to make sure that she wasn''t seeing things like earlier before Dave got back.


    "Oh, you''re back." She said with a frail voice before sitting up on the couch. "Wee. How did the match go?"


    "You don''t know?" Dave said with a surprised look on his face.


    As a reporter, he knew that she would make sure to check all the score lines and watch the highlights of the match she couldn''t watch to make sure she was reporting everything correctly, but that didn''t seem to be the case today or maybe it was because that wasn''t part of her job today.


    "Can''t you see I was watching something interesting with my mother?" She said as her voice suddenly changed from frail to slightly grumpy.


    "No, you were sleeping when I got here." The goalkeeper replied.


    "No, I was just resting my head and eyes." She said,


    "Like you were doing the day you almost got to workte," Dave said.


    "Hey, don''t bring that up now."


    "While you two fight, I think I''ll go get the table ready for dinner, you should go upstairs and freshen up Dave," Martha said before making her way out of the area.


    "Looks like you came back to annoy me," Emma said before crossing her arms.


    "Well, is it working?"


    "You haven''t told me how the match went!" She yelled, causing Dave to flinch back a little.


    "Oh, that." He said before he began to scratch the back of his head with a nervous smile on his face.


    "You guys didn''t lose did you?"


    "No, we beat them one goal to nothing." He said.


    "Seriously? You guys won?"


    "Yeah, you can confirm that with your phone." The goalkeeper said.


    "Who scored the goal?"


    "Your little brother, you should definitely watch the highlights." The goalkeeper said.


    "Was it that good?" Emma said before picking up her phone.


    "Yeah, while you''re doing that, I''ll go upstairs and freshen up, but you''ll have to take care of this." He said before throwing his backpack in her face.


    By the time she removed the backpack, he was already gone and all she could do was grumble.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 259 Directional Quest

    After having breakfast and chatting with each other for a little while, everybody went to bed.


    The time disyed on the wall clock and every other thing that had time on it was 9:15 PM and normally, Emma wouldn''t be asleep by now but she had been going to bed quite early recently.


    Dave watched her sleep peacefully for a while before he slowly turned his gaze to the ceiling.


    A certain thought found its way to his mind as a smile slowly found its way to his face.


    ''Since Mrs. Smith is going to be here for a while, I might as well use it to my advantage.''


    <How do you mean?>


    ''You know I haven''t properly tried out that hyper ball ster since I got it, I''m going to give it a spin tomorrow and maybe try to take down all the quests, I''ve onlypleted one quest from it so far.'' He said subconsciously.


    <That''s nice and maybe you could spend a little more time in the gym too, your physicality has been dropping since you started spending less time at the gym>


    ''Really? I don''t feel like anything dropped from me.''


    <You won''t feel and you''re not noticing it because you''re not a yer who runs around the pitch, your level of physicality is good enough for a goalkeeper but you''ll have to get it up again if you want to keep taking those shots of yours effectively>


    ''Okay, I see, I guess I should add spending more time at the gym on my schedule for tomorrow.''


    <Yeah, you should>


    The goalkeeper stared at the ceiling for a while before he began to doze off, but before getting overwhelmedpletely by sleep, he decided to do something first.


    [ Dream control: activated ]


    About ten minutes into his sleep, he found himself inside the endless white space with Catherine standing in front of him.


    "Hey, Cat, what''s up?" The goalkeeper said.


    "Let''s get straight to it, there''s no time to waste here." She said as the stadium began to appear around them along with the football pitch and then the goalpost which Dave was standing in between the goalpost.


    After that, the three non-existent footballers appeared at the edges of the box with a ball trapped under their right foot.


    "One second, here we go." The goalkeeper said before taking a deep breath.


    The yer in the middle quickly sent the ball flying toward the right side of the goalpost with just a little bit of elevation.


    Dave had to jump and stretch his body really well to get to that ball and keep it out, but before he could get up from the floor, the other two balls had been shot into the.


    "One-second interval to keep out three balls, I know I said this during thest one and ended uppleting it, but this is truly the definition of impossible." He said after getting up from the floor.


    "I''m not going to try and talk you out of thinking like that, but you are going to continue doing it until you get it," Catherine said.


    "Of course, what else can I do while I am here, even if I don''t get it, doing it will help me improve my reflexes more." The goalkeeper said.


    He continued trying and trying but he could only keep out one and before.


    It went on for about forty-five minutes and now it was time for the goalkeeper to head back home.


    "We''ll try again tonight," Catherine said before everything in the area began to disintegrate along with his body until his consciousness finally returned to his body.


    The goalkeeper opened his eyes and quickly checked his phone to see that the time was 6:30 AM.


    He looked toward Emma to see that she was still fast asleep and she wasn''t hugging him or anything like that which was good for him.


    He slowly stepped down from the bed and slid into his running outfit and boots before quickly making his way out of the room and downstairs.


    He picked up the bunch of keys on the table in the living room which consisted of his car keys, the key to the house, the key to the garage, and a bunch of other keys. He wasn''t nning toe back to the house until he was done.


    ''Ten kilometers will do fine.'' He said subconsciously as he headed down the road.


    <Yeah, ten kilometers is okay>


    "Here I go then." He said before taking off.


    After about forty-five minutes, the goalkeeper returned from his run and now it was time to head over to the gym.


    "I''ll stay here for two hours and thirty minutes and will be training with five pieces of equipment only." He said as he made his way into the garage.<novelnext></novelnext>


    <That''s thirty minutes for each one>


    ''Exactly.''


    Afterpleting his gym session of two hours and thirty minutes, it was now time for thest training exercise for the day.


    He rested at the garage for a while before he pushed out the hyper ball ster to thewn.


    After pushing out the hyper ball ster, he went back into the garage to get the items for setting up the goalpost and the bag of balls.


    ''There''s going to be a lot of quests toplete with this ball ster.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he fixed up the goalpost.


    He had decided to add a to the goalpost to make ball retrieval easy for him whenever the ball goes into the goalpost and that was what he was attaching to the goalpost now.


    <I don''t know about that>


    ''What do you mean?''


    <It''s just that you''ve gotten a lot better since you got that ball ster, those quests may no longer apply to you>


    ''Really?''


    <That may most likely be the case>


    ''Well, there''s only one way to find out.'' He said subconsciously before making his way to the bag of balls.


    He made sure to plug the ster inst night and he was d he did because the battery had run downpletely, but it was fully recharged now.


    He opened the bag and brought out the balls before he began to put them into the ster.


    After filling the ster with all sixteen, he got up on his foot as it was now time to set everything up.


    [ Directional quest received ]


    ''Directional quest?''


    [ Set the ster to switch to the next level after firing out three balls ]


    The goalkeeper was quite stunned as he couldn''t bring himself toprehend what was going on right now.


    <Just do what it tells you>


    ''Okay.'' He said subconsciously before doing exactly what the system told him to do. ''Now what?''


    [ Quest details ]


    [ Keep out three balls in levels three, four, five, and six, and in level seven, keep out four balls ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +70 exp ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points ]


    [ +2 stat points ]


    ''Yesterday it was a conjoined quest, today it''s a directional quest.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he stared at the details of the quest.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 260 Completing The Directional Quest

    Just like Catherine said, he was no longer eligible for the quest from the hyper ball ster given how much he had improved since thest time he used it but that didn''t mean that he wasn''t going to get a quest.


    Instead of giving him the quests one by one which would be easy for him up to level seven, it decided to join everything together and make it a little challenging for him.


    "This is going to be fun." The goalkeeper muttered before he pushed the start button and quickly made his way to the goalpost.


    The first one was level three and he had to keep our three balls in this level before the ster would switch to the next level.


    This level was like a walk in the park for the goalkeeper as he kept out all the balls without breaking a sweat.


    The next level was a bit tougher as expected but he wasn''t letting his guard down for anything and ended up keeping out all the balls in that level too.


    ''Level five.'' He said subconsciously after slowly getting up from the floor.


    This was where things started to get a bit tricky for him.


    The first ball from this level was sent flying toward the top right-hand corner of the goalpost but he was quick enough to get there on time and hit it down with his left hand.


    The second one was quickly sent flying toward the bottom left-hand side as Dave quickly stretched his leg toward it but it didn''t look like he was going to reach it on time.


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    With the help of ball ma, he was able to make slight contact with the ball and that was all he needed to push the ball.


    With that push, the ball hit the post before rolling out.


    The third ball was sent flying toward the left side with a little elevation and Dave being close to the area at that time was able to stop it easily.


    "That was a close call." He said before getting up from the floor.


    Level six was tougher than level five but the goalkeeper was more alert now and was able to stop the balls from going.


    <Time for the grand finale>


    ''Yeah.''


    The first ball was fired directly toward him from the top but the shot power was immense.


    Nevertheless, Dave was able to punch the ball out with just his right hand.


    "How is there such a giant leap from level six to seven?"


    <I don''t know, maybe it''s a fault or intentional> Catherine said. <Remember you have to keep out four balls in this level>


    ''I know.'' The goalkeeper replied before punching out the ball which was sent flying toward the right side of his goalpost with just a little elevation.


    The next ball was sent down the middle with a little bit of elevation to try and throw him and it worked as the goalkeeper went toward the left side of the goalpost but luckily for him, his legs happened to have gone in the right side to block the ball and send it rolling back.


    "That was terribly close." He said before quickly getting up on his feet.


    ''I just have to keep out thisst one and it will be over.''


    He expected thest ball to be something trickier than the previous one, something that wouldpletely throw him off course, but the ball was simply shot toward the left side and it wasn''t even stretched that much away from the goalkeeper.


    The shot power was there, but it was an easy save for the goalkeeper.


    "That''s it." He said before slowly sitting down on the floor.


    [ Directional Questpleted ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +70 exp ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points ]


    [ +2 stat points ]


    [ Bonus exp: +10 exp ]


    [ 285/900 exp ]


    ''It''s going to take a while to level up again.'' He said subconsciously before getting up from the floor. ''I think it''s time to go inside, I''m tasty.''


    He slowly made his way to the door and just as he was about to ce his hand on it and open it, the door was quickly pulled open by Emma startling him and causing him to almost fall.


    "There you are." She said as soon as she set her gaze on him.


    "You know that''s no way to open a door." The goalkeeper said after regaining his bnce.


    "Oh, sorry about that." She said with a cheeky smile on her face.


    Dave just let out a sigh before attempting to walk past her but she quickly shifted to block his path.


    "What do you want?" The goalkeeper asked after letting out a sigh.


    "Um¡­.can I borrow your credit card?" She asked.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "You want to borrow my credit card?" He said just to make sure he heard him right.


    "Yeah." She said with a nod.


    "You''ve never asked for my credit card before, are you trying to buy something expensive?" He asked before pulling his face closer to hers.


    "No, no, not at all, trust me, it''s far from that." She said.


    "Then what is it?"


    "Um¡­my card expired yesterday, I know you''re going to say just order a new one but the bank isn''t doing card delivery at the moment and I don''t have the strength to head over there now."


    <Does she usually talk that fast>


    ''Only when she''s desperate for something.''


    "So please, can I borrow your card, babe?" She asked in conclusion to her speed talking that most people would have trouble keeping up with.


    There was no immediate response from Dave as the goalkeeper just stared at her.


    "Hey,e on." She said before giving him the puppy look.


    "Fine, it''s in the lower drawer of the cupboard in the room, you''ll find the key here." He said before handing his keys over to her.


    "Thank you." She said with a smile before stretching to kiss him on his right cheek. "You''re the best, I love you."


    <Seriously, you''re not going to ask her what she''s going to buy with it?>


    ''Yeah, forgot about that.''


    "So, babe¡­.."


    Before he could ask the question, she had already gotten to the staircase.


    The only thing he could do was let out a sigh as he watched her disappear upstairs.


    ''I''m sure anything she wants to use it for will be important to her but I hope it''s nothing too expensive.'' He said subconsciously.


    After saying that in his mind, his nose led him to the kitchen where he found his mother-inw making breakfast.


    "Good morning, Mrs. Smith." He said after getting there.


    "Oh, Dave, good morning," Martha said after turning her gaze to him.


    The goalkeeper was about to ask her about what she was making when he heard Emma yell his name from the staircase.


    "What?" The goalkeeper said before shifting out of the kitchen to see her.


    "The pin!" She yelled.


    "Oh, that."


    "Yeah, that." She said, "What is it?"


    "Um¡­my mom''s birthday, you remember it right?"


    "Of course!" She said with an ted voice before quickly making her way upstairs.


    "Em.."


    She didn''t give him the chance to ask the question once again.


    "Did she tell you what she was going to use your credit card for?" Martha asked as soon as he entered the kitchen again.


    "No." He said before shaking his head.


    "Oh." She said before turning her gaze back to what she was doing.


    "Do you know what she wants to do with it?" The goalkeeper asked but Martha pretended not to hear him and kept doing what she was doing, even adding a little whistling to it.


    <She knows something>


    ''Yeah.''


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 261 Getting On Catherines Nerves

    The three were having their breakfast together now as Dave kept wondering what Emma bought with his credit card.


    Only fifty euros left his ount which meant that she didn''t buy anything expensive just like she said but he was quite curious to know what she bought with it although he wasn''t going to ask her directly.


    Emma had already dressed up for work beforeing downstairs so that after she was done with breakfast, she would leave immediately for work.


    "Your cooking is magnificent Mrs. Smith," Dave said after finishing his meal.


    "Thank you." Martha smiled.


    "Emma''s trying, but she still has a long way to go, she''s still an amateur in cooking." The goalkeeper said. "I think my cooking tastes better than hers."


    "That does it," Emma said before mming her right hand on the table.


    Dave was a bit startled by that but he knew he was going to get something like that for annoying her.


    "You know, my mom''s going to leave on Friday and then you''ll start making your own meals which taste better than mine just like you''ve described." She expressed with a hint of annoyance in her voice.


    <You shouldn''t have said that>


    The room suddenly fell silent as she took down her ss of water and dropped the empty ss on the table before picking up her handbag.


    "Clean up the table, Dave." She said before walking past her husband as she made her way to the door.


    She left through the door without even saying bye and ten secondster, the door was pushed open by her.


    "Um....hey, sweetie, do you mind driving me to work?" Her voice went from serious to warm and sweet.


    "Sure, it''s not like I have anything urgent to attend to." The goalkeeper said before getting up from his seat.


    "Cool, let''s go then, I''m with your keys." She said before raising the bunch of keys so that he wouldn''t start going around looking for it.


    "I''ll be back Mrs. Smith." He said before he began to make his way to the door.


    "Bye, mom," Emma said.


    "Sure, you two take your time," Martha said before taking a sip from her cup of tea.


    "Hey, those things you said in there, you didn''t mean them right?" Dave said as the both of them made their way to the car.


    "No, I meant every single one of it," Emma said before opening the door to the front passenger seat. "You''ll start making your breakfast, lunch, and dinner after my mom is gone and I won''t be bothered to help you out."


    "Okay, that''s fine by me." The goalkeeper said before entering the car.


    "Huh?" She said with a confused expression on her face.


    "Your belly is going to start getting big soon, and when that happens your movements are going to be restricted and  I won''t bother about helping you with things around the house." He said before starting the car.


    "Hey, that''s not fair, you did this to me, you have to take responsibility for it." She pouted before folding her arms.


    "You''re going to be the one to start it." He said before he drove into the road and zoomed off toward her workce.


    "And you won''t even help me with food, so you want a malnourished child now." She said,


    "No, I''ll make sure you eat well for the sake of my child but everything else you''ll have to take care of yourself." The goalkeeper said. "Of course, that depends on if you will leave me to make my meal by myself on a day that I have a match to y."


    "Fine, you have a deal." She said before rolling her eyes and letting out a deep sigh.


    "Good girl." He said before turning to her with a smile on his face.


    The drive to her workce wasn''t that long, it took them only neen minutes to get there and now it was time for her to step down from the car.


    "You''ll have toe pick me up, remember." She said before opening the door.


    "Yeah, but by what time?" He asked.


    "6:30 PM." She said. "But there''s a chance that you''ll have to wait a little longer if youe that early."


    "7:00 PM got it." The goalkeeper said.


    "If you make me wait for you here for thirty minutes, you won''t hear the end of it tonight." She said before bringing one foot down.


    "Maybe I should adjust it a bit to 6:45 PM." He said.


    "Yeah, maybe."<novelnext></novelnext>


    She was about to fully step down from the car when Dave quickly grabbed her by the face and pulled her closer for a kiss.


    "You can''t just leave without a goodbye kiss." He said after pulling out from the kiss.


    "Yeah." She said before stepping down from the car.


    "I''ll see youter then, and make sure you don''t doze off at work." He said before he quickly turned his car around and zoomed off.


    He was still on the road when he received a text message from Mateo.


    He had a pouch for his phone in his car, a ce where he could ce his phone and be able to read text messages and answer calls without touching the phone.


    ''Hey, Dave, I''m heading over to your ce now.'' He read the message subconsciously.


    "Hey, Google." He said as the google assistant home screen quickly popped up on his phone.


    "Hello, how can I help you?" The feminine assistant''s voice asked.


    ''You know, I''ve never really realized it, but she sounds so much like you, Cat.''


    <It''s not funny>


    "Send a message to Mateo on WhatsApp." He said.


    "Okay, what''s the message?" The assistant asked as the input box was brought up.


    "I just dropped Emma off to work, I''m on my way back now." The goalkeeper said.


    "Sending message to Mateo." The assistant said. "Sent."


    "Alright, Thank you."


    "Helping you out is what I am here for."


    ''I didn''t knowparing you to the google voice assistant will get you riled up.''


    <I am not riled up but you should know that I am nothing like the google assistant>


    ''Yeah, but you guys basically do the same job except that you can''t help me handle my text messages like that."


    <You''re done annoying Emma and now you want to face me?>


    ''No, it''s nothing like that at all, it''s just that there are some things the google assistant can do that you can''t.''


    <Like sending a simple message over text or any other messaging app?>


    ''Yeah, that.''


    <You underestimate me, I think I''m just going to take over your phone and get you in trouble>


    As soon as she said that, the screen of Dave''s phone went nk as the word sync began to blink on it before a load bar appeared.


    ''Are you the one doing this, Catherine?'' He asked subconsciously but there was no response from her.


    The screen loaded up from zero to one hundred before returning to normal and as soon as that happened, WhatsApp opened up on its own and entered his chat with Emma.


    "Are you the one doing this, Catherine? What do you want to do?"


    There was no response from her as she began to type something.


    A horrid look slowly appeared on the goalkeeper''s face as he quickly read what she was writing.


    ''No, Catherine, you can''t send that to her!''


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 262 The Consequences Of Annoying Catherine

    When Catherine said that she was going to take over his phone and get him in trouble with it, she wasn''t kidding at all.


    She had opened his WhatsApp and was typing a horrendous message that she was going to send to Emma once she was done and that message was going to get Dave in trouble and it wasn''t going to be a small one.


    Dave reached for his phone and tried to clear what she was typing and exit the app but nothing was working, the screen wasn''t responding to his touch.


    <It''s pointless, I''ve turned off your touch screen features, so you can''t ess your phone anymore>


    Things were starting to get out of hand here and the goalkeeper had to park his car by the roadside as he watched what Catherine was typing.


    It was a pretty long text, talking about him getting involved in a serious ident and telling her to quickly rush to the hospital because he was in a critical condition.


    That text was bad in a lot of ways and could go wrong in a lot of ways.


    Firstly, it wasn''t good to break that sort of news to someone like Emma who''s pregnant in that manner won''t do any good for her, she''ll probably copse out of shock, and given that it never happened, it''s just not worth it.


    Secondly, she''ll have to leave work and rush to the hospital only to find out that nothing happened, she wouldn''t feel good about that, a few of her colleagues may find out and it''s not going to leave a good test in their mouth about the goalkeeper, ''What type of man pranks his wife like that?'' That''s going to be their main reaction and Emma might as well go ahead to torture him tonight when she gets home.


    There were still a lot of ways that this could go wrong but those two were the main ones.


    The only way Dave could save himself was to either get involved in an ident and get rushed to the hospital just like the text or stop Catherine from pushing that send button but he was toote as she had already pushed the button.


    "Catherine, no, please don''t do that, this won''t end well for anybody." The goalkeeper said before quickly grabbing his phone.


    He tried to unsend the message but just like earlier when he tried, his screen was still unresponsive.


    <Anybody besides me>


    "Fine, I admit it, you''re not like the google assistant, you are way better now please unsend that message before she sees it." He pleaded as he prayed in his mind for the double tick not to turn blue.


    Even after saying all that, there was no response from Catherine.


    "Catherine, please!"


    <Oh, fine>


    As soon as she said that, the delete option for the message appeared and she chose to delete it for everyone.


    "Thank you." The goalkeeper breathed a sigh of relief before crashing down in the seat of his car.


    Emma was typing something when Dave''s message came but she didn''t rush to check it immediately as she wanted to reach a certain point first, and when she reached the point, she quickly reached for her phone to check the message.


    ''The message was deleted?'' She said subconsciously with a confused expression on her face. ''Why would he send me a message and quickly unsend it? Must have been a mistake.''


    With just that little thinking, she slowly put her phone down and continued what she was doing.


    Meanwhile, back at the spot where Dave parked, the goalkeeper was still slumped in the seat of his car still thinking about how things could have taken a dark turn today.


    <None of this could have happened if you had refrained fromparing me to the google assistant when I told you to>


    ''I can''t believe you would have seriously turned my day upside down like that just forparing you to google assistant, you knew I was just joking.''


    <No, I didn''t>


    ''You''re evil, Catherine, I just hope you don''t try to take over my body one day.''


    <That is possible>


    ''Huh?''<novelnext></novelnext>


    <But it''s not in my interest to do that as it will go against the context of why I am here and with you>


    ''You can seriously take over my body?'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he felt a shiver run down his spine before he swallowed hard.


    <Of course, I''m directly connected to your subconscious so it''s nothing to be surprised about and it''s also nothing to be scared about because I''m never going to try it unless it''s necessary that is>


    ''And by necessary you mean when I refuse to do something that you told me to do, technically going against your orders.''


    <No, Dave, don''t start reading me wrong because of what just happened, I will not restrict your movement or stop you from doing whatever you want to do, you are an adult and you know what''s best for you, the only thing I can do is try to talk you out of doing stupid things. I am only here to guide your career not dictate it>


    ''If you''re really this generous then why did you just try to get me in trouble?''


    <I don''t like it when someonepares me to other artificial intelligence but Emma was never going to see that message>


    ''What do you mean?''


    <The message was going to delete by itself once she opened it but it won''t reflect on your side so you''ll still be worried, I was nning to drag the show on for a longer period of time but you apologized earlier than I expected>


    ''So, all that was just for nothing, you were ying with me all this while?'' He couldn''t believe it.


    <Yeah, I would never send something like that to your wife, shocks lead to miscarriages, and losing the child she''s carrying won''t be a good thing for the next generation>


    "Catherine." The goalkeeper mumbled as he gritted his teeth.


    <You can ess your phone now>


    ''Where''s that feature to turn you off, I want to use it now?'' He said subconsciously as he quickly searched through the tabs in his system but he wasn''t able to find anything.


    <Oh, you''re seriously looking for an option to turn me off>


    ''Yeah, where is it?''


    <There is no option to turn me off, you can''t turn me off>


    ''But you told me that there was an option to turn you off.''


    <No, there isn''t, I only told you that to make you feel better that day>


    Catherine had mentioned a lot of times that she was unable to produceughter sounds, and that seemed to be through given that he had never heard herugh before, but the goalkeeper could swear that he could hear her giggling like a little child in his head.


    ''That was a lie too, huh? Isn''t there any other way to turn you off?''


    <I''m sorry, I''m stuck with you>


    There was nothing the goalkeeper could do about it, he just let out a deep sigh before he sat up in his seat and started the car engine.


    "All these headaches for justparing you to the google voice assistant." He mumbled in a depressed voice before he continued his drive home.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 263 A Quest Outside Football

    It was a bright Saturday morning as the sun shone brightly into the room through the ss window.


    The time disyed on the wall clock was 8:30 AM but the goalkeeper was still fast asleep on the bed with Emma''s hands wrapped around him.


    He should being back from his run or his gym by now on a normal day but he had to stay uptest night because of Emma and this was the result.


    The clock kept moving until it hit 8:37 AM and that was when the goalkeeper moved a little before he opened his eyes.


    He quickly reached for his phone as soon as he opened his eyes to see that the time was 8:37 PM.


    ''Oh, I overslept.'' He said subconsciously.


    <Yeah, you two were up all night, remember>


    ''Yeah.'' He replied before turning his gaze to Emma who slowly opened her eyes at that exact time to meet his gaze.


    "Hey, good morning." She said with a bright smile on her face.


    "Good morning, sunshine." The goalkeeper said.


    "Sunshine?" She said with a blush before she was pulled closer by him.


    "Yeah, you''re my sunshine." He said before staring deep into her bright blue eyes.


    After holding her gaze there for quite a while, her eyes became a little shaky before she slowly brought her gaze down.


    "What''s wrong?" Dave asked.


    "Um¡­I''m sorry about all the things I said to youst night." She said with her gaze still down.


    "That''s nothing to worry about," Dave said before forcing up her gaze again. "I know you didn''t mean any of those."


    "Well, I think I meant a couple of them." She said,


    "A couple of them?"


    "Yeah." She replied with a nod.


    "Oh, I don''t think I want to know which ones they are." He said.


    "No, you don''t." She said before shaking her head.


    "I see." The goalkeeper said before pulling her closer for a kiss. "Don''t worry about it, still, let''s go downstairs and get things ready."


    He pulled the nket off his body before he made his way to his wardrobe to pick some clothes.


    Emma also made her way to the wardrobe and instead of picking something from her side, she decided to pick a certain oversized shirt that didn''t belong to her although she was quite familiar with it.


    "You want to put that on?" Dave said.


    "Yeah." She said as she slowly put on the shirt. "It''s gotten a little smaller but it''s okay."


    "Clothes don''t get smaller, Emma, you just got bigger." He said.


    "At least you understood what I meant." She said before she shifted her hair back and tied it with the rubber band she had on her wrist.


    The shirt wasn''t that big on her body now but it was good enough to cover her body all the way to her thighs.


    "Let''s go." She said before she began to make her way out of the room.


    Dave watched her until she was out of the room before he turned back to the wardrobe and picked one of his casual sports trousers and a casual red shirt to go with it.


    He quickly put the clothes on before he made his way out of the room, he was about to head downstairs when he heard the door to the bathroom.


    "I was expecting you to be downstairs by now." He said after seeing Emma walk out of the room.


    "Yeah, I was on my way downstairs but I had to go¡­." Before she could finish that sentence, she felt something rushing up again and quickly covered her mouth with her hands before quickly rushing back into the bathroom.


    "Great, the nausea is back," Dave mumbled before stepping closer to the bathroom''s entrance.


    "Just go on without me, I''ll be out in a couple of minutes." She said with a feeble voice.


    "Are you okay in there?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Yeah, I''m okay, it''s nothing to worry about." She said.


    "You know, you can go to bed and rest of you''re not feeling that okay." He said.


    "Don''t worry, Dave, I''m okay, I''ll be out in a second." She said,


    "Okay." The goalkeeper said with his gaze still on the door.


    He was sure that she wasn''t okay, but he had to go downstairs.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Now, where to start?" He said as he scanned the area from the top of the staircase.


    <Why don''t you start with breakfast? Her morning sickness is clearly back so you should make breakfast first so that she will have something once she''s done throwing up in there>


    ''Yeah, that''s where I should start.''


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Get breakfast ready in not more than forty-five minutes ]


    [ Quest reward ]


    [ +50 exp ]


    ''A quest that doesn''t have anything to do with football and has only fifty experience points as the reward.''


    <Don''t you remember when I told you that you will be getting some quests outside football>


    ''Yeah, you told me about that.''


    <Well, this is the first one and you should probably get started, your time is ticking>


    ''Yeah.'' The goalkeeper said before quickly making his way downstairs and straight to the kitchen.


    _______ _______


    It was already 9:00 AM but Mateo was still lying on his back on his bed with his phone as he happened to be video chatting with a certain blonde-haired girl.


    "Fair enough." She said with a nod. "I have one final question."


    "What is it?" The winger asked.


    "I heard you''re nning on leaving Unique FC next season, is that true?"


    "Yeah, what about it?" The winger replied.


    "Which club are you nning to move to?" She asked, her voice seemed to have taken a sudden glow as soon as she heard his response.


    "I don''t actually know yet but I was linked with Atletico Madrid, Aston Vi, and Manchester City." He replied.


    "Aston Vi? Don''t tell me you''re considering moving to that club, I don''t know but they are the first club that ever showed interest in me outside the Bilbeth Premier League."


    "What abouting to Barcelona, I''m sure they will want to sign at the end of this season, you''re a good left back and there have been a lot of rumors going on recently about Lelemar wanting to leave the club." She said.


    "Lelemar wants to leave?"


    "Not sure but it''s what I heard." She replied. "So, will you considering to Barca if they offer you a contract?"


    "Barcelona is one of my dream clubs so yeah I''ll consider moving there if they offer me a contract but if they don''t I''ll most likely move to any of the other teams." He expressed.


    "Like Atletico Madrid?"


    "Anyone from either Laliga or the EPL." He said.


    "I want you to be in Laliga and in a good club but not Real Madrid, I will not start supporting Real Madrid because of you." She said before shaking her head.


    Her words forced out quite a loud chuckle from Mateo who was finding it hard to say what he wanted to say.


    "Then get ready to watch me move to Real Madrid next season." The winger managed to slow down his chuckling and said.


    "Oh, really, we won''t stop being friends but I''ll be praying you guys lose every single match of the season like I always do." She said,


    "Woah, but you know that''s not going to happen, you know."


    "Yeah, they''re tough but not that much tougher than my Barcelona." She said, "Hey, I have to go now, we''ll talk again maybe tonight or after your game tomorrow, whenever you''re free."


    "Okay, bye."


    "Bye." She said before ending the call.


    The winger stared at the nk screen for a while with a smile on his face before he brought his hand down with his phone and let out a sigh.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 264 A Chance To Go Up

    [ +50 exp received ]


    ''Well, that quest was easy.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before turning his gaze to the staircase.


    <Because you decided to make sandwiches>


    ''Hey, having sandwiches for breakfast is healthy, are you forgetting that I had to toast the slices of bread.''


    <Yeah, and how long did it take you to finish that?>


    ''It doesn''t matter, all that matters is that I finished making breakfast before forty-five minutes and got my experience points, I''m pretty sure Emma''s going to love it.''


    <Don''t be so sure about that>


    Just after mentioning her name in his mind, she began to make her way downstairs.


    "You''ve finally decided toe downstairs," Dave said as he watched her make her way down the staircase.


    "Yeah." She said before letting out a fleeting breath.


    Dave knew she had to be drained after all that throwing up, so he slowly made his way to her to help her.


    "I know you''re tired, so why don''t we have breakfast first?" He said as he helped her toward the dining table.


    "You made breakfast?"


    "Yeah."


    "What did you make?"


    "We''re already here so take a look for yourself." The goalkeeper said.


    "Sandwiches." She muttered with a tone that Dave interpreted as sounding a bit disappointed but he wasn''t exactly right.


    Before he could say anything, she slowly sat down on the seat and picked up the first sandwich on her te which she didn''t hesitate to start biting down on to Dave''s surprise.


    After finishing the sandwich she washed it down by taking some milk from the ss of milk on the table before turning her gaze to a surprised Dave.


    "Thank you, Babe, this tastes great." She smiled.


    "Anything for you." The goalkeeper said.


    "Let me try the next one." She said before she turned her gaze back to her te and picked up the next sandwich.


    Dave stood there and watched her repeat the process with the second sandwich and just before she could pick up the third one, she noticed that he was still standing there and slowly turned his gaze to him.


    "Hey, what are you still standing there for, aren''t you going to join me?" She said after turning her gaze to him.


    "Um...Don''t worry about that, I''m not that hungry yet, I''ll have something when I want to." He replied with a smile.


    "Okay, suit yourself then, but don''t stand there looking at me, it''s inappropriate." She said.


    "Okay, I''ll sit down then." The goalkeeper said before he pulled out the seat beside her and sat there.


    "Seriously?" She said before ring at him.


    "Don''t worry, I''m not watching you and I''m not standing anymore am I?" He said before he pulled up his phone and began to scroll through it.


    Emma kept that ring look on him for a while before she turned her gaze back to the food and continued from where she left off.


    ________ ________<novelnext></novelnext>


    Unique FC had a match against ck Roz FC on Sunday tomorrow which was going to a match held on match day five.


    Match days three and four had already taken ce on Friday and Saturday and that meant that some teams had already scaled above them on the table.


    They were sitting in ninth ce now because two teams that lost their match on the first match day managed to grab a win from their next opponents with three and four goalspared to what they did against Frono FC.


    Frono FC were sitting above them in eighth ce after scoring four goals and conceding two in theirst match which was against Lospeno FC on Saturday.


    Spree City on the other hand were sitting in sixth ce after beating Olona FC five goals to one and ck Roz FC were sitting in seventh ce after beating Tereville United four goals to one.


    The first, second, third, fourth, and fifth spots were upied by Supreme United, Dynamo FC, Lesica United, Troham United, and Litno FC consecutively.


    Supreme United were currently the only team with six points after defeating Rojo Sturm United three goals to nothing. Dynamo FC could have joined them up there with six points but they only managed to get a goalless draw with Litno FC.


    Lesica United United also drew against Troham United, that''s why they were all sitting behind Supreme United with four points and there was a chance that they could be pushed further down by Unique FC and Spree United, both teams won their first matches of the season one goal to nothing and now both of them were sitting in eight and ninth ce consecutively.


    There was also ck Roz FC the team that could move to first ce if they win their next match and surpasses Supreme United''s goal difference in doing that.


    These three teams had matches tomorrow and grabbing a win would mean that they would move to first, second, or third ce depending on the number of goals they were going to win with.


    Right now, it seemed quite impossible Unique FC or Spree United to push down Supreme United given that they only scored one goal with zero goals conceded but ck Roz would be able to do it.


    Supreme United on the other hand had managed to score eight goals while conceding only one in theirst two matches, the only way for any of them to move past them was to score eight or more goals against their opponents tomorrow.


    "If we can only get eight goals against ck Roz tomorrow without conceding any then we will move to first ce and sit there above them until the next match days," Mateo said with an ted voice but it didn''t take long before his voice suddenly dropped. "Oh, what am I saying, these are just wishful thoughts? ck Roz may have just returned from relegation but I don''t think they''re a pushover team, imagine beating Tereville United four goals to one."


    "I don''t think you should be worried about climbing above Supreme United at this point of the season, the only thing that should matter now is getting level on points with the same amount of matches yed." Dave expressed.


    The training session hade to an end and instead of going home as the sun was beginning to set, the two decided to sit on the pitch and have a little chat about tomorrow''s match.


    "Yeah, I guess, they''re scoring a lot of goals, we can do that too but Fredinho and Fred need to work on their finishing, I also need to work on my finishing." The winger said.


    "Yeah, that finishing problem needs to be fixed if we''re going to keep winning matches," Dave said.


    "Yeah," Mateo said with a nod. "I wonder what the coach''s tactics for tomorrow are going to be."


    "We have to meet here tomorrow morning to find out but I''m sure it''s going to be something good just like the ones he has beening up with recently." The goalkeeper said. "Tomorrow''s thest day of the month, The UEFA Europa conference league qualifiers are starting next month."


    "That is going to be the hardestpetition we''re going to participate in this season," Mateo said.


    "Yeah, it''s going to be tough but I''m pretty sure we can win it." The goalkeeper said.


    "I would like to agree with you but what makes you so sure of that?"


    "We have a good coach, a team that''s starting to understand each other, we have me and we have you, the uing best yer in the world." The goalkeeper replied.


    "Uing best yer?" Mateo muttered as his eyes suddenly lit up.


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 265 Matchday Five: Tactics And Formation

    "I''m home," Dave said before he pushed the door open and turned on the light in the area.


    Emma wasn''t in the living room or anywhere else in the area which meant that she was upstairs.


    "Hey, babe!" He called before he slowly closed the door and began to make his way toward the staircase.


    "Oh, you''re back already."


    He slowly looked up to see her looking down at him from the top of the staircase and before he could say anything, she quickly made her way downstairs to greet him.


    "Wee." She said after getting close enough to him.


    "How are you?" Dave said before slowly cing his hand on her forehead.


    "Today was quite hectic but I''m fine now." She replied. "It''s a good thing that I got a day off today."


    "Yeah."


    "So, how was the training session today?" She asked before helping him take off his backpack.


    "It was nice, I expected it to be a bit long but it was okay." He replied.


    "Well, that''s funny." She said before she began to move up the staircase with his backpack.


    "What do you mean?" Dave asked as he followed her from behind.


    "You used to whine about how long the normal two hours training session was but look at you now, you''reining about how short a training session of about an hour is." She expressed.


    "People change, Emma." He said.


    "Yeah, that''s exactly what I''m saying, you''ve changed a lot in the way you look at your career and it has been reflecting on the pitch since then, I''m d you''re starting to find the best version of yourself on the pitch." She said before turning to him with a warm smile on her face.


    The two made their way upstairs and to their room as Emma quickly made her way to the bed and dropped the bag before she opened it and began to bring out all the stuff inside.


    "What did you even do with these socks?" She asked before dropping the pair of orange socks which were a bit muddy and wet.


    "What did you expect? It only stopped raining a few minutes ago." The goalkeeper said before moving closer to her.


    "Yeah, I guess it''s not exactly your fault." She said before letting out a sigh. "You''re going to need them for tomorrow''s match, right?"


    "Yeah, but don''t worry I have another pair." He said.


    "I know but that doesn''t mean these ones aren''t going to get cleaned." She said before she began to pull out the other things in the bag.


    Dave watched from behind for a few seconds before he quickly stepped closer to her and wrapped his hands around her waist.


    "Hey." She said as she suddenly stopped what she was doing.


    He didn''t wait for her to say anything else before he began to nibble down on her neck to constantly send that feeling of pleasure from that point to all her nerves.


    She slowly closed her eyes and allowed him to nibble down on his neck for a little while before she quickly turned to face him.


    She tried to say something but was quickly silenced as he pressed his lips against her''s sucking those words right out of her mouth.


    She responded passionately to the kiss as she slowly fell to the bed.


    She was about to fall deep into the stream of pleasure when she caught hold of herself and slowly pushed him back so that she could sit up on the bed.


    "Um...." She said before swallowing hard and taking a deep breath. "I have dinner to make and some cleaning to do."


    "Yeah, you can''t do thatter or we can just order something to eat tonight," Dave said before leaning closer to her again but she slowly pushed him back.


    "No, I have to take care of this now." She leaned closer and kissed him before she got up from the bed, picked the socks up from the floor, and threw them into theundry basket before she began to make her way toward the exit. "I''ll be downstairs if you need me." She said before exiting the room.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The goalkeeper kept his gaze on the door for a while before he let out a deep sigh and crashed on the bed.


    <Sorry>


    ''Don''t tell me that, Catherine.''


    <Okay, I won''t> She said.


    _______ _______


    Matchday five was finally here and now all the Unique FC yers were in the locker room waiting for Norman to start filling them in on the formation, tactics, and the yers who were going to be starting.


    "For this match, we''re going to be using the four-four-two formation, this match is going to depend a lot on our midfield canceling out their midfield and limiting their chance-creating capabilities." Norman expressed. "I analyzed their match against Tereville United and discovered that their main source of strength in that match was their midfield, they don''t build up slowly like we do with our passes, they go directly from midfield to attack and how do they do that?"


    "Long balls," Merino said.


    "Exactly that''s why I need an extra midfielder in this match, a free-roaming midfield, who can trap back, and leave his position to stop an iing attack while the person in the middle moves into his position temporarily to cover for him."


    "A free-roaming midfielder, huh," Minino said.


    "That''s going to be your job in this match, Minino," Norman said.


    "Me?"


    "Yeah, I would love to give you guys all the details now but first I''m going to pick the starting eleven for this match." The coach said. "Dave will be in between the sticks as always, in defense we will have Luis Roberto on the right, Pirlo and Adolf as center backs and Jonas will be starting on the left."


    ''He''s starting Jonas.''


    <It''s fair given that your opponents aren''t that strong of a team>


    ''Yeah, but anything could happen.''


    "In midfield, I am going to have three attacking midfielders to back up the forwards and subdue their midfield, those attacking midfield positions will be upied by Frankie, Ferran, and Minino, and in defensive midfield, we will have Martinez."


    "Finally, I am starting in a match," Frankie muttered with an ted voice.


    "Our attack will be led by Mateo and Merino."


    "You''re going to start two wingers in striking positions?" Fred said.


    "Mateo yed as a striker a couple of times back at the academy and in Unique FC B, he''s also shown that he has what it takes to start in that position whenever I use a formation that doesn''t require wing forwards," Norman exined.


    "I know, coach but you should have at least started a striker alongside, you have three strikers in your squad and you''re just going to start two wingers in that position," Fred said, he was already annoyed but he was doing well to keep his cool.


    "Don''t worry, Fred, I know what I am doing," Norman said but the striker just pouted silently before turning away from him, this was the second match of the season and he wasn''t part of the starting eleven.


    Norman didn''t even look at him a second time before turning back to the rest of the team.


    "Now, the tactics we''re going to use in the match."


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 266 Slightly Specific Quest

    The match was set to kick off by 4:00 PM which meant that the yers had a lot of time to get themselves ready for the match given that the venue for the match was the Wondanimo stadium, their first home match of the season.


    Right now, there was just an hour and thirty minutes left before the match kicked off and Dave had to get to the stadium before that thirty minutes got exhausted for the pre-match warm-up.


    He was in his room now, getting his things ready, well, Emma was the one helping him pack his bag while he zipped up his jacket.


    "There you go," Emma said after putting in thest items that were supposed to go into the bag, the shin guards.


    "Thank you, babe." He said as he walked closer to her to pick up the bag.


    After picking up the bag, he leaned closer to kiss her before he turned to leave.


    "I guess I''ll see you there then." He said before taking a step toward the exit.


    "No, wait, I''ming with you."


    She stepped down from the bed and quickly made her way to the wardrobe where she grabbed her white jacket which had brown fur as its cor before she turned to the shoe rack and picked up a pair of ck canvas to go with her ck trousers.


    "You''reing with me?" Dave didn''t exactly get what she meant until she started putting on the shoes.


    "Yeah, you miss hints way too often, Dave."


    She was already getting ready when he returned to the house to pick his things up so he should have realized that she wanted to leave with him.


    It didn''t take long for her to finish tying her shoces and as soon as she was done, she quickly got up from the bed.


    "Let''s go." She said before walking past him and out of the room.


    "Okay," Dave mumbled before he quickly followed her out of the room.


    The drive from their house to Wondanimo stadium didn''t take as long as it used to as Dave had to exceed his normal driving speed to get there a little bit faster.


    After getting to the stadium through the yers'' and staff entrance side, he drove his car to one of the free parking spots and parked his car there.


    Most of his teammates were already as he could count about seventeen cars there after parking his car.


    "It''s a good thing you''re a sports journalist, if not, you would have to go around and I wouldn''t bother to drive you there." The goalkeeper said before opening the door.


    "So you would allow your pregnant wife to trek from here to over there?" Emma said before she opened the door on her side and slowly brought her right leg down.


    "You don''t have to put it that way." He said before stepping out of the car.


    "Why wouldn''t I put it that way, isn''t it the way it is?" She asked after she stepped down from the car and closed the door.


    "Yeah, I guess." He said. "If you put it that way, no, but if you weren''t carrying my child I''ll dly do it."


    "Really?"


    "Yeah." The goalkeeper said before he began to head toward the entrance to the building.


    "Hey, wait up," Emma said before she quickly started walking toward him to catch up with him.


    On getting to the locker room, the goalkeeper was d to find out that his teammates had not gone out to the pitch to start the pre-match warm-up yet, so he was able to head out to the pitch together with them.


    The goalkeeper did a bit of long-range shot-stopping with his teammates before he decided to test out someone on his own.


    Alexander was standing in between the sticks now as Dave was standing over the ball about twenty-five yards away from the goalpost.


    "Okay, here I go." The goalkeeper said as he slowly took three steps away from the ball.


    Once he stopped moving, he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the top right-hand corner of the goalpost.


    Alexander dived toward the ball and managed to get the tip of his left glove to it, but unfortunately for him, that wasn''t enough to stop the ball as it ended up smashing past his hand before flying into the goalpost and hitting the back of the.


    "Good job, but if you had dived with both hands you would have been able to keep that out," Dave said as he moved closer to Alexander.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I know, I was a bit off bnce but I''ll get it time I know it," Alexander said before throwing the ball back to him.


    The ck Roz FC yers arrived by 3:20 PM and after joining Unique FC yers to warm up on the pitch for a little while, they were all told to head down the tunnel and go get ready for the match.


    For this match, Unique FC yers were going to be putting on their normal home jersey, the popr orange jersey with ck polka dots while Dave as the goalkeeper was going to be putting on the lemon green jersey with no shy design.


    After putting on all the gear required for the match, the yers made their way to the waiting point in the tunnel where they met the mascots and ck Roz FC yers.


    ck Roz FC yers were putting on their away jersey which was white shirts with two diagonal lines running down them but the short was just in ck, and their goalkeeper was putting on a sky-blue kit.


    After staying there for a few minutes, the yers were finally given the signal to start making their way into the pitch, and that they were d to do.


    As they made their way onto the pitch, the crowd burst into cheers and apuse, most of the people in the stands were Unique FC fans, that was one of the advantages of being the home side in the match but it was no deciding factor.


    "Wee to our viewers from all around the world, it''s your regrmentator, Jim Waterson once again, and joining me in the studio once again is my regr comentator, Mr. Steve Jefferson." Jim expressed as the yers matched onto the pitch.


    "Hello, and wee everyone, it''s really nice to be here to witness and talk about another match as it goes on," Steve said.


    The yers went around to shake each other''s hands and now it was time for the coin toss to decide who was starting the match.


    "Unique FC have started their league campaign quite well after defeating Frono FC one goal to nothing on Monday, the same can be said about ck Roz FC who defeated Tereville United four goals to nothing," Jim said. "Both teams have the chance to move to any of the top two spots on the table but one of them will have to go down for that to happen, so who''s it going to be?"


    Adolf won the coin toss and as always, he chose the goalpost on the left, that was done and now the match was about to kick off.


    "If this match ends in a draw, both teams may end up keeping their current spots or possibly get pushed down by Spree United who will be facing Tereville Cityter tonight." Steve expressed.


    Dave was standing in between the sticks waiting for the match to kick off while also waiting for his match quest to pop up soon.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Provide an assist to any of the midfielders ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +100 exp ]


    [ +10 upgrade to energy ]


    [ +4 stat points ]


    ''A single quest, but it''s not an easy one.'' He said subconsciously as he skimmed through the details of the quest.


    <I think you should call this one the slightly specific quest>


    ''So, there''s going to be a very specific quest?''


    <Yeah>


    ''That''s going to be a pain.''


    <No kidding about that>


    *****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 267 Hoarding The Ball

    Merino was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he quickly rolled the ball back to Martinez.


    "And we are on the way," Jim said. "Judging from what they did against Tereville United, ck Roz FC are going to try and run the match with their midfield but I''m not sure it''s going to be that easy for them here."


    "ck Roz FC has always been one of the best teams in the Bilbeth Premier League, they''ve won the league a total of six times throughout history and now they''ve returned from relegation and started the season with a good victory, however, they have a very bad match history against Unique FC, they''ve faced them a total of fifteen times including the cup matches and they didn''t win or draw any of those fifteen matches."


    "They lost all of them?"


    "Yeah, the closest they came to drawing a match against the Uniques, not winning, drawing a match with them was in 2012 when they managed to grab an equalizer against them in the eighty-ninth minute.


    "There were just four minutes of added time, and in the second minute of that added time, they won a free kick right at the edge of the box.


    "Ivan Curry stepped up to take the free kick and he did well to send it into the goalpost from the bottom left-hand corner and like that, their winning streak against them continued to today."


    "That''s pretty bad for ck Roz FC but let''s hope they can break that winning streak today and start setting their records straight but I don''t think the current Unique FC will make things easy for them, if it was the Unique FC of earlierst season, then things would have been a bit easier for them." Jim articted.


    "Yeah, it sure would have been a little easier than them, now they have an imprable fortress as a goalkeeper and their defense has gotten better although Norman isn''t using his starting wing backs in this match." Steve expressed.


    Seven minutes had gone since the match kicked off and Unique FC were still with the ball, Ferran had lost it at some point but Frankie was very quick to recover it, Minino may have been the one given the role of moving around freely but the twenty-one-year-old had been all over the pitch so far and he had done quite well to recover the loose passes that had almost given the ball to ck Roz FC.


    He received the ball from Jonas and quickly flicked it past the yer heading toward him before he sent the ball rolling toward Ferran.


    "I''m surprised I hardly see Frankie on the pitch, what is Norman thinking, always keeping him on the bench? He''s a great yer, he''s the reason his team is still with the ball." Jim said.


    "He''s fighting for his ce in the team, that''s what I see," Steve said.


    Ferran tried to push past the two yers blocking his path with the ball but when he realized that he was going to lose the ball if he forced it, he pushed the ball back to Minino who quickly sent it back to Martinez.


    ''You were right about Frankie having potential, he is currently the best yer on the pitch, coach should think of starting him more often, Edward and Harry and great midfielders but Frankie is more physical and we need to always have a yer like that in midfield.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.


    ck Roz''s defense was quite hard to get through and Unique FC weren''t quite ready to take any risks in their attempts to break past it.


    They were ying with the same formation as Unique FC but it wasn''t in the same order, their midfielders were distributed equally in attack and midfield, they had two attacking midfielders and two defensive midfielders.


    "I can''t believe the match started ten minutes ago and ck Roz FC haven''t gotten a single pass," Jim said.


    "It sounds quite unbelievable but it''s happening before our eyes and it looks like they''re starting to get infuriated by Unique FC''s swift passes," Steve said.


    Just like he said, ck Roz FC yers were losing patience after not being able to get hold of the ball since the match kicked off, they had zero percent of ball possession, and all the ball possession belonged to Unique FC.


    They were aggressively chasing the ball now but Unique FC yers remained calm as they passed the ball around in their attempt to find an opening to create something.


    Martinez received the ball from Ferran and quickly sent it to Jonas who quickly zoomed past the yer quickly heading toward him before he sent the ball toward Minino from the top.


    "Jonas to Minino from the top," Jimmented.


    Sending that ball over like that wasn''t the best thing to do as Minino was soon engaged in an aerial duel, the ck Roz yer ended up winning the aerial duel but Frankie was there to quickly steal the ball.


    "Frankie leaving his position to help out Minino but he could be in trouble here," Jim said.


    Another ck Roz yer was there to take the ball away from Frankie but before he could attempt that, the midfielder quickly sent the ball back to Luis Roberto with a flick.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Luis Roberto was right behind him so it didn''t require much force to get the ball to him.


    Roberto received the ball and quickly sent it rolling back to Dave.


    "Looks like Unique FC just avoided losing the ball once again and again Frankie was the main man behind it," Steve said.


    As soon as that ball was sent to Dave, Frankie returned to his position as Minino quickly ran deep into the opposition''s half.


    Dave moved forward with the ball a little before both of ck Roz''s strikers quickly began to rush toward him, so he had to send the ball, but he didn''t just send the ball in, he sent it to a particr someone.


    Minino zoomed past Merino and the defenders in the area to bring the ball down with a neat touch.


    ''Just shoot Minino!'' Dave screamed, internally.


    The defenders were slightly behind him now but before he could make a move toward the goalpost they had all covered up but no worries, he had something else in mind after all.


    "This could be their chance."


    He found Mateo on the left and quickly flicked the ball to him without thinking much about it.


    Mateo received the ball and brought it down neatly but he wasn''t in a good position to shoot so he quickly sent it to Ferran who had gotten to the edge of the box now.


    "Ferran."


    Ferran feigned shooting toward the goalpost to startle the yers in front of him before heid it off to Merino.


    Merino was heading toward the edge of the box now and without thinking twice about it, he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost with just a little bit of elevation.


    "Merino!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the right as the goalkeeper dived toward it, but he wasn''t able to stop the ball as he only managed to push the ball off a bit to hit the post before falling into the goalpost.


    "And he hits the target!" Jim eximed.


    The fans went wild as Merino quickly rushed to the side and did a double flip before his teammates began to gather around him.


    "They are in front, a wonderful set up from Ferran and a wonderful finish from Merino, the first ever goal attempt in the match trantes into a goal." Steve expressed.


    ''I wanted the assist but this works too.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 268 Trying To Break The Stronghold

    The match was already neen minutes gone and so far, Unique FC were still leading, that opener from Merino was what one would call a banger and so far the guests were finding it pretty hard to get back into the game.


    ck Roz FC had not been able to get hold of the ball until the kick-off which came from the goal scored against them and even after that, they weren''t able to keep hold of the ball and lost it after an attacking attempt but they were able to get it back from Mateo who had almost given them another heart attack.


    The winger who now had the role of a striker received the ball from the other side from Minino and quickly got past the yer right in front of him with a neat body feint and nice ball control.


    He dribbled past the second, third, and fourth yer to get to the edge of the box, and just as he was about to shoot toward the goalpost, the ball was taken off his feet with a neat tackle from behind, he fell under the influence of that tackle and raised his hand to call for a foul but the referee wasn''t going to listen to it.


    Right now, ck Roz FC were still with the ball and they were still looking for a way to get past Unique FC''s stronghold.


    "ck Roz FC has beenpletely underwhelming in this match, I expected better from them but I hope they can find their form quickly and add a little bit of spice to this match," Jim said.


    ck Roz FC were doing quite well in passing the ball around and keeping it away from Unique FC yers, but they seemed to be doing so under pressure.


    The attacking midfielder on the right received the ball back from the striker after failing to get past Jonas but that wasn''t the only reason why he sent it back to him.


    The midfielder moved the ball forward a little, and just before Frankie could get to him, he sent the ball flying toward the other striker on the left.


    The striker quickly forced his way past Luis Roberto as the ball bounced at the edge of the box but Roberto seemed to have pulled his shirt to slow him down a little and before he could get to the ball, Pirlo had already gotten to it to quickly send it out for a throw-in.


    "Nicely done by Pirlo there, that was quite a nice move to try and get past the host''s defense but they''re not going to make it easy for them," Steve said.


    The throw-in was quickly taken as ck Roz FC tried to quickly attack with the opportunity, but with all their attacking options gone, they had to move the ball back.


    "The funny thing is that ck Roz should be the ones putting pressure on Unique FC, they''re with the ball and close to their box but Unique FC are the ones pressuring them and causing them to move back with the ball." Jim expressed.


    "They''re afraid of losing the ball because they know it''s going to be hard to get it back, it''s like the hosts are telling them, ''Move back with that ball now or I am going to steal it." Steve articted. "Dave could even try watching a Netflix show back there, he''s been untested so far and I don''t think he''s entirely happy about that."


    ck Roz should have tried to put on a little bit of courage and attack fiercely when they got the chance but so far, they happened tock that courage to attack or attempt to put Unique FC under pressure.


    They were still passing the ball around trying to find an opening as Unique FC yers chased the ball around to try and recover it.


    Both of ck Roz''s strikers, Aveiro Mir and George Savy have been quiet in the match so far and you couldn''t really me them since their midfield had been rendered incapable to produce anything for them like they did against Tereville United.


    Both strikers were able to produce two goals each in the four-goals-to-one victory against Tereville and it was all thanks to the brilliant effort from their midfield but that didn''t seem to be happening today, at least not yet.


    Frankie had almost taken the ball off the attacking midfielder on the right side of the pitch but the yer was quick to push the ball to the defensive midfielder behind him before he crashed to the floor and without thinking twice, he sent the ball back to defense.


    "That was close, he had almost lost the ball to Frankie there," Jim said.


    The right-back received the ball from the defensive midfielder and quickly sent the ball flying to the attacking midfielder on the other side.


    The midfielder who had the name ''Mason'' written on the back of his shirt above the number eight knew that Minino was heading toward him and waited for him to get closer before he flicked the ball with his back heel and nutmegged him.


    "Oh, he did not just do that to Minino," Jim said.


    Minino didn''t waver from getting humiliated like that as he quickly turned and began to chase after the midfielder.


    He didn''t waver, but what Mason just did to him seemed to have provoked something in him.


    The midfielder quickly got to Mason in no time and brought him down under quite a rough challenge.


    "Minino''s quite fast to quickly catch up to him, but he shouldn''t have handled things that way," Jim said.


    The referee blew his whistle before he quickly made his way to the midfielder and showed him a yellow card.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "No question about that, it''s a booking, the first booking of the evening," Stevemented.


    Minino didn''t evenin about that and just used his hand to clean off the little sweat on his face before he began to walk away.


    "I guess he doesn''t like getting nutmegged like that, that''s why he got a little rough with Mason in his desperate attempt to recover the ball but the thing is that when you do it to others you''re going to receive it at some points during matches from other yers." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, exactly," Steve said.


    "Now, ck Roz FC have a free kick in quite a good spot, twenty-three yards away from the goalpost."


    Unique FC had to form a four-man wall that consisted of tall yers and those yers were Ferran, Adolf, Merino, and Luis Roberto but they forgot to put someone below.


    Aveiro Mir was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as the referee was sure that everything was set, he blew his whistle.


    The striker stared at the ball for a few seconds before he quickly took two steps backward.


    "This clearly could be their chance to get their shot of the game and they could make that shot a goal," Jim said.


    Aveiro had his gaze below where he knew was free right from the onset and now that he had closed up on the ball, that was his focus point.


    "Aveiro!"


    He sent the ball flying toward the goalpost from there as the yers forming the wall jumped up thinking that he was going from above.


    The ball was able to find its way past them and toward the bottom right side of the goalpost, but before it could go any further, Dave was right there to stop it with both of his hands.


    "His first real test in the match and he steps up to stop it nicely," Jim said.


    "That was perfectly and smartly executed by Aveiro but it looked like Dave was way ahead of him," Steve said.


    The goalkeeper knew about no yer being below but he didn''t inform his teammates about it because he had a hunch that Aveiro would strike from there and it looks like his hunch was right.


    <Now''s your chance, Dave!>


    ''Yeah.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he quickly got up from the floor and sent the ball flying toward Mateo who was heading toward one of the center backs who quickly moved back as soon as Dave made that save.


    The defender''s biggest mistake was approaching Mateo while the ball was still heading toward him.


    "Perfect." The winger muttered as the ball got close enough at the same time the defender got close to him.


    He quickly lifted his right back heel and used it to flick the ball over the defender before zooming past him to bring it down with a neat touch and after that, he zoomed off toward the goalpost.


    "Uh oh, ck Roz are in trouble here."


    *****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 269 Profound Strike

    Mateo may have gotten past that defender but he wasn''t entirely free as one of the defensive midfielders was trying to intercept him from the right and he was doing a good job of keeping up with the winger so far as he approached him.


    The midfielder was a fast one, you could say he was just as fast as Mateo and the winger was aware of that as he was contemting on whether to shoot from outside the box or not.


    ''No, I have to get closer first.'' He said subconsciously as he continued moving toward the goalpost with the defensive midfielder hot on his trail and the other yers quickly racing toward the area from way back.


    "He''s notpletely in the clear but he can do something here," Jim said.


    By the time the winger got to the edge of the box which was the area where he had marked for attempting a shot, the defensive midfielder had already gotten close enough, and before he could take the shot, the midfielder slid toward him and matched his foot to bring him down under a very tough challenge.


    "Arghhh!" Mateo screamed as he fell to the floor and quickly clutched onto his right foot which was unfortunately the point of contact.


    The midfielder didn''t care and tried to take the ball and start the counter-attack but the referee wasn''t going to allow that as he blew his whistle before quickly making his way to the area.


    "Mateo''s down and he seems to be in pain, he is surely getting booked for that."


    The referee quickly made his way to the yer as he pulled out both of the cards he had in his pocket.


    The fans, his teammates, and his coach all knew that a card wasing but they were all praying for it to be just a yellow card but the referee had to shatter their hopes as he raised a red card above him.


    "It''s a straight red card, he''s been sent off!" Jim eximed.


    The defensive midfielder tried to argue his case with the referee while Mateo was receiving treatment on the floor, but it didn''t look like anything was going to move the official, his teammates even joined in to try and talk to the referee but that wasn''t going to work and in the end, the yer had to leave the pitch.


    "ck Roz FC are one man down now and Mateo Smith seems to still be in pain on the floor here," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but it doesn''t appear to be a serious case or else he would have been carried off the pitch by now," Steve said.


    Two minutester, the winger was able to get up slowly but he appeared to be limping but even at that, the fans were really d to see him back up on his feet.


    "That tackle could have ended the match for him but it''s a good thing that he can continue," Jim said.


    "Yeah, he''s been causing a lot of trouble from that left-wing recently, even when he''s ying as a striker he moves over there a lot. Losing him would affect Unique FC but I''m not sure it would affect them that much given that ck Roz FC are one man down now." Steve expressed.


    Now that Mateo was back on his feet, it was time to take the free kick from the foul which happened right at the edge of the box, there were even contemtions about the foul taking ce inside the box as that was where Mateo fell but the referee insisted that it was outside the box just like the linesman said.


    Mateo was still trying to get his right foot into the game so there was no way that he would be able to take the free kick but there was nothing to worry about as their second free-kick specialist was on the pitch.


    "Looks like Ferran''s going to be the one to take the free kick as Mateo appears to still be limping," Steve said.


    The wall was formed inside the box quickly and once the referee was sure that everything was set, he blew his whistle.


    Ferran slowly raised his gaze to look at the goalpost before he slowly took three steps backward.


    "This could be their chance to double their lead."


    The midfielder quickly closed up on the ball and floated it over all the yers toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost.


    The midfielder used more of technique and cement in ce of his massive shot power this time but he didn''t ce the ball far enough as the goalkeeper did well to get to it and punch it out for a corner kick.


    "Oh, what a save!" Jim eximed. "Henderson turning up with a magnificent save, I thought that was going in, that was a well-ced free kick from Ferran."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yeah, that was unbelievable," Stevemented.


    Henderson was hyped up after that save as his teammates quickly rushed to him to shake him, pay him on his shoulder, and hype him up more.


    That save was wonderful but now they had a corner kick to deal with and Ferran was standing over the ball to take the kick as the yers from both teams ran around inside the box.


    The referee blew his whistle as soon as he was sure that everything was okay and without even moving back, Ferran sent the ball flying into the box.


    He sent the ball flying a little close to the goalpost and in order to clear the danger in the best way possible, Henderson quickly dived toward the ball and punched it out.


    "Henderson stepping up again to clear the danger."


    The ball fell to the feet of one of the attacking midfielders who quickly sent the ball flying toward Aveiro Mir to start a counterattack but he seemed to have hit the ball wrongly as it was sent flying a little closer to Adolf.


    The center-back got to the ball before the striker and in order to clear the pressure from the striker, he quickly sent the ball rolling back to Dave.


    "That''s a close one, ck Roz almost broke free with a counterattack," Jim said.


    Dave didn''t even wait for the ball to get to his box and moved out of the box to get to the ball instead.


    After getting to the ball, he changed its course a little to the right before pushing it a little further.


    ? "Looks like Dave is about to attempt something here."


    As soon as he said that, the goalkeeper quickly pulled his leg back and sent the ball flying toward the goalpost, and it was at that moment that Henderson realized that leaving his goal line and heading toward the edge of the box was a big mistake.


    The goalkeeper quickly retreated as he kept his gaze on the ball quickly flying toward him, but he wasn''t able to keep up with it as the ball hit the angle on the left post before falling into the goalpost along with him after his failed attempt to stop it.


    "I can''t believe it, the ball is the! It''s a gooooaaaallll!" Jim eximed.


    Minino couldn''t hold in his joy as he quickly rushed past Adolf toward the goalkeeper and tackled Jim down.


    "Unbelievable!"


    "What a profound strike from the goalkeeper, he''s been trying it with no sess and now he''s gotten it right and in a good time as he has now given his team a two-goal cushion."


    The fans were going wild now as they chanted the name of the goalkeeper.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 270 Setting A Bilbeth Premier League Record

    That goal from Dave was what one would describe as unbelievable, impossible, and exhrating.


    The goalkeeper had been trying to score from that far since their first pre-season match and now he had finally gotten that goal.


    "There''s no way, absolutely no way that Dave Richards scored a goal before most of the fowards in the Bilbeth Premier League," Steve said sarcastically.


    "But he just did it," Jim said with a little chuckle.


    Unique FC were still leading the game two goals to nothing as the time for the first-half break drew near.


    A lot of people, even ck Roz FC fans, still couldn''t get that goal by Dave off their minds because it was something they have never seen a goalkeeper do in the Bilbeth Premier League and when things like that happen, records are set.


    [ You have set a Bilbeth Premier League record ]


    [ You are now the first and only goalkeeper to score from 42 yards out ]


    "With that goal, Dave Richards has now created a new Bilbeth Premier League record, the record of the only goalkeeper to score from approximately forty-two yards out." Jim expressed.


    "That''s a decent record to set," Steve said.


    ''First goalkeeper to score from forty-two yards out, that means a yer who is not a goalkeeper has done it before.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    <Yeah, about three yers have done it from that but you are the only goalkeeper to ever do it, you set the record for goalkeepers and now they''ll start trying to match it or beat it>


    ''That sounds cool, but if three yers have matched the record, doesn''t that make me the fourth yer to do it?''


    <In general terms, yeah>


    ''Nice, I''m now a record holder in the Bilbeth Premier League.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously with a bright smile on his


    Forty-five minutes was being disyed on the scoreboard with four minutes of added time which ck Roz FC were trying to do something with.


    Mason received the ball down the left wing and tried to get past Minino but he knew that was going to be tough so he opted to pass the ball to Aveiro.


    Aveiro received the ball and moved forward with it a little before rolling it to his striking partner who wasn''t that far away from him on the right side.


    George could have moved forward with the ball and tried to create something but instead, he sent the ball rolling back to their right back who was about to cross the forty yards line now.


    "He''s sent it back," Jim said.


    That was all part of their n as the right back quickly sent the ball to the attacking midfielder who without hesitation sent the ball flying toward Aveiro Mir who had broken past Pirlo to get into the box.


    "This looks promising."


    Aveiro was on the clear, but before the ball could get to him for him to do what he wanted to do with it, Dave rushed off his goal line and dived toward the ball to punch it out for a throw-in with both of his hands.


    Aveiro was brought down by him in the process and raised his hand to call for a foul but the referee knew that there was no foul there.


    "Good decisiveness by Dave there, who knows what would have happened if Aveiro had gotten his head on that ball," Jim said.


    "With Dave rushing out like that, it would have definitely been a goal but the goalkeeper did his job well and the result was a throw-in which may or may not be taken." Steve expressed.


    Unfortunately for ck Roz FC, that throw-in was not going to stand as the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    "That''s the whistle, the first half of this mostly one-sided but interesting match hase to an end," Jim said as the yers made their way down the tunnel.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yeah, it has certainly been an entertaining one, but things are not looking good for ck Roz FC even as they head down the tunnel." Steve expressed. "They are two goals with one man less on the pitch, their coach will have to find a way to use the yers he has left on the pitch efficiently in the second half, but to be honest, Jim, I don''t see theming back from this one."


    Unique FC yers were all in the locker room now with Norman standing in front of them, you could tell he was happy with his team''s first-half performance by the grin on his face.


    "You have all done well so far in this first half, a two-goal lead is good but we shouldn''t be done yet, they currently have ten men on the pitch and we haven''t used that to our advantage yet, with their current situation, we should be able to get two or more goals in the second half." Norman articted.


    After telling the yers everything that he wanted to tell them, they rested a bit in the locker room before they were told to start heading to the pitch.


    "Wee back everyone, the second half of this interesting match is about to kick off as we can see the yers making their way to the pitch now." Jim expressed as the yers made their way to the pitch.


    "Looks like ck Roz FC''s manager has made a few changes, let''s hope he also changed his tactics to match up with Unique FC and maybe make this match a little bit even although I think that''s not possible but, I''ve seen the impossible be possible in football a lot of times." Steve articted.


    ck Roz FC were going to be the ones to start the kick-off and right now, Aveiro was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s.


    After making sure that everything was set and everyone was ready, the referee blew his whistle to start the second half.


    "There''s the whistle and the second half is on the way," Jim said.


    Aveiro quickly passed the ball back to Mason who quickly pushed it back to one of the defensive midfielders to try and draw Unique FC''s yers out a bit.


    After receiving the ball from Mason, the defensive midfielder feinged moving backward before he quickly turned and zoomed past Ferran who had closed up on him at that time.


    "Nice movement."


    The defensive midfielder quickly moved the ball to George who moved forward with it without any form of hesitation.


    He was quite determined and that determination led him to find his way past Jonas putting him on the floor in the process.


    "ck Roz FC are attacking fiercely here."


    With Jonas out of the way, the striker was able to get into the box.


    He feinged shooting toward the goalpost to put Adolf on the floor before heid off the ball to Mason at the edge of the box.


    The attacking midfielder moved into the box with the ball and was about to shoot when he tripped on Mason''s foot and fell right inside the box.


    The referee quickly blew his whistle as he quickly got closer to the area.


    "That''s a foul against Mason but did it happen inside the box?"


    Unique FC yers gathered around the referee to try and tell him something but he wasn''t listening and pointed to the spot for a penalty kick.


    "It''s a penalty! ck Roz FC have earned themselves a very good chance to pull one back."


    ****


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    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 271 Pretty Much Over

    The referee wasn''t even going to try and check because he knew what he saw but Jonas kept on persuading him and because of that, the left-back was shown a yellow card.


    "Jonas gets booked for disturbing the referee, he should have known better, most of his bookingsst season came from just saying something to the referee," Jim said.


    ''I was really happy thinking that I would be keeping two clean sheets in a row and then this happened.'' Dave said subconsciously as he made sure his gloves weren''t slipping off his hands.


    <Just so you know, penalties can be saved or missed, you should know, you''ve saved one before and you''ve also witnessed yers miss penalty kicks


    "This is a massive chance for ck Roz FC to pull one back and this will surely boost their motivation to get back into the game if Aveiro converts it." Steve expressed.


    Aveiro was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    The referee made sure that all the yers were behind the taker who was standing over the ball on the penalty spot and outside of the box before he blew his whistle.


    After hearing the whistle, Aveiro didn''t rush to take the kick as he kept his gaze on the ball for about five seconds before he slowly took three steps backward before he let out a deep breath.


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    With all that done, the striker quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying toward the right side of the goalpost but Aveiro made a mistake when he sent the ball flying toward that side with just a little elevation, if he had sent it toward the very top, then Dave would have had fewer chances of stopping it.


    The goalkeeper dived toward the ball and punched it out with both of his hands but the danger wasn''t exactly cleared yet.


    "Nice stop from Dave! But the rebound is still there."


    Adolf quickly rushed toward the ball at the same time as George.


    George got there before him to be precise, but before the striker could get his foot on the ball, he slid toward it and sent it flying out for a throw-in.


    "The Captain''s there to clear the danger and keep his team''s two-goal lead safe," Steve said.


    The goalkeeper''s teammates were delighted after that save from him and you could tell by how they had all gathered around him now.


    "This team''s current work rate is unmatchable, Davees up with a clutch spot kick save and Adolfes in with the slide to stop the  rebound from turning into a goal and making the goalkeeper''s save useless." Jim expressed.


    ck Roz FC''s throw-in was sent into the box to try and desperately create something but attacking desperately wasn''t the best decision as Jonas was there to clear the ball.


    "I can''t believe Unique FC survived that, they''ve done well to deal with that, they deserve to still be two goals up," Jim said.


    "ck Roz FC had the chance to pull one back and they blew it, there''s still a lot of time left to get back into the game but I don''t see them making anyeback in this match." Steve expressed.


    ''That was a close one.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before he let out a sigh of relief and sat on the floor.


    <That save was clumsy you know, you could have just gone for the grab>


    ''I know, I was a bit under pressure that''s why it happened, it''s a good thing I always have Adolf in defense.''


    <Yeah, and now that hope of keeping two clean sheets in a row is still alive, I don''t expect you to blow this up unless you guys concede a second penalty>


    ''I won''t.'' He replied before he slowly got up on his feet.


    The match continued until the seventieth minute with none of the sides being able to get a goal but Unique FC had the upper hand in terms of possession and gamey and they still had their two goals lead.


    Norman had made three substitutions so far and that was why we had Rnd, Aima, and Norman Kole on the pitch now.


    All three changes were in defense and what was the reason for bringing them in? To fortify the defense and make things more difficult for the guests.


    Rnd received the ball from Frankie after the midfielder almost lost it at the edge of the line.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The left-back tried to move a bit forward with the ball before he sent it rolling toward Minino.


    ? Minino moved forward a little with the ball, but before he could do anything reasonable with it, he was brought down under a careless challenge by Mason from behind.


    "Oh, that is a very careless challenge from Mason," Jim said.


    The referee blew his whistle before he quickly rushed to the area and showed Mason a yellow card.


    "As expected, he''s getting booked for that," Steve said.


    "I expected Minino to be on the floor after that tackle but he''s right back on his feet," Jim said.


    "He''s got one strong foot."


    The match continued with the free kick as Unique FC continued their string of passes.


    The ball was yed back to Aima who quickly stretched the ball to Minino, but before the ball could get to the midfielder, he fell to the floor clutching onto his left foot and allowing the ball to go out for a throw-in in the process.


    "Oh, Minino''s down here and he''s clutching onto his foot," Steve said.


    "It took him that long to start feeling the effects of that tackle?" Jim said. "It looks like he''s asking to be taken off."


    Norman did as the midfielder requested and reced him with Henry who was happy to hop onto the pitch.


    "I should have taken him out earlier," Norman muttered before turning his gaze to Minino who was getting his leg looked at in the bench area now. "I just hope it''s not a serious one."


    The ball was thrown in by a ck Roz FC yer but Henry was right there to steal it off the foot of Mason and once that was done he quickly stretched the ball to Ferran who quickly cut past the yer right in front of him before stretching the ball to Mateo.


    "Unique FC are starting a full-force attack here."


    Mateo raced down the wing before he quickly caught toward the middle in his attempt to get into the box and sent the ball to Frankie.


    Frankie quickly sent the ball to Ferran who quickly found Merino on the right and sent the ball to him.


    "Merino."


    Merino saw Mateo making a run into the box and quickly sent the ball to him from above with just a little lob.


    The winger zoomed past the yer trying to stop him to get to the ball before it hit the floor and with a little flick, he sent the ball past the goalkeeper and into the goalpost from the right before the goalkeeper brought him down with his body.


    "It''s in! Oh, what a wonderful finish from Mateo!"


    The winger quickly got up from the floor and flung both of his hands continuously as he headed toward Merino on the right.


    The two met with a wholesome hug before the rest of the team got there.


    "At this point, the match is pretty much over."


    ****


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    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 272 A Moment To Cherish

    Just like Steve said right after Mateo scored that third goal, the match was pretty much over and there was nothing ck Roz FC could do about it.


    The normal ny minutes of the match had been exhausted and now they were in the third minute of the eight minutes of added time with ck Roz FC desperately pushing for a goal despite knowing fully well that it was futile.


    George received the ball down the right wing and quickly cut down through the middle beforeying the ball off down the middle for Aveiro who was heading toward the edge of the box at that exact time.


    The striker got past Adolf with a neat body faint, and before Aima could get to him, he quickly fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    "Aveiro!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the right side of the goalpost, but that wasn''t a problem for Dave who just had to watch the ball float over the bar and as soon as the ball was out, the referee blew his whistle thrice to officially bring the match to an end.


    "Dave gets to watch that one fly over the bar, that was theirst chance as the match has finally been concluded," Jim said. "Another match, another victory, and another clean sheet, and with this victory, they now sit in second with six points, just behind Supreme United because of goal difference."


    "They said they have what it takes to fight for the title this season and they''ve started off nicely, two matches, two victories, and zero goals conceded." Steve expressed.


    The fans stood up to apud the home team as they made their way to their stand area while ck Roz FC yers slowly made their way down the tunnel.


    [ Quest failed ]


    [ You failed to provide an assist in the match ]


    ''That''s okay, winning the match is all I care about, and we even did it with a clean sheet.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he softly pped.


    <Yeah, but you know you could havepleted the quest if you actually tried>


    ''What do you mean by actually tried, Mateo almost scored from my pass and he almost got injured badly.''


    <Yeah, but you just didn''t try hard enough>


    ''If that''s what you think, then maybe I''ll think of trying a little bit harder next time.


    After the happy moment with the fans, it was time for the yers to start heading down the tunnel.


    "Hey, guys!"


    Dave and Mateo who were standing together at that moment turned to see Emma waving at them from the sidelines.


    "What''s up?" Dave said with a smile on his face as soon as they got to her.


    "Congrats." She smiled before punching him on the shoulder. "Great performance."


    "Thanks." The goalkeeper said as he slowly rubbed the part of his shoulder where she punched.


    "You too." She said before she turned to her brother and punched him on the shoulder.


    "Hey," Mateo said before he grabbed onto his shoulder and red at her. "Sorry about that, my hands just moved on their own but that goal of yours was superb."


    "Thank you." The winger replied.


    "You guys are now leveled on points with Supreme United at the top of the table, that''s nice." She said before she quickly scanned the area. "Now, I just need someone to interview from your team."


    "I got interviewed during thest match, so try Mateo today," Dave said before pushing the winger toward his sister.


    "Hey." The wingerined but before he could say another word, she grabbed him by his right arm.


    "Let''s go, Mateo." She said before dragging him along with her to where she was heading.


    Dave was announced as the man of the match at the end of the match, and after picking up his award and taking an official picture with it, the goalkeeper began to make his way down the tunnel.


    ''Just show me my post-match rewards.''


    <Roger that>


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Four crucial saves: +40 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded (0): +120 exp ]


    [ Scored a goal: +150 exp ]<novelnext></novelnext>


    [ Match rating: 8.8 ]


    ''I guess I contributed a lot to keeping this clean sheet.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.


    <Yeah, saving that penalty kick was no joke>


    [ 615/900 exp ]


    <You''ve gotten quite close to leveling up again>


    ''Yeah, I just need two hundred and eighty-five exp.''


    <If you hadpleted that match quest then it would have been way closer than this>


    ''I know, we have another match next week, if things go well for me and the team then I''ll be leveling up after that match but it''s not going to be easy, I think it''s going to be our first tough match of the season.'' He said subconsciously. ''Dynamo FC aren''t exactly in form, but I know they can put up a fight against us.''


    <Yeah, but your team is different in every aspect now, so things may not turn out the way you think they will>


    ''I hope so.''


    All the yers along with Norman arrived in the locker room about twenty minutes after he got there.


    Norman congratted them and told them a few other things regarding the next match and their training schedule before they were all allowed to start heading home.


    "Alright then, guys." The goalkeeper said to Mateo and Merino who was now heading toward their cars before he turned his gaze to Minino who limping toward his car. "I hope you''ll be able to take part in the next match, Minino."


    "Don''t worry, Dave, this is just a minor injury, I''ll be back for the next match like nothing ever happened." The midfielder said enthusiastically with a bright smile on his face.


    <He sure has a lot of energy>


    "That''s good news." The goalkeeper said before opening the door to his car. "See you around then."


    After saying that, he hopped into his car and started the engine before quickly zooming off out of the area.


    It didn''t take him long to get home and after parking his car in its normal spot, he got down from it and made his way to the door.


    He wanted to open the door with his key but on second thought he decided to knock and see if Emma would respond, but before he could hit the door with his fist, the door was pulled open by her.


    "I knew it was you." She smiled.


    ''Oh, yeah, the car.'' He said subconsciously before turning his gaze to his car.


    "Come inside." She said before she dragged him inside and shut the door. "I made dinner."


    "Really?" The goalkeeper said before turning his gaze to the dining area to see that she wasn''t kidding.


    "Just go upstairs and change and we''ll eat dinner together, okay." She said.


    "Okay." The goalkeeper said before he quickly made his way upstairs.


    After getting to his room, the goalkeeper dropped his bag on the bed before he brought out his phone from his pocket to see a notification for an article pop up on his screen.


    ''Top ten top scorers in the Bilbeth Premier League after Unique FC vs ck Roz FC.'' He read subconsciously before clicking it.


    After opening the page, he went through the list carefully to see that he was the one in tenth ce just behind Alex Sandro and Merino who also had the same number of goals as him.


    ''This clearly isn''t going tost, but this is a moment to cherish.'' He said subconsciously as he stared at his name on the list with a bright smile on his face.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 273 Ill Do It For Him

    "Twelve kilometers." The goalkeeper muttered with muffled breathing before he continued his run down the road.


    The goalkeeper woke up with the goal ofpleting twenty kilometers; that was what he was trying to do now.


    He continued running and once he reached the road, he took a route to enter the woods.


    He continued running down the path in the woods and by the time the twenty kilometers werepleted, he had gotten to the hill area which he used to get to from the other route to the woods which was closer to his home.


    "Twenty kilometers." He muttered with muffled breathing before crashing down to the floor.


    ''Twenty kilometers with no break or anything, that was tough.''


    <Yeah, but it''s good for you>


    [ +3 stat points added to endurance ]


    "That''s nice."


    <You deserve it>


    After staying there for a while to catch his breath, the goalkeeper decided to ask Catherine a few questions.


    ''So, um¡­Catherine.''


    <Yeah, what is it?>


    ''The person before me, how was he as a person, and was he used to doing all these things that I do for the sake of improving myself?'' He asked subconsciously.


    <He definitely didn''t have a loser mentality like you used to have before you the system, he had talent as a goalkeeper from the onset unlike you and he was quite hard working>


    ''I see, so he was the opposite of me and the system made him better so that he could help Unique FC lift a few important trophies and even help his nation lift trophies.''


    <Yeah, but¡­>


    ''But what?'' The goalkeeper asked.


    <Even though he was more talented and never had a loser mentality, he didn''t really have that desire to push himself further and reach the level beyond a football legend>


    ''Level beyond a football legend?''


    <Yeah, a level only a few football yers have attained before retiring but I see there are yers in this generation who have reached that level surprisingly fast>


    ''So, he never had the desire to reach that level, going down as a football legend was more than enough for him.''


    <Yeah, and guess what?>


    ''What?''


    <You''re also the opposite of him in that category, I guess you two are the perfect opposite of each other despite¡­>


    ''Despite what?''


    <Never mind, what I''m saying is that you have that desire to go down as one of the greats of the game now that you know that you can reach it, that''s why you''re nning to leave Unique FC and head over to a team in one of Europe''s top five, isn''t that right?>


    ''Yeah.''


    <And that desire is what will make you a greater goalkeeper than he ever was, you see because of his limited desire of only ying for Unique FC, he wasn''t able to maximize the potential of the system and unlock a lot of things but I believe that you have what it takes to do that and be the greatest goalkeeper to ever live>


    As she said that, the goalkeeper could sense a bit of enthusiasm from the way she was speaking.


    ''So, there is still a lot to unlock in the system. ''


    <Yeah, but don''t think unlocking them is going to be easy just because I said you have what it takes to do it>


    ''Yeah, it takes a little bit of hard work to get everything.''


    Although the system was helping him out in a lot of ways, what he just said now was the truth.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Getting anything required a little bit of work if not hard work.


    If he had continued cking off even after getting the system, he wouldn''t have been able to get to where he was today, and having the system would have been totally useless to him.


    The system pushed him to start doing the things he used to avoid and get rewarded for it with physical attributes he could tell he now possessed by just going through the system and now that work-hard mentality has been inscribed in his brain so that he would never forget it.


    ''You know, although this guy before me wasn''t able to fully maximize the system, I think he did pretty well with it.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he got up from the floor.


    <Yeah, but I wish he had done more>


    ''Don''t worry, Catherine, I''ll do that for him, and you, just keep watching and guiding me.''


    <Of course>


    After having that chat with Catherine during his resting period, the goalkeeper returned home to discover that Emma had already left for work and she left a note for him on the dining table.


    ''Hey, babe, I didn''t expect you to take this long, so I''m leaving for work, there''s something in the fridge if you get hungry. Bye, love you.'' He read subconsciously.


    After reading the note, he dropped it back on the table before he made his way to the living room where he found his phone lying on the couch.


    "Guess she must have brought it downstairs." He said before picking the phone up.


    After picking up the phone, he checked to see if there were any calls or messages that he missed and that was when he saw that he got a call from rk but it looked like Emma picked up the call and they spoke for about five minutes.


    "I wonder why he called, maybe another stuff regarding transfers." He mumbled before slipping his phone into his pocket.


    <Or maybe he just wants to talk>


    ''Yeah, maybe.''


    He looked around the area for a while to see that everywhere was clean and everything was perfectly arranged.


    "Even in her condition she still manages to do quite a lot." He muttered before he slowly began to make his way upstairs.


    After getting upstairs, he made his way to his room where he changed out of his sweaty clothes and into something warm and cozy.


    He wasn''t exactly hungry so heid down on the bed and went through his phone.


    It only took ten minutes before his stomach began to rumble and that was when he decided to go downstairs.


    He made his way downstairs and straight to the kitchen, after getting to the kitchen, He made his way to the freezer and opened it to see that she left something quite interesting for him in there, but he needed to add something to it.


    He picked out two eggs from there and quickly made his way to the gas cooker to boil the eggs in a small pot.


    He waited patiently for the eggs to boil and once they were done, he turned off the gas cooker and poured the water into the sink before picking up his egg.


    He carefully removed the eggshells and put both of them on a te before making his way back to the freezer.


    ''She shouldn''t have put this in the freezer.'' He said before opening the freezer and just as he did that, something happened.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ You have sessfully avoided junk food for three months ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    *****.


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.


    Mass release for goals metst month will still be rewarded on the due dates.

 Chapter 274 Focus Upgrade

    [ Congrattions, you have sessfully avoided junk food for three months ]


    [ Your body is now stronger and your health is in an almost perfect condition ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +50 skill upgrade points received ]


    [ +300 exp received ]


    [ +5 stat points received ]


    <With this amount of skill upgrade points you could level up a skill twice and still have some left>


    ''Yeah, but I expected a bit more experience points.''


    <More experience points?>


    ''Yeah, like five hundred upwards, avoiding junk food isn''t easy you know especially now that Emma is eating more of them because of her pregnancy, she''s tried forcing me to eat one of those three times have you forgotten? And I managed to pull through that.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.


    <I know and I do think you deserve a little bit extra because of that, but this is what the system has decided to give to you so you have to ept it like that>


    ''I guess.'' He said subconsciously before he let out a deep sigh as he shut the freezer. ''It''s not like I can reject it or anything, at least this has helped me level up earlier than I expected.''


    [ 915/900 exp ]


    [ Level up ]


    [ Congrattions, you are now level 09 ]


    [ +1 skill point received ]


    [ +3 stat points received ]


    [ 15/1000 exp ]


    ''Getting to level ten is going to take a while.'' The goalkeeper said before taking his food to the microwave to heat it up a little.


    <If you want it to>


    After hitting up his food, he took it to the dining area and ate to his fill before making his way to the couch.


    After getting to the couch, he slowly slumped down on it before raising his gaze to look at the ceiling.


    [ Unused stat points: 20 ]


    [ Skill points: 13 ]


    [ Skill upgrade points: 90 ]


    <You have ny skill upgrade points, don''t you think it''s time to try leveling up one of your skills with huge drawbacks and see how they would improve?>


    ''Yeah, I know, but I haven''t made up my mind on which one to choose yet.''


    <You haven''t made up your mind?>


    ''Yeah.''


    <Then how about I help you make up your mind?>


    ''Okay, what are your thoughts?''


    <I think the most important skill you have in your arsenal is focus>


    ''I think Ball ma is the most important skill in my arsenal.''


    <Well, you can say that because it''s the one that you constantly use as it doesn''t really have any drawbacks but there''s a reason why focus costs more skill points>


    ''I know, you''ve already lectured me on that.''


    <The skill has already leveled up to level two which means its effects have already gone down a bitpared to what you experiencedst time, and if you can just level it up a bit more with your skill upgrade points, it''ll just get better>


    ''Okay.''


    <So, upgrade it now and then go outside and check it out>


    ''Seriously, Catherine?''


    <What?>


    ''We''re not in my dream world, you know, I actually get tired here and you should know how draining running twenty kilometers can be, my energy and stamina are not evenpletely recharged yet.''


    [ 79% stamina remaining ]


    [ 99/129 Energy ]


    <Okay, fine, get some sleep, and then you can go outside and do it, it''s not like I can force you to do it, I mean I can, but it''s not something that I would want to do>


    "Thank you." The goalkeeper mumbled before slowly closing his eyes.


    ______ ______


    After about an hour had gone, the goalkeeper slowly opened his eyes and blinked them about four times before slowly sitting up on the couch.


    <You''re finally awake>


    He made sure to turn off his dream control feature so that Catherine would not be able to disturb him in his sleep, and he was d he did that.


    ''Yeah, I think that was all the sleep I needed.'' He said subconsciously before stretching himself on the couch.


    After stretching himself on the couch, he got up from the couch and stretched himself even more.<novelnext></novelnext>


    After doing that, he slowly made his way to the freezer to grab himself a ss of cold water.


    He drank to his fill before he dropped the cup back from where he picked it up and began to make his way out of the area.


    <Now are you going to go outside and try out what I told you?>


    ''Sure, why not?''


    [ 100% stamina remaining ]


    [ 129/129 Energy ]


    He slowly made his way outside and straight to the garage to get the hyper ball ster.


    He pushed the ball out to thewn before he went back inside to get the balls, he didn''t take the goalpost down after training with itst time, so he didn''t have to deal with putting it together although it wouldn''t take him more than seven minutes to do that.


    <Now, all you have to do is use your stacked-up skill upgrade points to upgrade your focus and get it to the highest level you can>


    ''Okay.''


    [ Focus ]


    [ Level: 2 ]


    [ 0/30 skill upgrade points ]


    ''Here we go.''


    [ -30 skill upgrade points ]


    [ +30 skill points added to focus ]


    [ Focus has leveled up to level 03 ]


    [ 0/40 skill upgrade points ]


    ''I have sixty left, which means that level four is the highest I can get this skill to now.''


    <Just do it>


    [ -40 skill upgrade points ]


    [ +40 skill upgrade points added to focus ]


    [ Focus has leveled up to level 04 ]


    [ 0/50 skill upgrade points ]


    ''And I have only twenty left now.''


    <I think getting it to level four should be enough for you to see a clear improvement>


    ''I hope so.'' He said subconsciously before he squatted down beside the bag of balls.


    He opened the bags which contained sixteen balls and slowly began to put them into the ster.


    After putting in all of the balls, he slowly got up from the floor and set the ster to level seven which was the toughest level, but it wasn''t that much of a big deal for him now.


    "I can''t believe I''m going to use this skill again, I can already feel the pain in my head." He mumbled as he made his way to the goalpost after pushing the start button.


    <You''ve leveled it up to level four, so there''s no way that it''s going to be like that time when it was still at level four>


    ''I hope so.'' He said subconsciously before joining both of his hands together.


    [ Focus activated ]


    As soon as the skill was activated, everywhere went dark as the only things he could see were himself, the goalpost, the ball ster, and of course, the ball which was heading toward him now.


    The ball was a bit slow, but so was his movement.


    Using the focus skill doesn''t guarantee that one would be able to save all the ballsing his way, that was if the personcked the speed and decisiveness to keep out balls and that was something Dave used tock but that was no longer the case.


    The goalkeeper quickly dived toward the right side and punched out the ball before it could go any further.


    The ball and his movements were slow to him, but to the outside world, they were just normal.


    With the skill, he was able to keep out one to fifteen balls, and just when the sixteenth ball was fired out.


    [ Duration exhausted ]


    [ Focus deactivated ]


    That message popped up but nothing happened which was quite a surprise to him, he expected to feel something in his head even if it was a little bit of pain.


    ''Hey, Cat....''


    Before he could finish that sentence in his mind, he felt a stinging pain in his head and slowly crashed to the floor with both of his hands on his head.


    "Arghhh." He groaned with gritted teeth.


    *****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 275 It Didnt Work

    After about three minutes of holding his head on the floor trying to stop the pain he was feeling up there, the pain slowly stopped as the goalkeeper slowly sat up on the floor with a not-so-pleasant look on his face.


    "I don''t even know the difference between what I felt back then and what I just felt now." He muttered.


    The pain was quite evident in his voice.


    <Seriously? That can''t be true, there had to be a drop in the intensity of the pain>


    ''If you''re sure that there was a drop in the intensity of the pain, then it was so insignificant that I wasn''t able to notice the difference, the only thing that changed was the duration, it was five minutes thest time, this time it was just three minutes.''


    <The drop in pain intensity was insignificant and the only thing that changed was the duration of the pain>


    ''Yeah.''


    <Apart from those which you have already mentioned, I also realized that the skillsted for eight minutes this timepared to five minutesst time>


    ''Yeah, I forgot about that one.''


    <So, three minutes were added to the duration of the skill, and three minutes were deducted from the duration of the painful drawback>


    ''Yeah, you didn''t need to spell it out for me.'' He said subconsciously before getting up from the floor. ''If I can only find a way through this excruciating pain, this skill will be super handy for penalty shootouts, but this pain is unbearable for me even if it''s just three minutes.''


    <Maybe, there''s a way around it>


    ''And what is it?''


    <Um...I''ll need you to test out the skill a few more times to see before I can figure that out, that is if there''s a way around the pain>


    Dave was quiet for a while as he shifted his gaze from the goalpost to his front door.


    <Do you understand, Dave? You have to try it a few more times so that I can see if I will be able to figure something out>


    ''Yeah, try it a few more times.'' He said subconsciously before he stuck both of his hands into his pocket and began to make his way toward the front door.


    <Where are you going?>


    ''To grab a drink and try to recover a bit, there''s no way I''m going to activate that skill immediately after recovering from that pain.''


    <Okay, but you are going to try it again, right?>


    ''I don''t know, but I want to find a way around that excruciating pain.''


    The goalkeeper made his way inside and straight to the kitchen to grab himself a ss of orange juice.


    ''We''re second ce in the Bilbeth Premier League with two matches yed, this season started out pretty well.''


    <Yeah, but it''s only two matches so far, so there''s nothing to get excited about yet>


    ''Yeah, but seeing our current position on the table is a huge morale boost to the team and we will perform even better.'' He said subconsciously before taking a sip from his ss of orange juice.


    He stood there for a while staring off into the distance and looking at nothing in particr before he made his way to the couch and slowly sat down on it.


    ''I''m sure I will be able to deal with a penalty shootout on my own, but it would be really nice to have a skill like focus in my arsenal of skills that I can use in the middle of a match without having to worry about anything.''


    There was no response or anything from Catherine as she listened to the goalkeeper vent in his mind.


    Just as the goalkeeper was going through a lot of things in his mind, something suddenly came back to him.


    ''I think I''ve got something, Catherine.'' He immediately said subconsciously.


    <What is it?>


    ''Do you remember when the skill was deactivated? I didn''t feel anything immediately until I tried to reach out to you through my mind, maybe that''s why the pain started, maybe if I avoid talking to you subconsciously three minutes after the skill is deactivated, I won''t feel any pain.''


    <That could be a possibility, there''s about a fifty percent chance that this is the case>


    ''If it is, then it is the way around the pain.''


    He quickly dropped the ss on the table without finishing the juice and quickly rushed outside.


    He quickly went around the area to pick up all the balls and quickly returned to the ster to put all of them in it and test out his theory.<novelnext></novelnext>


    <You know, it was your idea to test out this theory of yours so don''t me me if it doesn''t work and I won''t listen to your venting>


    ''Are you trying to discourage me from doing this now?''


    <No, that''s not it, I just don''t like it when you try to put all the me on me>


    ''Fine, I won''t me you for anything if it goes wrong.''


    <Nice>


    The goalkeeper quickly slid his hands into his gloves before he pushed the start button and quickly made his way to the goalpost.


    "Here we go again." He said before letting out a deep sigh.


    [ Focus activated ]


    Everywhere suddenly went dark as the first ball was quickly fired toward him.


    He was able to keep out all the balls up to the fifteenth ball which was when the skill reached its limit.


    [ Skill duration has been exhausted ]


    [ Focus deactivated ]


    The notification popped up on his screen as the sixteenth ball was shot toward him.


    He allowed the ball to fly into the goalpost as he immediately shut off his mind to avoidmunicating with Catherine.


    The first minute slowly got exhausted and nothing happened, that got Dave really excited and that was where things went downhill suddenly.


    ''It''s actually working.''


    As soon as he said those words subconsciously, he felt that familiar stinging pain in his head.


    "Arghh!" He yelled before crashing to the floor clutching onto his head with both of his hands.


    ''What went wrong, Catherine?''


    <I can''t say, exactly>


    He stayed with his hands on his head, gritting his head and waiting for the pain to go away anytime soon.


    He wouldn''t want anyone to see him like this, especially not Emma but it looks like he was out of luck today as Emma happened to have entered the area at that exact time that he was lying on the floor in pain.


    "Dave?" She gasped before quickly making his way to her.


    She tried to find out what was going on, but there was no response from him.


    "Hey, what''s going on?" She asked after lifting his head and cing it on her body.


    A few seconds after doing that, the pain slowly began to die down slowly until it was finally gone.


    "Emma." He muttered after slowly opening his eyes and as soon as he saw her face, a smile appeared on his face.


    "Hey, what was that?" She asked with a worried look on her face.


    The goalkeeper didn''t reply to her as he slowly got off her body and sat up on the floor.


    ''It didn''t work.'' He said subconsciously before biting his lower lip.


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 276 Appetite Reform

    "So, you hit your head on the post by ident," Emma said before slowly turning her gaze to the goalpost behind them.


    "Yeah, but it''s okay now." The goalkeeper said as he slowly rubbed the back of his head.


    "Hitting your head on that post was that painful?" She said, sounding a bit lost because it just didn''t add up and most of all, there was no bump on his head, if it was that painful, then there was supposed to be a bump.


    "Yeah, is anything wrong?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "No, it''s nothing¡­." She wanted to say something else but just didn''t know what she needed to add.


    "So, what are you doing at home? You''re not supposed to be home this early." He asked.


    "Didn''t I add it to the note?" She asked.


    "Add it to the note?"


    "Oh, I forgot to add it." She said before slowly getting up back on her feet. "I left work early because there is something I need to take care of that doesn''t require me to be at my workce."


    "But it''s something rted to work, right?" He asked.


    "Yeah, totally, I wouldn''t just leave work because of personal reasons, unless it''s urgent."


    "Okay." The goalkeeper said before getting up from the floor. "I think we should head inside then."


    "Um¡­yeah, go on, I''ll be right there."


    The goalkeeper turned his gaze to her and slowly brought it up from toe to head.


    "Okay." He said with a shrug before he continued his walk toward the front door.


    Emma watched him until he entered the house and shut the door before she slowly got closer to the goalpost and slowly ced her hand on the left post. As soon as her hands touched it, a shocked expression appeared on her face.


    "This isn''t even that hard, it''s a bit hard but not as hard as steel like the ones used in stadiums, this is more like stic than steel." She muttered.


    ''Nobody will yell like that after hitting his head on this.'' She said subconsciously before turning her gaze to where he found Dave after getting home. ''Then what was the cause of his pain? He was in pain no doubt about that, but it can be the goalpost, so what was the cause of it and why did it stop all of a sudden?''


    Dave was just walking out of the kitchen with two sses of orange juice in his hands when the door was pushed open for Emma to enter the house.


    "There you are." The goalkeeper said before he made his way to her and handed her a ss of juice.


    "Thank you." She said before she took the ss of juice from him and took a sip from it.


    "So, how was work today?" He asked.


    "It was nice. Can you hold this for me for a second?"


    "Sure." The goalkeeper said before taking the ss from her so that she would be able to remove her jacket to reveal the white vest she was putting on under the jacket.


    After removing the jacket, she took the ss of juice from him and quickly gulped down the contents before she made her way to the dining table and dropped the ss there.


    "I am starving." She muttered before slowly sitting down on one of the seats.


    "I think I saw a few apples in the freezer, should I bring them?" Dave asked.


    "I said I needed something to eat, a few apples." The goalkeeper sensed a little bit of grumpiness in her voice and he could tell she was struggling to stop herself from hitting the table with the way her hands were hanging over it now.


    "Okay, fine, what do you want? I''ll order it."


    "Really?" She said as her eyes suddenly brightened up.


    "Yeah, just name it." He said.


    "You mean name them." She said,


    "Name them?"


    "Yeah, because I need orange soda, cake, some biscuits, and a couple of candies and maybe you can sneak some gum in there for me." She blotted out.


    After hearing her name all that, Dave couldn''t help but look a bit lost.


    "You need all that?"<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yeah." She responded with a nod.


    "You''re really turning into a child, Emma." He said.


    <It can''t be helped>


    "What are you talking about, I''m carrying our child down here aren''t I?"


    "Yeah, but¡­."


    "But what?" She asked before peering closely at him.


    "Never mind." He said before letting out a deep sigh. "I''ll just go get it, but I don''t think I can order all of this online."


    Emma watched him as he slowly made his way upstairs to get something and once he was out of sight, she let out a sigh before putting her head on the table.


    "I can''t believe this is going to get any worse." She said before looking down at her belly. "But¡­." She wasn''t able to finish that sentence as a smile appeared on her face.


    _____ _____


    The goalkeeper had gotten the soda, cake, and biscuits and now he was entering a candy shop to get the candies just like she requested and maybe some gum.


    The shop wasn''t entirely full, but there were quite a good number of people there and most of them were little kids.


    The goalkeeper walked past the lollipops and other sweet snacks that were being disyed there to the candy area.


    He was busy going through the different types of candies there while thinking of which one Emma would like, he was quite lost in his thoughts that he didn''t realize when someone called him from the side.


    "Hey, Dave."


    The person had to get closer and call his name before he was able to snap out of his daze.


    He slowly turned his gaze to where the voice came from to see Adolf standing there, he wasn''t alone as he was holding onto the hands of a little boy.


    "Oh, hey, Adolf, what are you doing here?" The goalkeeper asked as soon as he spotted him.


    "Well, I was just doing some practice with my son in the park, I promised I would get him candy after that and here we are," Adolf exined.


    That was when Dave looked down to see the son he was talking about.


    The boy had long ck hair just like his dad but his eyes were brown unlike Adolf''s which were blue, maybe he got that from his mother. He also got a lot of different features from his father, like his small lips and the little freckles under his right eye.


    "He looks quite a lot like you," Dave said before slowly cing his hand on the little boy''s head. "How''re you doing, little guy?"


    The kid didn''t respond and quickly went behind his father.


    "He''s a bit shy," Adolf said.


    "That''s okay." The goalkeeper said before getting up on his feet.


    "So, what are you doing here?"


    "Well, my wife''s been going through a lot of appetite reform since she became pregnant and now she wants candies." He replied.


    "Candies." Before letting out a little chuckle. "That''s normal, my wife asks for a lot of weird stuff whenever she gets pregnant, especially when she still had little Mason here in her belly. Just get her what she wants and try not to get into an argument with her."


    "You don''t need to tell me that, an argument with her when she''s normal is too much of a headache to talk more of now. " The goalkeeper said.


    "Just take things easy, see youter." The captain said before he began to leave the area with his son.


    "Okay, bye, bye Mason." The goalkeeper said before turning his gaze back to the area to continue his candy search.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 277 Found A Way Around It

    The goalkeeper pushed the door open to find his wife in the living room working on something on herptop.


    "Oh, you''re back." She quickly turned her gaze to him and said as soon as she heard the door open.


    "Yeah." He said as he quickly made his way to her and dropped the bag on the couch beside her. "That''s everything you wanted."


    She quickly grabbed the bag and brought out the orange soda before checking again to see that everything she asked for was in there.


    "Oh, Dave, you''re the best." She said before quickly pulling Jim down for a hug. "Thank you."


    "Don''t mention it." He said before turning toward the staircase. "I''ll be upstairs in case you need me."


    "Okay."


    With that said, the goalkeeper made his way upstairs and straight to the room, and after getting there, he crashed down on the bed.


    ''Now, back to what we were doing before she got back.'' He said subconsciously after letting out a few muffled breaths.


    <It didn''t work again>


    ''Yeah, but this time I went through a minute without feeling any pain, the pain started when I thought of something and it onlysted for two minutes.''


    <So, what are you saying?>


    ''The pain isn''t triggered by only trying to talk to you, it''s triggered by trying to use my mind in any way during the pain duration, that means no thoughts or using my mind to do anything.'' He expressed subconsciously.


    <Took you long enough to figure out>


    ''Huh?''


    <I said it took you quite a long time to figure out>


    ''Wait, are you saying that you knew about it all this time?''


    <I found out on the first try when nothing happened until you tried to talk to me and also have you forgotten that I am linked to the system? I can see whatever that''s going on with its functions from in here>


    ''If you knew about it, then why didn''t you just tell me about it?''


    <There''s nothing interesting about doing that, I wanted to see how long it would take you to figure it out or if you would be able to figure it out>


    ''Catherine.'' The goalkeeper grumbled inwardly.


    <There''s no need to get angry now, you know what you need to know so just go outside and see how well it works>


    ''How well it works?''


    Yeah yeah <Yeah, this is going to do well in getting you through the duration which isn''t long in any way but there''s no guarantee that you won''t feel some pain>


    ''And why is that?''


    <Because no matter how much you try to stop thoughts from getting into your mind, they always find their way in there even when you''re sleeping. The thoughts that trigger the pain are the major ones, the ones that you''re consciously thinking of, but the minor ones could have an effect>


    ''Well, I hope they don''t.'' He said subconsciously before getting up from the bed.


    He made his way downstairs where he saw Emma who had put her work on hold and was about to dig into her cake.


    "If you''re going to mess that up, then you should consider taking that white vest off first." He said after stepping down the staircase.


    "Hey, I''m not a little girl." She said before quickly shooting a re at him.


    "Really, then why is that on your vest?"


    "What?" She quickly checked the vest to see that she had gotten a drop of orange soda on it by mistake. "Oh."


    "Don''t stain your vest with cake." He said before quickly making his way to the door.


    "Hey¡­." She didn''t get to say what she wanted to say as he opened the door and left the house.


    She stared at the door for a while before she dropped the cake on the table and got up from the couch.


    After getting outside, the goalkeeper picked up all the balls which were scattered all over the area before returning to the ball ster to put all of them in there.


    After putting in all of the balls, he closed the cab and strapped on his gloves before pushing the start button.


    After pushing the button, he quickly made his way to the goal line to start the test.


    "I hope this one doesn''t go wrong." He said before letting out a deep sigh.


    [ Focus activated ]


    By the time his test began, Emma had already gotten to the room and was now observing what he was doing from the window.


    She was a bit suspicious about what happened outside when she got home and found him on the floor and now that suspicion was what led her here now.


    With the extra focus obtained from the focus skill, the goalkeeper was able to keep out all the balls swiftly up to the sixteenth ball which he allowed to go into the goalpost as the skill had been deactivated now.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Why did he stop? He''s just standing there now." She mumbled.


    The goalkeeper stood there, trying hard not to bring anything into his mind consciously.


    The duration was three minutes but he crossed into the fourth minute just to be safe.


    ''I think this should do it.''


    As soon as he said that, he felt a stinging pain in his head, but before he could ce his hand in his head, the pain was gone, it was very brief.


    "It looked like he was about to ce his hands on his head there."


    <You felt pain there, didn''t you?>


    ''Yeah, but it was very brief like it never happened.''


    <I told you it wasn''t guaranteed that you were not going to feel any pain>


    ''Yeah, but this isn''t bad, if this is the way that it''s going to be then I think it''s time to put the skill in the same category as Ball ma.''


    <Skills you will use in a match>


    ''Yeah.''


    <Looks like you finally found a way around it>


    ''I couldn''t have done it without you.''


    Emma was still watching him from above when his phone began to ring in the room.


    She quickly turned back to see the phone lying on the bed.


    She picked up the phone and picked up the call before it would be registered as a missed call as she made her way downstairs.


    "Hello, Mr. Norman."


    "Oh, hello, Emma."


    "Hold on, he went outside and forgot his phone here."


    "Okay."


    She made her way downstairs and outside to give the phone to Dave.


    After collecting the phone from her, the goalkeeper checked the name of the caller before putting the phone against his ear.


    "Hey, coach, what''s up?"


    "I''m okay, you?"


    "I''m doing great, coach." The goalkeeper replied.


    "That''s great."


    "Yeah, so why are you calling, coach?"


    "Um¡­.Can I see you?"


    "See me?"


    "Yeah, I''m at the stadium now and I want to see you," Norman said.


    "Is something wrong?" Dave asked.


    "No, there''s nothing wrong, I just want to see you."


    "Okay, coach, I''ll be right there."


    "Okay," Norman said before ending the call.


    <What do you think he needs you for?>


    ''No idea.'' He replied subconsciously before shaking his head.


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 278 Great Day!

    Emma was still busy working on herptop in the living room when she heard someone knock on the door.


    She didn''t respond immediately and typed a few more words before she got up and made her way to the door which she opened to find Dave standing there.


    "You''re back." She said, sounding a bit surprised. "That was fast."


    "Yeah, there was no reason to take time." He said before walking into the house.


    As soon as he was inside the house, Emma slowly closed the door before turning his gaze to her.


    "So, what did they need you for?" She asked.


    "He wasn''t exactly the one who wanted to see me." The goalkeeper said as he made his way to the couch.


    "Then who was it then?" She asked as she slowly followed him to the couch. "Your father?"


    "No, it wasn''t him." He replied.


    "Then, who was it?"


    "The media team." He said.


    "The media team


    "The media team? Why?"


    "Well, they want to do this some kind of show where we get asked questions rted to Bilbeth and the club, it''s for publicity and a source of revenue you know." The goalkeeper exined.


    "Of course I know, I''m a sports journalist have you forgotten?" Her voice sounded a bit fierce but there was nothing else to it.


    "Oh, yeah." He said before cing his right hand on the back of his head with a nervous smile on his face.


    Emma had a few other things to ask him, so she let out a sigh before continuing.


    "You said ''we,'' so who are the rest?" She asked.


    "I am one of three yers, they picked the three most popr yers in the team currently." He said.


    "I guess you''re one of them since you got picked, who are the other two?" She asked.


    "Isn''t it obvious?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Okay, fine, I know Mateo is on the list." She said before rolling her eyes. "Who''s thest person?"


    "You''re right, Mateo''s there and thest person is Merino." He said.


    "I was expecting to hear someone like Ferran, but I guess he''s quite popr too," Emma said.


    "Yeah, his recent performances on the pitch have gained him some attention and poprity."


    "Yeah, I guess you have something fun to do tomorrow. " She said before turning her gaze back to herptop''s screen.


    "Yeah, I guess," Dave said before getting up from the couch. "I can see that you''re still busy, so I''ll leave you alone."


    He was about to start heading toward the staircase when he was suddenly pulled down by her.


    "No, stay, let''s talk more, I''m almost done, adding a few touches is all that''s left." She said.


    "Are you sure?"


    "Yeah." She said before she quickly closed up herptop and turned her gaze to him.


    "Okay, so what do you want to talk about?" He asked.


    "Umm¡­."


    She was about to say something but suddenly paused before quickly getting up from the couch.


    "I need to go remove this skimpy skirt." She said before pulling the skirt down. "I''ll be back down soon, I just need to change into something morefortable for lying down."


    "Okay," Dave said as he watched her make her way upstairs.


    <Now, you''re the one stuck down here>


    ''Keep quiet, she''ll be down soon.'' The goalkeeper replied subconsciously before rxing his head on the couch.


    The two spent quite a nice time together and since none of them had the strength to cook, they decided to order something for dinner.


    "So, what are we going to order, I mean something that you would like to eat?"


    "You want to eat what I want to eat?" Dave said with a surprised expression on his face. "Are you sure you don''t want cake and candies?"


    "Cake and candies?" She pouted. "Don''t talk to me like I''m a four-year-old."


    "Okay, fine, how about pizza?"


    <She asked you what you wanted for dinner and now you''ve reversed the question to her, how considerate>


    "Pizza?" She said with a confused expression on her face. "I thought you were on a diet?"<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yeah, but it''s been three months since I started that, I just want to take a little break today and try some pizza."


    <I hope it''s just as you put it>


    ''Don''t worry, Cat, I wasn''t even used to consuming too much junk food before that quest.''


    "Okay, then pizza it is." She said,


    "Yeah."


    After eating dinner and spending some more time together, the two went to bed together and as always, Emma was the first to fall asleep.


    The time being disyed on the wall clock downstairs was 9:45 PM as Dave was lying on the bed awake and staring at the ceiling.


    ''You know, today was great, Cat.'' He said subconsciously. ''I finally found a way to make focus useful in a match and I got to spend a nice time without hershing out at me, which rarely happens these days.''


    <That''s because she''s slowly starting to adapt to the way her body''s changing>


    ''Yeah, that''s it.''


    <And you''re starting to be less annoying toward her>


    ''Maybe, but nothing''s going to stop me from teasing her whenever I want to.''


    <Suit yourself>


    There was a little moment of silence in the goalkeeper''s mind.


    He stared at the ceiling for about five minutes before something was able toe to his mind.


    ''So, Catherine.''


    <Yeah>


    ''Let''s say my soon-to-be-born child is a boy even though I want it to be a girl and he chooses to be a midfielder or maybe a striker in the future, will he get the system?''


    <The system is only meant for goalkeepers if other yers could get it then¡­.>


    ''Then what?''


    <Never mind, I''m just saying that the system is only meant for goalkeepers, that was the position it was built for as you can testify, it''s clearly called the goalkeeping system>


    ''So, if he chooses to be a goalkeeper just like me, will he acquire the system after I must have retired?''


    <I am not exactly sure of that, but most likely he will>


    ''Okay, and what if I have a daughter who wants to be a goalkeeper, will she get the system?''


    <The system was made for males but that isn''t entirely out of the question>


    ''So, it''s possible then.''


    <Yeah, but the chances are very minimal>


    ''Okay, I just wanted to know.''


    [ Dream control: inactive ]


    ''I want to activate dream control tonight but I don''t want to continue the reflex training.''


    <You mean you''re giving up the training?>


    ''No, that''s not what I meant?''


    <Then what?>


    ''I just want to try out a match and get the feeling of how it could turn out.'' He said subconsciously. ''Of course, it won''t feel real unless someone makes the yers y the way that they are supposed to y.''


    <Okay, but what match are you talking about?>


    ''Unique FC Vs Dynamo FC.''


    <The uing match>


    ''Yeah.''


    [ Dream control: Activated ]


    ''I just want to get the feeling of how things could turn out, they have a strong team after all.''


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 279 Unique FCs Special: How Much Do You Know?

    The score for both teams were being disyed on the scoreboard and things weren''t looking good for Unique FC.


    The score was Unique FC one, Dynamo FC two, Dynamo FC were leading the score, and not only that, they were dominating the game.


    Their first goal came from a penalty which Dave couldn''t do anything about, but the second goal shocked the goalkeeper.


    A powerful shot was sent flying toward his goalpost from twenty-five yards out, and even with his ball ma activated, he wasn''t able to do anything to stop it as the ball curled into the goalpost from the top right side.


    They were the ones to open the scoring after a clever run from Mateo to set up Ferran right at the edge of the box.


    The attacking midfielder shot low from there and although the goalkeeper dived toward the ball at that time, there was nothing he could do to stop it.


    That was how Unique FC opened the score but now, they have been put behind with just ten minutes left for normal time to be exhausted.


    "These guys are something else," Dave said as he watched his teammates getting outssed by Dynamo FC.


    "Don''t take it too seriously, this is just what they will y like at full strength, right now in the real world, they''re not in their best form and their main striker is out injured, so there''s no way the match on Friday is going to be like this. Also, there''s a chance that I may have overhyped a few of the yers here." Catherine exined.


    "Yeah, I guess you''re right, but that doesn''t I''m going to let them humiliate us."


    At that time, the right winger broke free from Rnd to gain space to run down the wing before floating the ball over to the striker who had managed to scramble his way past Adolf and into the box.


    He jumped up to meet the ball and with his head, he put the ball past Dave and into the box from the right, there was nothing the goalkeeper could do about it.


    The referee blew his whistle and pointed to the kick-off spot as the goalkeeper crashed to the floor inside the goalpost and let out a sigh.


    "This match is over, take me back, Catherine."


    "Okay."


    As soon as she said that, everything and everyone there began to disintegrate until it got to him and when his body was done disintegrating, he found himself back on his bed.


    He opened his eyes to see that he was still lying on his back, so the first thing he saw was the ceiling and when he turned to the side, he could see that Emma was awake, it looked like she had been staring at him waiting for him to wake up.


    "You''re awake, good morning." She said with a bright smile on her face.


    "Good morning." Dave smiled before pushing closer to her. "I hope you had a nice sleep."


    "Yeah, and you?"


    "Same here." He said before locking lips with her.


    As soon as their lips touched, she quickly wrapped her arms around him and pulled him over her body.


    After a morning bed session, Dave lost a bit of energy but it wasn''t enough to stop him from doing his daily routine but he was only able toplete seven kilometers.


    He skipped the gym and only did a few push-ups and sit-ups before making his way back inside.


    It was perfect timing as Emma was just done setting up the table when he entered the house.


    "When you said you were going to be home for breakfast, I thought you were kidding because of the way you said it, but you weren''t." She said before pulling out a chair for him. "Come have a seat."


    The two ate breakfast together and after that, they went upstairs to get ready together.


    Emma had to get to work and he had something to deal with at the stadium today.


    They got ready together and since Dave''s appointment time was 10:00 AM, he dropped her off to work before heading to the stadium.


    He got to the stadium by 9:10 AM to see that two cars were already parked there, which meant that both of his teammates were already there.


    "I guess, I''m thest person to arrive." He said as he stepped down from his car.


    <Yeah, but it''s not like you''rete or anything>


    "I know."


    He made his way into the building and straight to the room where they were going to be doing what they had for today and that was where he found Mateo talking to one of the video crew, but Merino was nowhere to be found.


    By the time he got closer to the winger, the man had already left and he turned around to see him.


    "Oh, hey, Dave, what''s up?" He said before raising his hand for a handshake which was followed up with a shoulder bump as always.


    "They''re getting things ready, huh." The goalkeeper said as he looked around the area.<novelnext></novelnext>


    A lot of lights were being set up in the area and the area for the shooting was being set up.


    "Yeah," Mateo replied.


    "Where''s Merino by the way? I saw his car outside." The goalkeeper asked.


    "He was with me a few minutes ago, but he said he needed to go grab a few things." The winger said.


    "Oh, you''re here now."


    The goalkeeper quickly turned to the entrance where the voice hade from to see Merino standing there with a can of soda in his hand.


    "Merino." The goalkeeper said. He found him to be a bit different from thest time he saw him.


    The winger had caught his slightly long hair, but the Strand that used to slightly cover his right eye was still there although he seemed to have cut it a little bit.


    <There''s nothing to be surprised about, he just touched his hair a bit>


    ''Yeah, I know, I wasn''t surprised.''


    It took about forty minutes to get everything ready, and by 10:20 AM everything was set and ready.


    The yers were sitting in the seats set up in front of a green screen so that the editing team would be able to add effects.


    Dave was sitting on the right from the camera''s view, Mateo in the middle, and Merino on the left.


    The supervisor was there with them now, and once everything was set, he gave the signal to start the show.


    "Hello everyone, I am Dave Richards of Unique FC." The goalkeeper.


    "I am Mateo Smith."


    "I am Christian Merino."


    "And this is Unique FC''s special, how much do you know?" They said in unison.


    "I am definitely going to get crushed here," Merino said before slowly putting his head down.


    "Why is that?" Dave asked.


    "Both of you are from Bilbeth and you were brought up at the academy, I only joined the club two seasons ago." The winger expressed.


    "That''s not entirely true, right, Mateo?"


    "You don''t have to give him false hope," Mateo said, trying the hold in hisughter.


    "I think Mateo thinks you''re going to get crushed," Dave said with a poker face.


    Merino didn''t even know what to do and just turned back to the camera.


    "It will be disgraceful if I manage to beat both of you."


    Since no one else was supposed to be in the show, the questions were projected to them on a whiteboard and it was the job of the editing team to edit that into the video when they start editing it.


    The first question was showing on the board and the three of them could see it now.


    "Name three yers in the starting eleven of the squad that led Unique FC to their UEFA Europa League glory." Dave read out.


    "You''re going first, Dave," Mateo said.


    "Yeah." He responded with a nod.


    He had ten seconds to list that, and since he was going first, he had the advantage because none of the yers had been called yet.


    *****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 280 Another One

    "Three yers that were in the starting eleven of the squad that led Unique FC to its Europa League title glory." The goalkeeper said before slowly raising his head.


    ''Let''s see.''


    <Are you sure you know them, because I am not seeing anything here?>


    "You have ten seconds, Dave," Mateo said.


    "Umm¡­.Devon Richards, Peter Jameson, and Saul Ramirez." He answered.


    The little click sound was for all the people he mentioned which meant that he got them all right.


    "Looks like you got past that one," Mateo said.


    "Wait, Devon Richards? Is he rted to you in any way, Dave?" Merino asked.


    "Yeah, he was my grandfather." The goalkeeper replied.


    "Grandfather huh, and what was his position?"


    "Same as mine."


    "Oh, I see, you wanted to be like your grandpa." The winger said.


    "Um¡­not exactly."


    "You''re doing quite well in following in his footsteps," Merino said before turning his gaze to Mateo. "It''s your turn."


    "Yeah, three yers in the Europa League squad, um¡­.Henderson Drei,..... Kelvin Phil and Michael Spree." The winger answered quickly before the ding sound to indicate his ten seconds getting exhausted sounded.


    "That was close," Dave said.


    "Yeah." The winger said with a smile on his face. "Your turn, Merino."


    As soon as he said that, the ten seconds countdown began and now the winger who knew little about Unique FC''s historypared to both of his teammates had to answer the question before his time gets exhausted.


    "This is tough, and I had to be thest person on top of that." He said. "Um¡­. let''s see, Dickson Morales."


    "You actually got one right," Mateo muttered as the click sound was heard.


    "Saul Ramirez."


    "I already said that," Dave said as the buzz sound was heard.


    That was where Merino got stuck as he didn''t know who else to call until his time was exhausted.


    "You guys stole all of them." He said before crossing his arm.


    "There are eleven yers on a pitch and we only mentioned three each which was just six, you just had to choose from the remaining five." Mateo expressed.


    "Yeah, but I don''t know who they are, so." The winger said, forcing out a little chuckling from both of his teammates.


    While they were at that, the second question popped up on the whiteboard.


    ording to the expressions they had on their faces, this one looked like it was easier than the first one.


    "Name a yer who converted his penalty kick in the penalty shootout against AC Mn in the UEFA Super Cup final." Dave read out loud.


    "Looks like you''re going first on this one, Merino, just like you wanted," Mateo said.


    "Oh, yeah."


    As soon as he said that, his countdown began, and now, he had to answer the question before the time limit.


    "Um¡­Saul Ramirez."


    By the way he said that you would know that it was guessed but that didn''t matter here as the click sound was heard, an indication that he got the right answer.


    "You luckily got that one," Mateo said.


    "That wasn''t luck, it was pure knowledge."


    "O¡­Kay." The winger said before turning his gaze to the camera to answer the question as his time had already begun. "Raphael Stone."


    The click sound was heard in the background as soon as he said that, so that was also a correct answer.


    "No doubt about that." The winger said. "Your turn, Dave."


    "Yeah, Devon Richards." He answered the question before his countdown.


    "If it got to the point of goalkeepers taking kicks, then that must have been a pretty wild penalty shootout


    "Yeah, that''s the exact word to describe it, it was very very wild, they were ying against the champions of Europe then after all." Dave expressed.


    "Looks like this Unique FC squad were the best in history," Merino said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yeah, and they are still the best."


    _______ _______


    After that fun session whichsted for about fifteen minutes for the yers, they were allowed to go as it was now up to the editing team to do the needful before putting the video out.


    "That was pretty fun, don''t you think, guys?" Mateo said as he walked to the parking area alongside both of his teammates.


    "Yeah, and I got to learn new things that I didn''t know about this club, this city, and this country as a whole," Merino said. "You know quite a lot about your home, city, and club, more than Mateo does."


    "Hey, he only blundered on one question and that question didn''t have anything to do with those things, he only said what he thought," Dave said.


    "Yeah, but it wasn''t exactly factual was it?" The right winger said. "Oh, why am I even talking? I only got one point out of all the questions we had to answer."


    "It''s a good thing you were the one that said that," Mateo said.


    He was trying quite hard to keep his face straight here.


    "I knew you would have still said it anyway."


    "Hmph."


    After saying their goodbyes, the yers made their way to their cars, started the engines, and zoomed off.


    Dave got home by 12:45 PM, so Emma was still at work and it looked like he was going to be home alone for quite a while.


    "It''s been a great day so far." The goalkeeper raised both of his hands to stretch himself as he made his way to the couch and crashed down on it.


    ''I think I''ll just have a couple of rxing hours and then go do something interesting before Emmaes back. I have a feeling she''s going to be in a bad mood tonight.''


    <And why is that?>


    ''My days are not usually all smooth, there''s always some sort of mood disruption small or big.''


    <And you think something like that is going to happen, in other words, you want it to happen>


    ''Not exactly, if I could avoid it, I would, but it''s inevitable so I am always prepared for it.''


    "Let''s see if there''s anything interesting to watch here."


    He picked up the remote and was about to turn the television on when his phone began to vibrate in his pocket.


    He quickly pulled the phone out from his pocket expecting it to be anyone among his frequent callers but that wasn''t it, he was surprised to see the name being disyed on the screen as the caller.


    ''Mr. Kent, he''s never called me before, so it must be for something important.'' He said subconsciously before pressing the answer option.


    "Hello, Mr. Kent." He said after putting the phone against his ear.


    "Hello, Dave, how''re you doing?"


    "I''m okay." He replied. "Is anything wrong?"


    "No, everything''s fine, I just need you for something," Kent replied from the other side.


    "What is that?"


    "We''re going to be shooting a promotion video today, and we want you to be in it."


    "So, you want me to fly over to Frono now." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah, if it''s convenient for you."


    "I''m not doing anything now, so, it''s okay, but you guys should try giving me a headstart for things like this in the future so that I can make time for it and be prepared." He said.


    "Yeah, my apologies for not telling you earlier, we''ll inform you earlier next time."


    "Okay, then, I''ll be on my way now." The goalkeeper said before getting up from the couch.


    "Okay, see youter then, bye."


    <You just finished that filming session at the Wondanimo stadium and now you''re going for another one>


    ''No, Catherine, I''m going on an adventure, what a day this has been so far.''


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 281 Mood Disruption

    The trip to Frono didn''t take that long as it took the goalkeeper approximately two hours to get there.


    After stepping down from the airne, he made his way outside and stopped beside the road to look around.


    "rk was with mest time, but this time, it''s only me." He said as he slowly looked around the area.


    For some reason, the sky at Frono always appeared to be brighter than the one at Unique FC.


    ''I didn''t get to see this bright sky for a long time the st time I was here.'' He said subconsciously. ''I just hope I don''t get a quest to walk to theirpany again.''


    <What''s the deal? It''s just a quest, if you don''t feel like doing it, then just ignore it>


    ''Yeah, but if the rewards for the quest are too good, I will be tempted to do it.''


    <Then me yourself for that>


    ''I should stop a cab fast before that quest pops up.''


    As soon as he said that, he saw a cab going in the direction that he was going and quickly waved his hands to stop it.


    Nothing popped up on his system as he got into the cab and even after driving off toward his destination, nothing popped up until they had gone quite a distance from where he was picked up.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Stop the cab and continue on foot to your destination ]


    [ +100 exp ]


    [ +20 skill upgrade points ]


    [ +5 stat points ]


    ''Stop the taxi? You have to be kidding me.''


    <It''s your choice>


    ''Yeah, but I''m getting the feeling that this is all doing, Catherine.''


    <I''ve told you several times, I am not the one in control of handing out quests>


    ''Yeah, but sometimes, it''s quite hard to believe that.'' He said subconsciously. ''If you''re trying to get me to do something stupid, it won''t work, I forfeit the quest.'' He added before crossing his arms.


    [ Quest forfeited ]


    ''Oh, so that''s what happens when I decide to forfeit a quest.''


    <Of course, what else were you expecting to happen?>


    ''Nothing, I was expecting nothing to happen but I guess this works out better since I don''t get to look at that tempting quest anymore.''


    Making the right choice of taking a cab meant that he got to his destination fast, and after getting there, he slowly made his way inside.


    The video was nothing tooplex so they were able to get it done in no time, shooting the video didn''t take much time, but getting everything sure took a lot of time, and because of that, Dave had to start heading downstairs to leave the building by 4:30 PM.


    He had taken notice of the cloud growing dark from up there before entering the elevator and he hoped that the rain wouldn''t pour down just yet, but as soon as he stepped into the elevator, arge spark of lightning ran through the sky and a few secondster, the thunder followed.


    As soon as that roaring sound came from the sky, small droplets of water began to drop from the sky, and in no time, they turned torger droplets and like that became a full-fledged storm.


    Dave didn''t know that it had already started raining until he got downstairs.


    "Oh,e on." He said, sounding a bit depressed as he made his way to the door.


    Just looking out from the ss, he could see that rain was quite a heavy one and there was lightning everywhere, but he had to get home.


    <I don''t think it''s a good idea to go outside during a storm like this>


    He didn''t listen and opened the door and that was when the strong wind blew against him.


    ''I could swear that pushed me back a bit.''


    <It''s not looking good out there, get back inside>


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Avoid getting wet ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +25 exp ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points ]<novelnext></novelnext>


    ''Well, that''s a cheap quest, but I''ll take it.'' He said subconsciously before he closed the door and quickly made his way to one of the seats in the area and sat down there.


    <You wanted a quest>


    ''Yeah, and I got it.'' He replied. ''All I have to do is sit here until the storm stops and I will be rewarded.''


    After sitting in one ce for a few minutes, he got bored and pulled out his phone from his pocket to keep himself busy in the meantime, but what he was seeing now was quite shocking.


    "Thirty missed calls?" He muttered with a shocked expression on his face.


    Thirty missed calls and they were all from Emma.


    ''How did this happen? I didn''t feel any vibration.''


    He quickly pressed the volume button on the phone to see that it had been in silent mode all this while.


    ''How did this happen? I don''t remember putting my phone on silent. Did you do this, Catherine?''


    <No, it wasn''t me, why would I want to do something like that? I''m not even linked to your phone anymore, you must have done it by ident>


    ''Yeah.'' He said subconsciously with his gaze still fixed on his phone''s screen. ''Thirty times and I didn''t pick up once, I can''t imagine how worried she must be now.''


    <You should have called her before leaving>


    ''I forgot.''


    <And you haven''t even bothered to check your phone since you left until now>


    ''I got carried away with everything that was going on.'' He replied before putting his head down.


    While his head was down, his phone began to vibrate.


    He quickly raised his head to check the caller expecting it to be his wife but it turned out to be rk.


    "Hey, Dave, what''s up?" rk said as soon as he picked up the call.


    "I''m okay." Was Dave''s only response.


    "Where are you, buddy? Emma just called me now, she''s been calling you for a while but she hasn''t gotten any response."


    "Yeah, I just found that out now, I identally put my phone in silent so I didn''t know she was calling."


    "Okay, so where are you now?"


    "Frono."


    "If you''re here in Frono then you must be at Footy Wears," rk said.


    "Yeah, they needed me to help them with something."


    "You didn''t even tell me about it," rk muttered.


    "I called you but your phone seemed to be off so I moved on and forgot about it as soon as I got here."


    "That''s okay, just call Emma quickly, she''s seriously worried about you."


    "I know, I''m about to do that."


    "Okay, then, I''ll call youter," rk said before ending the call.


    After answering that call, the goalkeeper let out a deep sigh before dropping his phone on the space left on the seat.


    ''Catherine, you remember when I told you that there''s always something to disrupt my mood every single day?''


    <Yeah, I don''t forget things>


    ''Yeah, that''s right, but it looks like my mood disruption period has just arrived.''


    As soon as said that, he felt the vibration from his phone and quickly turned his gaze to it, to see that it was exactly who he was expecting to call.


    "Here we go." He let out a sigh before picking up the phone.


    *****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 282 Unexpected Welcome

    The storm didn''t seem to be slowing down at Frono as all the people were locked up inside waiting for it to calm down a bit and that included Dave who was still sitting in one of the seats in Footy Wears'' reception area.


    He had been quiet for about three minutes with his phone ced against his ear.


    "Okay." He muttered before he ended the call and slowly brought his phone down.


    There was no doubt about his cheerful mood getting distorted as his face looked a bit gloomy now.


    <She didn''t sound that upset>


    ''But she''s upset, she just doesn''t want to take it out on me over the phone.''


    It took about an hour and some minutes before the rain began to slow down and because of that, people slowly began to fill up the streets again but Dave wasn''t in a haste to leave.


    He raised his watch to his view to see that the time was 5:53 PM before he slowly got up from the seat.


    "The next flight''s by 6:20 PM, I have to wait for that one." He said with a sigh before he began to make his way toward the exit.


    He made his way to the airport, bought a ticket, and made his way to the ne.


    He waited there for the other passengers to get in, and once the time for departure was due, the airne took off.


    Since the distance between Unique City and Frono was quite farpared to the distance between other cities, the flight took longer.


    Dave arrived at Unique City''s airport after two hours, and just as he stepped down from the airne, he checked his watch to see that the time was 8:27 PM.


    After seeing howte it was, he let out a deep sigh before he stuck both of his hands into the pockets of his pants and continued his walk out of the airport.


    Normally, he would have just walked home but he decided to take a cab today so that he would get home faster.


    Emma was busy watching something in the living room when she heard the door move, but she didn''t bother to look as she already knew who it was.


    Dave entered the house and slowly closed the door expecting her to look his way and say something but she still had her gaze on the television''s screen pretending not to have heard anyone enter the house.


    <I don''t think she''s mad, or else she would be yelling at you now>


    ''Keep quiet.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before he slowly began to make his way to her.


    "Three cities in Audiz apart from Unique City and Supreme. Um¡­we have Blossom city, Rojora, and Halo Ville."


    That was the goalkeeper''s voice and it wasing from the television, she was watching Unique FC''s show which he was in along with two of his teammates.


    Dave slowly got closer to her, but she didn''t even turn to look at him.


    ''The cold shoulder, huh.'' He said subconsciously before sitting down beside her but still, she didn''t want to look at me.


    "You know, if you don''t want to look at me, you should just turn off the television because that''s me right there." He said before turning his gaze to the television, but there was no response.


    "Hey, I already apologized and I''m doing it again, I''m sorry, my phone was on silent and I didn''t realize it untilter when I was about to leave." He expressed.


    <I can tell you what she''s thinking if you want>


    ''No, don''t do that, I want to hear what she will say first.''


    "Hey, are you listening to me?" He asked before he grabbed her by her chin and turned her face to him.


    She didn''t even try to resist and that was when he saw that her eyes were red and looked a bit sore.


    "Why are your¡­.Have you been crying?"


    "No." She muttered before she forced his hand off her chin and turned back to the television.


    "You''ve been crying."


    ''I just didn''t¡­.''


    <What><novelnext></novelnext>


    ''This is worse than getting yelled at.''


    "Of course, I was crying, what did you expect me to do after calling you several times with no response? After asking all of your teammates that are close to you, after asking rk? What did you expect me to do? Smile and positively say that you will return from wherever you went when I didn''t even know where the heck you went to and they didn''t know either!" Her voice was quite shaky as she said that and tears were beginning to form in her eyes now.


    ''I wasn''t able to sense it through the phone call, but it was there, how stupid can I be?''


    After thinking of what to say or do, the goalkeeper slowly put his head down.


    "I''ve caused you a lot of pain today, huh.'' He said after putting his head down.


    "Is that all you have to say!" She yelled before turning away from him.


    "No, but please." He said before slowly pulling her into his arms. "Forgive me, I got carried away."


    She didn''t try to resist him in any way and just melted in his arms with her tears soaking his shirt.


    "I''m just d that you''re okay." She mumbled. "I thought something bad might have happened to you and then¡­"


    "Hey," Dave said before closing her mouth with his fingertip. "When I opened that door, I expected you to yell at me or start scolding me, I didn''t know you were hurting, I''m so sorry." He expressed before pressing her body closer to his.


    "I leave a note for you every morning before going to work although you know where to find me, you should try doing the same or you can just send a text message." She mumbled in her sobbing voice.


    "I know, I just wasn''t thinking straight when I left."


    <She really can''t stay mad at you>


    "Don''t do it again." She muttered.


    "I won''t, I promise." He said before grabbing hold of her hand and covering it with his hand.


    She stayed calm on his body for a while before she cleared her throat and slowly began to get off his body.


    "What''s the matter?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "My throat''s a bit dry." She said before cing her hand on her throat.


    "Don''t worry." He said before quickly getting up from the couch. "I''ll get you some water."


    She watched him until she disappeared into the kitchen, and that was when a warm smile appeared on her face.


    ''I know I''ve made her cry a few times even before we got married but I''ve never seen her like this.'' He said subconsciously opening the freezer to grab a bottle of water.


    ''No, it''s not just that, my carelessness was off the charts today, she was just worried that something bad might have happened to me, that was the way she was supposed to react but I shouldn''t have made her react that way.''


    <Then do better next time>


    ''I know.'' He replied as he walked to the kitchen cab to get a cup. ''Catherine.''


    <Yeah>


    ''Can you sync with my phone and notify me whenever there''s something urgenting up and I happen to be busy.''


    <Sure> She said. <Syncpleted>


    ''Thank you.''


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 283 Warning!

    The goalkeeper got up as early as 5:00 PM so that he would be able to get through his daily routine without any interruptions and get back on time to help his wife with things around the house.


    Getting up by 5:00 PM worked pretty well for him as he was able toplete seven kilometers, do some stretches, and spend some time in his gym before going back inside to help Emma who wasn''t feeling so good that morning.


    After helping her with getting breakfast ready and every other thing, he tried to stop her from going to work and just rx at home but she insisted, and there was nothing he could do about it.


    She got ready for work and left looking healthier than he met her earlier in the morning so that was a bit of a relief.


    "Now, I just have to get ready and leave for the stadium before 11:00 AM." He said before he made his way to the couch and crashed down on it.


    There was only a day left before their sh against Dynamo FC at home, so they had to have a training session today and tomorrow before the match on Friday.


    <I''m just wondering what will disrupt your mood today>


    ''I don''t know but I don''t want it to be bad, yesterday''s was one of the worst.''


    <Yeah, but you were the one that brought that upon yourself, most of your so-called disruptions are self-inflicted>


    ''I know, but I''m not the only person things like that happens to you know.''


    <Yeah, I guess you''re right>


    After cking off a bit on the couch, the goalkeeper got up and went upstairs to get ready to start heading to the stadium.


    He was done by 10:30 AM and without wasting any time, he made his way outside, hopped into the car, and zoomed off toward the Wondanimo Stadium.


    He got to the stadium by 10:38 AM to discover that a few of his teammates were already there, and the rest were yet to arrive.


    He made his way into the building and straight to the pitch to find out that out of the six yers that had arrived there before him, only three were there on the pitch.


    The yers on the pitch were Ferran, Carlos, and Minino who he wasn''t expecting to see at the stadium this early after what happened to him in their match against ck Roz FC.


    Ferran was honing his dribbling and ball control with cones he set up while Carlos and Minino were still runningps on the pitch.


    "Hey, guys!" Dave yelled as he made his way onto the pitch.


    He called their attention and exchanged greetings with them before he joined the two who were still runningps on the pitch.


    "Are you sure you''repletely healed, Minino?" The goalkeeper asked as he ran alongside the midfielder.


    "Yeah, I''m perfectly fine now, it was just a little sprain," Minino replied.


    "That''s good news, it''s always nice to have you in that midfield," Dave said.


    "Yeah, but I doubt coach is going to start me in the uing match."


    After running around the pitch, Dave did a bit of training with his teammates before Norman, the coaching team and the rest of their teammates got there.


    With Norman there along with the rest of his teammates, the training session kicked off officially.


    As always it started with runningps which Dave had to repeat along with the rest of his teammates.


    "So, where were you yesterday? Emma called me about seven times to ask me the same question when she knew she was going to get the same answer." Mateo said as he ran alongside Dave. "And after a few minutes, she called me to ask me to ask my teammates and she kept calling me back to know what their response was, yesterday was the busiest my phone has been in terms of phone calls."


    "I haven''t heard this part of the story," Dave said.


    "Well, you''re hearing it from me now, I called you but it said that your phone was switched off which was quite odd because Emma said that you just weren''t picking up."


    "Oh, that must have been when I entered that room." The goalkeeper said.


    "What room?"


    "I was at Frono yesterday, at Footy Wears to be precise."


    "Oh, that was it, but you should have at least told your wife before leaving or picked up her calls at least, she was so worried about you." The winger said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I know, I''ve already apologized to her."


    "Okay, so nothing bad happened between you two, I expected her to jump on you and give you a scar on the face maybe but peaceful reconciliation works too." The winger said.


    "Emma''s not like that," Dave said before shaking his head.


    "I see you still haven''t seen that side of her, just try what you did yesterday again and maybe you''ll see it," Mateo said before running ahead and leaving him in confusion.


    <I think it''s best if you try not to bring out that side>


    ''Absolutely.''


    Afterpleting theirps, they dived right into stretches, and after that, they began practicing with the ball.


    They did a whole lot of things and the fun ones especially, tic tac toe, getting the ball into the bin with one touch, and a lot of different other things.


    After that, they did some shooting practice. A target was put at the right angle of the goalpost and the yers had to hit the target from twenty-five yards out.


    This practice was meant for on-field yers, especially the strikers but Dave wanted to take part and no one was going to stop him.


    After almost all the yers had taken their turns, it was Jonas'' turn.


    The left-back was standing a little distance away from the ball and once he was given the go signal by his teammates, he quickly rushed to the ball and sent it flying toward the target fixated there, but the ball ended up hitting the post.


    "That was really close," Dave said before stepping up to take his shot. "It''s my turn now."


    Jonas stared at him for a while before he gritted his teeth and shifted out of the way.


    The goalkeeper took two steps backward, and as soon as he was given the signal, he quickly raced to the ball and sent it flying toward the target, lobbing the ball a little bit.


    The ball flew straight to the target and hit it right in the middle as Dave raised his hands.


    "Nicely done, Dave," Rnd said before making his way to the goalkeeper.


    "As a goalkeeper, his shooting is quite stunningpared to Jonas''." Minino was standing right behind the left back as he said that and he got the reaction he wanted as Jonas slowly turned his gaze to him, he didn''t have a nice look on his face.


    After the shooting practice, the yers decided to do some rondo and this time Dave decided to join them unlike before.


    He was part of the five-man team that was going to be keeping the ball away while Jonas, Rnd, and Pirlo were trying to recover the ball.


    The ball was sent to Mateo from Merino and the winger quickly got past Rnd with a roulette spin before sending the ball to Dave.


    The ball was still heading toward the goalkeeper when Jonas slid toward it, and instead of going just for the ball, he went for the goalkeeper''s legs as well.


    He made quick and strong contact with his legs and that was all that was needed to bring him down.


    As soon as he crashed to the floor, he felt a stinging pain on his right ankle and quickly clutched onto it as he scrunched up his face and gritted his teeth in pain.


    [ Warning! ]


    [ Your ankle has been twisted ]


    <This isn''t good!>


    ***


    Happy New Month Everyone, hope you all have a nice month.


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 284 Out Of It

    ''Why is this so painful, Catherine? You said it wasn''t that serious.''


    <I''ll assume you''ve never gotten injured since you started your career, or else you wouldn''t be asking this question>


    ''I''ve gotten into a few scuffles but none of them had an aftermath that felt like this.''


    "Hey, Dave."


    The goalkeeper slowly opened his eyes to see Mateo squatting over him with his hand ced on his shoulder.


    He was still groaning slowly with his right hand ced on his twisted ankle.


    Mateo was boiling inside now, he knew Jonas had done what he did on purpose, that slide was so uncalled for.


    "It was just a rondo, not a match where you had to bring down the opponent by all means, and even at that, you got to the ball and still decided to go for his leg." The winger said before shooting a re at the left back.


    "What are you talking about? I wasn''t able to stop after getting to the ball so I ended up bringing him down." There was not a single ounce of remorse in his voice and he didn''t even bother to say that it wasn''t intentional.


    There was nothing more Mateo could do other than re at him as he walked away.


    <You''ve never gotten along with him, but he''s starting to take things to a whole different level>


    ''What are you saying?''


    The goalkeeper could no longer think straight or hear Catherine''s voice properly because of the pain he was feeling in his ankle, the pain wasn''t fading away, it was just getting more intense.


    It didn''t take long for the medical team to get to the goalkeeper to treat his leg.


    They discovered that it was a twisted ankle quickly and then treated it as much as they could before putting an ankle brace support on the leg.


    The pain was reduced a bit after that treatment as the goalkeeper was able to sit on the floor now and his groaning had slowed down.


    "So, what''s his status?" Norman asked before turning his gaze to the leader of the medical team who was a blonde-haired female that seemed to be in her early thirties.


    "It''s not that serious so he''ll probably be out for a week or five days at the very least." She replied before crossing her arms.


    "A week? Five days?" The goalkeeper muttered with a shocked expression on his face.


    "So, he''ll miss the match against Dynamo FC," Norman said.


    "There''s only a day left before that match, so yeah, he won''t be fit enough to partake in it."


    "I see," Norman said before bringing down his head.


    His voice had dropped, Dave was going to be very useful for them against Dynamo FC but now he was out injured.


    After observing everywhere for a while, the blonde female turned her gaze to Dave who didn''t have the happiest expression on his face.


    "This is quite unfortunate Mr. Richards, but you''ll have to head home and rest so that your injury will heal faster, this training session is over for you." She expressed.


    All of the yers were gathered around the goalkeeper apart from Jonas who was sitting on the bench trying to examine himself.


    ''I don''t like him very much but I didn''t really intend to injure him, he''s be a formidable goalkeeper over a short period of time. Having him on the pitch against Dynamo FC will be very crucial but now, that''s not going to happen because of me.''


    Just as those thoughts went through his mind, he folded both of his hands into fists and gritted his teeth.


    "Hey, let me help you up," Mateo said before he grabbed him by his shoulder and slowly helped him up.


    After that, he put his arm around his shoulder and began to lead him toward the tunnel.


    "Oh, dear," Alexander said before slowly putting his gaze down.


    "What''s wrong, Alex?"


    The goalkeeper quickly turned his gaze to the right to see Rnd standing there.


    "Um.... It''s just that I feel guilty for being happy that now I will get to start in the match against Dynamo FC." The young goalkeeper said.


    "Oh, so that''s it," Rnd said before turning his gaze toward the tunnel to see Mateo and Dave disappear down it. "I understand how you feel, but you shouldn''t feel guilty because of that."


    "Why is that?"<novelnext></novelnext>


    "You''re not the cause of his injury, are you? It''s not bad for our body to react happily when we get something we''ve always wanted, so there''s no need to feel guilty, but if you''re celebrating solely because Dave got injured and you''re wishing for him to be out for as much time as possible, then there''s a problem." Rnd expressed.


    "Oh, I see," Alexander said before turning his gaze away from the left back.


    Outside the building, Mateo had gotten Dave to his car and was helping him get inside now.


    "If you want, I''ll drive home with you and help you get to where you''ll befortable until my sisteres back." The winger said.


    "No, that''s not necessary, you should go back and continue training for the uing match, I think I''ll be able to handle myself from here onwards." The goalkeeper said.


    "Are you sure?"


    "Yeah, everything will be okay, just go." He said with a smile on his face.


    "Okay, then." Mateo smiled back at him. "I hope you get home safe, I wish this never happened."


    "Me too, but it has already happened, and there''s nothing we can do about it, you guys will just have to scale through that match without me."


    "Yeah, we''ll do our best." The winger replied with a nod.


    "Alright, then, I''ll see youter." The goalkeeper said before he closed the door and started his car''s engine.


    Dave stood there with his gaze on the car until it left the area and was out of sight before he turned and began to make his way back into the building.


    Dave drove home still feeling a little bit of twitching but that was nothingpared to what he felt earlier.


    He was able to get home in ten minutes and after parking his car in his parking spot, he rxed in his seat and let out a deep sigh.


    After staying in the car for about three minutes, he slowly opened the door to step down from the car.


    He supported himself by cing his hand on his car until he closed the door and locked the car.


    The first step he took toward the front door resulted in him almost crashing to the floor, but he was able to get to the wall fast and that was just the support he needed.


    <You should have allowed him toe with you>


    ''No, Catherine, I can do this.''


    With the help of the walls, he was able to get to the door, and after opening it, he staggered into the house and crashed to the floor.


    "Well, this is funny." He said before closing the door from the floor.


    After that, he slowly got up from the floor and staggered to the living room and after getting there, he crashed down on the couch.


    "That''s rxing." He said before letting out a sigh of relief.


    <I can imagine>


    He stared silently at the ceiling for a while before he decided to ask Catherine something.


    ''Hey, Catherine, this system allows me to do a lot of unbelievable things, can''t it help me heal fast?''


    <Yeah, the system enables you to heal faster than the normal human but not by the much>


    ''So, what are you saying?''


    <The woman said that you were going to be out for five days at least, you''ll be back to normal in four days>


    ''Oh, I''m really going to be out of it for a while.''


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 285 Be Wary

    The goalkeeper stared at the ceiling for a while, and because there was nothing for him to do while he was partially immobile, he slowly closed his eyes and dozed off.


    By the time he opened his eyes again, it was almost dark and he didn''t need to look outside to know that as he had his eyes on the wall clock which was disying the time as 7:08 PM at the moment.


    "Emma should be home by now." He said before turning his gaze to the door.


    <I don''t think she''s home>


    ''I know.''


    He tried to get up from the couch but doing the seemed to have stirred up the intense pain in his wounded ankle forcing him to fall back on the couch as he began to groan slowly.


    He tried hard to prevent himself from screaming or making any loud noise but the pain was starting to get too much.


    "What is taking her so long?" He gritted his teeth as he turned to the table beside the couch and picked up his phone.


    <You should have just called her from the start, let me do that for you>


    With Catherine now making the call through the phone, he dropped the phone back on the table and quickly reached for his right ankle which was covered with the ankle support brace.


    The door was suddenly pushed open by Emma who had a white stic bag in her hand.


    Her voice was ringing as she shot the door and quickly made her way to her husband.


    "Hey." She said before kneeling on the floor beside him.


    The goalkeeper was still groaning and now his groans were getting louder as he was starting to sweat.


    "Emma." He muttered with a fading voice.


    "Hey, it''s going to be okay." She said before slowly cing her hand on his head.


    After that, she brought out what was in the stic bag and dropped it beside his legs on the couch.


    "What''s that, it''s cold?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Mateo called me and told me everything, that ankle of yours needs to have ice on it to stop the pain but we don''t have any ice here at the moment so I stopped by to get some.".


    After exining all that to him, she slowly removed the ankle support brace around his ankle and ced the ice bag on the injured spot.


    With the ice bag ced on the spot, the pain began to reduce until it was down to the minimum.


    "Thank you." He said before letting out a sigh of relief.


    "You don''t have to." Emma smiled before getting up on her feet. "I''ll leave that there for twenty minutes, I''ll be back."


    "You''re leaving already." He said before stretching his hand toward her.


    "Of course not, I just need to go upstairs and change." She said before wrapping her arms around his. "I''ll be back in a few minutes."


    "Okay." He muttered.


    After that, he pulled his hand back and allowed Emma to go upstairs.


    <That was close wasn''t it?>


    ''Yeah.''


    Thanks to the ice on his leg which had done well in reducing the pain, his breathing was back to normal now.


    Just like Emma said, it took her only eight minutes to change out of her working outfit, and now that she was making her way downstairs, she was putting on her brown sleeping gown and had her hair tied back.


    "I see you''re starting to breathe fine now." She said as she made her way to the goalkeeper.


    "Yeah, and it''s all thanks to you." He said.


    She didn''t say anything and just smiled warmly at him before kneeling beside him on the floor.


    She ced her hand on the ice for a while before pulling her hand back.


    "The ice should do its job in twenty minutes so we have ten minutes left, if it stays longer than that, it can cause tissue damage." She said before turning her gaze to Dave to meet his gaze.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "How do you know all these? I don''t recall you telling me anything about you taking a health course in school."


    "No, I didn''t do that, but I have tackled a simr situation." She said,


    "Simr situation?"


    "Yeah, back when Mateo was just fifteen years old and I was just sixteen years old, my parents left on a one-month trip together and I was the one left with the responsibility of taking care of things at home.


    "Mateo was still at the academy then so he was rarely at home, but the next day after my parents left, I got the news in the evening that my little brother was injured and crying at their training pitch and I had to quickly."


    "I think I wasn''t around when that happened but I heard a few of my mates talking about it the next day when I came to the academy, I didn''t see Mateo until three weekster." He said.


    "Exactly, when I got there, his ankle had already been bandaged and he was still sobbing, I had to carry him home although he was quite heavy, and as soon as we got home, it became my responsibility to take care of him and made sure he recovered quickly, I didn''t want my parents to find out about him, I didn''t want them to get worried and start rushing home, so I had to deal with it.


    "I learned a lot about treating bone injuries because of that and that knowledge is still stuck with me, you don''t need to be an expert to know what to do in critical situations, we have the inte now after all."


    "I see, so Mateo started feeling pain like that from a young age." The goalkeeper said.


    "That''s what you get when you''re a forward and knowing how to dribble makes it even more dangerous as the other team will desperately be looking for a way to take you down even if it costs them a red card." Emma expressed. "You were always standing in between the sticks so it''s normal that this is your first ever serious injury, I guess it had toe from a training session."


    "You and Mateo were pretty close when you were kids, right?"


    "What are you talking about? We''re still very close."


    "Yeah, but not like back then."


    Emma wanted to say something but couldn''t find the right words so she put her head down.


    "Yeah, you''re right, but that''s because we''re adults now and we have our lives to live, we''re still as close as most siblings would be at this age if not, I wouldn''t have nagged him all day yesterday about where you were and he wouldn''t have done everything I told him to do."


    "Yeah," Dave said with a smile on his face.


    Emma waited for a while so that the room would be silent for a little bit before she decided to ask the question she wanted to ask as soon as she got home.


    "So, what''s up between you and Jonas Blue?" She asked.


    "I see Mateo told you about that too." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah, I heard he''s always trying to pick a fight with you and now he intentionally injured you." She said,


    Her voice had gone from sweet and warm to her voice of boiling anger.


    "Well, it isn''t exactly like that."


    "Then how is it?" She asked.


    "Jonas has always had a problem with me right from the time my goalkeeping skills were poor and even after I improved his attitude toward me didn''t change as I expected it to but I don''t think he''s an entirely bad person, I know he wants the best for the club just like all of us."


    "Then why did he injure you, the best goalkeeper in the squad and arguably the best goalkeeper in the Bilbeth Premier League this season? Someone who wants the best for his club wouldn''t do that."


    "I am aware that he did what he did on purpose, but I don''t think it was his intention to injure me." The goalkeeper said.


    "What''s the difference? When you go for a tackle like that, you should always bear in mind that the person could get injured but he didn''t even think about that because that was his intention."


    "Calm down, Emma, there''s no need to get all worked up." He said, trying to calm her down. "You know I haven''t eaten anything for quite a while now, do you mind getting me something to eat?"


    "Yeah, sure." She pouted before she quickly got up from the floor and began to make her way to the kitchen.


    <Don''t be naive, Dave>


    ''And why are you telling me that?''


    <Be wary of Jonas>


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 286 Stupid

    It was nighttime, everywhere was dark, nobody was moving around and the neighborhood was very quiet, an indication that everyone had gone to bed.


    The time being disyed on the wall clock in Dave''s living room was 1:15 AM, and upstairs Dave was lying on the bed fast asleep alongside Emma was also fast asleep with her right arm ced on his body.


    "What was that?" The goalkeeper mumbled before he slowly opened his eyes.


    He turned his gaze to Emma who was sleeping peacefully beside him before slowly turning away toward the room''s exit.


    <A dream, maybe>


    ''Wait? You didn''t see it?''


    <I don''t have ess to your dreams unless you turn on dream control>


    ''Oh, I see.''


    <So, what did you see?>


    ''Um¡­.I can''t really exin.'' He said subconsciously before cing his hand on his chin.


    <Just tell me what you saw>


    ''Okay, fine.'' He replied. ''I was at the goalpost when suddenly a lot of balls came flying toward me. It was shocking but I wasn''t able to save any of them, and after it was over, a hand came stretching toward me.


    <Who''s hand?>


    ''I don''t know, I didn''t see any faces. I was hesitant at first, but Iter decided to grab it, and just as I was about to grab it, everywhere went dark and I started falling into an endless pit until I woke up.''


    <That is quite a strange dream>


    ''Yeah, do you know what it means?''


    <Well, deciphering strange dreams isn''t one of my functions so, no>


    ''Oh, I see, it''s no big deal anyway, it''s just a dream.'' He said subconsciously before slowly shifting away from Emma''s side, and after that, he slowly removed her hands from his body.


    <If you''re thirsty then wake her up and ask her to go downstairs and get it for you>


    ''I can get it myself, I don''t want to disturb her by this time of the night.''


    <Okay, then, suit yourself, but don''t say I didn''t warn you>


    He tried to bring his left foot down first, but just as he was about to do that, his body moved a little to the edge of the bed and slipped out causing him to crash down to the floor and creating quite a nose from his impact.


    "Arghhhh." He groaned as he rolled both ways on the floor.


    His groaning was a bit loud, and that was all that was needed to wake Emma up.


    She slowly opened her eyes and rubbed them with her right hand before she turned her gaze to the side and blinked a couple of times to see that Dave really wasn''t there.


    "What''s going on?" She mumbled.


    "Arghhhh."


    "Dave?"


    She quickly shifted to the edge of the bed to see Dave lying on the floor.


    ''Oh, it''s fading away.''


    "What are you doing on the floor? Did I do this?"


    The goalkeeper quickly raised his gaze to see Emma looking at him from the bed.


    "Emma?" He said with a shocked expression on his face.


    ''I didn''t know that would wake her.''


    "No, this wasn''t your doing in any way." He said with a nervous look on his face.


    "Then what happened?" She asked before she stepped down from the bed and quickly made her way to the light switch to turn the lights on.


    "Um¡­.I was thirsty and didn''t want to disturb you so I decided to go downstairs and grab a ss of water." He didn''t know why yet, but that nervous feeling just couldn''t go away.


    She stared at him for a while from her standing position before she quickly knelt beside him and that was when he realized what he was nervous about, she didn''t have the nicest looks on her face.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "When will you stop being stupid? I thought that stupidity of yours has gone away a bit but you still have some if not all of it in here." She said before giving him a light tap on his forehead. "Haven''t I told you that it''s not good to be moving around carelessly in your condition?"


    "I know, I just didn''t want to disturb you." The goalkeeper muttered.


    "As long as you''re in this condition, it''s okay for you to disturb me for anything I need, waking me up while I am fast asleep is okay too, I don''t mind." She said before she helped him to get on the bed again.


    "Don''t you know you can fall down the staircase and that will make things worse for you? Is that what you want?"


    "No." The goalkeeper said before shaking his head.


    <I told him, but he wouldn''t listen>


    "Don''t scare me like that again, please." She said before turning to the exit. "I''ll go get the water now."


    He kept his gaze on her until she was out of the room before he let out a sigh.


    <You should try listening to me more often>


    It took her about four minutes to return upstairs with a ss of water in her hand.


    "Here you go." She said before handing him the ss of water.


    The goalkeeper quickly took down the contents of the ss after taking it, and after that, he dropped it on top of the cupboard beside the bed.


    "Thank you."


    She replied with a nod as she stretched her right hand while using her left hand to cover her mouth as she yawned.


    "Just tell me if you need anything else."


    After saying that, she climbed onto the bed and turned to the other side.


    "I hope you don''t have anything else to deal with before morning, good night." She mumbled before closing her eyes.


    Dave stared at her for a while before a smile appeared on his face.


    "I better go to bed too." He muttered with a weak voice before he slowlyid down on the bed and dozed off.


    _______ _______


    It took a couple of hours to reach and now that they were done with breakfast, Dave was sitting on the couch with his arms crossed and he didn''t have the nicest expression on his face.


    Emma was making her way to the couch with herptop in her hand when he slowly turned his gaze to her.


    "I really don''t like the idea of you moving me around everywhere and doing everything." He said.


    "Me too, but I can''t just stand by and watch you suffer." She said before she sat down on the couch and dropped herptop on the table. "I just hope Miss. Nelly will allow me to work from home if not¡­."


    "Even if she allows you to work from home, you''ll still need to go to matches in different cities starting tonight, isn''t that right?" Dave said.


    "Yeah, that''s going to be a problem." She said before turning her gaze to the ceiling and then back to Dave. "I think you''ll need to get crutches, that will ease your movement."


    As soon as she said that, someone knocked on the door.


    "Who could that be now?" She said before she got up from the couch and began to make her way to the door.


    Once she got to the door, she pulled it open to see Mateo standing there and he had something in his hand.


    "Hey, sis."


    "Mateo." She said before her gaze quickly shifted to what he was holding. "Is that a crutch?"


    "Yeah, I brought it for Dave, I know moving around is going to be quite difficult for him for a while." The winger replied.


    "That''s crazy, I was just thinking about that." She said with a smile on her face.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 287 Unique FC Vs Dynamo FC: About To Kick Off

    "I hope you can handle yourself with that crutch, you didn''t do too well on your ownst night even though you had it," Emma said with her gaze on Dave who was seeing her off to work.


    "Don''t worry, that was just a silly ident, it won''t happen again, just go to work and do what you have to do," Dave said.


    "Are you sure you''ll be okay?"


    She sounded a bit worried and Dave didn''t like it.


    "I told you not to worry, I''ll be okay until you get back, trust me." He said before cing his hand on her shoulder.


    "And what about tonight?" She asked.


    "We''re going to watch the match together, have you forgotten?" He replied.


    "That''s right, it is at the Wondanimo Stadium after all." She said.


    "Yeah," Dave said before modding.


    "Alright, then," Emma said before she leaned closer and kissed him. "I''ll see youter."


    He kept his gaze on her until she was out of sight before he slowly closed the door.


    He slowly made his way to the couch with the help of the crutch he was using to support his right leg.


    After getting there, he just stood there and stared at the wall clock.


    "What am I going to do now?" He muttered.


    <Do you need any suggestions?>


    ''Sure.''


    He was about to sit down on the couch when someone suddenly knocked on the door.


    "I wonder who that could be." He said before he slowly began to make his way to the door.


    When he got there, he opened the door to see the very person he was expecting a visit from today, but he wasn''t expecting him to show up this early.


    "Mateo." The goalkeeper said as his mood suddenly brightened up a bit.


    "Hey, Dave, can Ie in?"


    "Sure," Dave said before making way for him to enter the house.


    "We''re surely going to feel the effects of not having you in the squad today, but we''ll do our best," Mateo said.


    The two were now sitting in the living room having a conversation about their match against Dynamo FC tonight.


    A live match was going on and was being broadcast on the television but they weren''t paying any attention to it.


    "I know you guys will, just do your best and I will cheer you on from the stands," Dave said.


    "Yeah, but this isn''t going to be easy." The winger said before he finished his drink and dropped the ss on the table.


    "Of course, it''s not going to be easy, this is Dynamo FC that we''re talking about but they''re not unbeatable, we defeated Supreme United in the charity cup after all." The goalkeeper expressed.


    "Yeah, they''re not unbeatable," Mateo said. "Alright, I''ll be on my way, I have to be at the stadium for training in an hour." He said before he began to make his way to the door.


    "Alright, then, see you tonight." The goalkeeper said before taking a sip from the red content in his ss.


    Mateo left through the door and shut it and after a few minutes, he turned his gaze to the door and slumped down on the couch.


    _______ ________


    The match between Unique FC and Dynamo FC was set to kick off by 8:00 PM and the time was nigh.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Are you going to drive or should I do it?" Emma asked as she made her way to the car alongside her husband, she was walking slowly so that he would be able to keep up.


    "Who is in a better condition to drive between me and you?" He asked.


    "You will be able to drive fine in your condition but sure, I''ll do it." She said before stretching her hand for the car key which Dave didn''t hesitate to hand to her.


    She entered the driver''s seat and closed the door before turning her gaze to Dave who was entering the front seat now.


    "Give me your crutch." She said before stretching her hand toward him as soon as he entered the car.


    "Okay," Dave said before handing it over to her.


    She took the crutch from him and put it in the back before she started the car''s engine and zoomed off toward the Wondanimo stadium.


    She wanted to go through the front as they were both attending as spectators or fans but Dave told her to go through the back which was the yers'' route to the stadium to avoid the fans from crowding up on them.


    "I''m still a Unique FC yer, so I can still go through here and besides there are a lot of fans over there, I''m not sure you would have liked what would have happened if we both went through there."


    "Yeah, they may even make your injury worse and I don''t know how I will be able to deal with that." She said before letting out a deep sigh.


    "Let''s go." The goalkeeper said before he opened the door and brought both of his feet down.


    "Here''s your crutch." She said before handing him his crutch.


    "Thank you." He said after taking it from her.


    The two made their way inside the building together, but Dave had to leave to head over to the stands alone as he wanted to go talk to his teammates who he was surprised to find out that they were still in the locker by 6:55 PM.


    "Don''t worry, we''ll be heading out soon, Dynamo FC are here in Unique but they haven''t arrived at the stadium yet," Merino replied after the goalkeeper asked why they were still in the locker room.


    "I sure wasn''t expecting to see you here," Minino said after he got close to him and put his arm around his shoulders.


    "So, how''s your ankleing?" Ferran asked.


    "It''s getting better." He replied. "So, where''s coach?"


    "He needed to go take care of something outside," Adolf said.


    "Okay, so can you guys fill me in on the starting eleven?"


    "Sure," Mateo said before turning his gaze to the tactics board.


    He walked to the board and used the maic discs to set up the four-three-three C formation which meant that they were going to have two central midfielders and a defensive midfielder.


    "That''s the formation he wants us to use. As the only fit goalkeeper in the squad, Alex is going to start in between the sticks, Aima and our captain Adolf are the center backs, Norman is in right back and Rnd is in left back. Martinez is our defensive midfielder and our central midfielders are Ferran and Edward. Fred is the striker, Merino will be starting on the right wing and yours truly will be starting on the left wing, the rest are on the bench." Mateo expressed.


    "Okay, that''s nice." Dave smiled.


    "I think we should start heading to the pitch now," Adolf said before getting up from where he was sitting.


    Dave wanted to leave the room first as he was the one closest to the door, and just as he turned, he saw Jonas standing there.


    "Oh, hey, Jonas." He said but there was no response from the left back who just walked past him as they two made slight eye contact.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 288 Too Defensive

    The yers from both teams were now on the pitch warming up as the stand was slowly getting filled up by fans from both teams.


    Dave was among the people in the stands, he was sitting in a ce elevated a little with Emma so that they would be able to see everything from there but the ce wasn''t that high and so far no one seemed to have taken the seats around them until¡­.


    A blonde-haired goal walked past them and just before she could sit down on the seat in front of them, she slowly turned.


    "Hey, it''s you." She said with a warm smile on her face before she quickly got closer to the two. "Mr. Dave."


    Dave looked quite clueless as he was trying to remember where he met her and who she was.


    ''Oh, yeah, the girl at the airport at Lospeno.''


    "You''re¡­the girl from the airport at Lospeno, right?" Dave said before quickly putting on a smile.


    "You remembered me." She said with a little giggle.


    "Of course." The goalkeeper replied. "What are you doing here?"


    "I''m not alone, I''m with my cousin." She whispered before she quickly observed the area to see if she would spot the cousin whom she was clearly hiding from.


    "I see." He said before turning his gaze to Emma. "Hey, Emma, you remember the girl I told you about? The one I met at Lospeno airport."


    "Oh, you mean the one who received the purple gloves from her mom on her eleventh birthday just like you did, only that yours wasn''t given to you on your birthday." Emma expressed.


    "She''s your girl¡­I mean wife, right?" The blonde-haired girl asked.


    "Yeah," Dave replied with a nod.


    "Hello, Mrs. Richards." She said after turning her gaze to Emma.


    "Oh, hello, dear, what''s your name?"


    "Serene."


    "Oh, Serene, that''s a beautiful name," Emma said with a smile on her face.


    "Thank you," Serene said. "Um¡­I heard my cousin say something about you being pregnant, is that true?"


    "Yeah," Emma replied with a nod.


    As soon as she confirmed that, the little girl quickly drew closer to her.


    "That''s great, so is it a boy or a girl?" She asked abruptly.


    "It''s only been a month so I don''t know yet," Emma replied.


    "Oh, so that''s why your tummy is still t."


    "But I want it to be a boy," Emma said.


    "A boy would be nice."


    "I want it to be a girl," Dave said.


    "Oh, you two have different preferences but whichever one it is you guys will love him or her, right?"


    "Why not?" Emma replied.


    "Serene!" A voice yelled from the upper part of the stands as the little girl quickly turned her gaze to the area.


    "I think I have to go now, bye Mrs. Richards, bye Mr. Dave, hope your leg heals fast, I would have loved to see you in the goalpost tonight." She said as she made her way up.


    "Bye." The couple said before turning their gaze back to the pitch.


    "She''s quite the hyperactive one," Emma said.


    "You got that right," Dave said.


    "I wonder if we''ll have a child like that." She said before cing her hand on her belly.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "If that''s what you want, then you''ll be the one to chase her around the house." The goalkeeper said before he rxed his head in his seat and slowly closed his eyes, but those eyes were not allowed to remain shut.


    "Why would I do that when you''re here and who said anything about the child being female?"


    "Hey, calm down, you were the one that brought it up."


    _______ _______


    The yers were all ready for the match now and were waiting in the tunnel with the children mascots waiting for the signal for them to start making their way to the pitch.


    Unique FC yers were putting on their normal home jersey which was orange with ck polka dots with the goalkeeper''s kit being lemon green while Dynamo FC were putting on their away jersey which was a white jersey with ck designs that covered almost half of the shirts while the shorts were mostly ck with white designs, the goalkeeper''s kit was blue with little patches of ck.


    It didn''t take long before they were given the signal to start making their way to the pitch and just as they stepped out of the tunnel, the fans began to cheer them on.


    "Wee everyone, it''s your regrmentator Jim Waterson and joining me in the studio as always to offer his expert analysis and opinion is Mr. Steve Waterson," Jim said.


    "Hello, everyone, it''s really nice to be back here again," Steve said.


    "We have quite the match-up here today," Jim said. "This has to be the best match of matchday six."


    "A match between the current second and third-ced teams on the team, yeah, it''s sure going to be a battle here tonight." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, but Unique FC sure doesn''t have their full force, Dave Richards sustained an ankle injury on Wednesday and will probably be out for a week or so and that means Unique FC will have to tackle things without one of their if not their most impactful yer but the same can''t be said for Dynamo FC.


    "They have no injury issues so far but that doesn''t guarantee them scaling through this one easily given how theirst match ended."


    "If Unique FC wins this one, they may overtake Supreme United who have a match tomorrow, but if they lose, Dynamo FC will scale above them and they''ll drop to fourth or fifth ce. A draw will keep both teams safely in their positions for today until Troham United ys tomorrow."


    Dynamo FC won the coin toss which meant that they chose the goalpost on the left and were going to be starting the match from the kick-off spot.


    "Dynamo FC scored two goals in their first and only victory of the season so far, Unique should definitely watch out for him," Jim said.


    "Yeah, and Dynamo FC should also be wary against Mateo Smith, the youngster was a menace against ck Roz FC and he''s managed to grab a goal in two consecutive seasons, he has two goals this season just like Frank James, the only person who has more is Rnd Hills with four." Steve expressed. "One thing''s for sure, the golden boot race this season is going to be heated."


    "Yeah."


    While Unique FC were ying four-three-three, Dynamo FC were ying five-four-one and it wasn''t just the normal formation, they had three defensive midfielders and only one attacking midfielder along with the striker, it looked like their main focus for this match was defense but everything doesn''t always seem to be the way it looks.


    Frank was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he quickly pushed the ball to one of the defensive midfielders.


    "That''s the whistle and we are on the way," Jim said.


    Frank quickly shifted a little to the right as soon as he sent that ball back and just as he zoomed past Martinez he received the ball back from his teammate and drilled it low toward their striker right toward the edge of the box.


    "A quick attacking move from the hosts."


    Before the striker could get to the ball, Adolf got to it with a slide and pushed the ball to Alexander before the striker tripped on him and fell.


    "But there''s no way they''re going to get past Unique FC that easily."


    "It''s always nice to try a move like that from the start but now they''ve lost the ball."


    "Is anything the matter, babe?" Emma asked after noticing that her husband seemed to be lost in his thoughts.


    "No, it''s nothing." He said before shaking his head. "It''s just that they seem to have too many people at the back, three defensive midfielders and five midfielders, it''s like they''re nning to defend throughout the game."


    "Don''t worry about that, I''m sure your teammates will be able to pull through."


    "I hope so."


    ''I hope coach will be able to see through this.''


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 289 A Minute Of Added Time

    The match was ten minutes gone so far and although it had been quite interesting between both sides, none of them had been able to fire a single shot.


    Unique FC were the ones currently with the ball and they were being very cautious but Dynamo FC were pressing quite high against them.


    They wanted them to start getting pressurized and then drop their guard and then start making mistakes, that was how they did it thest time they faced themst season although they didn''t use this over defensive formation back then.


    "Unique FC are doing their best to hold onto the ball and find a way to make a breakthrough, but Dynamo FC aren''t making things easy for them," Jimmented.


    Ferran tried dribbling past the defensive midfielder blocking his path and he would have attempted it, but when one of them tried to take the ball off him from behind, he had to move the ball back to Norman.


    Frank quickly raced toward the right back to try and take the ball off him but before he could get to him, the right back sent the ball rolling toward Adolf.


    Adolf trapped the ball under his feet before he sent it toward Rnd just before Rnd could get to him.


    Afolf''s pass was hit a little bit slowly and Now Rnd was going to get in a scuffle with the defensive midfielder who was quickly heading toward the ball now.


    Rnd used his long legs advantage as he stretched toward the ball and pushed it a little further before running past the defensive.


    He lost bnce in the process of doing that, but he was able to stop himself from falling with both of his hands and once he was fully back on his feet, he kept pushing the ball forward until he found Fred and sent the ball to him.


    "That was quite a clumsy pass from Adolf but Rnd dealt with it nicely."


    There was nowhere for Fred to go, so he had to send the ball to Mateo on the left wing.


    "Mateo''s got the ball now."


    The winger quickly zoomed past the defensive midfielder who tried to block his path and right now he was heading directly toward the right back with the left back with one of the center backs heading toward him and the defensive midfielder still moving toward him from behind.


    "He''s on the move but he''s not clear."


    The winger tried to get past the left back and maybe try to send the ball into the box or something but that resulted in the ball getting sent out for a throw-in as the wingback ced his leg in the right ce to stop his move.


    "It''s a throw-in against...Dynamo FC, looks like Mateo wasn''t thest person that made contact with it after all."


    Rnd quickly made her way to the sidelines and picked up the ball for the throw-in.


    Dynamo FC yers were making it quite difficult for him to make a proper throw so Ferran had to get closer to receive the ball, and as soon Rnd threw the ball to him, he brought it down with his chest and quickly sent it rolling toward Mateo who was right at the edge of the box.


    "Mateo."


    The winger was aware that there was a yer behind him, so he quickly did a roulette spin to get past the yer.


    "He gets past the defender."


    He didn''t need to think about it as he fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    "Mateo shoots!"


    The ball was sent toward the right side of the goalpost with almost no elevation at all, but the goalkeeper was right there right on time to block the shot before quickly grabbing the ball with both of his hands.


    The fans had almost jumped up from their seats as they were expecting the ball to go in.


    "That was close but Victor says no," Steve said.


    Mateo bit his lower lip and shook his head in frustration before turning away.


    "That was their first attempt of the night, their first shot, and their first shot on target and it could have been the opening goal but Victor came in clutch." Jim articted.


    "That was so close," Emma said.


    "Yeah, he''ll get it next time."


    It was quite ironic how the team that we''re ying more defensively were the first ones to receive a shot but so far Unique FC had not received any shots and the first half wasing to an end.


    That shot from Mateo was the only shot in the match so far as both sides were being very cautious with the way they attacked, none of them wanted to be the recipient of a counterattack.


    The time had just hit the forty-fifth minute and the referee decided to add four minutes to the normal time as the official with the board raised the board to make that known to everyone.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Dynamo FC were the ones with the ball now, and they were slowly working their way toward Unique FC''s goalpost.


    One of the defensive midfielders was moving the ball down the right, and just before he could cross paths with Martinez, he shifted the ball to Damian who had left his position and position and shifted a little to the right but before the ball could get to him, Rnd slid toward it and pushed it off toward the middle.


    "Nice defensive work from Rnd."


    The ball was pushed directly toward Frank who had a little bit of shooting space.


    "Uh oh, the ball has fallen toward Frank."


    Martinez tried to stop him, but before he could get to him, the attacking midfielder sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    "Frank!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost as Alexander dived toward it at the right time and punched it over the bar with both of his hands.


    "Oh, what a save from Alexander!" Jim eximed. "Looks like Unique FC''s second-choice goalkeeper is no pushover after all."


    The fans couldn''t help but apud the youngster after watching him make a save like that and Dave had to join them in apuding.


    "He''s good," Emma said.


    "Yeah." The goalkeeper replied with a nod.


    <He''s better than you were at his age>


    ''You don''t always have to bring that up, Catherine.''


    <I''m sorry>


    "That was a magnificent save from Alexander but now they have a corner kick to deal with," Steve said.


    One of the defensive midfielders with the name ''Connell.'' written above his number twenty-five was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    "Just a minute of added time left, can Dynamo FC capitalize on this one?"


    The referee blew his whistle as Connell took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    There were many yers who tried to contest for the ball in the air but the yer who got his head on the ball was Frank, he wasn''t as tall as Adolf who was on his right but I guess it was his luck.


    The ball sloped right toward him just after zooming past Afolf from above and instead of nodding the ball straight toward the goalpost he nodded it down but that didn''t look like it was intentional.


    "Frank!"


    The ball bounced on the floor and hit the right post as Alexander stretched his hand toward it, but the ball ended up hitting his wrist before falling into the goalpost.


    "It''s in, Dynamo FC has gotten the opener in the dying minute of the first half!" Jim eximed.


    Just as the fans burst into screams of joy, Frank quickly rushed to the sidelines and did a t slide before his teammates got to him and began to fall on his body.


    "That was an awkward nod from Frank but it sure worked out for him," Steve said.


    Unique FC yers were quite devastated to concede a goal at this time and Dave was no exception.


    Emma turned her gaze to him as he slowly bit his lower lip before she turned it back to the pitch where Dynamo FC yers were still celebrating.


    They were still celebrating when the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 290 Normans Change In Tactics

    "I thought the first half was going to end on equal grounds but Dynamo FC managed to grab an opener from a corner kick just before the referee blew his whistle, it was a weird header from Frank James, but it was enough to do the job." Jim expressed. "What do you think about the first half performance, Steve?"


    "Both teams have yed so well, obviously they have both been ying cautiously, that''s why Unique FC has one shot so far which was on target and Dynamo FC didn''t get any shot until thest minute when they got two shots both of them being on target and one of them leading to a goal.


    "The guests have clearly been the more decisive side but we''ve learned from other matches this season and even near the end ofst season not to count off Unique FC until the final whistle, I know they''ll do something, so let''s wait and see how the second half will y out."


    "Alright, Dynamo FC has managed to force out a one-goal lead from the hosts but will they be able to hold onto it? We''ll all find out in the second half, so don''t go anyway."


    Unique FC yers were all in the locker room, some of them had pulled off their shirts while some of them were trying to quench their thirst.


    Norman was quietly standing in front of them as he wanted all of them to settle down before he said what he wanted to say.


    "I can''t say that was the best we could have done out there in the first half but you guys tried at least although that goal was quite unfortunate, I would have been happy if we went in on the break on equal grounds, but now we have a lot of work to do." He expressed.


    "They just have too many yers at the back, that''s why they weren''t attacking much until thest minute, trying to find a way past their backline is a serious pain," Fred said before letting out a deep sigh.


    "I am aware of that, but Mateo managed to get through and get a shot on target, he may have been able to pull that off because of the situation then but that proves that their excessive backline isn''tpletely imprable, no defense ispletely imprable, it bes like that if you choose to do nothing serious about it."


    "So, what''s your n, coach?" Adolf asked.


    "We''re going to find a way through their cracks and that''s going to be through the middle because that''s where they have the most cracks on their defense." He replied.


    He slowly looked at all the yers before he turned to the board and took steps toward it to get close enough to it.


    "Minino will being on early in the second half to rece Edward and that is when things are going to change, that is when we are going to switch to four-four-two."


    "Four-four-two? That means someone is going to switch from attack to midfield or are you also recing one of the attackers with a midfielder?" Adolf asked.


    "No, Edward Harry are more of central midfielders, they''re good in helping control the game and making important passes and Frankie is more of a defensive midfielder even though his natural position is central midfield so I''m going to be pulling someone who can help control the game, drop deep to draw out the defense and create chances as well as attack back into midfield to make my attacking midfielders three," Norman exined.


    "And that will be Mateo, right?" Rnd asked.


    "Yeah," Norman replied before turning his gaze back to the board to illustrate their change of game n. "Now listen carefully, all of you, as soon as Minino steps on the pitch, I want you to shift a little to the left to create space for Mateo to switch into central attacking midfield and then Minino will be on the right as an attacking midfielder along with the both of you."


    "And that means that the attacking roles will be left to me and Merino," Fred said.


    "Yeah," Norman replied with a nod.


    "Remember, our main focus is going to be through the middle, keep that in mind, everyone."


    "Okay, but why not start the match with this change? It seems pretty legit to me so I don''t think we shouldn''t waste any time in using it against them?" Adolf asked.


    "I know where you''reing from, Adolf but I''ll like to observe things for a while before I can deploy this move," Norman replied.


    ''Nice change of tactics from coach as expected, but I hope they don''t have a countermeasure already, I hope this works.'' Mateo said subconsciously.


    Back at the stands in the stadium, Dave was sitting quietly on his seat with both of his hands folded together and a lot of thoughts going through his mind while Emma was busy writing down something on her jotter, she had been writing since the first half came to an end, and she was still doing that.


    "I wonder what the coach is telling them now, probably giving them a little scolding." The goalkeeper muttered to the hearing of his wife.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I don''t think he has any reason to scold them, they yed better from my point of view, they just got unlucky in thest minute, I''m sure they''ll figure something out in the second half." She expressed with her gaze still on her jotter and her pen still moving smoothly on it.


    "Yeah, I hope so," Dave muttered.


    ______ ______


    With the fifteen-minute break now over, the yers were now making their way to the pitch to start the second half.


    "Wee back, everyone, the second half is about to kick off here as we can see the yers making their way to the pitch," Jim said. "They have gotten the required amount of rest and now it is time to decide how the second half is going to turn out."


    "There have been no changes from both sides, looks like they still have confidence in their starting eleven to do the job," Steve said.


    Merino was the one standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he quickly pushed the ball to Martinez.


    "That''s the whistle and the second half is on the way." Jim expressed. "Unique FC will want to get back into this game fast so let''s see how they''re going to respond."


    Martinez had to push the ball back before the yer racing toward him could get to him and without hesitation, the center-back sent the ball to Rnd.


    Rnd quickly cut through the middle and zoomed off with the ball before quicklyying it off for Edward on the right.


    "Edward."


    Edward quickly sent the ball rolling toward Ferran who quickly got past Cornell with a humiliating nutmeg before he sent the ball rolling through the middle for Mateo as Fred made a run into the box.


    "Nicely done by Ferran and he''s sent it to Mateo who has just switched out of his position to the middle."


    The winger moved a little to the right with the ball to try and disorientate the defender blocking his path before he decided to go for goal.


    "Mateo!"


    He sent the ball flying toward the goalpost with his right foot but he seemed to have overhit it as the only thing Victor could do was watch the ball as it floated over the bar from the right side.


    "Oh, that was so close to going in."


    Merino was upset to see Mateo go for goal like that while he was calling for the ball on the right wing.


    Mateo had to raise his hands and apologize before jogging back a little toward his wing.


    "We just have to keep trying and wait for coach to make his move."


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 291 Change Of Tempo

    It had already been five minutes since the second half kicked off and so far Dynamo FC have been quiet while Unique FC were controlling the game, but despite that, they weren''t finding it easy to get past their defense even through the middle where Norman told them that their defensive force was the weakest.


    "Dynamo FC can''t hold onto the ball so Unique FC are doing them the favor in hoarding it like they always do but things aren''t going exactly smoothly for them." Jim articted.


    Mateo received the ball from Ferran on the right wing and tried to push his way through the two yers who were already onto him but he knew it would be futile so he had to send the ball back to Rnd who had gotten to the other side of the pitch now.


    The left-back got hold of the ball and shifted a little to the middle before passing it to Ferran.


    So far, the only thing that the host yers were doing was stacking up passes without making any attacking attempts.


    They''ve tried dragging out the defense and making a sleek move but it had all been countered perfectly by the guests.


    Thest time both teams faced each other was during pre-season and it ended in a goalless draw because both teams were evened out and that seemed to be the case here today except that Dynamo FC already had a one-goal lead.


    The most important yer in that match for Unique FC was Dave Richards, if it weren''t for him, that match could have ended in a different because he pulled off quite a number of unbelievable saves in that match and today that he wasn''t here, Dynamo FC had managed to grab the lead from a decisive moment.


    Fred was quite confused as he was quickly surrounded by three yers as soon as the ball was sent to him from Merino, so he had to send the ball over to Mateo to avoid losing it.


    "Mateo."


    The winger tried to race down the wing and make a cross into the box but the left-back quickly raced after him and took the ball off him and out for a throw-in with a tackle.


    The winger was brought down in the process and raised his hand to call for a foul but the goalkeeper wasn''t buying it as the only call he made was for the throw-in which was clearly against Dynamo FC.


    "Unique FC are finding things quite difficult here, Mateo especially is struggling to find a way through but things aren''t going his way." Jim expressed.


    Before that ball went out for a throw-in, Norman was convinced that he had seen enough of what Dynamo FC were doing and now it was time to make his move.


    "Looks like Norman has finally decided to make his first change of the night."


    Norman seemed to be filling Minino in on something as the midfielder walked alongside toward the official with the board.


    "Minino is going to be the oneing in, but who''s going to rece him?" Steve said.


    "Given that Martinez is the DM, it has to be Edward," Jim said. "He needs fast yers to speed up his attacks, Ferran has pace but Edward isn''t that fast, this match may take an interesting turn."


    The official raised the board to show the number twenty-one in red and the number fifteen in green.


    "Looks like you were right, Jim, Edward''s going to be the one to make way for Minino," Steve said.


    Edward had not been spectacr tonight but he was one of the best midfielders on the team so the fans had to give him a standing ovation as he left the pitch.


    Minino was already fired up and was jumping up and down as Edward approached him.


    He set up both of his palms for him as he got closer, Edward pped both of his palms and patted him on the back before the midfielder began to jog his way into the pitch.


    He received a louder standing ovationpared to that of Edwards.


    "That''s the cue," Mateo muttered as his teammates slowly began to fall into their new positions.


    Now that Minino was on the pitch it was time for Unique FC to take the throw.


    Rnd was the one standing on the sidelines looking for the person to give the ball and since almost all of his teammates in the area were almost upied and would most likely lose the ball after receiving it, he looked for someone in a loose position.


    Minino was heading toward the area from the center of the pitch so he sent the ball to him.


    "Minino gets his first touch on the ball."


    Since most of the Dynamo FC yers had their attention in the throw-in area, the midfielder had a little space to run down the middle.


    He closed up on the box a little and without hesitation, he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    Victor was glued to the center of his goal line as the ball flew toward the top right-hand side and hit the crossbar before falling off for a goal kick.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Oh, my goodness that was so close!" Jim eximed.


    "First touch and first shot right off the bat, he''s not messing around," Steve said.


    "I wasn''t expecting him to shoot from there but it was so close to going in," Jim said.


    "Why didn''t that go in?" Dave said before pressing his teeth against his lower lip.


    "An equalizer from him just a few seconds after joining the match would have been wild, I don''t know about you but I feel like the tempo of this game has changed." Emma expressed.


    Victor sent the ball toward the right and set up Minino for an aerial duel along with his teammate.


    Minino just came into the match so he was super energized and hyperactive, he won the aerial duel, and just before getting pulled down by the yer, he passed the ball to Mateo who had switched to central attacking midfield now.


    "What''s Mateo doing in the middle?" Dave asked with a confused expression on his face.


    "I think they''ve....changed formation," Emma said. "Can''t you see Fred moving a little to the left?"


    "Yeah, Mateo''s been switched to attacking midfield." The goalkeeper muttered.


    ''I hope this works.''


    Minino called for a pull on him after getting pulled down, but the referee didn''t make any calls so y continued.


    Mateo got past the yer right in front of him with some neat dribbling before he sent the ball to Merino.


    "I think Unique FC has just switched up their formation, I''m getting a certain feeling about this," Jim said.


    Merino pushed the ball back to Mateo as soon as he got it and with a single touch, the winger sent the ball to Ferran with his back heel before moving a little to the left ahead of Fred.


    "This attack is moving faster and they look more determinedpared to the ones before.


    Ferran saw an opening and decided to go for a low shot but Minino found himself in the way at the moment.


    "Ferran shoots, oh, Minino''s blocked it."


    That block wasn''t all that bad as the midfielder ended up hitting the ball up with his back heel when he was trying to avoid it and now the ball was sent flying toward Mateo who had squeezed through the defenders to create space for himself.


    Victor quickly rushed to the area to try and avert the danger, but Mateo was already onto it and with his head, he pushed the ball past the goalkeeper from above and into the goalpost.


    "Oh, my goodness what just happened?!" Jim eximed.


    The guests raised their hands to call for an offside but none of the gs were up as the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the kick-off spot.


    "They''ve gotten that equalizer! They''ve been looking for it for ages and now they''ve found it, I don''t know what happened there but that block from Minino was a blessing in disguise!"


    "Justes in and provides an assist to put his team back on leveled terms, it wasn''t intentional but it worked out well." Steve articted.


    Mateo wasn''t even allowed to leave the area as his teammates gathered around him and dragged him down to the floor.


    "Dynamo FC have been giving them too much space to reach their box since the start of this second and now they''ve found a way into that box to punish them, we are now back to square one, Unique FC one, Dynamo FC one."


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 292 Looking For The Winning Goal

    "Nicely done, Mateo," Dave said with a bright smile on his face.


    He didn''t want to get all wild about maybe because of his leg but his smile said all about how happy he was.


    "Hmph."


    He quickly turned to his wife to see that she had her gaze on him with a smile on her face.


    "Hey, is something wrong?" He asked abruptly.


    "No, it''s just that this is the first time you''re smiling since this match started." She said.


    "Oh."


    "Let''s hope they can hold onto this one, you guys will be happy with a draw, right?" She asked.


    "Yeah, but a win will be better."


    "Yeah."


    After that wild celebration from Unique FC fans and yers, the match quickly resumed.


    "Norman is a genius, bringing on Minino and quickly switching up his y to be able to start fast-paced attacks like that, Dynamo FC were caught off guard, they thought they were going to attack slowly throughout the game but the hosts just shocked them, they''ll have to change things to keep up with this." Jim expressed.


    Dynamo FC were still with the ball after the kick-off and instead of quickly trying to create an attacking opportunity, they decided to take things slowly and try to find a way, they knew attacking quickly and carelessly would result in them losing the ball, and if they lose the ball Unique FC were going to counter quickly, they''ve proven they could do that with theirst attack which led to their equalizer.


    Frank received the ball from the defensive midfielder on the right and tried to cut through the middle with it but Martinez was there to swiftly take the ball off his feet with a neat tackle.


    After winning the ball, the defensive midfielder quickly pushed the ball back to Adolf.


    "Nicely done by Martinez and now, Unique FC are with the ball," Jim said.


    "Pulling Mateo into midfield and leaving Fred and Merino as the only attackers upfront was a smart move from Norman, the midfield was the area where Dynamo FC had most of the ball and now I think he''s canceled that by adding one more person to his midfield." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, Mateo''s someone any manager would like to have in his team, his natural position is the left wing, but he can do well as a striker and he''s also really good in attacking midfield, I don''t know if he''ll do well on the right wing though." Jim articted.


    "We won''t know until he tries it, but I don''t think he''ll do that well there," Steve said.


    Rnd sent the ball flying over to the other side to Minino who quickly brought it down with his chest before pushing it, to Mateo.


    Mateo caught hold of the ball and quickly moved it out of the way to prevent Cornell from getting his foot on it before sending the ball to Ferran.


    "Ferran."


    Ferran waited for the winger to cover up toward the edge of the box before he quickly sent the ball back to him.


    "They''re attacking, they''re attacking," Jim said with a voice filled with excitement.


    Mateo raced down the middle with the ball before he found Fred making a run into the box from the left and quickly lifted the ball to him.


    "Nice pass to Fred."


    Fred avoided the defenders to get to the ball, and once he got his foot on it, he sent the volley flying toward the goalpost.


    "Fred!"


    Victor was glued to the spot as the ball flew past him toward the right side and banged on the crossbar before flying over for a corner kick.


    "Oh, my goodness! How did he miss that!"


    "Arghh!!" The striker yelled in frustration before pulling his shirt up.


    "That should have been in the back of the, that should have been Unique FC''s winning goal probably but it looks like Fred still hasn''t properly fixed his shooting boots." Steve expressed.


    "Oh,e on," Dave said before pping both of his palms on his face.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The match had just entered the eightieth minute and so far both teams were still on leveled terms and were still pushing for that equalizer.


    Unique FC had proven to be the best team so far, they had more control over the ball, and getting into Dynamo FC''s box was no longer that difficult for them, their only problem so far was finishing.


    They had fired seven shots toward the guests'' goalpost so far but only two of them were on target, both of them were from Mateo.


    Dynamo FC on the other hand had fired two shots and both of them were on target.


    Unique FC were still getting the ball through but Dynamo FC had found a way to close up the gaps in their defense a little so their attacks weren''t as efficient as earlier.


    After wasting a couple of chances, Norman decided to bring on Fredinho to rece Fred and since then, the hosts had not gotten another chance to attack as the guests were holding onto the ball pretty well here.


    Frank received the ball and pushed it to Damian who quickly passed it to the defensive midfielder on the right before Martinez could get to him.


    The midfielder quickly moved the ball down the right wing and just before he could sh with Rnd, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Frank who had gotten past Martinez now.


    The attacking midfielder was still moving toward the box headed toward him, and with a single touch, he fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    It was a low shot but that wasn''t going to trouble anyone as the ball went directly toward Alexander who didn''t have any trouble catching it.


    "Oh, that''s a waste, it''s gone straight for the goalkeeper," Steve said.


    "This is one of those moments when Dave Richards gives a crazy pass to Mateo from the goalpost and the winger goes ahead to score a goal, can Alexander do something like that?" Jim articted.


    The youngster quickly got up from the floor, found Minino free on the right side of midfield, and quickly sent the ball flying over to him.


    Minino brought the ball down with his chest before taking off with it.


    "Maybe not but no doubt, his instincts are just as sharp," Steve said.


    The defenders had to move back to try and mark the forwards who were already covering up, one wrong move and they would be doomed.


    Minino quickly switched the ball to Mateo in the middle before the yer chasing him from behind could get to him, and with a single touch, Mateo sent the ball flying into the box toward Merino.


    "This could be the moment."


    There was nothing the defenders could do as Merino brought the ball down with his chest before putting it past the goalkeeper right through his legs and into the goalpost.


    "Goooooaaaalllllll!!!" Jim eximed. "Oh, what a magnificent strike from Merino!"


    "Hold on, Jim, it looks like there''s some kind of controversy here."


    Merino''s celebration was stopped halfway as Dynamo FC yers gathered around the referee who couldn''t blow his whistle yet as the linesman''s g was up.


    "Looks like he''s not sure himself and now he''s going to check the VAR footage."


    It took up to three minutes before the referee returned to the pitch and blew his whistle as he pointed to the side where Merino shot the ball from before pointing toward their side of the pitch.


    "Oh, the goal isn''t going to stand," Jim said.


    "As heartbreaking as this may be for Unique FC, it was the right call, Merino could have been kept onside by the right back over there, but his right leg was a little stretched over the line," Steve exined.


    Unique FC yers were infuriated by that decision but there was nothing they could do about it besides trying again.


    The match wasing to an end and there was no winner yet.


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 293 Shattered

    The match continued after that goal by Merino was called off a decision that Dynamo FC yers, coach, and fans were happy that the referee made.


    The match was entering the eighty-eight minute now and so far, none of the sides had been able to produce anything.


    Dynamo FC had lost the ball quickly after taking that free kick and now Unique FC were with the ball looking for a way to tear through their defense and get that winning goal.


    Instead of the fast-paced attack like they had been doing mostly throughout this second half, they were slowly building up their y toward Dynamo FC''s goalpost.


    Ferran received the ball from Rnd down the left side of midfield and without hesitation, he sent the ball to Mateo who had to push it back to Martinez before the yer quickly heading toward him could get to him.


    The ball moved from Martinez to Minino and then back to Martinez again.


    The Defensive midfielder had to quickly send the ball back to Rnd before Damian could get to him.


    After receiving the ball from Martinez, the left back raced a little down the left wing with it before drilling the ball to Mateo who got his foot to it and quickly flicked it to Merino with his backheel to prevent the yer who was marking him from getting his foot on it.


    "Nice skill from Mateo."


    Merino got his foot on the ball and quickly got past the yer blocking his path with a nutmeg before he took off down the right wing.


    "Nicely done by Merino to create space for himself, their build-up ising along nicely," Jim said.


    The winger could have made a straight run into the box if the defenders weren''t there, so he had to run further down the wing before he sent the ball flying into the box.


    The ball flew past everybody and was about to leave the box when Rnd quickly got to it and fired the volley toward the goalpost with his right foot.


    "Rnd!"


    The ball had just a little elevation to it as it was about to hit the floor when the left back got to it, but there was nothing for Victor to worry about as the ball ended up hitting the post before going out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that could have possibly been the winning goal but he got his aim wrong," Jim said.


    "I''m sure Victor could have saved that, but mistakes happen," Steve said.


    Victor sent the ball out toward Cornell who contested for it in the air against Mateo and won it before quickly shifting it to the defensive midfielder on the right who had the name Steven written on top of the number neen on the back of his sheet.


    Steven tried to dribble his way past Ferran but he heard Frank calling for the ball up front and decided to send it to him.


    "We''ve just entered the nieth minute now with Dynamo FC starting a build-up toward the host''s goalpost, can they get that winning goal?"


    Frank received the ball but Martinez was heading toward him so he had to push it back to Cornell who was upied by Mateo.


    Mateo tried to take the ball from him but he didn''t seed as the defensive midfielder was able to quickly push the ball to the defensive midfielder on the left who quickly linked the ball to Frank who had gotten past Martinez.


    He feigned shooting toward the goalpost to rattle Aima up before linking Damian up toward the right near the edge of the box.


    "This could be the moment."


    Rnd wasn''t able to get to the area fast enough as the striker who had been quiet mostly throughout the game released the shot toward the goalpost.


    "Damian!"


    The ball was sent rolling toward the right side of the goalpost by the striker who wanted no elevation to his shot but luckily for the hosts, Alexander was able to get to the ball with his left hand which was all he needed to push it out for a corner kick.


    "Saves it!"<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yes, Alexander," Dave muttered under his breath.


    "That was a crucial save but now they have a corner kick to deal with," Steve said.


    "There''s going to be four minutes of added time, will there be a winner?" Jim said with a voice filled with anticipation.


    Cornell quickly took the ball to the spot and dropped it there as there was no time to waste.


    The referee blew his whistle and without wasting time, the midfielder sent the ball flying into the box.


    Adolf got his head on the ball and nodded it up a little outside the box.


    "Cleared by Adolf but notpletely yet, the danger is still lurking around their goal area." Steve expressed.


    The ball fell to Steven who quickly got past Aima with some neat footwork before pushing the ball toward the left side of the goalpost.


    It looked like a careless pass toward the goalkeeper who was heading toward the area with a dive until Frank slid toward the ball before Alexander could get to it and pushed it into the goalpost before Alexander could get to it.


    "It''s in! It''s the winning goal! Dynamo FC has done it!" Jim eximed.


    The referee blew his whistle and pointed to the kick-off spot as Frank took off to the sidelines to do a knee slide with his teammates quickly heading toward him.


    "What a yer! In the dying minute of the first half, he gets the opener! Mateo equalizes, and in the dying minute of the match, he gets what could possibly be the winning goal!" Jim eximed.


    The away fans were pping and chanting the name of their team, they were all overjoyed.


    Unique FC fans on the other hand were in shock and the yers had devastated looks on their faces.


    Mateo of all people was lying on the floor with his right hand covering his face.


    "Frank James has shattered the spirits of Unique FC yers and fans on their home turf!"


    "They weren''t getting many chances but they''ve used the few chances they''ve gotten so well unlike Unique FC who have wasted a lot of chances," Steve said.


    Dave was speechless after that goal, the only thing he could do was let out a deep sigh before putting his head down.


    The match continued but there was nothing Unique FC could do, they couldn''t even get to Dynamo FC''s box before the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end.


    "There''s the whistle and that''s the end of this exhrating match, I wasn''t expecting this ending, but it was never out of question." Jim articted.


    "I think this goes to show you that the team with the better gamey wins all the time," Steve said. "Unique FC was the better team attacking-wise, they had sixty-five ball possessionpared to Dynamo FC''s thirty-five but they took their chances and got their goals to win the match and that''s all that matters, three points in the bag for them."


    "Yeah, and now Unique FC has dropped to third ce as they rise above them to second ce," Jim said. "Unique FC should work on their finishing or it''s going to keep costing them in matches like this."


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 294 A Couple Of Changes

    "Unique FC fought hard, they fought really hard, it was clear that they wanted it more, but they couldn''t capitalize on their chances, something that Dynamo FC did nicely," Jim said.


    It was a terrible loss for the hosts given that they could have won it easily but ended up giving it away in the final minute, but it was nothing to get that upset about given that it wasn''t a huge loss by goal margin.


    "Hey, are you okay?" Emma asked before cing her hand on her husband''s back.


    "Yeah, why won''t I be?" He replied after turning his gaze to her.


    "Well, you guys just lost so it''s only natural if you''re not happy." She said,


    "Yeah." He said before putting his head down. "I would have been a bit happier if they were the ones that outssed us and then ended up winning in thest minute but this is the opposite and it just makes me feel worse.


    "But, that''s football for you, things don''t always go as expected, the better team doesn''t always, a poor team could go on to win an entire tournament, that element of luck is needed, that''s what makes it a great sport."


    He was smiling after saying that and she couldn''t help but smile too.


    "It''s just a one-goal defeat that gets us to drop to third ce, we could also drop to sixth ce tomorrow but that''s just about it, there are still a lot of matches left in the season, I am positive that we will rise again, I''ll be back for the next match and I''ll do everything in my power to make sure that we don''t lose." The goalkeeper expressed.


    "Yeah," Emma said with a bright smile on her face.


    <This match would have most likely ended in a draw if you were the one in between the sticks but what has happened has happened, try not to get injured again if you don''t want to see things like this>


    Mateo was one of his few teammates who didn''t quickly head down the tunnel as soon as the match was over, and because of that, Frank got the chance to ask him for something.


    "Hey."


    The winger turned around to see the attacking midfielder standing there.


    "Hey." He said.


    "You guys fought quite well, especially you, you''re quite the prodigy of a footballer." The attacking midfielder said.


    "Thank you," Mateo said. "You guys did well too, in taking your chances especially."


    "Not really, we were just lucky, this is what you call a lucky win but a win is a win," Frank said. "So, do you mind swapping shirts with me?"


    "Um...no, I don''t mind." The winger said before shaking his head.


    With that said, both of them pulled off their shirts and exchanged them.


    They were both the number tens for their teams.


    "Alright, Mateo, I look forward to the many meetings we shall have this season," Frank said as he made his way toward the tunnel.


    Mateo watched him disappear down the tunnel before he turned his gaze to the shirt he was holding.


    "Hmph."


    All the yers were in the locker room now with Norman standing in front of them, it looked like they were waiting for Mateo, and it didn''t take long before the winger walked in with Dave.


    "It''s nice of you to join us here, Dave," Norman said as soon as he spotted the goalkeeper. "Now, if the both of you can just sit down, I''ll say what I have to say."


    "Okay," Dave said before sitting down alongside Mateo.


    After that, Norman carefully observed all of their faces to read their emotions.


    "I can see that some of you are still down while some of you have already gotten over it." He said.


    "This is just the third match of the season, there''s no reason for any of us to feel down," Adolf said.


    "It''s not about that, Adolf, we dominated that match, we should havee out victorious," Aima said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yeah, but you should know that things don''t always go as we want them in this sport, we''ve won against teams that outssed us a couple of times and this is no different from that, it happens, and besides, they have more experienced yers in their squad.


    "I also feel that we yed a huge role in our loss, we got a lot of chances up front after we changed formation and gamen, but all those chances were wasted, I know Mateo was the one creating most of the chances but I wish he was upfront to receive the few chances that he might get, he''s undoubtedly the best finisher we have in the squad at the moment."


    "I feel the same way," Dave muttered.


    "I feel like you know the reason why I have called all of you here, Adolf," Norman said as the captain quickly raised his gaze to look at him. "I like that most of you have already gotten over the loss, and for those of you that haven''t, try to get over it, a loss like this shouldn''t demoralize, demoralized yers lead to loss of form and that is not something we want to deal with now, so cheer up all of you."


    After saying that, he turned to face the board, and there was about a minute of silence in the room before he turned to face the yers again.


    "This match has shown me something that I have been neglecting for quite a while now or rather something that I''ve been waiting to change, and I can no longer leave it like that." He said. "There are going to be a couple of changes in the squad and I don''t expect anyone toin if he gets left out of the starting eleven, I gave enough time after all."


    With that said, the coach slowly walked out of the room leaving most of the yers in a state of confusion but some of them knew what he was talking about.


    <Looks like things are about to start getting interesting in the squad>


    ''I don''t like your idea of what would be interesting.''


    With Norman gone, the goalkeeper had to head outside to meet Emma who was waiting for him in the car. His teammates were going to take a while before they started heading home, so it was not a good idea to wait for them in his condition.


    "So, what did you guys talk about?" She asked before she took his crutch from him and put it in the back seat.


    "Nothing much really." He said before hopping into the car. "But it looks like there are going to be a couple of dissatisfied yers in the squad."


    "How so?" She asked.


    "Coach is nning to rece a few yers in the starting eleven, he wasn''t happy that a lot of chances were wasted tonight." The goalkeeper exined.


    "Oh," Emma said before starting the car''s engine. "If it''s going to help the team improve then it''s good, right?"


    "Yeah, I guess."


    "So, what do you want for dinner?" She asked as she slowly drove into the road.


    "You want to make dinner thiste?"


    "Sorry, let me rephrase that. Are you hungry?" She asked.


    "Not really, but I would like some snacks." He replied.


    "Okay, then, we''ll have a few snacks and then go to bed, it''s strange, I had something while waiting for you in here so I''m not that hungry either."


    "Oh, I see, was it soda and burger?"


    "Yeah, how did you know?" She said before turning to him with a surprised expression on her face.


    "That''s almost like the only thing you''ve been eating these days."


    "Oh, yeah."


    The expression on her face suddenly changed as she turned her gaze back to the road.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 295 A Quest In My Condition?

    Just ten minutes into his sleep, the goalkeeper found himself in the endless white space.


    He didn''t turn on dream control yesterday, but he decided to turn it on today just before going to bed.


    "If my legs won''t let me train in the real world, then I''ll train in here."


    "Yeah, and the main event today ispleting your reflex training, you''re still stuck in one second."


    He quickly turned to see that Catherine had approached him from behind today.


    "Hey, don''t sneak up on me like that." He said before flinching back a bit.


    "Sorry." She said. "Like I said, you have to try andplete your reflex training today."


    "Yeah, yeah I know, although, I wanted to do something a bit fun and creative today." He said.


    "You can do that tomorrow if you manage to master one second today." She said.


    After saying that, the environment began to change until the goalkeeper found himself on an empty pitch standing in between the sticks with the three human figures already there with their balls trapped under their feet.


    "Are you ready?" Catherine asked.


    As soon as Dave heard that question, his gloves and boots appeared on his hands and feet.


    "Yeah." He replied before pulling his gloves down a little on his hands.


    "Okay, here theye."


    The first ball was sent flying toward the left side with just a little elevation as he quickly dived toward it and pushed it out.


    As soon as he made that save, the second ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand corner.


    He quickly got up on his feet, dived toward the ball, and punched it out before falling into the goalpost.


    He wasn''t able to get up on time for thest ball which was sent toward the bottom left-hand corner.


    "You kept out two, that''s nice, you''re starting to get there," Catherine said.


    After about forty minutes of training in his dream, the goalkeeper slowly opened his eyes to see that he was still lying on his back as the first thing he saw was the ceiling.


    <You''re starting to get there, tomorrow may be thest day>


    ''I hope so.'' He said subconsciously before turning his gaze to the side to see that Emma was still fast asleep.


    After that, he picked up his phone from the top of the cupboard and tapped the power button to see that the time was 5:55 AM.


    ''It''s already morning, so it''s not bad if I go downstairs without disturbing her.'' He said subconsciously.


    <I''m not even going to try and stop you, I''ve done enough>


    Dave didn''t reply to her and slowly stepped down from the bed.


    He was about to pick up his crutch when he felt Emma move and suddenly froze.


    <If you''re so sure that it''s okay then why did you just freeze?>


    ''I thought you said you weren''t going to try and stop me.''


    <I''m not, I''m just throwing in a question>


    He slowly turned around to see that Emma was still fast asleep before he picked up his crutch and slowly made his way out of the room.


    After getting out of the room, he made his way downstairs and straight to the kitchen.


    His destination on getting to the kitchen was the freezer, he pulled out a liter of bottled water from there and took down the content before allowing the container to drop to the floor.


    After that, he made his way to the living room and slowly sat down on the couch.


    He stared at the nk television screen for a while before he let out a deep sigh.


    "If this other leg was working now then I would just head outside and have a refreshing ten-kilometer run or more." He said.


    <If you miss running that much, then go outside, it may make you feel better>


    ''Yeah, that''s not a bad idea.'' He said subconsciously before he picked up his crutch and slowly got up from the couch.<novelnext></novelnext>


    He went outside and walked around thewn for a while with the help of his crutch before he made his way to the garage area which was the ce where he usually left for his runs through.


    On getting there, he rested his body on his car and stared at the sky which was slowly getting brightened up by the rising sun with a bright smile on his face.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Complete a walk of two kilometers without stopping for more than seven seconds ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +100 exp ]


    [ +20 skill upgrade points ]


    ''This is a joke, right?'' He said subconsciously before letting out a little chuckle.


    <Does it look like a joke to you?>


    The goalkeeper didn''t reply immediately as he stared at the quest waiting for it to go away.


    ''Why would the system give me a quest in my condition? I''m not supposed to be moving around too much.''


    <Two kilometers isn''t too much, your leg feels better nowpared to that first day, that''s how you''re able to move freely like this so I don''t think this quest will be a problem for you, but you can still go ahead and forfeit the quest if you think that you''re not up for it>


    The goalkeeper quietly stared at the sky for a while before he picked up his crutches and began to head down the road.


    <What are you doing?>


    ''Isn''t it obvious? I''m not forfeiting the quest.''


    It took him a couple of minutes to get to the park which was two kilometers away from his house, and now he was sitting on the bench there.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +100 exp received ]


    [ +20 skill upgrade points received ]


    He had to walk really slowly to avoid hurting his right ankle but he managed toplete it.


    <Don''t just sit there wasting time, remember you have to get home before Emma wakes up>


    "Yeah." He said before he picked up his crutch and quickly sprang up from the bench.


    He felt like running to avoid getting caught by his wife but if that was possible for him at the moment then there wouldn''t be any reason to avoid getting caught by her.


    It took him a couple of minutes to get home and after that, he sped up his pace to get to the door.


    He stared at the door for about five seconds before he slowly opened it and stuck his head through to scan the area.


    After scanning the area and making sure that she wasn''t in the area, he slowly made his way into the house and slowly closed the door.


    After that, he slowly made his way to the couch and sat down on it.


    As soon as his butt touched the couch, he let out a deep sigh of relief before rxing on it.


    "Do you mind telling me where you ran off to this early in your condition?"


    He quickly sat up on the couch and slowly turned his gaze to the kitchen where he had heard the voicee from to see her standing there with her arms crossed.


    ''I''m done for.'' He said subconsciously before swallowing hard.


    Her eyes were fiery to the extent that he was imagining them lighting up with actual mes.


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 296 Big News

    "I''m still waiting." She said before moving closer to him with that fiery look in her eyes getting more intense.


    Dave couldn''t help but flinch backward a little.


    "Um...I just went outside to look around a little." He said.


    He tried to sound confident while saying that but he just couldn''t get that nervous look off his face.


    Emma didn''t say anything for a little while and just stared at him before taking a step closer to him.


    She still had that look on her face which was a clear indication that she didn''t buy what he just said.


    "Do I look like a fool to you?"


    Her voice sounded normal before but now it had just changed to her angry voice a bit.


    "No, you look like my beautiful and lovely wife, Emma." He said. "That is because you are my beautiful and lovely wife who hardly ever gets mad."


    "Dave." She grumbled.


    "You saw meing down from upstairs, didn''t you?" He said.


    "Yeah." She replied. "So, where did you go?"


    "Nowhere in particr, I just went back and forth between here and the park, it was just a little exercise." He replied.


    "A little exercise? In your condition, Dave?" She said as the goalkeeper slowly put his head down. "You know you''re not supposed to be moving around that much, are you trying to make things worse for yourself?"


    "Of course I''m not, that''s thest thing that I would want." He said after quickly raising his gaze.


    "Then, why are you always doing stupid things?"


    Their gaze met at that moment and they stayed like that for a while before he slowly put his head down.


    "You''re right, that was stupid." He muttered.


    Emma stared at her for a while before she let out a deep sigh and got closer to the couch to sit beside him.


    The next thing the goalkeeper felt was his right ankle being ced on the table.


    "Hey, don''t move." She said before shooting a re at him.


    "Okay." He muttered.


    She reached for the ankle support brace on his ankle and slowly removed it to reveal his ankle which was less swollen than it was thest time she checked.


    "Looks like it''s healing just fine, you should be back to normal in a day or two." She said after cing her hand on the slightly swollen area.


    Dave could see that she had a smile on her face as she said that, but just as she turned her gaze back to him, that smile vanished.


    "I know you''re probably going to do whatever you want to do after I leave for work but I''m still going to tell you this onest time, stop doing stupid things." She spelled out for him.


    "I won''t do anything stupid, I promise." He said.


    "Yeah, like the one you didn''t do this morning." She said. "What if something bad had happened to you to the extent that you end up making the injury worse to the extent that you won''t be able to return to football?


    "What would you do, or most especially, what would you tell your unborn children? That you were a goalkeeper that was finally starting to enjoy a long spell in his career but because you decided to do stupid things which your wife told you to avoid doing, you ended up ending your brilliant career at the young age of twenty-one."


    "Damn, you sound just like my mother with those words." The goalkeeper muttered.


    "I do?"


    He wanted to say that just as a thought, but he ended up muttering it and she ended up hearing it.


    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to bring back memories like that for you." She said before slowly putting her head down.


    "Hey, don''t act like that."


    "Huh?"


    "I''m not going to start acting all sad and stuff just because you brought back a memory of my mother, my memories of her scolding me just like you''re doing now warms my heart."


    "It does." She said as her eyes suddenly brightened up.


    "Yeah, making up bad scenarios that may prevail because of the stupid things I did, some of them were quite scary and that was the reason why it always worked." He said before looking up at the ceiling.


    ''I just wish you were here, mom, to see my career start to blossom, to see me get married to this wonderful young woman, and to see your grandchildren.'' He said subconsciously.


    "So, you did a lot of stupid things as a child," Emma said as the reminiscence atmosphere Dave created in the room suddenly dispersed.


    "Yeah." He replied before cing his left hand on the back of his head.


    "Well, I''m not surprised." She said before she slowly began to put back the ankle support brace on his ankle. "Don''t expect me to scold you all the time."


    "Hey, I was just a child."


    "Yeah, that''s the reason why you shouldn''t expect me to scold you all the time now that you''re an adult." She said before getting up from the couch.


    "Oh, yeah."


    "I''m going to go get breakfast ready, don''t move from there." She said before she began to make her way to the kitchen.


    "Okay, ma''am."


    "What was that?" She said before quickly turning her gaze back to him.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Nothing." He said as he shook his head.


    She kept her gaze on him for a while and let out a sigh before she turned and continued her walk to the kitchen.


    As soon as she was done, the two ate breakfast together before Emma went upstairs to get ready for work.


    It took her about twenty minutes toe downstairs putting on her ck suit.


    "You always look nice in that suit," Dave said as she made her way to him.


    "Thank you." She smiled before she leaned closer to him and kissed him.


    "I hope you''reing back early today." He said.


    "I don''t know, maybe." She said before turning her gaze to his car key which was lying on the table. "Can I borrow your car for today?"


    "Well, I won''t be using it for anything in my condition so, sure." He replied with a nod.


    "Thank you, dear." She wrapped her arms around him in a hug before she picked up the key and turned her gaze back to him. "I''ll be on my way now."


    "Okay, have a nice day at work." He said.


    "You have a nice day too, and don''t do anything stupid." She said before opening the door.


    "I won''t." He said with a smile on his face.


    "Hmph." She smiled before closing the door.


    The goalkeeper heard the sound of the car engine as she started the car, he was quiet as he listened to the car get driven out of the area, and as soon as it was out of earshot, everywhere suddenly became silent and he let out a deep sigh before slumping down on the couch.


    <Your ankle''s starting to get better, you''ll be back to yourself tomorrow but your leg is going to feel a little weird to you until maybe Tuesday>


    ''I didn''t ask you about that.'' He said subconsciously before he picked up his crutch and got up from the couch.


    The match between Troham United and Zetoro United was already going on and if Troham United should win that match, they would climb above Unique FC on the table and that meant that they would drop to fourth ce.


    Just as the goalkeeper was about to start heading toward wherever he wanted to go, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.


    He reached for his pocket and brought out his phone to see that it was just a message from his service providers, but that wasn''t the only thing that was there to see.


    He pinned the match between Troham United and Zetoro United on his home screen and now he could see that Troham United were leading with two goals with only fifteen minutes gone in the match.


    "Two goals in three minutes, I guess dropping to fourth ce is inevitable for us." He said before putting his phone back into his pocket.


    <Lesica United are facing off against Tereville United tonight you know>


    ''Yeah, dropping to fifth ce is inevitable, Lesica United are going to butcher Tereville no doubt about that.''


    <Based on form, you''re right, but Dynamo FC just beat you guys while you were in a slightly better form than them>


    ''Yeah, I guess you''re right.''


    He was about to start heading toward the kitchen when he heard a knock on the door.


    "It''s open."


    After saying that, the door was suddenly pushed open for Mateo to walk into the house.


    "Mateo." The goalkeeper said as a smile suddenly appeared on his face.


    "Hey, Dave." The winger said.


    "What are you doing here?"


    "Well, I knew you would be left alone once my sister leaves for work, so I decided toe keep youpany." He said before sticking both of his hands into his pockets.


    "We?" The goalkeeper said with a confused expression on his face.


    As soon as he said that, rk suddenly popped up at the front door.


    "rk?"


    "Yeah, it''s me," rk said. "What Mateo just told you isn''t the only reason why I am here."


    "Then, what is the other reason?"


    "Well, let''s just say I have big news for you."


    "Big news?" The goalkeeper muttered.


    ****


    I know two chapters daily is my normal release rate but I had something urgent to deal with, so you guys will have to do with just this one for today.


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 297 Different From The Previous Seasons

    Since Dave still had the problem of moving around freely, Mateo was the one who had to go get the drink, and after returning to the living room, he poured some for rk and himself, Dave didn''t want any.


    "Okay," Mateo said before he sat on the couch beside rk and picked up the remote control.


    Dave had his gaze on the floor, and he kept it there for a while before he slowly turned to rk who was sitting beside him.


    "So, what is this big news that you have for me?" He asked.


    "Yeah, about that," rk said before he took a sip from his drink. "I have been getting a lot of calls sincest week."


    "A lot of calls?"


    "Yeah." He replied with a nod before dropping the ss on the table.


    "Calls about what?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Well, apparently, you''ve be a big-shot goalkeeper and a lot of clubs want you in their squad."


    "And by a lot, you mean how many?" The goalkeeper asked.


    Mateo wasn''t even paying attention to what they were saying as he was busy watching the Troham United Versus Tereville United match expecting Tereville to make aeback anytime soon.


    "Let me break it down for you, four clubs from Ennd, three from Spain, and one from Germany."


    "Four clubs from Ennd and three from Spain?" The goalkeeper said with a shocked expression on his face.


    He wasn''t really surprised about the one from Germany as he already knew about it.


    "So the four clubs from Ennd, which ones are they?" He asked.


    "Um¡­we have Arsenal, Brighton, Manchester City, and Manchester United who are still interested in you because they believe that Patti Moreno may leave as a free agent at the end of the season as a free agent as he has not yet said anything about renewing his contract," rk exined.


    "Oh, I see, and who are the ones from Spain?" He asked.


    "Virreal, Atletico Madrid, and Sevi," rk replied.


    "Okay, and the one from Germany is still Frankfurt, right?" He asked.


    "Yeah," rk replied. "Some of them are even willing to make a move for you when the transfer window opens next summer, especially Manchester City."


    "That''s nice." The goalkeeper said with a warm smile on his face. "But you know I''m not leaving Unique FC until the end of the season, and even if I wanted to, I''m not sure they would let me go like that."


    "Yeah, I''m aware of that, and don''t worry about making a decision either, I''ll ess all the clubs and their situations at the end of the season and give you the information to help you make a better decision, I wouldn''t want you to end up in a club where you would have no ying time." rk expressed.


    "Thanks, rk, you''re the best," Dave said with a bright smile on his face.


    "I guess trying to believe in Terevile United to make aeback against Troham United was a big mistake," Mateo said before letting out a deep sigh.


    Dave and rk had not even looked at the television since Mateo turned it on but they had to look after what Mateo said.


    They turned their gaze to the television to see that the score was now three goals to nothing in favor of Troham United with the clock just hitting the forty-fifth minute.


    "A three goal lead in the first half? They''re dismantling them." rk said.


    "Yeah, there''s no way they''reing back from that," Mateo said. "Down to fourth ce and probably fifth ce tonight."


    "But that''s just about it, right?" Dave said.


    "Huh?" Mateo said before quickly turning his gaze to him.


    "I mean that''s just about it until the next match days, right?" The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah," Mateo replied.


    "Sure that loss against Dynamo FC was a drawback and I can''t really say if it could have gone differently or not if I was on the pitch, but it''s not over yet, we may end up in fifth ce tonight, but that doesn''t mean we''re that far off from the top of the table.


    "They''re only a point ahead of us, the only team that''s being a threat so far is Supreme United who are at the top of the table with all nine points.


    "Let''s just focus on the matches ahead and do our best, this season will be different from the previous ones I just know it."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yeah, if we keep working together as a team with great chemistry, we''ll pull it off," Mateo said.


    "Well, one thing''s for sure," rk said as he reached for his drink on the table. "No team in the Bilbeth Premier League is going to take you for granted after all the things you''ve done so far, Supreme United had their own share in the charity cup."


    He was about to pick up the ss when Mateo''s phone which was lying on the table began to vibrate.


    "Umm¡­who''s Sofia, Mateo?" rk asked with his gaze on the phone.


    As soon as he asked that question, Mateo quickly reached for his phone and picked it up but he didn''t pick up the call.


    "Wait, is that really Sofia calling you, Mateo?" Dave asked before turning his gaze to the winger.


    "You know who the person is?" rk said after turning his gaze to the goalkeeper.


    "Yeah, she''s this girl we met during our pre-season tour at Barcelona, she''s kind, sweet, and likes football, I think Mateo picked an interest in her." The goalkeeper exined without giving a thought to how Mateo was going to react.


    "Hey, you don''t have to put it that way." The winger said before shooting a re at him.


    "So, are you two together or something?" rk asked.


    "No, we''re just friends, there''s nothing like that, besides, she''s just seventeen years old." The winger said.


    Suddenly, he was talking fast and his breathing was a little pacedpared to the way it was before that question.


    "Oh, so the problem is age, she''s underage, but you know that''s not a problem, she''ll be eighteen soon anyway so just go for it," rk said.


    His face was really close to Mateo''s now and it was making the winger quite ufortable.


    "I said we''re just friends and that''s because I think she''s an interesting person."


    "Oh, really, then why are you so flustered all of a second because of this conversation."


    He didn''t have an answer to that question and luckily for him, his phone began to ring again.


    "Um¡­.Dave, can I use your bathroom, please?" He asked before quickly getting up from the couch.


    "Sure, help yourself." The goalkeeper replied.


    As soon as he said that, the winger quickly headed toward the staircase and disappeared upstairs.


    "I forgot to tell him to be careful with this kind of stuff," rk said before picking up his ss. "Oh, well, he''lle back soon anyway." He said before taking a sip from the drink.


    "I think I''ll go get myself a ss of water." The goalkeeper said before getting up from the couch.


    He forgot to pick up his crutch in the process, but he was standing just fine without it.


    ''Hey, Catherine, I don''t feel like I need that anymore.'' He said subconsciously before taking a step forward.


    His leg was a bit shaky and it looked like he was going to fall for a second, he was staggering.


    "Hey, you should use your crutch before you fall," rk said.


    "No, I don''t need it for this." The goalkeeper said as he continued walking toward the kitchen with his staggering motion.


    rk watched him half expecting him to fall so that he would say ''I told you so.'' to his face, but the goalkeeper ended up getting to the kitchen without hitting the floor.


    After watching him enter the kitchen without falling, he couldn''t help but smile before turning his gaze to the television.


    *****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 298 Hes Back!

    Unique FC ended up in fifth ce at the end of match day seven as Lesica United defeated Zilo FC three goals to one.


    Everyone was expecting it and it happened but now, Unique FC had a chance to climb to third ce because getting to second ce was impossible to get to second ce as Dynamo FC climbed to the first spot after defeating Lave City earlier during the day and now Supreme United were in second ce with nine points and one match in hand, they were going to be facing ck Roz FC on Sunday match day ten and ording to form, that match was a sure victory for them.


    Unique FC had to defeat Lesica United tonight to climb to third ce and have Lesica drop to a lower spot on the table.


    It wasn''t going to be easy by any means but they had the home advantage and had Dave Richards back in the squad.


    Lesica United were currently in third ce so to get that third spot, they had to beat them.


    Lesica United has been in a wonderful form since the start of the seasonpared to how they startedst season and Okafor sure has been banging in a lot of goals, he was in the golden boot race alongside Rnd Hills, Frank James, and Mateo Smith who had scored in three consecutive matches and looking forward to extending that streak tonight.


    Both teams were already warming up on the pitch and the Wondanimo stadium sure looked lively with fans from both teams upying almost all the seats in the stands.


    "It sure feels good to be back for another match," Dave said as he ranps around the pitch alongside Mateo.


    "Yeah, I know that feeling," Mateo said. "I didn''t get to y against Lesica United during thest match which was thest match of the season, so I''m quite excited to be part of this one."


    After runningps, they did some stretches which were supervised by one of the coaching staff before they moved to practice with the ball.


    Dave quickly got in between the sticks as Mateo quickly picked up one of the balls and dropped it about twenty-five yards away from the goalpost.


    Mateo took two steps backward before he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost with just a little touch.


    The ball was sent flying toward the top left-hand corner and all that was required for Dave to get to it and tip it over the bar was a run that looked quite effortless even though it wasn''t all that.


    The pre-match warm-up continued until the yers were told to head down the tunnel and get ready for the match which would be kicking off soon.


    "Alright, boys, I have already told you everything that I have to tell you, just go out there and do your best, we defeated themst time, and we can do it again," Norman said after the yers got ready and were about to start heading out to the pitch.


    They were putting on their usual home jersey while Lesica United were putting on their first away jersey which was ck with three curved blue lines on the side for the shirt, the short was just in ck.


    The yers waited in the tunnel for a while before they were given the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    The fans cheered and cheered as they made their way to the pitch.


    "Wee to our viewers from all around the world, it''s your regrmentator Jim Waterson and joining me in the studio as always is my regr comentator, Mr. Steve Jefferson." Jim expressed as the yers made their way to the pitch.


    "Wee everyone, it''s back to be back here to witness and talk about another match alongside my colleague here," Steve said.


    "This is an interesting match up here tonight, Unique FC versus Lesica United," Jim said. "If Lesica United wins this match, they will move to second ce on level points with Dynamo FC but if Unique FC wins, they''ll move to third ce and Lesica United will drop to fourth.


    "A draw won''t have any effect on both teams as they will still be in their respective positions for tonight at least."


    Norman was still going with his four-three-three C formation which meant that Martinez was in the match as a defensive midfielder.


    Dave was starting in the goalpost as the goalkeeper, Luis Roberto was starting in right back, Adolf and Pirlo were the center backs and Rnd was the left back as expected.


    Martinez was in the defensive midfield position, and the attacking midfielders were Minino and Ferran, Ferran on the left side, and Minino on the right.


    The attack was led by Carlos on the right, Fredinho in the striking position, and Mateo on the left.


    Lesica United were just going with the regr four-three-three formation with three central midfielders but roles can change during a match.


    "Lesica United has been the better team so far in terms of form, but they haven''t really faced a tough team so far this season and Unique FC almost got a draw against Dynamo FC," Jim said.


    "You''re right, Jim, this match could go either way, but I think things are going to be easy for Lesica United now that Unique FC''s number one is back," Steve said.


    The coin toss was won by Lesica United''s captain, and as always they chose the goalpost on the right and were going to be the ones to start the match from the kick-off spot.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I hope things go our way tonight," Dave muttered as he made his way to his goalpost.


    <Calm down, everything''s going to be alright>


    ''I hope so.'' The goalkeeper replied as he stepped on his goal line and slowly turned to face the pitch.


    [ Conjoined quest received ]


    [ Prevent any of the forwards from scoring against you ]


    [ Make five crucial saves ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +150 exp ]


    [ +30 skill upgrade points ]


    [ +1 boost to all stats including Energy ]


    ''Another conjoined quest, huh.''


    Okafor was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly pushed the ball back to his teammate.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way," Jim said.


    Lesica United passed the ball around in their own half near the forty yards line as they were looking for a way to start an attack.


    "You can tell the home fans are quite happy to have Dave back in between the sticks just listen to the way they''re all chanting his name," Jim said.


    "They used to criticize him but he''s now their hero, how fast things changed," Steve said.


    Okafor quickly got past Fredinho with a roulette spin before he sent the ball to Jonathan who pushed his way past Minino on the left to create enough space for him to run down the wing.


    Of course, Luis Roberto was there to stop so before he could get to him, he quickly pushed the ball back to the central midfielder who sent it rolling toward Okafor with a single touch.


    "Lesica United are looking to start an attack here."


    Okafor got past Martinez with a neat body faint and without hesitation, he fired the ball toward the goalpost from twenty-five yards out.


    "Okafor!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand corner of the goalpost, but Dave was right there to send it over the bar with both of his gloves.


    "Oh, what a save from Dave!"


    The home fans started chanting the name of the goalkeeper as soon as he made that save, everyone was hyping him up including his teammates who were around him inside the box now.


    "Unique FC''s fortress is back, he''s back!"


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 299 First Strike

    Jonathan was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he slowly took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent flying into the box.


    "Jonathan whips it into the box from the top."


    The ball was sent flying closer toward Dave''s goalpost so he had to do what any other goalkeeper would do.


    He jumped along with the other yers who wanted to go to the ball but given that he could use his hands he had the advantage.


    He punched the ball out with both of his hands and that punch was all he needed to send it flying far away.


    "Dave''s averted the danger."


    The ball whooshed past everybody toward the right until Carlos who the ball was heading to now, quickly put himself in the way to block it with his chest.


    "Carlos is with the ball, this is Unique FC''s chance for a counterattack," Jim said in excitement.


    Just like Jim said, this was Unique FC''s chance for a counterattack as most Lesica United yers were still in their box.


    Carlos didn''t hesitate to start the attack as he quickly pushed the ball to Fredinho before he took off on the right.


    Lesica United were quickly heading back to stop the attack while the two defenders who were at the back were slowly moving back as Fredinho approached them with the ball with Carlos and Mateo running alongside him, it was three against two with the othersing in from the back.


    The defenders had gotten to the edge of their box now with Fredinho very close with the ball still on his feet.


    "They''re totally cornered, there''s no way Unique FC are not going to score from this," Jim said.


    Fredinho feigned shooting toward the goalpost before he quickly pushed the ball to Carlos who made a quick run into the box before sending the ball to the striker who flicked it back toward Mateo with a backheel pass.


    "Mateo."


    A Lesica United yer had gotten to the winger from behind but his attempt to bring him down failed as he quickly pushed the ball further into the box but that also meant that he was at risk of losing the ball to the ones inside the box.


    One of the defenders quickly slid toward the winger to try and take the ball off him but Mateo was able to avoid it with some neat footwork before he released the shot toward the goalpost.


    The goalkeeper dived toward the ball that was curled toward the bottom right-hand corner but he wasn''t able to get in on time as the ball ended up hitting the goal line before falling into the goalpost.


    "It''s in! There was no way that they were going to miss that! It was surely going to happen!" Jim eximed.


    It was a simple celebration from Mateo who just pointed to the sky with both of his hands before Fredinho got to him and jumped onto his shoulders.


    "What a magnificentbination from the front three, that was very good teamwork from them," Jim said.


    "Yeah, and with that goal now, Mateo Smith has now scored at least a goal in four consecutive matches this season," Steve said. "How long can he keep going?"


    The fans were fired up after that goal as their chanting seemed to be getting more intense.


    "They did it, we have the lead," Dave muttered with a bright smile on his face.


    <Yeah, but you shouldn''t let your guard down one bit, the match is just entering the tenth minute, and there''s still a lot of time left for them to make a spirit shatteringe back>


    ''You don''t have to remind me of that every time, Lesica United''s a strong team, I know that, I''ll be a fool to let my guard down with them on the pitch.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.<novelnext></novelnext>


    That was an early goal from Unique FC just in the ninth minute and because the goal came that early, Lesica United has enough time to liberate themselves if they have what it takes.


    The match continued from the kick-off spot with Lesica United holding onto the ball.


    They were holding onto the ball quite well and started to raise their ball possession above Unique FC''s but that didn''t mean their attacks were working.


    It looked like the Unique FC defense had read them like a book because every style of attack they tried to use was perfectly countered by the home side, but despite that, Dave wasn''t getting the time to breathe easily as Lesica United were attacking quite often because his teammates surprisingly couldn''t keep hold of the ball long enough to be able to do anything with it.


    "Unique FC are losing the ball quite easily but it''s a good thing their defense is properly taking care of things." Jim expressed. "Lesica United would be leading by now if their defense was as bad as their ball retention at the moment."


    The match had entered the twentieth minute now as the ball was sent to Okafor from the midfielder on the right, and just before Martinez could get to him, the striker released the shot but that wasn''t a problem as the ball went directly toward Dave who was able to stop it with both hands.


    "That''s not going to bother anyone," Jim said.


    "He was able to get past him for that first attack, but Martinez sure isn''t giving Okafor the space to do anything, the defensive midfielder has him in his pocket at the moment." Steve expressed.


    Dave quickly got up from the floor and scanned the area for a few seconds before he threw the ball up and sent it flying into the pitch with a kick.


    He sent the ball flying directly toward Fredinho who was able to win the aerial duel against the midfielder behind him before pushing the ball back to Ferran who quickly sent it rolling to Minino.


    "Looks like Unique FC are starting to get themselves together in ball retention," Steve said.


    Minino slowly approached the midfielder blocking his path with the ball, but that was just a trick to get the midfielder to slow down before he quickly raced past him with the ball.


    "Nice run from Minino to get through."


    The midfielder wasn''t able topletely shake off the midfielder so he had to send the ball to Carlos who tried to race down the wing before he changed his mind.


    He moved back with the ball before sending it to Ferran who quickly pushed it to Mateo before the yers heading toward him could get to him.


    Mateo received the ball and with just a single touch, he got the ball past the right back with a nutmeg to get into the box and now he was racing through the middle.


    However, the winger wasn''t allowed to go any further as he was brought down by a midfielder from behind.


    That was a rough challenge and the referee didn''t need anybody to tell him to blow his whistle.


    "Dave''s been brought down, that was a pretty tough challenge."


    "Yeah, Jim, but the question is, did it happen inside the box or not?"


    The yers from both teams were gathered around the official now, the home side were pleading for a penalty while the guests were trying to convince the goalkeeper that it happened outside the box.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 300 Close Call

    The referee was quite confused, so he had to go to the VAR monitor and see things for himself so that he would be able to make a good decision.


    "Well, it was pretty close, I mean it clearly looks like it happened in there," Jim said.


    After seeing things clearly for himself, the referee made his way to the pitch to make his decision.


    It was almost inside the box, but Mateo was just outside the box when he was brought down and fell into the box and so the referee decided that it was not a penalty kick, it was a free kick just at the edge of the box.


    "That''s the right call, most referees wouldn''t even bother to check that and just decide that it was a penalty kick which it clearly looks like so many people wouldn''tin unless they watched the rey carefully, I''m d he checked well and made the right decision."


    "Penalty or not, we are still leading and probably that goal may give us our second for the night." The goalkeeper muttered with his body rxed against the right post.


    <You have quite a lot of energy tonight>


    ''Well, I was out for quite a while.''


    <You only missed one match>


    ''Exactly.''


    Both Mateo and Ferran were standing over the ball as Lesica United formed their four-man wall inside the box so it was quite uncertain who was going to take the kick but the two knew who it was.


    "So, who''s it going to be, Mateo or Ferran?" Jim said.


    "I think Mateo''s the better free-kick taker, he has better technique and better uracy, Ferran''s uracy isn''t that bad either plus adding that enormous shot power of his does well in overwhelming the goalkeeper." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, if I were to pick one to take a free kick for me, I would pick Mateo but that doesn''t really have anything to do with the situation as Ferran may be the one taking the free kick."


    Once everything was set, the referee blew his whistle and now it was time to find out who was taking the free kick.


    The two stared at the ball for a while before Ferran took off toward it.


    It looked like he was going to kick it for a while before he jumped over it and moved out of the way for Mateo to quickly close up on it and curl it toward the top right-hand corner.


    The ball moved so fast and smoothly that the only thing the goalkeeper could do was stand and watch as the ball flew into the back of the.


    "It was Mateo after! And boy what a magnificent free kick that was!" Jim eximed.


    As soon as that ball went in, the winger turned to Ferran who let out a scream of joy before lifting him.


    The fans were now chanting the name of the winger as they jumped up and down in the stands.


    "Mateo Smith has given his team a two-goal lead as he gets his second goal of the night, what an inspirational yer and to think that he''s only neen years old." Steve expressed.


    "Yes, yes! A two-goal cushion!" The goalkeeper yelled as he raised his right hand and kicked the car, he was very excited just like the rest of his teammates.


    Lesica United yers had devastated looks on their faces as they knew things had gotten really bad for them with twenty-five minutes already gone in the match.


    "It''s going to be quite hard for Lesica United toe back from this considering the way Unique FC are ying now and the way they are ying, they can''t even get past their defense."


    "I think this already obvious but I don''t think Unique FC will be Unique FC without that youngster on the left wing," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but he will want to leave for a better league soon, so I think it''s best if Unique FC starts looking for a recement now." Steve expressed.


    The match continued with Lesica United trying to break through Unique FC''s defense but just like earlier, that wasn''t going as nned and the few shots which Okafor managed to create enough space for himself to shoot were all stopped by Dave, one of them was even close to going in.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The ball was drilled low toward the bottom left side while Dave was still on the right but the goalkeeper pushed himself to get there on time to push it out with the tip of his gloves toward Luis Roberto who pushed it closer for him to catch it before Jonathan got to the area.


    ''Second crucial save.'' The goalkeeper said before kicking the ball out into the pitch.


    Unique FC hadn''t really gotten a clear chance against Lesica United after that second goal as Lesica United seemed to have tightened up a bit at the back but they got two chances which resulted in two shots off target, one from Mateo and the other from Fredinho.


    The home side were the ones with the ball now and they were looking to start an attack.


    The clock had just hit the forty-fifth-minute mark and the official with the board raised his board to show that three minutes was added.


    "There''s going to be just three minutes of added time," Jim said.


    The attack was being led by Ferran who was pushing forward with the ball, but he was soon to have a confrontation as he got closer to the edge of the box, so he had to send the ball to Minino.


    He could have done better with the pass as he ended up clumsily hitting the ball and making it easier for the central midfielder who was on Minino''s trail to intercept it.


    "Clumsy pass from Ferran, this could be costly."


    The midfielder didn''t even waste time before he sent the ball flying toward Okafor who had already gotten past Adolf and Pirlo and was heading toward the goalpost now with the ball on his feet.


    All four defenders were close to the forty yards line area as Okafor had already gotten past them, they raised their hands to call for offside except for Rnd who was racing toward Dave now.


    "It''s a one-on-one situation, Unique FC''s whole back line is out of the way, this could be Lesica United''s chance to pull back one," Jim said as the excitement building up in him was reaching the boiling point.


    ''Oh, no, this isn''t good, what should I do?'' The goalkeeper was panicking in his mind as Okafor approached him.


    <You have a lot of things in your arsenal, you figure that out yourself>


    ''Oh,e on.''


    Okafor had gotten close enough to the goalkeeper who had made up his mind to do something and was about to release the shot toward the goalpost when the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the spot where he was found offside before pointing back to their side of the pitch.


    "Both linesmen had their gs up the whole time," Steve said.


    Okafor was quite infuriated with that decision that he sent the ball flying into the goalpost anyway.


    "He''s angry, but I''m d that call was made." The goalkeeper muttered before he crashed to the floor and let out a deep sigh.


    ''I was so close to using focus.''


    <You weren''t calm in any way so that would have ended in a bad way>


    ''Yeah, that was a close call.''


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 301 Bleeding Nose

    After that close call from the referee, he blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    "There''s the whistle, that''s the end of the first half," Jim said.


    "What an entertaining first half this has been, I expected it to be waypetitivepared to this but Unique FC are not messing around, they''ve gotten afortable two-goal lead, the second half is still avable and aeback for Lesica United isn''t out of question yet, although, I doubt Unique FC are going to let go of this two-goal lead that easily." Steve expressed.


    Unique FC yers were all gathered in the locker room now with Norman standing in front of them with his arms crossed.


    "Good job out day, all of you have been great so far, but don''t go out there in the second half and let your guard down, it would be catastrophic to allow them to make aeback on us, it has happened a lot of times and I don''t want it to happen again." The coach expressed.


    "No way, Coach, we''re not letting our guards down, we''ll keep pushing them out until the final whistle," Adolf said.


    "That''s good to hear," Norman said with a nod. "I don''t see any reason to make any changes so far but I have a contingency n just in case, and I''m going to tell you about it now."


    After filling the yers in on the contingency ns, he allowed them to rest up for a few minutes, and now, it was time for them to start making their way to the pitch.


    The crowd erupted with cheers as the yers made their way to the pitch.


    "Unique FC fans are more active than they used to be tonight, don''t you think, Steve?" Jim asked.


    "Yeah, they''re quite hyperactive tonight and that''s the way that it''s supposed to be, can''t you see the way the team is ying confidently?" Steve expressed.


    [ Conjoined Quest status ]


    [ ? crucial saves ]


    [ No striker has scored against you yet ]


    [ Quest is still active ]


    ''I just need to survive for this second half while also making three more crucial saves.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before he began to make his way to the pitch.


    "Looks like there''s been no changes from either side."


    Fredinho was standing over the ball in the ick-off spot waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    The referee slowly observed the area to make sure everything and everyone was ready before he blew his whistle to kick off the second half.


    "There''s the whistle and the second half is on the way," Jim said.


    Fredinho pushed the ball back to Martinez who quickly stretched it to Mateo on the left.


    All Mateo needed was a single touch to send the ball flying to Carlos from the top.


    Carlos had already broken loose on the right wing, but they weren''t going to make getting into the box easy for him.


    "Unique FC''s starting with an attack right off the bat," Jim said.


    The winger tried all he could to get past, and since he didn''t want to lose the ball, he pushed it back to Minino who quickly sent it rolling to Ferran in the middle.


    Ferran got hold of the ball and waited for the yer heading toward him to get to him before he got past him with some neat footwork before lobbing the ball over to Mateo on the left.


    "Mateo."


    Mateo quickly used body feints to get past the defender marking him and into the box but he wasn''t free yet and wasn''t given enough space to shoot, so he had to push the ball to Fredinho before stumbling to the floor.


    "He''sid it out for Fredinho."


    Fredinho got to the ball with a slide, but his effort was sent flying over the bar.


    "Oh, that could have been a wonderful goal and would have sealed the game for the home side."


    Fredinho sat there for a while with a smile on his face before he got up and began to make his way back to his side of the pitch.


    The game resumed with Lesica United slowly building up y from their side of the pitch.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The midfielder on the right moved down with the ball and just before he could run into Ferran, he pushed the ball to Levi.


    ? "Levi."


    Levi tried to make a run for it with the ball, but Rnd wasn''t going to make things easy for him, so he had to push the ball to Okafor in the middle before quickly getting past Rnd.


    As soon as he was past Rnd, Okafor quicklyid the ball off for him in the box.


    Rnd tried to stop him, but all the winger needed was a single touch to fire the ball toward the bottom right-hand corner of the goalpost.


    "Levi!"


    Dave quickly stretched his left leg right on time, and that was all he needed to block the ball and send it out for a corner kick.


    "Crucial save from Dave, and now they have a corner kick to deal with."


    ''That was close.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he got up from the floor.


    Levi quickly picked up the ball and went to drop it on the corner kick spot.


    The yers were inside the box now waiting for the ball and a few of them were hanging outside for the rebound which could be used to start a counterattack or just send it flying into the goalpost while the goalkeeper is disoriented.


    After making sure everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle and now, it was up to Levi.


    The winger stared at the ball for a few seconds before he took two steps backward, after that, he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    Adolf contested for the ball in the air against Okafor, but the striker ended up winning it, but due to Adolf''s head slightly making contact with his, his header was sent flying toward the bottom left side and before Dave could get to it, the ball hit the post and the rebound was sent rolling out.


    "Okafor''s effort hits the post but it''s not over yet."


    Jonathan was quickly heading toward the ball with a slide at that time but before he could get to it, Dave stretched toward the ball and covered it with both of his hands and because of that, Jonathan ended up hitting him.


    "That was a close call from Dave, but it looks like Jonathan ran into him there," Jim said.


    "I don''t think it''s anything serious, he''s getting up from the floor now," Steve said.


    "Yeah, I guess that wasn''t¡­."


    "Go!" The goalkeeper yelled, but before he could send out the ball, he crashed down the floor with it covering his face with both of his hands.


    "What just happened?"


    The referee had to stop y to check what was going on with him.


    "Hey, Dave, what''s wrong?" Adolf asked before slowly removing his hands from his face.


    That was when he saw that blood was dripping down from his nose and a lot of it had already run down his mouth.


    "Tell the medical team to get over here! His nose is bleeding!" The captain yelled.


    "Looks like that hit from Jonathan was serious after all, Dave Richards is down with a bleeding nose," Jim said.


    Emma looked up at the screen above the stadium to see the camera zoom in on Dave whose face was partially covered with blood dripping down from his nose.


    "Dave." She muttered with her mouth wide open.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 302 The Man To Seal The Game

    [ 60/100 HP ]


    [ Energy has dropped by 30% ]


    [ Stamina will drop faster in your current condition ]


    After applying some first aid treatment on the goalkeeper''s nose, the bleeding stopped and he was able to sit up on the floor.


    ''I''ve lost a lot of blood, haven''t I, Catherine?''


    <Yeah, but it''s not that much>


    ''Will I be able to continue?''


    <Yeah, you can but you''ll have to be careful, and just like the system said, your stamina''s drop rate has just increased, the best option is to ask toe off>


    ''But that has to be my decision to make, right?''


    <Yeah, but the best option is toe off, you guys are leading after all>


    ''I asked you if it was okay for me to continue and you said yes, but the best option is toe off, I don''t want toe off, I don''t want the best option.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.


    "Hey, Dave, will you be able to continue?" Mateo asked but there was no response from the goalkeeper.


    <But you guys are already leading, things will get really bad if you get hit again>


    ''Then, I''ll just be careful and avoid getting hit again, this two-goal lead won''t mean anything once they make aeback, that is why I have to stay here and make sure that doesn''t happen.''


    As he said those words subconsciously, he slowly got up from the floor until he was back on his feet.


    "Yes, I think I will be able to continue." He said with his gaze on Mateo who couldn''t help but smile.


    "Dave Richards is back on his feet and it looks like he''s going to be able to carry on," Jim said.


    As soon as the home fans saw the goalkeeper back on his feet, they burst into cheers of joy.


    "That''s good news for them, they wouldn''t want to see him go out when the match is just entering the fiftieth, he has been phenomenal so far in this match." Steve expressed.


    Everyone was happy to see Dave back on his feet and ready to continue with the match, well everyone except Emma who still had that worried expression on her face.


    "I hope you know what you''re doing." She muttered.


    The match had resumed now as the yers were waiting for Dave to send the ball out but he had a different thing in mind.


    Instead of sending the ball out, he passed it to Luis Roberto who helped him stretch it further outside the box.


    "Looks like Dave''s about to try something here."


    The goalkeeper raced toward the ball and just before Jonathan could get to him, he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    Lesica United''s goalkeeper knew what he was about to do and was already ready for it, but that didn''t mean it was going to be easy for him.


    The ball was sent flying toward the top left-hand side of the goalpost with a powerful shot as the goalkeeper got to it with the tip of his glove, but that was all he needed to push it up a little for it to hit the crossbar before falling over for a corner kick.


    "Oh, that was so close, what a wonderful save from Carlo to keep that out," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but now they have a corner kick to deal with," Steve said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The corner kick was going to be taken on the left side so Carlos decided to take it, Ferran was the club''s regr corner kick taker on both spots since he could make use of both feet quite well, but Carlos decided to take this one.


    He was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he sent the ball flying into the box.


    The ball deflected on a Lesica United yer''s head before falling off toward Ferran near the edge of the box and without hesitation, the midfielder sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    Carlo was glued to a spot as the ball flew past him toward the right side and hit the crossbar before falling out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, dear, that was so close, Unique FC should be four goals up by now," Jim said.


    "I think Ferran Phil has been hitting the woodwork a little too much since the start of the season," Steve said. "I rememberst season when he tried something like this against Olona FC and it didn''t have any problem going into the goalpost."


    "His shooting may have gotten a bit rusty, but he''s still a great midfielder, and his passes are still top-notch," Jim said.


    ''I thought you said his shooting uracy improved, Catherine, from what I''ve seen so far, I can say it''s worse thanst season.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    <Of course his shooting uracy improved, but shooting uracy isn''t the only thing that decides whether a shot will go in or not>


    ''Huh?''


    <Aiming and shot power also ys big roles in it, just like you have good shooting uracy but you end up hitting the crossbar most of the time because you aim too close to it>


    ''Oh, so that''s what''s going on with Ferran too.''


    <Yeah, and he also applies a lot of shot power to shots that don''t require that much shooting power>


    ''Got it, I''ll talk to him about it.''


    The match continued with both teams trying their best, it would have been okay for Unique FC to just park the bus and hold Lesica United down to thest, but that wasn''t Norman''s style, the team wanted a third goal and the defense were doing quite well supporting the attack while also doing their job.


    Lesica United had quite a number of good moments but the defense did their job well in stopping them and for the shots that managed to slip past them, Dave was there to stop.


    [ 5/5 crucial saves ]


    ''I just have to avoid conceding a goal from any of those forwards until thest whistle and might also throw in a clean sheet as a bonus.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before he sent the ball flying into the pitch.


    In the Seventy-fifth minute of the match, the ball was sent out for a throw-in by Rnd to stop Levi''s advance, and since Norman had not made any changes since the start of the match.


    The official with the board raised the board to show the number seven in red and the number sixteen in green.


    "Looks like Carlos is going to be the oneing off and he is going to be reced by Christian Merino, the man who was the true inspiration behind Unique FC''seback against Lesica Unitedst season to qualify for the conference league." Jim expressed.


    Carlos received a standing ovation from the fans as he left the pitch and Merino received an even louder standing ovation as he made his way onto the pitch.


    "Carlos hasn''t really been extraordinary tonight but he''s had a couple of good chances and now Merino is on the pitch," Steve said. "As we all know, Merino is more vibrant and energeticpared to Carlos and he is way more decisive when ites to shooting, that''s how he was able to break Lesica United''s heart that day and now Norman has brought him in to help seal the game for his side."


    "One thing is clear, he''s not making things easy for Unique FC."


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 303 Game Sealed

    The match had entered the eightieth minute now and still, Lesica United had not been able to produce anything meaningful as Unique FC were still leading two goals to nothing.


    Lesica United were by no means getting outssed by Unique FC even after bringing on Merino, if anything, Lesica United were the ones outying them by a little margin but that wasn''t going to do anything for them.


    Okafor got hold of the ball and was about to turn with it when it was quickly swept off his feet by Frankie who hade on to rece Ferran just a few minutes after Minino reced Carlos.


    "Nicely done by Frankie," Jimmented.


    The midfielder quickly got up from the floor with the ball glued to his feet and quickly pushed it to Minino.


    "Minino."


    Minino quickly took off with the ball and just before he could run into the Lesica United yer heading his way, he quickly sent the ball to Fredinho with a through pass.


    That pass seemed to have overhit the ball, so Fredinho had to run ahead and block it with his back heel, but that caused him to fall off bnce and now he was in danger of losing the ball.


    Two Lesica United yers were already upon him but before they could do anything, the striker pushed the ball back to Mateo who quickly closed up on the area as soon as he saw the situation that he was in.


    "Mateo gets close to make sure they don''t lose the ball," Jim said.


    The winger took the ball from the striker and quickly moved past the center backs to get into the box, and now he had a clear sight of the goal with the left back quickly heading toward it.


    "Mateo''s in the box and he has clear sight of the goalpost."


    The left-back wasn''t able to get to him on time with his slide as the winger released the shot toward the right side of the goalpost with just a little bit of elevation.


    "Mateo!"


    The goalkeeper dived toward the ball at that time and was able to push it out, but the rebound was set toward Merino who didn''t hesitate to fire the ball back toward the goalpost but luckily for the guest side, the left back quickly stretched his leg at that time to block the ball and send it out for a corner kick.


    "Two shots nicely stopped by Lesica United," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but now they have a corner kick to deal with," Steve said.


    Since Ferran was longer on the pitch, Minino had to step up to take the corner kick.


    "If Lesica United aren''t careful, Unique FC might just end up grabbing a third goal from them, from what we''ve seen so far, they''re still hungry for a goal." Steve expressed.


    After making sure that everything was set, the referee blew his whistle, but Minino didn''t immediately go charging in.


    He stared at the ball for a couple of seconds before he raised his gaze and slowly took two steps backward as he observed what was going on inside the box while trying to figure out the best ways to set up any of his teammates inside the box.


    Instead of going deep into the box, he sent the ball a little closer to the edge of the box near the middle area where Frankie was standing waiting for the rebound.


    The midfielder brought the ball down with his chest, and just before he could fire it toward the goalpost, he was pushed from behind, and which caused him to misce the shot which everybody watched roll past the line for a goal kick.


    Frankie quickly sat up on the floor and raised his hand to call for a foul, but the referee didn''t pay any attention to it.


    "He was definitely pushed there, but it looks like the referee''s not going to pay any attention to it," Jim said.


    "He could have scored from there if it wasn''t for that push, it may have been intentional but I don''t think it was that rough, maybe the referee doesn''t see it as worthy to be called a foul." Steve expressed.


    The match had entered the eighty-fifth minute now, and so far Lesica United had not been able to pull off another shot on target against Unique FC.


    Out of frustration, Okafor tried a shot from outside the box, but that wasn''t a problem for Dave as he watched the striker''s effort float over the bar not evening close to bothering him.


    "Another wasted effort from Okafor," Jim said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "It''s almost over," Dave said before he dropped the ball on the edge of the box inside the eighteen-yard box.


    <Yeah, but anything can....Oh, yeah, you already know that>


    The goalkeeper responded with a smile before he sent the ball flying into the pitch toward the right side specifically toward Minino.


    Minino won the aerial duel and quickly moved away with it before pushing the ball to Frankie who yed a through pass to Fredinho.


    The pass seemed to have been overhit as one of the center-backs got to the ball first and out of pressure, he sent the ball flying back to Unique FC''s goalpost.


    "Nice defending but he could have just pulled the ball back and passed it to any of his teammates, now he''s sent the ball back to Unique FC to try again with the time about to hit the nieth minute." Jim expressed.


    Dave had to move outside of his box with the ball as he was slowly checking out something in his mind.


    ''Merino is in a good position to make a good run and do something, but Mateo is being heavily marked, I guess they didn''t know how dangerous he was until now.''


    The forwards didn''t want to rush in toward the goalkeeper because they knew he would quickly dispose of the ball before they would get to him but at some point, Okafor lost patience and quickly rushed in toward the goalkeeper, but before he could get to him, the goalkeeper sent the ball flying off.


    The ball was sent flying toward Merino who quickly brought it down with his chest before he twisted away from the left back to get into the box but he wasn''t able to shoot as one of the center backs quickly blocked his path.


    His attempt to take the ball off the right winger with a slide failed as the winger quickly moved back with the ball before he found Mateo making his way into the box with the yer marking him hot on his trail.


    "The danger is still lurking around Lesica United''s goal area."


    Fredinho wasn''t in a good position, so Mateo was the only one the winger could rely on.


    Mateo got his foot on the ball and twisted the yer on his trail left and right with fast and confusing movements before he quickly turned and sent the ball flying toward the goalpost with his left foot while the yer was still in front of him.


    "Mateo!"


    Carlo dived toward the ball but he seemed to have misinterpreted the elevation of the ball as the ball ended up rolling into the goalpost from under his arm.


    "It''s in! What a magnificent strike from the youngster with his weak foot!" Jim eximed.


    For that goal, Mateo had to go a little wild although it wasn''t exactly his style.


    He quickly rushed to the sidelines while screaming, and once he got there, he kicked down the corner g breaking the whole thing into two.


    "That''s his hat trick, he''s been looking for it all night long and now he has finally gotten it," Steve said.


    The fans were wildly chanting now as Dave raised both of his hands with a bright smile on his face.


    "It''s over."


    After the goal celebration, the referee had to show Mateo a yellow card for intentionally breaking the corner g.


    "As expected, a yellow card for Mateo for breaking the g but I don''t think that''s going to bother him, they have the win in the bag." Steve expressed.


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 304 Make It Better

    "Mateo Smith managed to score just a single hat trickst season and it came against Frono prettyte in the season campaign, but this is just their fourth match of the season and he already has a hat trick." Jim articted. "And with this hat trick, he has now gone above Rnd Hills in the golden boot race, he now has seven goals while Rnd still has five."


    "Seven goals in four matches is pretty insane," Steve said.


    "Yeah, it is insane," Jim said. "There''s noing back from this one for Lesica United, they could try to salvage a constion goal but the hosts aren''t going to make that easy for them."


    Just like Jim said, Unique FC weren''t going to make things easy for them as they had finally decided to park the bus after that third goal.


    There were seven minutes of added time, but Lesica United weren''t able to do anything meaningful with it until the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end.


    "It''s all over, Unique FC has surprisingly grabbed a three-goal victory against Lesica United on their home turf handing them their first loss of the season." Jim articted. "I know most of the odds were in Unique FC''s favor, but I didn''t expect them to hold Lesica United down to the extent that they wouldn''t be able to score a single goal."


    "You know Mateo was injured thest time they faced each other and Unique FC still managed to grab a win from a wonderful but today with Mateo, they felt the real pressure as the youngster grabbed a stunning hat trick." Steve expressed. "With this win, Unique FC has moved above Supreme United to second ce with six goals difference, they''ll be praying for Supreme United to lose tomorrow so that they can keep the second spot and wait for the opportunity to overthrow Dynamo FC."


    "Yeah, Steve, but I don''t see Supreme United losing to Junami United," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but surprises happen in football, so we have to expect anything," Steve said. "You know, we also have to talk about Dave Richard''s brilliant start to the season, excluding the match against Dynamo FC which he didn''t take part in, Dave Richards has now kept three consecutive cleans sheets,pared to how he startedst season conceding eight goals in three games, this is a huge boost, nobody has scored against him so far this season."


    "Three clean sheets in a row, he''s leading in the golden glove race, no other goalkeeper in the league even has up to two clean sheets but he has three," Jim said.


    "It''s almost unbelievable how fast things switched up for him, from the worst goalkeeper in the league to arguably the best in the league."


    Thementators talked about a few other things and dropped their closing message before ending the broadcast.


    As expected, Mateo Smith was announced as the man of the match, he scored a hat trick and had a phenomenal performance so giving it to anyone else was going to be a daylight robbery and was surely going to spark up a lot of angry reactions from a lot of fans.


    Emma had to leave the official interview to her blonde-haired female colleague who had been pestering her to do it.


    Mateo knew that they were going to pick him for the interview but he didn''t want to do it, so he pushed in Rnd to do it in ce of him.


    "Hey, How''s your nose?" Emma asked before gently cing her hand on his nose.


    "Yeah, the bleeding has stopped now, it still hurts a little but it''s nothing to be worried about." The goalkeeper replied.


    The goalkeeper had Carlo''s shirt hanging over his shoulder as the Lesica United goalkeeper had asked for a shirt swap as soon as the match was over.


    "Okay," Emma said before she pulled her hand back and turned her gaze to Mateo.


    "You don''t have to ask me anything, I''m okay." The winger said abruptly.


    "That wasn''t what I wanted to ask you." She said as the expression on her face turned to a not-so-pleasant one.


    "Then what is it?" Mateo asked before flinching back a bit.


    "Why did you force Rnd to go do the interview? You were the one we wanted there."


    "Hey, don''t just say things like that, I didn''t force him, he was the one who wanted to do it, can''t you see how happy he is?"


    "Oh, just forget it." She said before letting out a deep sigh.


    "Who''s the blonde girl?" Dave asked.


    "Oh, that''s Amber, she''s a new employee who was just transferred to my department so I have to be her guide and show her how the practical part of things work," Emma replied.


    "And right off the bat, you''re telling her to handle something like that." The winger said.


    "Hey, she was the one who was pestering me to do it."


    "Yeah, but you could have at least stayed there and monitored how things are going, what if she asks him an out-of-context question on camera?" Mateo said.


    "Now that you''ve mentioned it, that is something she is capable of doing." She said as a panicking look suddenly appeared on her face. "I have to go, see you guyster."


    The yers watched her until she got to the area before they turned and began to make their way down the tunnel.


    [ Conjoined Questpleted ]


    [ You sessfully made five crucial saves ]


    [ None of the forwards was able to score against you ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +150 exp received ]


    [ +30 skill upgrade points received ]


    [ +1 stat point added to all stats including energy ]


    [ Clean sheet bonus ]


    [ +50 exp received ]


    ''I really got a clean sheet bonus.''


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Five crucial saves: +50 exp received ]


    [ Clean sheet: 100 exp received ]<novelnext></novelnext>


    [ Match rating: 8.4 ]


    ''That''s a lot of rewards, but¡­''


    [ 455/1000 EXP ]


    ''I''m going to need a lot more experience points.''


    <If you keep doing your best to make sure things go your way, then you''ll keep getting more experience points>


    The two got to the locker room to see that most of their teammates were already there but Norman wasn''t there yet.


    Norman had something to tell them like he always does at the end of every match, but they had to wait for everyone to get there.


    ''I expected them to be celebrating wildly since this was a huge victory but¡­''


    "They thought we were the Unique FC ofst season but we showed them what we''re made of!" Minino yelled before jumping on the table in the middle of the room.


    "Of course, the celebration just hadn''t started yet." The goalkeeper said before he made his way to one of the seats and sat down there.


    [ Career info ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ Age: 21 ]


    [ Height: 187 cm ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Strong foot: right ]


    [ Developed qualities: Shot stopper ]


    [ Developing qualities: Sweeper Keeper, ball ying keeper. ]


    [ Current Team: Unique FC ]


    [ Status: Starter ]


    [ Market value: €510,000 ]


    [ Matches yed: 86 ]


    [ Goals: 2 ]


    [ Assists: 5 ]


    [ Shots faced: 221 ]


    [ Goals conceded: 86 ]


    [ Saves made: 115 ]


    [ Penalties faced: 24 ]


    [ Penalties saved: 03 ]


    [ Clean sheets: 08 ]


    [ Career average rating: 7.3 ]


    [ Awards ]


    [ Man of the match awards: 06 ]


    [ Trophies ]


    [ Minor trophies: +1 Bilbeth Charity cup ]


    [ Major trophies: 0 ]


    [ Records set/broken ]


    [ Bilbeth Premier League record: First goalkeeper to score from 42 yards ]


    <Your career stats are looking okay for a goalkeeper at your level>


    ''Yeah, eighty-six goals conceded in eighty-six games, that''s one goal per game yed, it''s not the best but at least it''s better than what it used to be and I''m going to make it even better.''


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 305 That Was Fast

    "Our next match will be against Tereville United, they''re not in form at the moment so I think we''ll be able to take all three points but before that, we''ll be praying that Supreme United drops at least two points tomorrow, that would put them at the top of the table alongside Dynamo FC, catching up to them won''t be hard that way." Norman expressed. "You guys performed superbly today and I hope we can keep this up, winning the league title isn''t impossible, I think we can get there if we keep ying like this."


    After telling me that and a lot of other things, the yers were finally allowed to head home.


    Dave got home by 11:00 PM, and after parking his car in his usual parking spot, he got down from it and made his way to the door.


    ''I wonder what she''s doing now.'' He said subconsciously before cing his hand on the door.


    <Under normal circumstances, she should be sleeping, I''m pretty sure she''s sleeping>


    The goalkeeper didn''t reply to her as he opened the door and walked into the house to find her sitting on the couch fast asleep.


    "I guess you were right." He muttered as he slowly walked closer to her.


    Her breathing was calm and peaceful but it was a bit loudpared to other times as he could her from where he was standing.


    He kept his gaze on her for a while before he shrugged and began to make his way to the kitchen.


    "I''m thirsty." He said before he opened the freezer and pulled out a smaller bottled waterpared to the one of a liter that he had switched to since his daily quests got revoked.


    He opened the bottled water and slowly consumed it as he made his way out of the kitchen.


    "This nose still hurts." He said as he slowly pressed his nose before turning his gaze to his wife who was still fast asleep on the couch.


    ''I don''t want to try moving her upstairs and then she''ll wake up and start nagging me.'' He said subconsciously before turning his gaze to the staircase.


    After finishing the contents of the container, he threw it into the bin by the side before he began to make his way to the staircase.


    He quickly made his way upstairs and after about three minutes, he returned with a brown nket in his hand.


    He slowly used the nket to cover her body before he slowly took two steps backward.


    "She''s still asleep, I think I should go take a shower now." He said before he turned and slowly began to make his way upstairs.


    After about fifteen minutes, the goalkeeper returned downstairs putting on a purple robe that looked quite silky.


    He walked to the fruit basket on the dining table and picked up an apple before he made his way to the couch and slowly sat down beside Emma to avoid waking her up.


    "For some reason, I don''t really feel like sleeping early tonight." He took a bite from the apple he was holding before he picked up the remote and turned on the television.


    <Sleep early? You got home by 11:30 PM, that''s way past an early bedtime>


    ''I didn''t ask for your opinion.''


    The goalkeeper kept switching from channel to channel as he bit down on his apple, and just a few minutes after he was done with the apple, he was already fast asleep.


    Emma let out a soft moan as she slowly opened her eyes.


    "Who''s on my body?" She mumbled before looking down to see that it was her husband''s head that was on her body.


    "Dave, you''ve been back for a while now." She mumbled.


    _____ _____


    The match between Supreme United was set to kick off by 2:00 PM and since he didn''t have anything to do that day, the goalkeeper decided to watch it together with Mateo who came for a morning visit and ended up staying till noon.


    The time being disyed on the wall clock was 1:40 PM which meant that they had just twenty minutes to wait for the match to kick off.


    They were a few snacks on the table which Emma had dropped for them, but she wasn''t there at the moment, today was Sunday so she couldn''t be at work.


    The two were having a little chat in the living room while waiting for the match to start when someone suddenly knocked on the door.


    "Who could that be?" Dave said before quickly turning to the door.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll get it," Mateo said before he got up from the seat and made his way to the door.


    The winger got to the door and opened it to see someone he wasn''t sure he had seen before but he could remember catching a glimpse of that facest night.


    A blonde-haired girl with an oval face, a straight and slightly pointed nose, thin pink lips, hazel-shaped green eyes, and medium-length eyshes.


    She had freckles below both of her eyes, her body was quite slender, her chest wasn''t that big which was normal for her age and she was only slightly shorter than the winger.


    Mateo was lost in his thoughts for a while but luckily he was able to snap out of it before she could say anything.


    "Oh, hey, there." The winger said.


    "Hey, you''re Mateo Smith." She said with a bright smile on her face.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yeah, that''s me." The winger said with an awkward expression on his face.


    "I can''t believe I''m standing face to face with Unique FC''s superstar." She said, sounding like an excited high school girl.


    "Yeah, so what do you want?" He asked before cing his hand on the back of his head.


    "Oh, yeah, I should have asked you that from the beginning, I got carried away, I''m sorry. Is your big sister here?"


    ''She sure talks a lot.''


    "Um¡­she disappeared a few minutes ago, I don''t know, she may be upstairs." The winger replied.


    "Okay, but I think she has to be at home."


    "Yeah, but why are you looking for her?" He asked.


    "Um¡­she''s the one that told me toe here so that we can take care of things today, it''s work-rted." She exined.


    "Work-rted? You''re the new employee." The winger said in realization.


    "Yeah, I''m Amber Green." She said with a nod.


    ''I knew I saw that facest night.''


    "Amber." The winger said before fully opening the door for her toe in. "Come on in then."


    "Okay." She said before slowly stepping into the house.


    She had her bag pressed against her chest with her left arm, there was something inside, something that had the shape of aptop.


    "Oh, there you are," Emma said as she slowly made her way downstairs with herptop in her hand.


    "Oh, Mrs. Emma, good morning," Amber said abruptly after turning her gaze to Emma who was making her way to the dining table now.


    ''Suddenly nervous all of a second.''


    "Over here, Amber."


    "I guess this is bye, Mateo." She smiled before she began to make her way to the dining area.


    Mateo didn''t say anything as he turned and began to make his way back to the couch.


    "What took you so long at the door?" Dave asked.


    "I was confirming who she was." The winger said as he sat down on the couch.


    "Okay, the match''s going to kick off anytime soon now."


    Just two minutes after kick-off, Supreme United put the ball into ck Roz FC''s goalpost.


    Dave was about to react angrily when he realized that Mateo wasn''t paying attention to the match, his gaze wasn''t even on the television.


    ? "You know, I didn''t know you were that into blondes." The goalkeeper said.


    "Huh?" The winger said before quickly turning his gaze to him. "What are you talking about?"


    "You have your gaze elsewhere."


    "No.."


    "Supreme United just scored."


    He quickly turned his gaze to the television to see the rey of Rnd lobbing the ball over the goalkeeper and into the goalpost.


    "Oh, that was fast." He muttered.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 306 Two Straight Victories

    Supreme United ended up beating ck Roz FC five goals to one and that saw them move to the top of the top with twelve points, Dave wasn''t happy about it just like his teammates and Dynamo FC yers but there was nothing he could do about it, the only thing they could do now was try not to fall off too much, clinging to third ce and trying to surpass Dynamo FC was their goal at the moment.


    Their next match next week was against Tereville United away from home and that match was way tougher than they imagined.


    The first was quite hectic with a lot of defensive errorsing from the defense but they were lucky Dave was there to stop the ball before anything deadly happened.


    Tereville United even managed to score a goal but it was ruled offside to the relief of Unique FC.


    They had pretty good chances in that first half but Mateo was missing a lot of chances which wasn''t like him at all and on top of that, he was being heavily marked and had not been able to create the space to do what he does best.


    The first half ended goalless but everyone watching the match knew that Tereville United wanted it more, Unique FC may have gotten sixty-five percent of ball possessionpared to their thirty-five but they had eight shots with six being on target while Unique FC had just four shots with only one being on target.


    Luckily for the team, Norman was able to figure out what was wrong and had a good if not perfect countermeasure for it.


    In the second half, things got a bit better for Unique FC and a little bit of the pressure was taken off but Tereville United still had that zeal and they were attacking with everything they had.


    They were sitting at the bottom of the table with only one point so far this season and they were desperately in need of a win.


    Unfortunately, things started to fall apart for them after Mateo won a penalty kick which he glued the goalkeeper to a spot to put away.


    After taking the lead from the penalty spot, Unique FC slowly began to take control of the match and just in the eighty-fifth minute Ferran sent the ball flying toward the goalpost from twenty-five yards out after receiving the ball from Rnd.


    The ball was sent flying toward the top left-hand side of the goalpost as the goalkeeper dived toward it, but he wasn''t able to get to it on time as the ball hit the angle before falling into the goalpost.


    "Oh, what a strike from Ferran!" Jim eximed.


    "At this juncture, the game is sealed, it''s another win for Unique FC."


    Tereville United really fought hard to get a goal but they were quite unlucky as Unique FC ran away with a two-goal victory.


    Unique FC''s next match was against Zilo FC and it was also away from home.


    Unique FC dominated the match right from the first half but no matter how much they tried, they weren''t able to get the ball into Zilo FC''s goalpost as they seemed to be parking bus.


    All they were doing was defending while Unique FC were trying their possible best to get a goal, they desperately searched for a goal but they weren''t able to find it until the referee blew his whistle to bring the first half to an end.


    Norman was resting a few of his stars like Rnd and Martinez but despite that, Zilo FC weren''t able to do anything to them attacking-wise, they looked quite mediocre.


    The second half was when things started to get interesting as Zilo FC started to open up their defense a lot bit, they were attacking more now as a result of that, but that was quite a big mistake from their side as what they just did was give Mateo just the right amount of space that he needed to rain havoc on their defense.


    Unique FC came really close to opening the score in the fiftieth minute when Mateo floated in a cross from the wing.


    Fredinho hit his head on the ball and instead of putting it up he decided to put it down but his effort ended up hitting the post before rolling out for a goal kick.


    A few minutes after that, Unique FC won a free kick right at the edge of the box and it was clear who was going to be taking it as he was standing over the ball now with his hands on his waist.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Once the walls were formed and everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle.


    The winger stared at the ball for a while from where he was standing before he quickly closed up on it and fired it toward the goalpost from below.


    The ball was sent rolling toward the bottom left-hand side as the goalkeeper quickly dived toward it.


    He managed to get his hand on it, but it wasn''t enough to push it out as the ball ended up rolling into the goalpost.


    "It''s in! The deadlock is finally broken!" Jim eximed as Mateo got pulled down to the ground by his teammates. "How good is this kid?! Two goals from free-kick tries this season!"


    "And not only that, he''s just extended his streak, he has now scored in six consecutive games this season," Steve said.


    That goal shattered the spirits of Zilo FC yers and fans but instead of attacking with everything they''ve got to try and get an equalizer, they decided to park the bus once again.


    They had only three shots and none of them were on target so it wasn''t an exaggeration to say that Dave was watching a Netflix show back at his goalpost.


    Unique FC attacked with everything they had trying to get a second goal, but they weren''t able to get it until thest minute.


    As soon as the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end, Dave along with most of his teammates raised their hands as they made their way to the sidelines.


    "There''s the whistle, another win in the bag for Unique FC," Jim said.


    "There were a lot of doubts on if they would be able to fight for the title this season, but they''re proving the haters, five wins and a loss in six matches." Steve expressed.


    "And not only that, their yers are breaking records and setting records, Mateo has now equaled Rnd Hill''s record of consecutive matches without failing to score a goal and he may even go ahead to break it." Jim expressed. "Dave Richards is also on his way to breaking the record for the most consecutive clean sheets in a season."


    "Yeah, this match was quite a hectic one but Zilo FC made it somewhat boring, who knows if Unique FC would have gotten a goal if it wasn''t for that free kick."


    "This season is turning out to be a st," Dave said with an excited voice as he headed down the tunnel with his teammates.


    <The ball hasn''t gone past you in five matches, that''s something to be proud of>


    ''Yeah.''


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 307 A Possiblity That Never Happened

    Despite winning theirst two matches, Unique FC remained in third ce as both Supreme United and Dynamo FC were also able to win theirst two matches.


    Supreme United had won all their matches so far this season while Dynamo FC had dropped two points from a draw and Unique FC had dropped six points from a loss.


    To sum that up, Supreme United had all eighteen points from six matches, Dynamo FC had thirteen points from six matches and Unique FC had twelve points from six matches which meant that overtaking Dynamo FC wouldn''t be that tedious if they keep up their good performance.


    The team sitting behind Unique FC in fourth ce was surprisingly a team that had just been promoted to the Bilbeth Premier League, Ballena United, they were sitting there with ten points from six matches and the team right behind them wae Lesica United with the same amount of points.


    Unique FC''s next match wasn''t going to be an easy one as they were going to be facing off against Spree City on their home turf, facing off against Spree City had never been easy for them, but they were going to try their best just like they had been doing.


    Their next league match was against Spree City, but before that, they had a match outside the league matches.


    The Europa conference League qualifiers had kicked off and they had a matching up on Friday so they had four days to prepare for the match.


    They were going to be traveling to St. Jacob-Park, Switzend to face off against FC Basel in the first leg of Europa Conference League qualifiers.


    The match was on Friday the thirty-first of October, thest day of October so they had to leave for Switzend on Thursday evening but before that, they had a couple of days off to rx and do anything as long as it wasn''t something stupid.


    It was Sunday, so Dave was home and so was Emma who had been acting grumpy all morning and the goalkeeper was doing his best to avoid getting on her nerves.


    Dave was busy rxing on the couch in the living room with a drink when she slowly walked out of the kitchen, and she still had that pissed-off look on her face.


    "I''m going upstairs." She said before turning to the staircase.


    "You better do." The goalkeeper said before taking a sip from his drink.


    "What was that?" She said before she stopped moving and quickly shot a re at him.


    "Nothing." He said so abruptly that he almost choked on his drink.


    She kept her gaze on him for a while before she turned and continued her walk upstairs.


    "That was close." The goalkeeper said before letting out a deep sigh.


    ''She gets irritated by even the most insignificant things I do these days.''


    <You''re lucky she''s not like this when she''s normal>


    ''Huh?''


    <I''m just saying you two would have never gotten married if she was like this naturally, this rtionship would have been over a long time ago>


    ''Hey, don''t say things like that.''


    <It doesn''t matter if I say it or not, it''s the simple truth. You''re quite lucky to find someone like her, tolerant people are really hard toe by as you saw with your father, the management board, and most of your teammates back then>


    ''Yeah, I guess you''re right, and now that you put it that way, I don''t think I would have med her if it did turn out that way.''


    <You don''t have any reason to>


    "But, I''m d it didn''t end up that way." He said with a cheerful voice before springing up from the couch.


    He quickly took down the contents remaining in the ss and dropped it on the table before quickly making his way upstairs.


    After getting upstairs, he made his way to the room where he found Emma lying on the bed going through her phone with that moody expression still on her face.


    She noticed him enter the room and slowly turned her gaze to him before she turned it back to her phone and continued doing what she was doing.


    ''Ignoring me won''t make me go away.''


    "Hey, there." He said before jumping on the bed to get her reaction.


    He expected a re or some yelling but there was absolutely no reaction from her.


    ''Okay, this has entered a whole different phase.''


    He had to take her phone from her to get her reaction, and it wasn''t a cool away.


    "I''m going to bite you if you don''t give that back now." She said, ring at him.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Bite me?" He said before bursting into a feat ofughter. "Okay, why don''t youe try it?"


    "Give it back."


    She stretched both of her her hands to take the phone, and that was when he got the chance to pull her down on his legs while holding both of her hands.


    "Good." He said before pulling his face closer to hers.


    "Good, I wonder what you''re going to do now." She said imitating his voice.


    He wanted tough but he had to hold it in to say what he wanted to say.


    "You know, Sunday''s the only day you really get to rest around here, so why don''t we go out and go have some fun?" He said staring directly into her eyes.


    "I took you long enough." She said before rolling her eyes.


    "Huh?"


    That response came as quite a shock to him.


    "I said, it took you long enough." She said before crossing her arms.


    "So, you wanted me to take you out all this while?"


    "Of course, wasn''t it obvious?" She asked.


    "Not at all." He said as he shook his head. "I thought you were just unnecessarily angry just like the other times."


    ''So, there was a reason behind it after all.''


    "Unnecessarily angry." She said as the expression on her face was slowly changing back to the way it was before now.


    "Hey, hey, forget about that, just tell me where you want to go." He said with a nervous smile on his face.


    After getting asked that question, she turned her gaze away from him to face the ceiling.


    "Um...a nice and rxing ce like the beach." She said.


    "The beach is okay." The goalkeeper said.


    "No, it''s not the beach." She said before shaking her head.


    ''You''ve got to be kidding me.''


    "Then where? You just said the beach and immediately ruled it out after that."


    "A nice and rxing ce like a spa, yeah a spa will be perfect." She said before quickly turning her gaze to him.


    "Are you sure that''s where you want to go?"


    "Yeah." She replied.


    "Alright then, a spa it is." The goalkeeper said before stepping down from the bed. "I need to go take care of something downstairs, get ready, I''ll be back up soon."


    She kept her gaze on him until he was out of the room before she turned to face the ceiling.


    "There''s no rush." She smiled before slowly closing her eyes.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 308 First Time In Switzerland

    The Europa conference League qualifiers match was set to kick off tomorrow and now, the team were getting ready to start their journey to Basel, Switzend.


    They were picked up by the bus and dropped off at the airport where the team''s private ne was already waiting for them.


    A lot of the yers on the team were really excited as this was the first time they were traveling to another country to y apetitive match and that included Dave.


    Once all the yers were inside along with all the staff, the door was closed and the ne ran the course before zooming off into the sky.


    "Switzend isn''t that far from Bilbeth so this should take less than two hours." Dave expressed before turning his gaze to Mateo who was sitting beside him as always.


    "Yeah." The winger said with a nod.


    The flight was quite a fun one for the team, and just like Dave said, it didn''t take up to two hours before they got there.


    They were picked up by a bus as soon as they arrived at the Euro airport and the bus took them to where they were going to be staying for the night which was a pretty nice airport.


    "It''s a bit chilly here, but it''s not that bad." The goalkeeper said as he stepped down from the airport along with his teammates.


    Seventeen yers made this journey along with the coach, assistant coach, and three people from the medical team, so there was supposed to be enough room for everybody if the yers shared rooms.


    It was going to be two people per room just like during the pre-season tour and as always, Dave ended up with his brother-inw.


    The room looked quite nice with an interior design made to look premium wood-like, there were two beds and the other side was just ss, it was a skyscraper after all.


    "I couldn''t ask for more," Dave said before crashing down on the bed on the right.


    "Yeah, it''s pretty decent," Mateo said before dropping his bag on the bed. "This is my first time being in Switzend, but it''s pretty nice here, Bilbeth pales inparison when ites to having an active street at night."


    "You can say that again," Dave replied.


    The goalkeeper slowly sat up on the bed to see Mateo opening the door.


    ''How did he get there so fast?''


    "Where are you going?"


    "I''ll be back, I think I dropped something." He said before leaving the room.


    "Okay," Dave said before crashing down on the bed again.


    [ 825/1000 EXP ]


    ''Just a couple of exp''s now and I''ll reach level ten.''


    <You would be in level ten by now if you didn''t fail that quest against Zilo FC>


    ''Fail the quest? How was I supposed to make three crucial saves when they couldn''t get a shot on target throughout the whole game, I only got ten experience points for that clean sheet, that goes to show how unimportant I was in that match.'' He expressed subconsciously.


    <Yeah, that wasn''t your fault in any way>


    There was a little moment of silence between the two before Dave decided to say something.


    ''You know, I haven''t gotten the chance to use my shot-stopping attribute since it leveled up, I wonder if I will be forced to use it tomorrow.''


    <You could have used it against Terevile United>


    ''I wanted to, but I never got the chance, they were quite scary with their attacks but their shotscked that confusing factor that would have forced me to activate the boost.''


    <Spoken like a true hotshot>


    ''FC Basel are currently sitting in first ce in the Swiss Super League, considering where they ended upst season, this is a huge jump for them, I wonder how tough they''ll be.''


    <You''ll find out tomorrow>


    "Hey, Dave."


    The goalkeeper was quite engrossed in his conversation with Catherine that he didn''t notice Mateo open the door and stick his head into the room.


    "Oh, hey, you''re back." He said after turning his gaze to him.


    "Yeah, how do you see going to check out their stadium?"


    "You mean now?" Dave asked before sitting up on his bed.


    "Yeah," Mateo said with a nod.


    "Okay, that would be fun." The goalkeeper said before getting up from his bed.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Cool, let''s go then."


    The two made their way to the elevator which they took to get downstairs to find Norman standing at the exit to the hotel.


    "Hey, coach, where are you heading to?" Dave asked as soon as they got close to him.


    "Where did you twoe from?" He was quite surprised to see them down there. "I just want to go check out St. Jakob-Park since it''s my first time here."


    "That''s where we''re also heading to," Dave said.


    "Let''s just get going," Mateo said before opening the door.


    The night was dark now as the sun waspletely gone but the streets were bright and as lively as ever.


    There was music with a lot of people walking around the area buying snacks and just enjoying themselves.


    The three ignored them because it had nothing to do with them but not only that, it wasn''t good to draw attention to themselves.


    It won''t be nice to get crowded by a lot of people at a time and ce like this.


    After walking a few kilometers, Norman along with both of his yers got to the stadium.


    They were warmly weed by the staff and after exchanging a few words with FC Basel''s manager who was just heading out at that time, the three made their way straight to the pitch.


    The lights were on in the stadium so everywhere was bright enough for them to explore, they weren''t alone though as FC Basel''s content creation team decided to tag along to take a few photos of them checking out the stadium.


    There was nothing really special about the stadium except that it was thergest stadium in Switzend and one of the most sophisticated stadiums in the country.


    "The biggest stadium in Switzend doesn''t hold a candle to Camp Nou," Dave said as he looked around the area.


    He could say that because he''s yed in camp Nou before.


    "Yeah, but it''s bigger than ours, the difference isn''t that much but it''s still there," Mateo said.


    The St. Jakob-Park had a capacity of 38,512pared to the Wondanimo stadium''s capacity of 37,800.


    "Yeah, it''s bigger than the Wondanimo," Dave said.


    "And not only that, it looks better as a stadium, the Wondanimo needs a renovation," Mateo said.


    "You''re right, but the club doesn''t have the money for a huge project like that at the moment, maybe sometime in the future," Norman said.


    "Yeah, I guess." The winger said.


    <They have a nice pitch for football here>


    ''Yeah, and since it''s not thatrge, my long-range shots won''t require much power.''


    <Yeah>


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Score from your side of the pitch tomorrow ]


    [ Quest time: Score from your side before the seventy-fifth minute ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +150 exp ]


    [ +3 stat points ]


    [ +20 skill upgrade points ]


    ''A match quest by this time? And it has a duration?''


    <Looks like you''ve finally unlocked this type of quests>


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 309 A Quest To Complete

    The bright rays of the sun shone into the room from the ss, the rays of the morning sun shone on both Mateo and Dave who were still fast asleep on their beds.


    It was only after a few seconds that Dave slowly opened his eyes, he blinked a couple of times and rubbed his eyes with both of his hands before slowly sitting up on his bed.


    "I guess it''s morning already." He said before turning his gaze to Mateo who was still fast asleep on his bed.


    <Good morning>


    ''Good morning, Catherine.'' He said subconsciously before stepping down from his bed.


    He checked the time on the wall clock to see that it was 6:05 AM.


    "The match doesn''t start till 2:00 PM so..." He muttered as he made his way to the bathroom.


    Today was the day, the day they faced off against FC Basel in the Europa conference league qualifiers to determine who was going to go through to the group stage.


    This was just the first leg but they had to take it seriously, beating FC Basel here meant that they would face them at home in the second leg as the team with the advantage.


    By the time Dave came out from the bathroom, Mateo was already sitting on his bed staring through the ss.


    He noticed Dave enter the room so he had to turn his gaze.


    "Oh, Dave, good morning." The winger said.


    "Good morning," Dave said as he walked past him to his bed. "We have about seven hours to get ready for today."


    "That''s more than enough time," Mateo said before springing up from his bed.


    "Yeah, you seem quite energetic this morning."


    "Well, what can I say?" The winger said as he stretched both of his hands. "I''m just excited."


    "Excited, huh."


    "Yeah, this is the first time since I was promoted to the first team that we''re facing a team from the Swiss Super League in apetitive match, it''s also the first time I''m participating in a Europeanpetition."


    "It''s also my first time participating in a Europeanpetition, so I guess I''m excited too," Dave said before smiling at him. "Basel has been in spectacr form since the start of this season, so this isn''t going to be an easy match."


    "They''ve been in spectacr form and so have we," Mateo said, but he had to rephrase his words. "Okay, we haven''t been as spectacr as them, but that doesn''t really mean anything, it''s going to be a tough match quite alright but I''m positive that we''lle out on top."


    "I like your positivity, I think we can do it," Dave said with a nod.


    _____ _____


    There was only an hour left before the match kicked off and that was the reason why the yers from both teams could be seen warming up for the match on the pitch.


    The stands on all sides were slowly getting filled up by fans from both teams but as expected, FC Basel had roughly seventy percent of their fans in the stands, the rest were Unique FC fans.


    The yers were done with the normal warm-up up procedures and were now practicing with the ball.


    "I didn''t get to feel it properly yesterday, but this grass has a nice texture," Mateo said as he joggled the ball in front of Dave who was just sitting on the floor.


    "Yeah, they have nice grass." The goalkeeper said after feeling some of the grass with his right hand.


    He watched Mateo joggle for a couple of minutes before he picked up his gloves and strapped them onto his hand.


    "Let''s go do the practice shots." He said before he got up and began to make his way to the goalpost.


    "Okay," Mateo said before he kicked the ball up and caught it.


    He waited for Dave to reach the goalpost before he dropped the ball right at the edge of the box.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I''m not going to go easy this time." The winger said.


    "Sure, whatever." The goalkeeper said with a shrug.


    Mateo slowly took three steps away from the ball before he quickly closed up on it and sent it flying toward the top left-hand corner.


    Dave got to it right on time and sent it over the bar with a punch from his right hand before crashing down to the floor.


    FC Basel''s first-choice goalkeeper Filip Marko had gone to have a drink on the sidelines and was now watching Mateo and Dave''s practice from there, from the look on his face, he seemed to be quite impressed.


    He seemed to be of the same height as Dave, but his body was quite muscr, he had ck hair and a nice hairline, a pair of green eyes, a slightly convex nose, and slightly plump lips.


    "I heard he''s a spectacr goalkeeper, but I haven''t even watched anything about him to see how true that is." He muttered.


    "You should have tried to watch a couple of them."


    The goalkeeper quickly turned around to see Alexander standing behind him with both of his hands in his pocket.


    "You''re their second-choice goalkeeper, right?" Filip asked after turning his gaze to the youngster.


    "Yeah, and I see you were talking about Dave, there," Alexander said before pulling closer to him. "You know sometimes I wonder how he does the things he does."


    "Huh?"


    "He was arguably the worst goalkeeper in the leaguest season and this season, he hasn''t conceded any goal in five matches." Alexander expressed.


    "Isn''t it supposed to be six matches?" Filip asked.


    "Yeah, he was out with an ankle injury during one of those matches so I had to take over, I ended up conceding two goals and we lost the match," Alexander exined.


    "Oh."


    "Dave''s an extraordinary goalkeeper and you''ll see that in this match, you should also try watching a few of his lips, from this season, notst season," Alexander said before running off into the pitch.


    Filip kept his gaze on him for a while before turning it back to what Dave and Mateo were doing.


    "Dave Richards, huh." He muttered with a smile on his face.


    Just thirty minutes before the kick-off, the yers all made their way down the tunnel to get ready for the match.


    For this match, Unique FC were going to be putting on their new away kit which was a lemon green kit with broken ck stripes and the Webnovel logo stylishly designed with orange, Dave''s kit was ck, and for the first time ever, they threw a little bit of orange in the shading, the orange shading made the ck kit look brighter.


    FC Basel, on the other hand, were putting on their normal home jersey which had red on the left and blue on the right, the left sleeve was blue and the right sleeve was red and the goalkeeper had to put on a green kit.


    Once the yers were set, the assistant coach walked in to say something.


    "Hey, guys I think you guys should start heading out now." He said.


    [ Score from your side before the seventy-fifth minute ]


    ''I have a quest toplete.'' Dave said subconsciously before quickly getting up from where he was sitting.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 310 A Lot Of Guts

    "Wee to our viewers from all around the world, it''s your regrmentator Jim Waterson and joining me here in the studio just like you all guessed is Mr. Steve Waterson." Jim expressed.


    "Wee everyone, it''s really nice to be back here to talk about the match with Jim here as it goes on, I hope you all enjoy yourselves."


    "They''re definitely going to enjoy themselves as we have quite an interesting match-up here today," Jim said. "FC Basel versus Unique FC, a battle between two teams that happen to be in spectacr form so far this season."


    The fans of both teams were making noise as the yers lined up in front of the stadium.


    After shaking hands with each other, the captains made their way to the referee for the coin toss.


    FC Basel won the coin toss which meant that they chose the goalpost on the left and were going to be the ones to start the match from the kick-off spot.


    "FC Basel are currently on top of the Swiss Super League table with only two points dropped from a draw so far this season, Unique FC on the other hand has dropped three points from a draw, this is going to be a tough match and it is sure going to be an interesting one." Jim expressed, he couldn''t hold back the excitement in his voice.


    The yers from both teams had moved to their side of the pitch and all that was remaining now was for the referee to blow his whistle.


    Norman was using his standard four-three-three C formation but instead of starting Martinez in the defensive midfield position, he put Frankie there.


    The defense had Norman Kole on the right, Aima and Adolf as center backs and Rnd in the left back position.


    Frankie was the defensive midfielder and upfront in the attacking midfield position was Ferran and Minino.


    The attack had Fredinho as the striker, Carlos on the right wing, and Mateo on the left wing.


    Fred wasn''t happy with being left out in a couple of matches this season and that was quite clear as he had a gloomy look on his face as he sat on the bench with his arms crossed.


    Just like Unique FC, FC Basel were using the four-three-three formation, but they were using the B versions and that meant two defensive midfielders and one attacking midfielder.


    The match was about to kick off now as the yer with the name Henrique on top of the number ten on the back of his jersey and beside him was another yer with the name Reto written above the number seven on the back of his jersey.


    After making sure that everything and everyone was ready, the referee blew his whistle to start the match.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way," Jim said.


    Henrique quickly pushed the ball back to Reto who quickly floated it over the top toward their striker who was heading toward the box now, but luckily for the guests, Adolf was right there to clear the danger with his head.


    The striker had the name Hans written above the number nine on the back of his jersey.


    "Basel tried a quick attack, but it''s a good thing Unique FC have Adolf Alexis on their side," Jim said.


    Mateo was able to recover the ball after that danger aversion from Adolf but he had put himself in a tricky situation to do that and he almost lost the ball before Ferran got closer to take it and without hesitation, he sent it back to Rnd.


    "FC Basel has lost the ball from that attempt and it doesn''t look like Unique FC are going to give it back easily."


    Unique FC yers were perfectly linking with their passes and those neat passes were all they needed to keep the ball away from FC Basel while trying to figure out the best way to attack.


    Mateo received the ball from Minino and just before the midfielder heading toward him could get to him, he pushed the ball to Ferran and quickly moved past the midfielder to receive the ball back from Ferran.


    "Nice link up between Ferran and Mateo here," Jim said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The winger quickly drifted toward the middle before passing the ball to Ferran once again and as soon as he did that, he quickly shifted back to the right and moved past the right back to receive the ball back from Ferran right at the edge of the box on the left.


    The right-back caught hold of his shorts to try and pull him down, but that wasn''t enough as the winger fired the ball toward the goalpost with his right foot.


    "Ma..te..o!" Jim eximed as the youngster''s effort hit the left post before rolling out for a goal kick. "Oh, it hit the woodwork."


    "That was a brilliantbination between Mateo and Ferran there, that should have been in the back of the," Stevemented.


    "The match has just begun but Unique has already started heating things up, making the first goal attempt of the day."  Jim expressed.


    "These guys are better than expected, but I need to see what Dave Richards can really do," Filip muttered to himself before he sent the ball flying into the pitch.


    Frankie contested for the ball with Reto and won it before quickly pushing the ball to Carlos who moved it back for Ferran to y Fredinho through with a through pass.


    However, the attacking midfielder seemed to have overhit the ball as the center-back got to the ball, and out of pressure from the striker heading toward him, he sent the ball flying back toward Unique FC''s goalpost.


    This could have turned into a tricky situation but Adolf was there to nod the ball back to Dave preventing Henrique from getting hold of it.


    "Another danger averted by Adolf, he''s doing everything possible to make sure his team stays safe here," Jim said.


    Dave had to move closer to the edge of his box to trap the ball with his foot instead of catching it with his hands like every other goalkeeper would do in that situation as Reto wasn''t that far away from him.


    Reto quickly rushed toward him to try and take the ball off him, but the goalkeeper was well aware of his environment as he quickly tipped the ball over to get past Reto before jumping over him to move it further down the pitch.


    "That was quite risky from Dave, it takes a lot of guys for a goalkeeper to try something like that in front of his goalpost." Jim expressed.


    "I guess Dave has a lot of guts."


    "This is my chance." The goalkeeper muttered before he pushed the ball a little further and pulled back his right foot to send it flying toward the goalpost.


    "He''s trying the shot," Jim said in excitement.


    "What''s this?" Filip said as he quickly returned to his goal line before quickly jumping to try and stop the ball, but he wasn''t able to get his hand on it as the ball hit the crossbar before flying out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, the crossbares to the rescue, it''s another woodwork save," Jim said as Dave bit his lower lip before folding both of his hands.


    Filip was relieved as hey inside his goalpost, but he had a confused expression on his face.


    "How can a shot carry that much power?"


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 311 Looking For A First Half Breakthrough

    After that close attempt from Dave, the match continued, but so far, none of the sides had been able to produce a goal.


    It wasn''t exactly fair to say that Unique FC were dominating the game, but anybody watching the match would know that Bilbeth Premier League side looked more confident with the way they were moving the ball around, FC Basel seemed to be a bit disoriented, and were trying to get that confidence back into their y.


    Henrique moved down the right wing with the ball and just before Rnd could get to him, he quickly shifted the ball to the attacking midfielder in the middle.


    The midfielder got hold of the ball, and without hesitation, he sent it rolling to Reto who quickly shifted it to Hans who was near the edge of the box now.


    Hans didn''t even think twice before he fired the ball toward the goalpost, the shot had a pretty heavy power on it, but unfortunately, it went directly toward Dave who didn''t have any trouble stopping it.


    "Oh, that''s not troubling anyone," Jim said.


    As everyone moved away from the box area, Dave dropped the ball on the edge of the box inside the eighteen-yard box before he slowly took three steps backward.


    ''If I try a direct shot and the goalkeeper doesn''t touch it, then it wouldn''t be a goal, and I would just be gifting them the ball.'' He said subconsciously before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent flying into the pitch.


    The ball was sent flying toward Minino who had to fight for the ball with the midfielder, he ended up winning the ball somehow before quickly pushing it to Frankie who feigned going through the middle before he quickly turned and passed the ball to Mateo.


    "Mateo."


    The winger had space to run due to two of the midfielders being dragged out of the way by his teammates, but he had to deal with the other defensive midfielder as he got closer to the box, but instead of trying to dribble past him, he pushed the ball to Fredinho who tried to dribble past the yers in front of him, the center backs before pushing the ball back to Ferran which was the safer option.


    Ferran quickly moved the ball toward the right to get away from the defensive midfielder heading toward him before he passed the ball to Carlos on the right wing.


    "Carlos."


    The winger slowly approached the left back with the ball and once he saw his legs open wide enough, he quickly put the ball past him through his legs before zooming past him to receive it at the other side.


    "Nicely done by Carlos, can he find someone in the box?"


    Instead of looking for someone in the box, Carlos decided to look for someone outside the box just at the edge.


    The winger quickly floated the ball over to Ferran at the edge of the box, the home side had made the mistake of leaving him unmarked while they were securing their box as the attacking midfielder got his foot on the ball and sent the volley flying toward the right side of the goalpost with just enough shot power and elevation to make it a goal threat.


    Filip dived toward the ball and for some second there, it looked like he was going to miss it until he pushed it out with the tip of his gloves.


    "Oh, what a save from Filip!" Jim eximed.


    "Really close call from Filip but now they have a corner kick to deal with," Steve said.


    "That was close," Dave muttered from his goalpost.


    Ferran quickly picked up the ball and moved it to the corner area and now, all he was waiting for was for the referee to blow his whistle.


    After making sure everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle as the midfielder slowly took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    Fredinho managed to jump higher than everyone but jumping the highest didn''t mean you were going to get the ball into the goalpost with your head as the striker''s effort went flying over the bar.


    "And that header has gone flying over, wasted effort," Jim said.


    The match continued with FC Basel slowly starting to regain their confidence and that resulted in them attacking more, but despite that, they weren''t able to deal any serious blows on the guests as they were keeping up with their attacks.


    The only person who was able to cause some trouble was Henrique.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The right winger had fired four shots toward Dave''s goalpost, only two of them were on target, but those two were close calls.


    The first one came from a ball floated over from the top toward him as soon as he got into the box.


    He waited for the ball to get in front of him before he sent the volley flying toward the goalpost from below.


    Dave reacted quickly to stretch his right leg and block the ball and as for the rebound, it was quickly cleared by Aima.


    The second one came from a brilliant solo effort from the right winger.


    He threw Rnd off with nice body feints to get into the box, he feigned shooting toward the goalpost to put Aima on the floor and move out of the way with the ball, and just before Adolf could try stopping him, he fired the ball toward the left side of the goalpost with just a little bit of elevation.


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    Dave had to activate his ball ma to make sure he caught the ball as there was a lot of danger lurking around the box waiting for the rebound.


    With the help of ball ma, he got to the ball and caught it without spilling it.


    Right now at the forty-second minute, FC Basel were still pushing for a goal, they had more ball possession than Unique during thesest few minutes of the match.


    "Three minutes before the first halfes to an end, is there going to be a goal before that happens?"


    Unique FC weren''t giving the hosts any breathing space as they were aggressively chasing the ball to try and recover it and that was what led to a mistake from one of the attacking midfielders whose pass to Hans was quickly swept off by Adolf with a tackle before it could get to him.


    "Nice interception from Adolf."


    As soon as the center-back got up with the ball, he found Mateo on the left wing and sent the ball flying over to him.


    The defensive midfielder from the back quickly got to the winger and tried to take the ball off him with a tackle but before he could do that, Mateo quickly moved to the side with the ball before he turned and quickly turned and took off down the wing.


    "Mateo''s heading down the wing with the ball, this could be their chance to do something." Jim expressed. You could tell how the excitement in his voice was slowly rising.


    As he got closer to the box, he pushed the ball to Ferran who quickly returned it to him as soon as he entered the box.


    The winger was in a good shooting position now but there was no time to waste.


    "This could be it, Mateo''s through on goal."


    "Mateo!"


    Everyone expected him to shoot, but the winger found Fredinho entering the box at a fast pace and quicklyid the ball off to him.


    "I thought he was going to shoot but he''s passed it," Jim said, sounding quite confused.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 312 A Countermeasure

    "Fredinho!"


    It was as though all the defenders including the left back had zoned out for a moment as Fredinho zoomed past them to get to the ball and stab it into the goalpost with the heel of his boots before Filip could get to it.


    The striker quickly sprang up from the floor as soon as he put the ball into the goalpost.


    He pointed toward the assist provider as he quickly made his way to him, but before he could get there, Ferran and the others had gotten there to celebrate the goal together.


    "A goal just before the halftime whistle, taking the lead before the halftime whistle, what a wonderful build-up they had to get that goal, it was mostly Mateo with that run and smart decisions but that''s why he''s their wonder kid, everyone just needed to do their parts and let him work his magic." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, everyone did their part quite well, I''m sure he could have scored from there had he gone for goal himself but I guess he just wanted Fredinho to be the one to score the goal and the striker didn''t disappoint." Jim articted.


    "We''re leading now, I just need to get that goal from over here and everything will be fine," Dave muttered.


    The match resumed as soon as Unique FC were done with a goal celebration.


    FC Basel began the kick-off with a quick attack that failed just like the first one they attempted.


    They tried to get an equalizer but they weren''t, they were rash and that resulted in Unique FC always reading them and stopping them right in their tracks.


    They were lucky that Unique FC didn''t get a second goal from their mistakes and that was all thanks to Filip who did well to prevent Mateo from scoring from outside the box.


    As soon as the two minutes of added time waspleted, the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    "There''s the whistle and that marks the end of the first half," Jim said. "It sure has been an entertaining first half, both teams fighting with their hearts, I expected Unique FC to get a bit overwhelmed by the hosts but it turns out the hosts are the ones getting overwhelmed.


    "They''ve had a lot of good chances and although they''ve missed a couple of chances thanks to both goalkeepers being up to the task here, Unique FC has managed to salvage a goal to keep their hopes high for the second half."


    "I have a feeling things are going to get more interesting in the second half," Steve said.


    ? "Yeah, I feel the same way." The first half of the Europa conference league qualifiers matches to an end, FC Basel nil, Unique FC one."


    The guest yers were all in the locker room, some of them were pulling off their shirts while some of them were taking sips from the water cans to quench their thirst while waiting for Norman to start saying what he wanted to say.


    "You guys have yed quite well, there''s no doubt about that, but there are a couple of errors from you that I would like to correct starting from the defense."


    "Defensive errors," Rnd muttered.


    "Yeah, and most of them areing from you," Norman said after turning his gaze to the left back.


    Rnd slowly put his head down as he already knew what he was about to say.


    "The major attacking threats we''ve received so far havee from Henrique on the right wing, he''s getting past you easily and that''s not a good thing, if it wasn''t for Dave, who knows how those scenarios could have turned out." He expressed. "I know you''re doing your best to stop him, and I also know that your speed is your strength but that speed can also be your weakness and it looks like Henrique knows how to do that quite well.


    "If you want to stop him, you have to be calm and collective, don''t rush in like he wants you to do always, try defending slowly for a change, and then once you have the ball, you can speed off."


    "So, I have to defend slowly to be able to stop him." The left-back said.


    "Not exactly because approaching him slowly may result in him quickly getting past you and leaving you behind, what I just told you is a countermeasure to him using your speed against you, you should know when to put it into action."


    "Okay, coach, I understand." The left-back said with a nod.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Good."


    After talking to them about a couple of other things before the break time got exhausted and they started making their way to the pitch.


    "Wee back everyone, the halftime break is over as we can see the yers making their way to the pitch now," Jim said as the yers made their way to the pitch while the fans cheered them on.


    Since FC Basel started the match from the kick-off spot, it was Unique FC''s turn in the second half.


    Carlos was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly pushed the ball to Mateo who sent it to Frankie with a single touch.


    "There''s the whistle and the second half is on the way."


    Unique FC slowly began to build their attack all the way to FC Basel''s box but Fredinho lost the ball after he tried to dribble past a yer and failed and now, FC Basel were with the ball.


    "Fredinho has lost the ball."


    Instead of a slow build-up, they went for a quick attack as the center back quickly sent the ball flying to Henrique.


    The Brazilian winger brought the ball down with his chest but just as he turned and was about to move with it, Rnd was upon him, and with a slide, the left back swept the ball off him and while he was still on the floor, he pushed the ball to Adolf just before the midfielder heading toward him could get to him.


    "Nice defending from Rnd, that''s one way to get the job done nicely," Stevemented.


    Norman was standing on the sidelines with his arms crossed and as soon as he saw Rnd do that, a smile appeared on his face.


    Adolf was about to move the ball forward with a pass when he heard Dave call him from behind.


    "Hey, captain, just pass it back to me!" The goalkeeper yelled.


    "Okay," Adolf said before he turned and passed the ball to the goalkeeper.


    "Here we go again."


    He didn''t even wait for the ball to get closer as he quickly closed up on it and sent it flying toward the goalpost


    "It''s one of those shots again!"


    This time, Filip was prepared for it as he dived toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost and pushed the ball over the bar with both of his hands before he crashed to the floor.


    His heart was racing but he managed to get up from the floor as soon as possible.


    "If he can do something like this from that far consistently then why the heck is he a goalkeeper?" Hans said with a puzzled look on his face.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 313 Goalless

    The match continued with FC Basel trying to get a goal, get the equalizer to be specific and Unique FC on the other hand were looking for a second goal to seal the game for them.


    FC Basel were doing quite well with keeping hold of the ball and moving it around as quickly as possible, but they were not doing that well in creating chances and putting pressure on Unique FC''s defense now that Henrique was not finding it that easy to get past Rnd.


    Henrique received the ball from one of the wingers and without further ado, he quickly began to move toward Rnd with it while Ferran was quickly heading toward him.


    He could have passed the ball before Ferran got close to him, but he decided to hold on to it, and after a few seconds of struggling to not lose the ball to the two teammates, Rnd sent the ball out for a throw-in.


    "Looks like that''s a throw-in against Unique FC," Jimmented.


    All of his teammates were being marked quite well, so the midfielder had to throw the ball to the right back who quickly sent the ball flying to the other side to find Reto.


    "Switch of y to the other side."


    Reto was not being marked near the center of the pitch so he didn''t have any trouble bringing the ball down with his chest and trapping it under his foot.


    He switched ces with the midfielder that was supposed to be there, well, not technically, he wanted to drop deep so the midfielder had to move forward a little.


    The right winger scanned the area with his eyes until he found Hans moving toward the box and quickly floated the ball over the top for him.


    Unfortunately for Hans, Adolf was right there to nod the ball toward Dave before he could do anything with it.


    "Once again, Adolf has stepped up to prevent an iing aerial danger, he''s fighting hard in this match.


    Dave caught the ball heading toward him, and without hesitation, he quickly threw it to Minino who Reto was heading toward now.


    The ball got to the Midfielder before Reto could get to him and after bringing it down, he quickly pushed the ball to Carlos who was already heading down the wing with a flick just before Reto could get to him from behind.


    "Carlos."


    Carlos received the ball and quickly headed down the wing with defenders still in the area.


    He knew getting past them was going to be difficult so he had to trap back and pass the ball to Minino so that they could slowlye up with something.


    "Back to Minino."


    Reto quickly rushed to the midfielder to try and dispossess him of the ball from behind but Minino already knew that he was going to try something like that, and just before he could get to him, he passed the ball to Frankie who had climbed a little upward to the center of the pitch.


    "Frankie."


    Franked moved further down with the ball and just before running into the midfielder heading toward him, he passed the ball to Ferran on the left.


    "Unique FC are slowly building up their y."


    Ferran was in a bit of a tricky position so he had to quickly push the ball to Rnd to avoid losing it.


    Rnd left his position to move up a little and assist in the attack in any way he could, and now that Ferran had given him the ball, he zoomed off down the wing.


    "Rnd."


    There were two yers in the area but he dribbled past them like they were nothing.


    He seemed to have pushed the ball a bit too much in the process and now it was about to roll past the line.


    The left-back quickly got to it with a slide and sent it flying into the box.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Nice cross from Rnd can anyone capitalize on it?!"


    Mateo contested for the ball in the air but aerial duels weren''t exactly the winger''s strong forte so the defender ended up nodding the ball back toward the edge of the box.


    "That was clumsy, Ferran is at the edge of the box."


    Ferran waited for the ball to get closer before he pulled his leg back to kick it, but in the process of kicking it, he was pushed from behind and the result of that misdirection as the ball was sent rolling out of y from the right side.


    "I think he could have done pretty well with that ball if he wasn''t pushed," Stevemented.


    The midfielder sat up on the floor and raised his hand to appeal for a foul, but the referee wasn''t buying it as he signaled Filip to send the ball out while slowly moving back.


    "I guess the referee didn''t see it as a foul," Jim said.


    "Damn it, this is the reason why we lose some matches." Ferran pouted before quickly getting up from the floor.


    FC Basel were pretty close to getting that equalizer in the eighty-eight minute after Dave blocked a close-up shot from Reto with his legs on the left side and the rebound was sent rolling toward Reto who was there to send it back toward the goalpost with just a single touch but luckily for the Bilbeth Premier League side, Adolf was there to block the ball with his legs and the rebound was quickly cleared by Rnd to make sure their lead stayed safe.


    FC Basel really fought hard to get that equalizer and Unique FC fought hard to get the second goal, but in the end, none of them were able to get a goal in the second half as the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end to the relief of Unique FC yers who had begun to feel the pressure of FC Basel''s attack during thest minutes of the match.


    "There''s the whistle, it is all over but not exactly over as only one goal separates these teams on aggregate so aeback might be possible in the second leg but that''s going to be something tough for FC Basel to do at the Wondanimo." Jim articted.


    "It''s still very much possible though."


    "Yeah, I know," Jim said. "As expected, Adolf is the man of the match."


    "Yeah, he was the key yer for Unique FC here today, making interceptions here and there, aerial interceptions, good passes, and that save in the eighty-fifth minute was insane." Steve expressed.


    While his teammates walked over to apud their fans who came to Switzend to watch them y, Dave was still standing in front of his goalpost with an expressionless look on his face.


    [ Quest failed ]


    [ You failed to score a goal from your side before the Seventy-fifth minute ]


    That message has been on his screen for a while but he refused to look at it until now.


    ''I thought I was going to get lucky with the second one but it was like he was ready for it.'' He said subconsciously.


    <Of course he was going to be ready for it, you had to wait for him to get to the edge of his box, shooting from afar works best when they''re far away from their goalpost so you can put it in from the top or when you''re going up against a bad goalkeeper>


    The goalkeeper was still having his mind conversation with Catherine when somebody pulled up in front of him, and when he raised his gaze to see who it was, he could see that it was FC Basel''s goalkeeper, Filip.


    "Oh, hey, there," Filip said before putting on a smile.


    *****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 314 Be A Little Cheeky

    "Sure, a shirt swap would be nice," Dave said with a nod.


    There''s no way he was going to say no after receiving so manypliments, but even without thepliments, he didn''t have any reason to turn him down since he also wanted the shirt swap.


    "Okay," Filip said before he quickly removed his shirt, and in return, Dave did the same.


    They were supposed to shake hands and walk away at this point but Filip wanted to talk about one more thing.


    "So, that shot from the goalpost, you did it twice and almost scored from both, you could have scored from the second if I wasn''t fast enough and that would have been really embarrassing, getting scored by a fellow goalkeeper all the way from his goalpost." Filip expressed.


    "Yeah, I guess it would have been embarrassing," Dave said as he scratched the back of his head with a nervous smile on his face.


    "So, how do you do it?" Filip asked.


    "Huh?"


    "The shot, how did you do it? I thought you were just lucky with the first one, but then you did it again, and that one was even closer to going in." Filip stated.


    "Um¡­I just kicked it like I normally kick a ball." Dave replied.


    "How can a goalkeeper like you have a monstrous shot power like that, and it''s not only that, your uracy is top notch too."


    Dave didn''t say anything as he was beginning to get a bit ufortable here.


    "If I had that much shot power and good uracy, I would be on the pitch as an attacking midfielder since I''ve always admired that position or a striker," Filip said. "When you yed that first shot, I thought you would be one of those ball-ying goalkeepers who weren''t that good in shot stopping but you proved me wrong with those saves you pulled off."


    "A goalkeeper who is pretty good with the ball on his feet and can stop shots well, those types of goalkeepers are quite rare toe around."


    ''Someone has told me that before.''


    "I''m not that good with shots so I''m not sure I can do what you did twice in this match."


    "But, you''re a pretty good shot-stopper," Dave said.


    "Yeah, I can agree on that, but you''re one of a kind, I''m sure you''ll do well ying as a forward or midfielder but I guess you prefer staying in between the sticks just like me."


    "Yeah," Dave replied with a nod. "I''ve always wanted to be a goalkeeper since I was a child."


    "I see, and now you''re one, a pretty good one," Filip said before turning to leave. "It was nice meeting you Dave, see you in the second league and I hope we''ll meet again after that."


    Dave kept his gaze on him for a while before he quickly turned it to his teammates to see that they were still apuding the fans so he had to quickly head over to the area.


    After apuding the fans, the yers made their way down the tunnel where Dave was approached by a male sports journalist who wanted to ask him a couple of questions and he couldn''t say no.


    "So, Dave, you guys just defeated FC Basel on their home turf and you pulled off a couple of saves to make sure your team won, how do you feel about this win with the second leging up at the Wondanimo stadium?"


    "Um¡­I''m very happy about this victory today, I think that''s quite obvious, we have the lead going into the second leg and that is a boost of confidence for me and my teammates." The goalkeeper expressed. "You mentioned me pulling out a couple of saves but it wasn''t just me, the defenders especially Adolf did well to stop them."


    "Yeah, Adolf was spectacr today, that''s why he won the man of the match."


    "Yeah, he deserved it and he got it," Dave said.


    .


    "Okay, so what do you think about the second leg? How do you feel about the uing second leg?"


    "It feels great to go into the second leg with the advantage, and of course, it''s at the Wondanimo Stadium, that''s also an advantage for us, but that doesn''t mean it''s going to be easy for us, FC Basel is a strong team just as we witnessed now, but I think we have what it takes to go all the way."


    "Okay, thank you, Dave, I think that will be all." The reporter said before shaking hands with the goalkeeper.


    "Okay." The goalkeeper said before he turned and continued his work to the locker room.


    He got to the locker room to see that his teammates were already celebrating the victory but he didn''t bother to join them as he made his way to the locker where he dropped his phone, opened it up and took out his phone before sitting down on the bench.


    "I wonder where Mateo went to." He muttered before turning his gaze to his phone which suddenly began to ring. "Emma."


    ''I didn''t think she would call me just a few minutes after the match ended.'' He said subconsciously before picking up the call.


    "Hey, babe, what''s up?"


    "I didn''t expect you to pick up." She said.


    "Yeah, I wasn''t your call either, so how''re you doing?" He asked.


    "I''m okay." She replied.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Good to know that, and what about the other person?"


    "He''s fine." She replied.


    "You mean she."


    "We''ll find out in a couple of months."


    "Yeah."


    "You know I just watched your interview."


    "Okay, what about it?"


    "You really can''t give journalists something to make headlines with." She said,


    "Headlines, you mean by replying in a cocky way?" He said. "Arrogantly like Darwin Shaw always does."


    "No, don''t reply arrogantly, that''s not good, Darwin can be annoying with his words most of the time but there''s nothing wrong with slipping in a few cheeky lines like Mateo does sometimes."


    "Okay, I''ll try to be a little cheeky, is that why you called me?"


    "No, I just wanted to know when you guys areing back." She replied.


    "We''ll be back in the night probably." He said.


    "Okay, safe journey."


    "Thank you."


    "I have to go now, bye." She said before ending the call.


    "She''s right, you''re way too modest during interviews."


    The goalkeeper was quite startled to find Minino sitting beside him now.


    "How did you know who I was talking to?"


    "You called her babe, that was enough unless¡­."


    "No, no, there''s nothing like that." The goalkeeper said with a nervous look on his face.


    "Okay, but you should try to bring out your cheeky side a bit when answering those questions, I know you have it in you, you may even end up striking a nerve," Minino said before getting up from the seat. "I think I need to pay a visit to the restroom."


    Dave kept his gaze on him until he was out of the room before he let out a sigh.


    ''Catherine, can I see my match rewards please?''


    <Sure>


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Five crucial saves: +50 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded (0): +50 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.8 ]


    ''I guess I didn''t contribute much to the clean sheet.''


    <You contributed enough to get fifty experience points, you did very well but you can''t deny the fact that things could have been bad at some points if it wasn''t for Adolf>


    ''Yeah, I can''t deny that.''


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 315 Dont Get Caught Up

    After making sure that everyone who was supposed to be on the ne was in the ne, the aircraft took off by 5:05 PM.


    After that little celebration in the room, everyone was now quietly sitting in their seats.


    Mateo and Dave were sitting together as always but they were both minding their business with their gaze on their phones.


    Mateo was still going through his phone when a smile suddenly appeared on his face.


    "You know, it was really nice to y apetitive match outside the Bilbeth Premier League and the super cup." The winger said.


    "Yeah, the UEFA Europa Conference League, we fought hard to beat Lesica United to the spotst season and now we have it. I think we all got that satisfying feeling ying there today, especially the yers who were experiencing a Europeanpetition for the first time just like you and me." Dave expressed.


    "Yeah, it was a satisfying feeling."


    After almost two hours in the air, the yers finally arrived at Unique FC''s airport, and just as they stepped down from the ne, the team''s bus was there to take them to the stadium.


    The entrance of the stadium was filled with a lot of fans who were there to congratte the yers on their victory against FC Basel in the first leg of their Europa conference League qualifiers match.


    Of course, a barricade rope had to be set up to avoid the fans from encroaching into the path to the entrance and start making unnecessary contact with the yers while preventing the yers from entering the building.


    "That is a lot of people," Dave said with a confused expression on his face after stepping down from the bus.


    "Yeah, they''re a lot but I bet they''re going to be more than this if we end up winning the conference League," Minino said before stepping down from the bus.


    The loudest chants among the fans came from the ones screaming Mateo''s name and a lot of them were the young females who had a crush on the youngster now.


    Of, course they weren''t going to forget Dave, their stronghold behind the team''s fortress.


    The goalkeeper''s name could be heard loud and clearly among the fans and there were a lot of people calling him to get an autograph for him, but there was nowhere he would be able to give an autograph to all of them there.


    The other yers were also getting attention from the fans who admired them but not everyone was getting attention.


    Mateo had just signed a ball for a young boy and just wanted to quickly head into the building when someone yelled his name just before he could walk past her.


    The winger paused and turned his gaze to where he heard the voice to see a young red-haired girl about the same age as him holding up a copy of his home jersey for him.


    "Do you mind signing this for me?" She asked politely.


    "Okay." The winger replied before stretching forth his hand for the pen.


    She quickly opened the small bag tied around her waist and brought out a pen which she quickly handed to him.


    The winger got down and signed the jersey as quickly as he could but just as he was about to pull his hand back and return her pen, he felt her slip something into his hand, it was a piece of paper and after that, she leaned closer to whisper something into his ear.


    "That''s my number, I know you''re single so it wouldn''t be bad to give me a call, right?" She whispered.


    "Okay."


    The winger wanted to head into the building as soon as possible, so that was the safest response he could give.


    "Can I have a selfie with you?" She asked as she returned the pen to her bag and brought out her phone.


    "Sure." The winger replied after slowly slipping the piece of paper into his pocket.


    He leaned closer and smiled for the selfie before returning to his normal standing position.


    "Bye, Mateo, Thanks." She said with a bright smile on her face.


    "Bye." The winger said before quickly making his way out of the area.


    The yers were congratted by the President and the staff before they made their way outside where their cars were parked.


    Since Dave and Mateo had their cars parked beside each other''s, they were going in the same direction and that was when the winger decided to bring out the piece of paper and check the number that was written on it.


    "Huh?" Dave said before pulling closer to him. "What''s that? A number?"


    "Yeah." The winger replied.


    "From who?"


    "A girl."


    "A girl huh?" Dave said before he continued his walk to his car. "So, are you going to call her?"<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Um¡­.I don''t know." He said with his right hand on the back of his head.


    "Yeah, I guess you already have Sofia, but¡­."


    "But what?" Mateo asked.


    "Never mind," Dave said before opening the door. "Just try not to get caught up in the trouble of women, you won''t like it, and it may affect your performance on the pitch."


    "Yeah, I know." The winger said before slipping the piece of paper back into his pocket. "Um¡­Dave."


    "Yeah."


    "I''m going home with you, your wife''s been nagging me over text to join you guys for dinner tonight." The winger said with his gaze on his phone''s screen.


    "Oh, I see, let''s get going then." The goalkeeper said before he entered his car and shut the door.


    It didn''t take long for the two to get to the house and after parking their cars in front of the garage, they got down from it and made their way to the house.


    Knocking was okay, but Dave didn''t want to do that, so he brought out his keys from his pocket and unlocked the door before pushing the door open.


    There was no one in the living room as they entered the house, but just a few secondster, someone came rushing toward the dining area with a bunch of tes in her hand.


    "Amber?" Mateo said with a confused expression on his face.


    "Oh, hey, Mateo and Mr. Dave, wee." She said as she quickly spread out the tes around the table.


    "What are you doing here?" Mateo asked.


    "Um¡­we''ve been working here all day and after we were done, Mrs. Emma told me to help her make dinner and I can''t say no to my dear senior so I decided to help her."


    As always, she was speed-talking, and before the two knew it, she was gone, she had returned to the kitchen.


    "Hey, what''s wrong?" Dave asked after noticing that the expression on his teammate''s face had changed.


    "Oh, it''s nothing." He said before shaking his head. "I just need something to drink."


    "Well, there are a lot of things to drink in the freezer, go make your choice," Dave said as he made his way to the couch. "I''m just going to sit here for a while."


    The winger made his way to the kitchen from the side and just as he stretched his right leg to enter the area, Amber happened to be making her way out of the kitchen at that time.


    She was walking really fast and that led to her tripping on his leg and was about to fall when the winger quickly stretched his hands and caught her before she could hit the floor.


    "That was close."


    "Yeah, but Mateo¡­your hands they''re¡­"


    That was when he looked at his hands to see that they were on her chest.


    "Oh, sorry about that." He said abruptly before allowing her to crash to the floor.


    "O, I didn''t tell you to let go." She said before quickly sitting up on the floor.


    "Sorry, let me help you up." He said before stretching his hands toward her.


    She took his hand and got pulled up along with the bottle of water she was holding and it was at that moment that the two made eye contact and suddenly an awkward atmosphere was created.


    "Umm¡­.I have to go drop this over there, thanks for catching me." She said nervously before quickly making her way to the dining area.


    While she was walking away Mateo just stared at his hands.


    ''Why did I even agree toe here?''


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 316 Morning Run Trouble

    After setting up the dinner table and serving the dishes, everyone sat down to eat together and that included Amber who wanted to leave as soon as she was done helping her senior, but Emma told her that it would be inappropriate to just leave after helping her with everything so she had to stay and eat dinner with them.


    There was a little moment of silence in the room as everyone ate their meal quietly until Emma decided to break the silence.


    "So, how was Switzend?" She asked with her gaze fixated on Dave who didn''t even know as his attention was on his food.


    Catherine didn''t even bother to tell him anything.


    "Dave." She called, forcing the goalkeeper to quickly turn his gaze to her.


    "Oh, you were talking to me."


    "Of course, I was talking to you, who else would I be talking to?" She replied.


    "Um....You know, Mateo was also in Switzend with me so I thought you were asking him."


    "Well, I''m not asking him."


    "Oh."


    "What''s funny, Amber?" Emma asked before turning her gaze to Amber who she heard giggle a little.


    "Nothing ma, I just think you two are really cute together." She said before covering her mouth with her hand.


    "So, how was Switzend, Dave?" She asked before turning her gaze back to her husband.


    "Switzend''s a great country, the weather can be a bit chilly at night, their streets are way too lively at nighttime and they have wonderful people." Dave expressed.


    "I see, so you guys enjoyed yourselves."


    "You bet," Dave said before turning his gaze back to his food.


    "I hope you enjoyed yourself, Mateo?" She asked after turning her gaze to her little brother.


    ''She''s using that tone again, I''m not a little child anymore.''


    The winger wanted to say something corresponding to his thoughts but he knew it wouldn''t be nice to do something like that with Amber here so he decided to keep things down.


    "Yeah, I enjoyed myself, sis."


    "Good," Emma said with a smile.


    "I''ll like to visit Switzend one day," Amber said before turning her gaze to Mateo who was sitting beside her.


    "That''s great, you''ll love it there." The winger said.


    He was trying really hard to make sure things weren''t awkward between the both of them.


    "You think so?"


    "Yeah."


    "Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you guys." She said.


    "Tell us what?" Mateo asked.


    "Congrattions on your victory, I pray you guys beat them at home and advance to the group stage." She said.


    "Oh, thanks, Amber," Dave said.


    "Thank you, we''ll do our best," Mateo said.


    After dinner, the four talked together and had a few moments ofughs before Mateo and Amber had to leave.


    They said their goodbyes before leaving, Amber was the first one to leave the house before Mateo.


    Everywhere had already gone dark as they had been in there for a while.


    Mateo seemed to have gottenfortable around Amber during their little conversation inside where he asked her a couple of things about herself but now that they were outside, that awkward atmosphere seemed to have returned although it wasn''t as heavy as it was before.


    "Alright, I guess I''ll get going now." She said before taking a step forward.


    "Get going where?" Mateo asked.


    "My home of course." She said after turning her gaze to him.


    "I know that, but you know my car''s here and I don''t mind giving you a ride home." The winger asked.


    "No, don''t bother yourself, I''ll be fine with a cab."


    "Yeah, but who knows when you''re going to find a cab on this street."


    "I''ll just walk to the junction and find one."


    To be specific, Dave felt quitefortable around her now, she was the one creating the awkward atmosphere and she was doing everything possible to avoid making eye contact with him while he talking to her.


    "No, you don''t have to do that," Mateo said before he walked closer to her and grabbed her by her arm. "I''ll drive you home, you can thank meter."


    She tried to resist at first but as his grip tightened around her wrist, she had to give up.


    "Fine." She before letting out a sigh.<novelnext></novelnext>


    ______ ______


    Dave slowly opened his eyes and turned his gaze to the side to see Emma there with both of her arms wrapped around him.


    <You''re almost there, a couple more times now and you''ll get there>


    ''That''s what you said thest time, honestly, this is starting to feel impossible to me.''


    <It''s not impossible, if you keep trying, you''ll get it>


    ''Okay, I''ll keep trying.''


    <And try to make use of your stat points, you don''t have to stack everything up>


    ''Okay.''


    He checked his phone to see that the time was 5:59 AM before he slowly slipped away from Emma''s arms.


    Once he was out, he changed into something good for running and picked up his running boots before slowly making his way out of the room and downstairs.


    Once he was downstairs, he put on the boots before quickly making his way out of the house.


    ''How about we do twelve kilometers today, Catherine?'' The goalkeeper asked subconsciously as he made his way to the road.


    <Sure, it''s your legs and stamina, not mine>


    ''Yeah, I forgot the only thing you have is a mouth which only works in my head.'' He said subconsciously before zooming off.


    <My legs are good for walking around the inte and gathering information for your information>


    ''Yeah, sure.''


    He decided to run a straight path today instead of the forest path he had gotten used to taking and by the time he was done with twelve kilometers, he had already gotten to the highway road.


    [ 29% stamina remaining ]


    He was breathing heavily now but he wasn''t exactly out of breath as he had enough stamina to walk back home but running would mean that he would have to drop dead on the road.


    ''To be very sure that this stamina will be enough, because I don''t want to wait around here.''


    [ -10 stat points ]


    [ +10 stat points added to endurance ]


    [ Endurance: 36~46 ]


    <That stamina would be enough now even if you run a little>


    ''Yeah, but I don''t want to take the risk until I get closer to the house.''


    The goalkeeper turned and was about to leave when a young boy about twelve years old popped up from nowhere and was standing in front of him now.


    "Hey, you''re Dave Richards, the boy said with a shocked expression on his face."


    "Yeah." The goalkeeper replied.


    "I''m your biggest fan." The boy said before wrapping his arms around him.


    "Oh, I see," Dave said before cing his hand on his hand. "Thanks for being my biggest fan but I have to go now."


    "Okay," The boy said before letting go of him.


    "So, what''s a little boy like you doing here all alone by this time?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "No, I''m not alone, my mum''s over there." He said before pointing to his mother who was sitting on the bench by the side.


    She waved at Dave and he returned the wave.


    "Get to your mother then, bye."


    "Bye, Dave."


    He continued his walk home and just after walking a little distance, he was spotted by two teenagers standing by the side.


    "Hey, isn''t that Dave Richards?"


    "Yeah, it''s him."


    It started with just those two, and before the goalkeeper knew it, he was surrounded by about nine people.


    ''I don''t like this, Catherine.''


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 317 Virtual Running Setup

    Emma had just gotten up to find that Dave was missing from her side as always.


    She let out a sigh before she got down from the bed and made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face before making her way downstairs.


    She made her way straight to the kitchen after getting downstairs and just before she started doing anything, she went to the sink to wash her hands again.


    She was still washing her hands when she heard the door open and a few secondster, she turned off the tap, grabbed a wipe, and turned around to see Dave standing there with his eyes looking a bit tired.


    "Oh, you''re back." She said before zooming in on his hair.


    "Yeah, good morning." The goalkeeper said before he began to make his way to the freezer.


    "Hey, wait," Emma said before quickly moving closer to him.


    "What?" He asked as he quickly stopped moving.


    She stared at him for a while before slowly putting her hand on his hair.


    "What happened to your hair? Why is it so messed up?" She asked.


    She wasn''t kidding when she said that, the goalkeeper''s hair was roughed up like a cat jumped on it and gave him a makeover with its ws.


    "Oh, that, I ran into a couple of people on my way back." The goalkeeper muttered.


    "A couple of people? What are you talking about?" She asked. "Did someone attack you?"


    "Oh, no, it''s not that."


    "Then what is it?" She asked.


    "Some fans."


    "Fans?"


    "Yeah." He replied with a nod.


    ______ ______


    Dave was sitting on the couch now as Emma helped him straighten out his hair with ab from behind.


    "You know you''re bing really popr with your recent performances and there are a lot of people who now consider themselves as your fans, walking around the street alone isn''t really safe for you anymore, besides getting crowded and touched without permission by the fans, you might actually get attacked." She expressed.


    "I know that now." He said before letting out a sigh. "I had never experienced something like this before so it never really urred to me."


    "You''re lucky it was just a few of them, if there were a lot of them there at that time, you wouldn''t be home by now and I wouldn''t even be bothered becauseing homete from your morning runs is something you do quite often." She articted.


    After saying that, she pulled back the brush and walked up front to sit beside him on the couch as she was done with straightening his hair.


    "You wouldn''t have bothered to call me to know how I was doing?" He said before turning his gaze to her.


    "I would, but it turns out you forgot your phone here." She said before picking up his phone from the table.


    "Oh." The goalkeeper said before cing his hand on the back of his head.


    There was a little moment of silence between them until she decided to ask something.


    "So, does this mean you''ll stop your morning runs?" She asked.


    "Stop my runs, no, never, I''ll just limit my distance or take the forest route, reaching the highway today was a mistake, there was nothing like this thest time I was there before today." The goalkeeper expressed.


    "Good, I don''t want you to stop." She said before she leaned closer and kissed him. "I was about to do something before you came in looking like a windmill."


    After saying that, she got up and made her way back to the kitchen.


    As soon as she was out of sight, the goalkeeper turned his gaze to the television and sank into the couch.


    ''Windmill? Seriously?.''


    <I think she met you looked like someone who got his head stuck in a windmill>


    ''I didn''t ask for your interpretation.''


    ______ ______


    There were matches on Sunday and Monday, but because of Unique FC''s sh against FC Basel on Friday, they were excluded from those match days and that meant that their match against Spree City was going to be on Wednesday, that was the only Bilbeth Premier League match that was going to be yed that day.


    Norman had to assemble the yers as early as 10:00 AM for a training session on Tuesday in preparation for the match on Wednesday.


    The trainingsted for two hours and just as the time hit 12:27 PM, Dave pushed the door open and slowly walked into the house before slowly closing the door.


    He was heading to the couch when his phone suddenly began to vibrate in his pocket.


    He dipped his hand into his pocket and brought out his phone to see that the caller was rk.


    "Oh, hey, rk, what''s up?" He asked after picking up the call and cing the phone against his ear.


    "I''m okay, you?"


    "Same here." He replied. "Are you here already?"


    "No, I wanted it to get here first, I''m about to board my flight now." rk expressed.


    "So, it has gotten here then," Dave said.


    "Yeah."


    "Okay, I can''t wait to see what is so special about this gadget of yours." The goalkeeper said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "You''ll see," rk said. "Um¡­I have to go now, I''ll call you when I get here."


    "Okay," Dave said before he brought the phone down and slipped it back into his pocket.


    He let out a sigh before he made his way to the couch and crashed down on it.


    "Getting quests from training drills is almost impossible these days." He mumbled expecting a reaction from Catherine but she remained quiet like she didn''t hear anything.


    ''Yeah, just keep on snubbing me.''


    _____ _____


    After a couple of hours, rk finally reached his destination with the gadget which he told Dave about.


    The only thing he was holding in his hand was a small white box, but that wasn''t the only thing that was there with him.


    He knocked on the door a couple of times before Dave finally opened it. He was rubbing his eyes with his left hand as he opened the door.


    "Were you sleeping?" rk asked.


    "Yeah, we had a training session this morning, a long training session." The goalkeeper.


    He was a bit drowsy having just woken up from sleep.


    "Oh, I see."


    "So, where''s the stuff? Is it in that box you''re holding? I didn''t expect it to be this small."


    "No, this is just part of it," rk said before turning his gaze to the garage. "The whole thing is over here." He added before he began to make his way to the area.


    Dave followed him to the garage to see that there was arge box lying in front of the door.


    "How heavy is that?"


    "Not too heavy, just open the door and help me carry it inside."


    Dave did as he asked and now that they had gotten therge box inside, rk opened it up to reveal a bunch of wooden parts and electricalponents.


    "So, how does this work?" Dave asked with a confused expression on his face.


    "We''ll need to set it up first," rk said.


    "Okay, where are we going to set it up?"


    "Behind the treadmill."


    "Behind the treadmill?"


    "Yes, it''s necessary to set it up behind the treadmill."


    "Okay."


    Dave helped him set it up and in no time, they were done.


    It looked like a frame with four stic hands on the floor and a screen just at the top of the frame.


    "I still don''t see how this will help me feel like I''m running outside without actually going outside." The goalkeeper said with his gaze on the whole setup.


    "Calm down," rk said before he opened the small box and brought out a virtual reality headset.


    "I had a feeling that was what you had in there, but what does this whole setup have to do with it?"


    "I said calm down," rk said before handing him the headset. "Don''t put that on yet but get on the treadmill and turn it to the lowest speed."


    "Okay." The goalkeeper said before he got on the treadmill and did as he was told.


    While he was jogging on the treadmill, rk picked up the stic arms.


    He strapped the upper two on his wrists and the lower two on his ankles.


    "So, what''s this going to do?" Dave asked.


    "Put on the headset and see."


    "Okay." The goalkeeper said before he slowly put on the headset and turned it on.


    As soon as he did that, he found himself on a street with a couple of trees around and a few people walking around.


    Compared to the headsets he''s used before, this felt so real to him, he could even feel the cold air on his skin.


    "How does this feel so real?"


    If he wasn''t aware that he was in a virtual reality world, his senses might mistake this for the real world.


    <Um¡­This looks nice>


    ****


    ? Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 318 Mind Games

    The goalkeeper could see the distance he had covered and for how long he had been running on the screen like a system and since he was on the treadmill which was on, it was impossible for him to stop moving.


    "The sky, the birds, it all feels so real." The goalkeeper said as he ran down the street.


    rk was watching him from the real world, and after watching him for a while, he turned his gaze to the screen at the back to see four kilometers disyed on it.


    ''Four kilometers already?''


    "Alright, Dave, that''s enough." He said before taking off the headset.


    "Hey,e on, I wanted to do twenty kilometers."


    "And what was I supposed to do while you did that? Sit down and watch you?" rk said. "You''ll get a lot of time to do twenty kilometers, especially when you crank up the speed of the treadmill, but tell me what you think of it first, I can see that you like it, but I want to hear what you have to say."


    "I love it, I never expected it to feel real to this extent, this is awesome, rk."


    "Hmph, I''m d you like it," rk said with a smile on his face.


    After removing the stic arms attached to his body, the two made their way out of the garage as Dave had already seen what he wanted to see.


    "So, are you going to be using this for your morning runs now?" rk asked as they stepped out of the garage.


    Just before Dave could answer that question, a strong flow of wind suddenly blew past them, and just as he inhaled the air, something clicked in his mind.


    "You know there was one thing that I wasn''t able to do in that virtual world." He said.


    "And what was that?" rk asked.


    "I could feel the air on my skin, I could feel the tingling effects of the sun on my skin but I don''t think I was able to get that feeling of inhaling the air." He expressed. "It feels good in there but I think feeling all those things in the real world is still better."


    "So, what are you saying?" rk asked.


    "I''ll keep doing my morning runs outside but I''ll use the setup on days that I don''t feel like going out or whenever I feel like running at night."


    "You get the feeling to go for a run at night?"


    "Yeah, but there''s another way to expend that energy, you know."


    "Yeah," rk said with an awkward expression on his face.


    "You''re a very good friend, rk." The goalkeeper said before putting his arms around him.


    "Thanks, you''re a good friend too."


    "Maybe, but you''re the one always doing things for me." The goalkeeper said before turning his gaze to his friend''s wrist to see that he had a golden watch on it. "I didn''t notice at first but is that a new watch?"


    "Yeah, Emilia got it as a gift for mest week."


    "That''s nice, but the only thing you''ve bought for her is that shampoo that turned her hair ck."


    "I see you still have that in mind, I didn''t know it was a hair-darkening shampoo, that was my bad," rk said before folding his lips.


    "I know, let''s just go inside and have a few drinks before Emmaes back and starts nagging me."


    "Okay."


    ______ _______


    Supreme United were still at the top of the table with twenty-one points from seven matches and Dynamo FC were still behind them with neen points from seven matches.


    Unique FC were still sitting in third ce with fifteen points from six matches and behind them was Ballena United with thirteen points from seven matches, they could say it was easier for them to overtake Unique FC now, but they had a match in hand and the result of that match was going to decide if they were going to stay in their position for long or get pushed down by Ballena United soon.


    The match was set to kick off by 4:00 PM and with the time by 1:30 PM now, the yers were already in the team''s ne and on their way to Spree City''s Telonia stadium.


    "We haven''t beaten Spree City in four straight games, three losses, and one draw," Dave said. He seemed to be discussing something with Mateo.


    "Yeah, but that''s in the past, we weren''t good back then but we''re now, I''m positive we''re going to beat them today, and to make things easier for us they''re aren''t in that much of a good form, that''s why they''re sitting in fifth ce with a chance of going down to seventh ce in the next fixtures if they lose to us." Mateo expressed.


    "Yeah, but Felix has been scoring a lot of goals still, he''s right behind you in the golden boot race with a goalless," Dave said.


    "Well, we''ll see how many he''ll score against our fortress and stronghold."


    "Fortress and stronghold?"


    "Yeah, the defense is the fortress and you''re the stronghold." The winger exined.


    "Oh, I see."


    "You haven''t conceded any goals this season and it''s not going to happen today, if you''re going to concede a goal then it might as well be against Supreme United."


    "Another clean sheet would be nice," Dave muttered.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "If you want it then do your best out there just like you have been doing and we''ll do our best too," Mateo said.


    "I will."


    <He sure gets hyped up for every single match>


    ''Yeah, passion is the reason why he performs the way he does but outside football matches, he''s just a carefree dude who wants nothing but to have fun.'' The goalkeeper expressed subconsciously.


    After a couple of minutes in the air, the airne finally got to the airport at Spree City.


    They stepped down from the aircraft and waited at the airport for a while before a bus showed up to take them to the Telonia stadium.


    The ride there didn''t take long, and once they were there, they picked up their bags and made their way inside.


    They were weed by the staff there and because this current squad had been here a couple of times, there was no need to show them to their locker room as they already knew where to find it.


    Dave was heading down the hallway alongside Mateo when Felix suddenly closed up on them from behind startling them in the process.


    "Hey, guys."


    "Hey, you don''t sneak on people like that," Dave said.


    "Oh, sorry, I didn''t think that would scare you." He said with a smile.


    ''That smile again, he''s smiling but he has something else in mind.''


    "Anyway, you guys are wee."


    "Thank you," Mateo said but there was no response from Dave.


    "I see you guys are doing quite well and you''re looking to extend that good form today." The striker said.


    "Yeah, we''re both looking for the same thing."


    "Yeah, you''re scoring quite a lot of goals, six-match scoring streak for you, if you score today you''ll break Rnd''s record," Felix said.


    "Yeah, I''m looking forward to it," Mateo said.


    "Nice, but I should warn you."


    "Warn me about what?"


    "Our newly signed right back from Ajax, Danilo Allen, he''s a tough defender, and because of him, Lesica United''s Jonathan is out injured for two weeks.


    "I''ve already heard about that."


    "Okay, I''m just telling you so that you''ll be careful with him."


    At this point, Dave''s anger had reached the boiling point and he was about to say something before Mateo who understood what he was about to do turned to him and slightly shook his head.


    "Fine, I''ve heard you, I''ll be careful around him."


    "Good choice, it''s for your own good after all." The striker said before turning to leave. "And Dave, you should consider allowing me to be the first yer to score against you this season in allpetitions, it would truly be an honor."


    Mateo waited for him to be out of earshot before he turned his gaze to Dave.


    "He''s trying to y with our minds and make us feel what we don''t want to feel during the match, don''t let him get to you." The winger said.


    "I know, but he is very annoying."


    "Just ignore him." The winger said before he continued his walk to the locker room.


    <It has been debatable until now but I can finally say it>


    ''Say what?''


    <Mateo acts way more maturepared to you>


    ''Hey, keep quiet.''


    <I know, right, the truth hurts>


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 319 He Doesnt Know Any Formula

    The yers were all sitting down inside the locker room with Norman standing in front of them.


    They were ready to head out to the pitch for the pre-match warm-up but before that, Norman had something to tell them.


    "It hase to my notice that somebody''s trying to y mind games with us, no he''s targeting Mateo specifically but I''m d he knows how to deal with things like that but I''m going to say this because he may decide toe after you guys too.


    "No matter what any of them tells you guys, do not fret because once you do that, you lose focus in the game and start making mistakes and that is exactly what they want, don''t let them get the better of you."


    "Don''t worry, coach, you can count on us," Adolf said.


    "I''m sure I can," Norman said with a nod.


    After that, the yers made their way to the pitch where Spree City yers were already warming up.


    There were a couple of fans in the stands and they were cheering for the yers as they warmed up.


    They started with running a fewps just like always before switching to the stretches and now, they were practicing with the ball.


    Dave did a couple more stretches before he kicked up the ball beside him and began to joggle it.


    He joggled it for a couple of seconds before he did a leg with his right foot and use that same right foot to catch the ball before it could hit the floor.


    He stayed like that with the ball for a while before he suddenly kicked the ball up and allowed it toe down within foot range before he pulled back his right foot and sent the volley flying toward the goalpost with a powerful shot.


    The ball flew toward the right side and curved a little to the right in the process to hit the angle between the crossbar and right post before falling into the goalpost.


    "When did you learn how to do that?"


    The goalkeeper quickly turned to the side to see Merino approaching him.


    "Oh, that, I''ve seen Mateo do it a couple of times and I''ve been trying to do it during training sessions, did I get it right?"


    "Yeah, that was neat, your shot power and uracy are always superb, how do you even do that?" Merino asked.


    "Huh?"


    "I mean you''re a goalkeeper, you''re not supposed to be this good at shooting." The winger said.


    "Well, I''ve been doing a lot of shooting drills so it''s only fair that my shots are good." The goalkeeper said.


    "I have also been doing a lot of shooting drills but my shot power and uracy aren''t up to your level although it''s not that bad."


    "I think your shots are great," Dave said.


    "Yeah, they look wonderful whenever they fly over the bar."


    "No, I meant when they fly into the goalpost." The goalkeeper said with an awkward expression on his face.


    <You shouldn''t have said that>


    "I guess some yers are gifted naturally in one aspect and just need a little practice to reveal that talent, with what you have, you would have been great upfront as a striker, winger, or attacking midfielder, but I guess staying in between the sticks is what you love." Merino expressed.


    "Yeah, and I use my foot skills to help up front as much as I can." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah, that helps a lot, I''ll be expecting those long balls of yours on the right."


    "I''ll do what I can when I find the right space." The goalkeeper said.


    Their pre-match warm-up continued and just as soon as the time hit 3:30 PM, the yers were told to head down the tunnel and get ready for the match.


    Dave was heading down the tunnel with Mateo walking alongside him when Felix suddenly pulled up beside them.


    "Hey, Dave, Mateo." The striker said with a little wave.


    "What do you want?" Dave asked, trying as hard as possible to keep a straight look on his face.


    "Nothing much really, I just wanted to remind you about giving me the honor to be the first yer to score a goal against you in allpetitions this season." The striker said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Why would I do that?" Dave asked.


    "Because we''re buddies."


    "Buddies?" The goalkeeper said with a confused expression on his face.


    "Oh, never mind," Felix said before letting out a sigh. "I''ll just find a way through like I always do, I am the yer who has scored the most goals against you after all so I sort of know the form."


    The goalkeeper watched him walk ahead of them and disappear downstairs before he turned his gaze to Mateo.


    "I''m going to say some things about him if we end up winning this match." He said.


    "If you say it after we win the match, then there''s nothing wrong with it as long as you don''t go too far," Mateo said. "I wonder what will happen if he tries this with Minino."


    "No, no, don''t imagine that, that wouldn''t end in a good way, Minino''s not that tolerant of nonsense," Dave said, shaking his head.


    "Yeah, it wouldn''t," Mateo said.


    For this match, Unique FC yers were going to be putting on their first away jersey with orange polka dots and for Dave, it was just the lemon kit.


    Spree City on the other hand had on their light blue kit while their goalkeeper was putting on a red kit.


    Both teams met up in front of the exit to the pitch and stayed there for a while before they were given the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    "Wee everyone, is your regrmentator Jim Waterson and with me here in the studio is Mr. Steve Jefferson," Jim said as the yers made their way to the pitch.


    "Hello everyone, it''s nice to be back here to watch and share my opinions on this match alongside Jim."


    "Yeah, it''s always nice to talk about things with me," Jim said. "That aside, we have a very entertaining match here today, thest time these teams faced each other, it ended in a draw, Spree City almost ran away with it just like they always did but ast-minute equalizer from Rnd Ryle was enough to secure a point for the Uniques."


    "Unique FC suffered in the hands of Spree City in thest two seasons, Unique FC have not been able to beat them in theirst four matches and despite not scoring against him in theirst match, Felix Nunez still holds the record for the most goals scored against Dave Richards, nine goals in four matches." Steve expressed.


    After going around to shake each other''s hands, the captains made their way to the officials for the coin toss.


    Adolf ended up winning the coin toss and just like always, he chose the goalpost on the left.


    "Unique FC may have had a bad record against Spree City recently but head to head Unique FC has won more matches, they''ve faced each other fifty-four times since the start of the Bilbeth Premier League. Unique FC had beaten them thirty-one times while Spree City has beaten them sixteen times only, the remaining seven matches were all draws and today, they face each other for the fifty fifth time, who''s going toe out on top?" Jim articted.


    "If we''re talking about form, then Unique FC has the edge but sometimes that''s not all that matters," Steve said.


    Just as Dave made his way to his goalpost, he made slight eye contact with Felix who was heading toward the center of the pitch at that time.


    [ Quest received ]


    ''I was wondering when you were going to show up.''


    [ Show Felix Nunez that he does not know the form to scoring against you, prevent him from scoring against you ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +120 exp ]


    [ +10 skill upgrade points ]


    [ Instant skill upgrade to any skill of your choice ]


    ''I''ll show him alright, I''ll show him that he doesn''t know any form.'' He said subconsciously as he confidently walked to his goalpost.


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 320 First Attempts

    Just like always, Norman was using the four-three-three C formation, and today, he made sure he had all his starting yers on the pitch except for ss who had to sit on the bench for Merino to start.


    It was always a hassle on who was going to start between these two as they both had their good qualities which were always needed in a match.


    Carlos had the speed to quickly zoom past the left back and create chances but he wasn''t that good with shooting, he was also able to produce good dribbles although he wasn''t as good as Merino.


    Merino wasn''t as fast as Carlos with the ball on his feet but he didn''t really need that to get past the defenders, he had very good ball control that allowed him to dribble efficiently, he''s way more decisive when ites to shots and somehow he manages to get into good positions to take care of rebounds near the edge of the opponent''s box.


    In conclusion, Carlos was way more technical and that''s why he was considered more of a ymaker.


    Merino on the other hand had better ball control and was better at shooting, Norman putting him in this match meant that he needed goals as soon as possible.


    Spree City were using the four-three-three formation, the normal one with three central midfielders, and upfront they had Felix, Jni on the right and Torres on the left.


    Fredinho was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly pushed the ball to Minino who quickly sent it rolling back to Martinez.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way," Jim said.


    Spree City began with their style as soon as they heard that whistle and what was their style? Aggressively chasing the ball, that was their style.


    They were trying to put pressure on the guests and make them make mistakes unaware that they had figured out how to deal with what they were doing.


    They remained calm and passed the ball around in their half while looking for a way through.


    "Spree City yers are chasing the ball aggressively but that doesn''t seem to be working as Unique FC yers are calmly passing the ball around in their half."


    Mateo received the ball from Rnd but Jamie was quickly heading toward him from behind.


    Instead of moving forward with the ball or returning it to any of his teammates, the winger moved the ball back with his backheel, the ball rolled backward in between the midfielder''s legs as the winger caught hold of it before it could go any further and stretched it to Ferran who was closing in on the center of the pitch.


    "Oh, nice backheel nutmeg from Mateo, I''m sure Jamie''s not feeling good after that," Jim said.


    Ferran caught hold of the ball before he could run into the midfielder heading toward him and quickly sent the ball back to Mateo before the midfielder could get to him.


    "Back to Mateo."


    Mateo found Merino on the right wing and quickly floated the ball over to him.


    "Floated over to Merino."


    Merino brought the ball down with his chest and just before the yer heading toward him could get to him, he pushed the ball to Minino who quicklyid it off for Ferran who had just gotten past the midfielder but the midfielder wasn''t going to let him through as he quickly stretched his leg and brought Ferran down from behind.


    "Oh, that is a terrible challenge from Dennison," Jim said.


    The referee blew his whistle and quickly rushed to Dennison to show him a yellow card.


    "As expected, he''s going into that little ck book," Jim said. "The first booking of the game as early as the ninth minute."


    "It''s a good thing for Unique FC that Ferran''s not staying down after that tackle," Steve said as the midfielder slowly got up from the floor with the help of Mateo.


    The foul happened forty yards away from Spree City''s box so there was really no need for them to panic.


    Unique FC could have taken the kick quickly, but it took Ferran a while to get up so they had to take it normally.


    "There''s no way no one will score a free kick from there is what I would have said in this situation if I have never seen Dave Richards shoot from his box," Jim said.


    "Yeah, maybe they should allow Dave to take care of the free-kick," Steve said.


    That was a good idea, but it wasn''t what Mateo had in mind as he happened to be the one standing over the ball as the other yers slowly moved back toward the box.<novelnext></novelnext>


    He stood over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon he heard it, he quickly took two steps before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it floating toward the box.


    Fredinho was standing just at the edge of the ball when he jumped up to get his head on the ball just like the defenders around him.


    Fredinho ended up getting the back of his head on the ball and that was all he needed to send the ball flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost.


    "Fredinho!"


    The goalkeeper dived toward it, but there was no point in that as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that was so close."


    "It''s quite a surprise that Spree City has not been able to touch the ball until now," Steve said as the goalkeeper dropped the ball at the edge of the box inside the eighteen-yard box. "Unique FC had one hundred percent ball possession until now."


    The goalkeeper observed the area for a while before he sent the ball flying in toward the right side.


    Ferran caught hold of the ball in the air, but before he could do anything with it, Jamie was right there to steal the ball from him.


    "Jamie''s aggressiveness works well to take the ball from Ferran."


    He pushed the ball to Dennison who sent it rolling to Kno with a single touch.


    "Kno."


    Kno slowly moved the ball toward Rnd to try and take him on but almost losing the ball to the left back made him rethink his choice and move the ball back to Jamie who quickly sent it to Felix.


    Felix moved the ball to Torres as soon as he got hold of it to avoid losing it to Adolf.


    "Torres."


    Torres tried to dribble past Norman, and when that didn''t work, he decided to use speed.


    He raced further down with Norman chasing him, and just before the ball could go past the line, he sent it rolling into the box through Norman''s legs.


    The ball moved past Aima toward Felix who quickly fired the ball toward the left side of the goalpost before Adolf could get to him.


    "Felix!"


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    Dave dived toward the ball just in time to push it out toward Rnd who quickly cleared the danger.


    He didn''t really need ball ma to make that save but didn''t want to take any chances.


    "Nice save from Dave as expected and Rnd was there to clear the danger," Jim said.


    "With that, both teams have made their first goal attempts."


    ''I won''t let you score against me.'' Dave said subconsciously as he slowly got up from the floor with his gaze on Felix.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 321 Getting Heated Up

    The match had just entered the thirty-fifth minute and so far, none of the teams had been able to produce a goal.


    Unique FC had more ball possession like they always did but the difference wasn''t that much.


    Spree City had been able to make three more goal attempts after that first one from Felix but none of them were sessful.


    Two of them were off-target shots by Kno and Torres which Dave watched fly over the bar, and the one which was on target was a shot by Felix from twenty-five yards, that could have been a great goal, but unfortunately for him, the ball was sent rolling into Dave''s hands.


    Unique FC on the other hand despite having more ball possession, had only been able to make one more goal attempt after that one Fredinho which went over.


    Mateo swiftly dribbled past two yers to get near the edge of the box and fire a shot toward the right side of the goalpost, but his shot was deflected and sent rolling into the goalkeeper''s hands.


    Right now, Unique FC were with the ball, they were moving forward with their coordinated string of passes while looking for a way to break through Spree City''s defense and cause some problems for them.


    "Just a few minutes before the halftime break and there is nothing to show between the two," Jim said.


    Ferran received the ball from Martinez in central midfield.


    He scanned the area to see if there were any of the forwards he could send the ball to, but seeing that they weren''t in very good positions, he had to send the ball back to Martinez before the yer heading toward him would try to take it from him.


    All Martinez needed to send the ball to Minino was a single touch and as soon as Minino got hold of the ball, he quickly switched further down the right and zoomed past the midfielder trying to stop him beforeying the ball off for Merino further down the wing.


    The left-back quickly rushed out to try and stop him with a tackle not knowing that doing something like that carelessly was a big mistake.


    Merino quickly grabbed the ball with both of his feet and jumped over him to get into the box.


    "Merino''s in the box, this could be the moment," Jim said with the excitement in his voice slowly rising.


    Merino feigned shooting toward the goalpost to get the defenders and goalkeeper to act up before he caught past one of the defenders with nice skill and call control before passing the ball to Fredinho who was almost unmarked in the middle inside the box.


    "He''s all alone, this could be it!"


    Fredinho quickly pulled his leg back and fired the shot toward the right side of the goalpost.


    "Fredinho!"


    The striker should have given that ball a little bit of elevation as one of the defenders quickly stretched his leg to block but the ball deflected on his leg a little more to the right and ended up hitting the post.


    Merino quickly rushed to the rebound to put it away, but before he could get to it, the goalkeeper quickly stretched his hands and covered the ball with them.


    "Oh, that was so close, but Spree City will be happy nothing serious came from that."


    The goalkeeper didn''t even wait for the second second to pass before he quickly got up from the floor and sent the ball flying in toward Felix.


    "They''re looking to start a counterattack here," Steve said.


    Adolf was right behind Felix so he clearly wasn''t offside as the two contested for the ball.


    The striker got a little rough with the defender to win the ball, that should have been a foul as Adolf fell to the floor with his hand on his nose but the referee allowed y to continue.


    Adolf was still lying on the ground as Felix passed the ball to Jamie who quickly sent the ball rolling to Kno.


    "What the heck is going on?" Dave said as he raised his hand toward the goalkeeper and pointed his hand toward Adolf to show him that he was on the floor but he still didn''t take any action.


    "Adolf''s on the floor after that challenge with Felix, it looks like Felix hit him with his elbow, Dave''s trying to call the referee''s attention to it but y is still going on." Steve expressed.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "That should be a foul in every way," Jim said.


    The yers had to leave Adolf on the floor because of the attack proceeding toward the goalpost.


    It wasn''t that clear during the early stages of the match but now, the yers and everybody supporting Unique FC felt like the referee was also ying against them.


    ''Someone''s on the floor, that right call is to stop the game but the game is still going.'' Dave said subconsciously as he folded his hands into fists and bit his lower lip while waiting for the ball.


    Kno pushed the ball to Felix who tried to push past Martinez who had covered up to support Aima.


    The striker almost lost the ball to Martinez and with a desperate attempt, he sent the ball rolling back to Kno but that pass didn''t have much power to it and before the ball could get to Kno, Mateo closed up on him from behind to steal the ball.


    He didn''t even try to start a counterattack even though he had the chance; rather he sent the ball to Dave who quickly picked it up before he began to make his way to the referee.


    "Looks like Mateo was looking for a way to stop y all this while and he just found one," Jim said.


    While Dave made his way to the referee to have a word with him after he blew his whistle to stop y, Mateo went to check on Adolf who was still lying on the floor with his hand covering his face.


    "Dave looks really pissed off here."


    That was no exaggeration as the goalkeeper didn''t have the nicest expression on his face.


    The medical team had toe take care of Adolf whose nose was bleeding, but it didn''t look that serious.


    And while all that was going on, the only thing Minino wanted was to beef with someone.


    "Hey, I know you did that on purpose." The midfielder said as he blocked Felix''s path.


    "Get out of the way."


    The striker didn''t even consider anything before quickly pushing him back with his chest.


    He expected the midfielder to crash to the floor because of his stature but the midfielder only staggered two steps back before he got back to the striker and returned the chest push which only pushed him a foot back.


    "You want to fight? Fine, I''m looking forward to it."


    Their teammates had to quickly rush to the area to calm things down because both of them could get sent off and probably receive at least three match bans if things should go past the point it is at the moment.


    "Things are starting to get heated up between both teams here in the Telonia stadium," Jim said.


    The referee had to leave Dave who was still talking to him and head over to the area ofmotion and show both of the yers involved yellow cards.


    "They''re lucky they didn''t get sent off," Steve said.


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 322 One Man Down

    Everything seemed to have been resolved after the referee stepped in, but both Felix''s and Minino''s blood were still boiling after that, Minino''s especially.


    ''What a jerk, I just asked a simple question and just pushes me like that, does he think I''m some kind of push over.'' The midfielder thought with a frown on his face as he slowly moved into his position.


    <This match just took an interesting turn>


    ''So, you like conflict and violence, huh.''


    <Who said anything about violence? I just love it when things get heated up like this between teams, violence doesn''t have to be involved>


    ''You know violence is always a ground for these kinds of things.''


    <Yeah, but the teammates and referee always step up before anything bad happens so the violence isn''t that much>


    Dave didn''t reply to her as he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the pitch.


    <I have a feeling someone''s going to make a mistake with what just happened>


    ''Huh?''


    <I meant that someone might get a red card and get sent off>


    ''Red card? From our team or theirs?'' The goalkeeper subconsciously.


    <Either one>


    ''Either one? I sure hope it isn''t ours, if that happens, we may end up losing this match.


    The ball was sent flying toward Minino who caught hold of it and passed it to Ferran before the yer close to him could get closer.


    "Ferran."


    Ferran pushed the ball back to Martinez who pushed forward with a little before pushing it to Mateo on the left.


    "Mateo."


    Mateo wriggled his way past Jamie before he found Ferran making a run toward the box and quickly sent the ball rolling to him.


    "Mateo doing what he does best," Jim said.


    Ferran wasn''t able to get through as his path was suddenly blocked so he shifted the ball to Minino who sent it rolling back to Mateo on the left.


    Jamie didn''t want to let go of the winger but he was getting humiliated here.


    After that backheel nutmeg the winger used to get past him earlier in the game, he had been man-marking him not knowing that he was signing up for more humiliation that would end up as tik tok edits in favor of the wingerter today.


    The winger dragged the ball to the edge of the line and waited for him to get close before he got it past him with an overhead kick and continued down the wing.


    "Mateo is having fun humiliating Jamie here today, not sure if Jaime is enjoying it too," Steve said.


    It was now time for him to face Danilo once again today.


    He still had Felix''s words about Danilo being able to injure him in mind but he had not been afraid to face the left back.


    Getting past him wasn''t certainly wasn''t as easy as getting past Jaime.


    He had only managed to get past him with a dribble only once so far in the match.


    Getting past him with passes was easier so he decided to use that but now, he was going to attempt dribbling past him because he just felt like it.


    Danilo stretched his leg to try and stop him and that was just the opening he needed to make his move.


    He moved a little to the right with the ball before he put it past the left back through his legs and quickly zoomed to the other side to receive it.


    "He''s through, this could be their chance to do something."


    Unfortunately, before the winger could do anything with the ball, the left back viciously slid toward him, and as if that wasn''t enough, he grabbed him on his shirt and pulled him down backward when he was already falling forward.


    "No, no, that is a terrible challenge."<novelnext></novelnext>


    There was no debate about that as the referee quickly rushed to the area and showed the left back a straight red card while Mateo was still on the floor with his hands on his feet, he was in a lot of pain.


    "It''s a straight red card for Danilo."


    Felix along with three of his teammates quickly headed to the referee and at the same time, Minino headed to the area to listen to what they were going to say.


    It looked like something was going to spark up between him and Felix again as the two red at each other until the referee walked away from them.


    "Things aren''t looking good for Spree City, they''re one man down with the first half almosting to an end but he might have seeded with something if Mateo who has been Unique FC''s main man in this match is unable to continue." Steve expressed.


    "Well, we''re about to find out."


    After getting attention from the medical team for a couple of minutes, the winger was able to slowly get up from the floor.


    "Looks like he failed that mission because Mateo Smith, he''s limping a bit but that''s normal," Jim said.


    "Yeah, they''re lucky that didn''t happen inside the box or it would have been a double blow to them," Steve said.


    "Are you sure you can continue?" Ferran got closer to the winger to ask.


    "Yeah." He replied before stomping both of his feet on the ground.


    ''I guess that was the red card you were talking about.'' Dave said subconsciously with his arms crossed.


    <Yeah, but I was expecting it to happen during the first minutes of the second half at least>


    ''Yeah, it happened pretty fast, I''m just d that it wasn''t against us and that Mateo is able to continue after that terrible challenge.''


    "Mateo''s still limping so it looks like Ferran''s going to be the one to take the free-kick," Jim said.


    Ferran was standing over the ball now with his gaze on Spree City''s four-man wall which was formed right inside the eighteen-yard box.


    After making sure that everything was ready and nothing suspicious was going on inside the box, the referee blew his whistle.


    "The match had just entered the forty-third minute, could this be Unique FC''s chance to open the scoreline before the halftime break?"


    Ferran took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost but his effort ended up hitting the wall.


    "It ran into the wall."


    Mateo was right there to pick up the ball before the defender heading toward it could get to it, and with a roulette spin, he got past the defender with three more in front of him.


    "Mateo takes on one, two, three can he go all the way."


    It looked unreal as the winger got past four defenders with the ball, and just before the ones from the sides could get to him with their slides, he sent the ball rolling toward the right side of the goalpost.


    The goalkeeper dived toward it, but he wasn''t able to get to it as the ball ended up hitting the post before rolling into the goalpost.


    "It''s in! The deadlock has finally been broken and who else would it be other than Unique FC''s magician!"


    Ferran didn''t even wait for the winger to make a move before he quickly got to him and lifted him.


    "Magnificent work and strike from Mateo Smith, what a yer, he had brilliant momentsst season but he is showing everyone what he can truly do this season." Steve expressed.


    "Wow," Dave muttered as he slowly shook his head with a smile on his face.


    "With that goal, Mateo Smith now holds the record for the longest scoring streak in the Bilbeth Premier League having now scored in seven consecutive games."


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 323 The Second Half

    That goal from Mateo was what you would call a desperate attempt to make sure his team was leading before the halftime break and it sure worked out for him.


    "Mateo Smith sure is making his mark this season, he now holds the record for the longest scoring streak scoring for seven consecutive games." Jim expressed. "Another star in the making."


    After that goal, Spree City started to look a bitckluster and would have given the ball away for another goal if the goalkeeper had not intervened quickly to clear the.


    Unique FC dominated the game for the few minutes left until the referee blew his whistle to bring the first half to an end.


    "There''s the whistle and that is the end of the first half," Jim said. "Both teams fought well and created good chances but in the end, it was Unique FC who made good use of one of their chances to get a goal, the first halfes to an end, Spree City nill, Unique FC one."


    The yers quickly made their way down the tunnel and straight to the locker room to have a little rest before the second half.


    Norman went down the tunnel first and was already waiting for his boys in the locker room before they entered.


    He went around and gave each of them a handshake before walking back to where he was standing.


    "Good job guys, I wasn''t particrly impressed with the way you guys yed, youcked decisiveness apart from Mateo and that was why he scored, but we have the lead and that''s all that matters." He expressed. "Now, I know what most of you are thinking, we have the lead and they''re one man down so the second half should be a walk over, if you think like that, we''re going to lose this lead and maybe even lose the match, and what a shame it would be to have a team with ten men make aeback against us."


    "Did you guys hear the coach? If that''s what you''re thinking then snap out of it." Adolf said to his teammates.


    "Yeah, you have to go into this second half and y like they still have eleven men on the pitch, but, they''re one man short and we''re going to try and make good use of that." The coach. "I think you guys have already seen through what happened to Adolf and Mateo that they can be a bit too rough, so be careful, don''t be afraid to take on a challenge but be careful."


    After the coach told them a couple more things before the halftime break period got exhausted and they had to start making their way to the pitch.


    Just as the yers from both teams stepped onto the pitch, the fans began to erupt with wild cheers, Unique FC fans had been quite hyperactive since that goal from Mateo.


    "Wee back everyone, the second half is about to kick off as we can see the yers making their way to the pitch now," Jim said. "This match could either be one-sided or be filled with jaw-dropping surprises, either way, it''s going to be a good show."


    "And by jaw-dropping surprises, you mean Spree City possibly making aeback."


    "Yeah, if that happens, the atmosphere is sure going to go wild given that they''re one man short." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, but let''s just watch and see how things turn out," Steve said.


    Since Unique FC started the match from the kick-off spot in the first half, Spree City were going to be the ones to do it in the second half."


    Felix was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly pushed the ball to Jamie who quickly sent it to Kno before Mateo could get to him.


    Now that the hosts were one man down, their coach had to remove one of the midfielders and put in another right back to strengthen his backline as he didn''t want his defense to suffer but removing a man from midfield meant that Unique FC couldfortably control the midfield now and midfield was where they shined the most.


    Spree City started the match with slow and progressive passes while looking for an opening to make that pass that would wreck havoc on Unique FC''s defense.


    Jamie switched to the middle to receive the ball back from Kno, and without much thinking, he drilled the ball low toward Felix inside the box.


    The ball got past Adolf and Aima and now all that remained was for Felix to finish but Dave rushed out of his goal right in time to catch the ball and move out of the way to avoid Felix making any rough contact with him.


    "Oh, my, that was so close to being Spree City''s equalizer but Dave Richards isn''t going to make things easy for them I see."


    ''That was close.'' Dave said subconsciously before he got up with the ball and sent it flying to Minino.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Just before leaving the box, Felix turned his gaze to him and smirked.


    ''I don''t know what that''s for but you''re not going to do anything.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.


    Minino got hold of the ball and just before the midfielder right behind him could get to him, he passed the ball to Martinez who quickly raced through the empty space in the center of midfield.


    "Martinez using that spacious midfield to his advantage."


    Jamie quickly switched to the middle to try and stop the defensive midfielder, but all he needed to do was push the ball to Ferran who had to send it to Mateo to avoid losing it to Kno who had already closed up on him.


    "Mateo."


    Mateo moved closer to the right and feigned shooting toward the goalpost beforeying the ball off to Fredinho who found Merino closing up in the box and quicklyid the ball off to him with a through pass.


    "Fredinho finds Merino in the box, this could be the second goal!"


    The winger was in a good position to receive the ball, but just as he pulled his leg back and fired it toward the goalpost, the referee blew his whistle.


    The ball bounced on the goalkeeper''s hand and rolled into the goalpost, but it didn''t matter as the linesman already had his g up.


    "Looks like that won''t count, the linesman has his g up and the referee''s not giving it," Jim said.


    "He was offside, his right foot was offside just by millimeters, he could have avoided that, but that''s the right call, no goal," Steve said.


    The match continued till the sixtieth minute with none of the teams being able to produce anything as Unique FC were still leading.


    Spree City''s attack was finding it quite difficult to get through Unique FC''s defense and Unique FC who didn''t have that much trouble getting through were missing a lot of chances.


    It was until the sixty-third minute that Spree City won a free kick right at the edge of the box after Felix was brought down by Adolf.


    The challenge wasn''t a nice one so the captain had to be shown a yellow card.


    It looked intentional as revenge for what Felix did to him and maybe it was.


    Right now, Torres was standing over the ball with his gaze on Unique FC''s four-man wall inside the box which also had somebody under it, they didn''t want to take any chances.


    "A free kick in a very good spot, this might as well be Spree City''s chance to level it," Steve said.


    The referee blew his whistle as Torres slowly took three steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost from the top.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 324 New Record

    [ Ball ma activated ]


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost as Dave quickly dived toward it.


    He was able to get to it with the tip of his glove and with the help of ball ma, he got enough contact force to push it over the bar.


    "Magnificent save from Dave Richards to make sure his team is still leading, I knew he wasn''t going to make it easy for them,"  Jim said.


    "Yeah, wonderful save from Dave but now they have a corner to deal with," Steve said.


    Kno was standing over the ball on the spot waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly sent the ball flying into the box.


    He sent the ball flying quite close to the goalpost so Dave had to jump together with the yers contesting for the ball.


    He had the hand advantage, so he was able to catch the ball before crashing to the floor with it.


    "Looks like the danger has been cleared by Dave Richards once again, Spree City had their chances but getting past that goalkeeper is not an easy task, nobody has been able to score against him so far in the season and he''s making sure no one does." Jim expressed. "If he finishes this match with a clean sheet, then that would mean that he has broken the record for the most consecutive clean sheets which he has tied with Devon Richards, his grandfather."


    "Crazy how he has tied the record held by his grandfather and is about to break it," Steve said.


    The match continued with both teams doing their best, Spree City were looking for an equalizer because, at this point in the game, all they needed was a draw because the guests were outying them.


    Unique FC on the other hand were looking for the second goal to seal the goal for them.


    After a failed attacking attempt, Martinez got the ball off Jamie with a sliding tackle to prevent a counterattack against them.


    After winning the ball, he sent it rolling back to Adolf, who quickly sent it back to Dave who had gotten out of his box to receive the ball now.


    With the yers heading to the other side now, Spree City''s goalkeeper had to leave his goal line and walk a little closer to the edge of the box, but that was a big mistake.


    ''You saw me with the ball on my feet here and decided to leave your goal line, fine, I give in to the temptation.'' Dave said subconsciously before he pushed the ball forward a little and pulled his right leg back to send it flying toward Spree City''s goalpost just before Felix could get to him.


    "It''s Dave''s killer shot again."


    The goalkeeper quickly retreated backward to try and stop the ball but he wasn''t quick enough as the ball ended up smashing past the tip of his gloves to fly into the goalpost.


    "Goaaaalllllll!!! Dave has just given his team the second goal of the game, Mason should have never left his goal line!" Jim eximed.


    Dave didn''t even take a single step before Minino quickly closed up on him and tackled him to the floor before the rest of his teammates joined in to jump on him.


    "I didn''t expect him to try that since it hadn''t been working that well for him in the past couple of days, but he found the opportunity and he used it perfectly." Jim expressed.


    "I still can''t get over how a goalkeeper can shoot rockets from that far," Steve said.


    "Yeah, the goalkeeping role suits him quite well just imagine him as a striker doing something like this from close range, he''ll be a menace to goalkeepers."


    The fans were going wild chanting Dave''s name and Minino had his arms around the goalkeeper''s shoulders forcing him to jump up and down with him.


    "He now has two goals and one assist this season, with those stats you wouldn''t even believe he''s a goalkeeper," Jim said. "He now holds the record for the goalkeeper to score twice and also give an assist in a season, the first goalkeeper to score and assist in a season was his grandfather Devon Richards, he''s slowly surpassing his grandfather."


    [ You have set a new Bilbeth Premier League Record ]


    [ You are now the only goalkeeper to score twice and also give an assist in a season ]<novelnext></novelnext>


    [ +20 exp received ]


    ''My grandfather was the only goalkeeper to score and assist in the league in the same season and now I''m the only goalkeeper in the league to score twice and assist in the same season.''


    <Yeah, you''re slowly surpassing him, the season isn''t even over yet, you may get more goals and assists>


    That goal from Dave was all that was needed to shatter the spirits of Spree City yers as that aggressive fighting spirit in them seem to have died down.


    Despite that, Felix was still fighting hard for a goal, he was pulling off a lot of long-range shots but none of them was a real threat to o Dave.


    The match had just entered the eighty-fifth minute when Mateo brought Jamie down with a sliding tackle to win the ball back.


    The midfielder raised his hands to call for a foul but the referee allowed y to carry on the winger raced down the left wing with the ball.


    Just before running into the right back, he had to pass the ball to Martinez who quickly sent it rolling to Ferran.


    Mateo raised his hand before going past the left back and without hesitation, Ferran floated the ball over to him.


    "Looking for Mateo on the wing."


    The winger brought the ball down with his chest and found an opening in the defender''s which he put the ball through before getting past him to get to the ball inside the box and pass it to Fred who hade on to rece Fredinho.


    "Fred."


    Fred trapped the ball with his left foot and quickly turned to switch it to his right leg and also get away from the yer in front of him a little and once he was through, he sent the ball rolling toward the right side of the goalpost.


    "Fred!"


    The goalkeeper dived toward the ball but he wasn''t able to get to it on time as the ball rolled into the goalpost.


    "It''s in! Unique FC has gotten their third goal of the game! Oh, how fast things switched up for Spree City."


    Fred quickly rush to the sidelines with a knee slide before Merino got to him with a knee slide of his and pulled him down.


    The yers were screaming at top of their lungs as they faced the fans.


    "There''s noing back from this one, the game is sealed for Unique FC, they''ve just run away with another three points."


    "Yes!" Dave yelled as he raised both of his hands.


    "You''re the one who should have been careful from the start," Mateo said as he walked past Felix who had both of his hands on his waist with a devastated look on his face.


    "You''re right, Jim, the game is pretty much sealed, it''s Spree City nill, Unique FC three," Steve said.


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 325 Level Ten

    Just like thementator said, the game was very much sealed with that third from Fred.


    Spree City yers lost all their fighting spirit after that goal but at least they had the spirit to defend and make sure a third goal didn''t happen until the referee blew his whistle to bring the match to an end.


    "There''s the whistle, it is all over," Jim said.


    The fans were all cheers after all this wasn''t an easy match and they came out on top three goals to nothing.


    "With that, Unique FC has finally defeated Spree City after four matches of not being able to beat them." Steve articted.


    "Yeah, and it''s no small victory," Jim said.


    "Dave really tried his best to make sure that Felix didn''t extend his scoring record against him, the striker still has the most goals against him but he has sessfully prevented him from scoring against him in two consecutive matches, that should tell him a lot about the goalkeeper''s level now."


    Mateo was announced as the man of the match as expected, but that wasn''t what mattered now.


    The guest yers had gone to apud their fans who came down to Spree to watch them y, and after that, Dave turned around and began to scan the area for a certain someone.


    It didn''t take long for him to find him close to the tunnel talking to someone.


    He made his way to the area, and just as he got closer, the yer the striker was talking to turned and began to make his way down the tunnel.


    It was at that moment that he turned toward the pitch to see the goalkeeper approaching him.


    ''I guess avoiding him has failed now.'' He said subconsciously before biting his lower lip.


    "Oh, hey, Dave." He said as soon as the goalkeeper got close enough.


    "Felix," Dave said before stopping in front of him.


    "Congrattions on your victory, I didn''t expect you guys to outy us like that but the unexpected happening sometimes is part of the beautiful game." The striker expressed.


    "Yeah, and I guess that form of yours didn''t work just like it didn''t workst time, are you having trouble getting a final answer with the form just like you did when you scored nine goals in three matches?"


    "Uh¡­it just didn''t work, I''ll just have to try again next time." He said with a fake smile that anyone would clearly be able to see through.


    "Yeah, trying harder will work well too," Dave said.


    "Yeah, I''ll consider that too, I have to go join my teammates." The striker said before quickly turning to go down the tunnel. "Bye and good luck keeping a clean sheet when you face Supreme United."


    <He still had to sneak in ament like that, that guy has no shame>


    Dave didn''t say anything as he turned around to see that Mateo along with the rest of his teammates were making their way to him but before Mateo could move any further, someone popped up from nowhere and hooked her right arm with his left arm to prevent him from making a run for it.


    "Hey, Mateo."


    "Amber? Where the heck did youe from?" The winger was quite startled.


    "Is that even supposed to be a question? I''m a sports journalist so it''s only right that I am here." She said.


    "Where''s Emma? She''s supposed to be with you, right?" Dave got closer to ask.


    "Ugh¡­about that," Amber said with an awkward expression on her face.


    "What happened?" Dave demanded.


    "Um¡­.Mrs. Emma is a bit sick so she wasn''t able toe, so I had toe with just Matthew." She exined.


    "A bit sick?"


    "Yeah, I think her pregnancy hormones are acting up again."


    "Oh, I see," Dave muttered.


    "But don''t worry, I''m sure she''s okay, I called her a few minutes ago to confirm that." She said.


    "That''s good."


    "Yeah, nowe let''s go, Mateo." She said before pulling the winger a little to the left along with her.


    "Go where? You know this isn''t Unique FC so you''re not in charge of the official match interviews." Mateo said.


    "Who said anything about that? Your teammate is over there taking care of that anyway, I just need you to answer a few of my questions, something I will include when I right the report of this match." She exined.


    "Oh, I see, if that''s the case, then you can just have Rnd." The winger said before turning his gaze to Rnd who just got closer to them at that time.


    The left-back was about to say something when he spotted Amber.


    "Oh, hi, Amber."


    "No, I want you." She said before dragging the winger away from the left back.


    "Seriously?" Rnd muttered.


    "Okay, okay, I''ll do it." The winger said just to get her to stop. "But those types of interviews are done inside, not outside here."


    "Let''s go inside then."


    "You know you getting close to me like this might start to spread some rumors that we won''t like," Mateo said as he looked around to see that there were still a couple of fans in the stands. "There are cameras here and people are watching from the stands."


    "What sort of rumors? That we''re dating?" She asked without even looking at him.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Yeah, something like that." The winger said with an awkward expression on his face.


    "I don''t think that''ll be bad if it starts circting."


    "Huh?"


    "But, I should let go, I see you don''t like being dragged around by me." She said before letting go of him.


    "Yes, thank you." He said before stretching his left arm.


    "Those two got close really fast," Dave said before he began to make his way down the tunnel, he was the only one that hadn''t gone down yet.


    <More than you would expect>


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ You sessfully made sure Felix Nunez didn''t score against you proving to him that he doesn''t know any form ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +120 exp received ]


    [ +10 skill upgrade points received ]


    [ You can now level up any skill of your choice ]


    [ 945/1000 exp ]


    ''I think checking out my post-match rewards will be enough to level me up.''


    <Of course, but you should check out that notification before that>


    ''I know.''


    [ Congrattions ]


    [ You now hold the record for the most consecutive clean sheets in the Bilbeth Premier League ]


    [ +10 exp received ]


    ''So, I get experience points for records, cool.''


    <You get experience points for breaking some records and setting some records not all of them>


    ''Oh, I see, that''s fine by me.'' He said subconsciously before entering the restroom.


    He made his way to the sink and turned it on to give his face a little ssh of water.


    ''Can I see my post-match rewards now.''


    <Sure thing>


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Four crucial saves: +40 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded (0): +120 exp ]


    [ Scored a goal: +150 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 8.4 ]


    ''I guess I contributed a lot to that clean sheet.''


    <Yeah>


    ''Anytime now.''


    [ 1265/1000 exp ]


    [ Level up ]


    [ Congrattions, you have now reached level 10 ]


    [ +3 stat points received ]


    [ +1 skill point received ]


    ''Level ten atst.''


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 326 Attribute Points Unlocked

    [ 265/1375 EXP ]


    ''Looks like the experience points pattern changed, is this normal?''


    <Yeah, you have now reached elite level two, leveling up is going to be harder now and you won''t be getting even and round numbers as your experience points goals anymore>


    ''Okay, I know reaching elite level one at level five unlocked skill upgrade points for me and that''s what''s special about it, but what is special about elite level two?''


    <You have unlocked attribute points, attribute points will help you unlock the sweeper keeper attribute and the other two attributes>


    ''Nice, they''re just skill upgrade points then.'' He said subconsciously.


    <Yeah, but they''re not that easy to get>


    ''Huh?''


    <The quests required to get them are going to be really toughpared to the ones you''ve been getting so far>


    ''Really? That tough?''


    <Yeah, so you have to be prepared for them or else it may take you agest to get one attribute point>


    ''Don''t worry, I''ll be prepared all right.''


    <At the moment you''re not>


    ''Huh?''


    <I think it would be important to start putting those stacked-up stat points and skill upgrade points of yours to good use because with the way you are now, you wouldn''t be able toplete any of those quests>


    ''Seriously?''


    <Yeah? You''ll see when the timees>


    [ Unused stat points: 13 ]


    ''Will this many stat points do?''


    <Um¡­yeah, for the easier ones>


    ''Then I''ll need more.''


    <Yeah>


    [ Skill upgrade points: 100 ]


    ''I have a hundred of these now and I am still able to level up any skill of my choice. Ball ma is my most useful skill, Focus can be used now but it''s still a bit tricky, Double stamina is underwhelming for a skill with that name and Double jump is just too obvious.''


    <I would love to help you out, but you''ll have to figure it out on your own, just remember that those skills will get better as you level them up just like Focus>


    ''I can sort of see how double stamina will get better but how is double jump going to get better?''


    <Just level it up and see for yourself>


    ''Level it up.''


    <Yeah, why don''t you make it your next target, you have a hundred skill upgrade points, use them to get double jump to at least level five>


    ''At least level five, huh? I''ll check it out tomorrow, but first.''


    [ Skill instant level up ]


    [ Ball ma has been leveled up to level 03 ]


    <You decided to use it on ball ma, good choice>


    ''I wasn''t really expecting that from you, but okay.'' He said subconsciously before opening the door.


    He made his way to the locker room to see that his teammates were all in the locker room and they were all seated quietly while Norman spoke to them about something.


    ''Guess it doesn''t involve me that much since he had to start without me.'' He said subconsciously before he made his way to one of the seats and sat down there.


    After listening, he further confirmed that what he was talking about had nothing to do with him, he was talking to the forwards and midfielders about something.


    [ yer Profile ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ yer Level: 10 ]


    [ 100/100 HP ]


    [ 265/1375 EXP ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Goalkeeping Skills ]


    [ Double jump: level(02) ]


    [ Ball ma: level(03) ]


    [ Focus: level (04) ]


    [ Double stamina: level (02) ]


    [ Goalkeeping attributes ]


    [ Shot stopper: level(02) ]


    [ 89/139 Energy ]


    [ Unused stat points: 13 ]


    [ Skill points: 14 ]


    [ Skill upgrade points: 100 ]


    [ Physical Status ]


    [ Strength: 38 ]


    [ Dexterity: 53 ]


    [ Endurance: 46 ]


    [ Career info ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ Age: 21 ]


    [ Height: 187 cm ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Strong foot: right ]


    [ Developed qualities: Shot stopper ]


    [ Developing qualities: Sweeper Keeper, ball ying keeper. ]


    [ Current Team: Unique FC ]


    [ Status: Starter ]


    [ Market value: €1M ]


    [ Matches yed: 89 ]


    [ Goals: 3 ]


    [ Assists: 5 ]


    [ Shots faced: 242 ]


    [ Goals conceded: 86 ]


    [ Saves made: 137 ]


    [ Penalties faced: 24 ]


    [ Penalties saved: 03 ]


    [ Clean sheets: 10 ]


    [ Career average rating: 7.7 ]


    [ Awards ]


    [ Man of the match awards: 07 ]


    [ Trophies ]


    [ Minor trophies: ¡Á1 Bilbeth Charity cup ]


    [ Major trophies: 0 ]


    [ Records set/broken ]


    [ Bilbeth Premier League record: First goalkeeper to score from 42 yards ]


    [ Only goalkeeper to score twice and assist in a season ]


    [ Goalkeeper with the most consecutive clean sheets (06) ]


    ''Wow, I have a market value of a million euros now.''


    <You deserve to have more than that but it''ll slowlye>


    ''If that happens then the club will get a lot of money from my transfer, that''s another way that I''ll be helping the club before leaving.''


    After telling the yers all that he needed to tell them, it was now time for them to start heading home.


    The flight back to Unique City didn''t take long and after getting to the stadium, the yers said their goodbyes before they got into their cars and began to make their way home.


    That massive victory against Spree City meant that they wouldn''t be leaving the top three spot anytime soon and if any of the two above them should make a mistake of dropping points, they were going to move above them, that applied mostly to Dynamo FC who were ahead of them with just a point, the Uniques even had the better goal difference.


    While there wasn''t going to be any Bilbeth Premier League match until Sunday, Unique FC were going to be hosting FC Basel on Saturday for the second leg of the Europa conference League qualifiers, a match they were all looking forward to, especially Dave.


    Dave was still driving home but he was a bit worried as he had been trying to get a call through to Emma but she didn''t seem to be picking up.


    "I hope she''s okay." He muttered with his gaze on the road.


    <Hey, don''t start getting all worked up, she''s just sleeping on the couch>


    ''Sleeping on the couch? How do you even know that?''


    <Because her phone is on the table beside her>


    ''Oh, I see, you have ess to her phone too.''


    <No, I just checked through your call transmission to her phone>


    ''You can do that?''


    <Yeah>


    ''Wow, so you can spy on anybody I call.''


    <Yeah, but you''re not nning on using me to do that are you?>


    ''No, no, I would never.''


    <Hmph>


    It didn''t take him long to get home and after parking his car in its usual spot, he made his way to the door and unlocked it with his key before making his way inside.


    "She really is on the couch." He muttered as soon he turned his gaze to the couch to see that she really was there.


    <That clears your doubt now, doesn''t it?>


    ''Yeah, and that''s a good thing.''


    He made his way to the freezer in the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of chilled water before he slowly made his way to the couch to sit beside her.


    He took down more than half of the content inside the bottle before he dropped it on the table and turned his gaze to her.


    "You look really pretty when you''re asleep." He said after leaning closer to her.


    "You think?" She muttered with a frail voice before slowly opening her eyes.


    "Oh, you''re awake, do you need me to get anything? I heard you had to cancel your trip to Spree because you were starting to feel nauseous again."


    "Oh, don''t worry about that, I''m okay now, and as for needing anything, I think this is enough." She smiled.


    Before he could say anything, she quickly pulled his face down toward hers for a kiss, she was a bit rough with that.


    ''What the heck is going on?''


    The goalkeeper was quite confused by her sudden action and had to pull back from her after a little while.


    "What''s wrong?" She asked before quickly sitting up on the couch.


    "No, nothing''s wrong, but are you sure about this? You''ve been avoiding this for a while now since you found out you were pregnant."


    "I know and that''s because all the throwing up makes me feel weird but I feel different today." She said before leaning closer to him and now he could feel her warm breath on his neck.


    <Go on, just as always, I won''t look>


    ''Yeah, like I would believe that.''


    "Different, really?"


    "Yeah." She replied before she ced her hands on his chest and looked up to meet his gaze.


    "Well, then, it''s a good thing you''re feeling different today." He said before pressing his lips against hers and partially stopping her from breathing.


    With each opening she got, she let out heavy breaths and when Dave finally pulled back, she crashed to the couch breathing heavily.


    "Are you okay?" He asked with a concerned look on his face.


    "Are you kidding me? I am more than okay." She said in between her breathing before pulling him down on her body.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 327 Skill Evolution

    The sun was slowly rising over Unique City with its rays as a sign that a new day hade forth.


    Dave was still asleep on the bed along with Emma who had her hands on his body with her face very close to his.


    They stayed like that for a while until the goalkeeper slowly opened his eyes.


    He turned his gaze to Emma to see that she was still asleep before he picked up his phone to see that the time was already 6:10 AM.


    The slightest move he made in trying to quietly get up from the bed and not wake up was all that was needed to wake her up.


    She let out a soft moan and blinked her eyes a couple of times before fully opening them.


    "Oh, hey, you are awake." She said with a bright smile on her face. "Good morning."


    "Good morning," Dave replied.


    "I guess you''re trying to quietly leave the room just like you always do." She said before snuggling closer to him.


    "Ha ha, you caught me." The goalkeeper said, sounding a bit nervous.


    "Can''t you just stay here with me?" She said, "Stay in bed with me."


    "I would love to but don''t you have to go to work?" He asked.


    "Yeah, but I''m going to workte today."


    "Late, why?"


    "I have a couple of things I need to do before leaving."


    "Then shouldn''t we go downstairs to get things ready so that you can finish it before heading off to work?" He asked.


    "Don''t worry about it, it''s almost done, I just need to add a few finishing touches which won''t even take up to five minutes."


    "Almost done with it, when did you¡­?"


    "I worked on itst night after you fell asleep. I worked on itst night because I just wanted to spend a little more time with you."


    "Oh, I see."


    "Yeah." She said before she pulled her face closer to his and pressed her lips against his.


    <I''m closing my eyes>


    ''How do I even know that''s true?''


    She didn''t need to do much to put him in the mood just looking at her pretty face was enough.


    Their passionate kissingsted for a while before she slowly pulled back.


    "Why your lips are¡­"


    She wasn''t able to finish that sentence as she felt something rushing up her throat and quickly got up from the bed before quickly rushing out of the room with her robes on.


    "Hey, what¡­."


    <The morning sickness strikes again>


    ''I thought you said your eyes were closed.''


    <Yeah, but if I close my eyes with my hands, I can''t close my ears with anything so they''re wide open and they are picking up every melodious sound from your eye-catching activities>


    "Oh, just forget it." He said before sitting up on the bed.


    He made his way out of the room and straight to the bathroom to see that door was closed.


    She was in there because he could hear from outside.


    "Hey, babe, are you okay?" He asked before slowly knocking on the door.


    There was no response from her for about three minutes before the door was suddenly opened by her.


    "Yeah, I''m okay, I just had to let out some things which I didn''t need to let out." She said,


    "I see, then can we¡­.?"


    "No." She said before getting closer to him.


    <Oh, no>


    "I''m sorry." She said before she hurriedly made her way downstairs.


    "Well, at least this means that I can go for my run now." He said before slowly turning his gaze toward the staircase.


    <You said that but you seem to be upset down here>


    ''A little, yeah, but it''s okay, she''s going through a lotpared to me anyway.''


    _____ ____


    This morning turned out to be quite a hectic one for Dave, he almost ran into a couple of people when he went out for his morning run but he was quick enough to take the path into the forest and avoid them.


    That was a close one for him, if those people saw him then things could have ended a bit differently.


    He was very popr in Unique City now among football fans and even non-football fans.


    ''Emma''s right, walking the streets of Unique City without any bodyguard is no longer safe for me.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he ran down the street.


    <Yeah, and you had to sneak off without telling her, and just like most of the time you also forgot your phone at home, you have an inventory that can store up to three items now why do you keep forgetting that? You don''t even need a pocket to bring your phone with you everywhere you go>


    ''Yeah, that''s true, but how will I know when someone calls me and it starts ringing?''


    <I will inform you, that''s part of my job>


    ''Okay, I think I''ll start using it for that and as for leaving without telling Emma, I''m always prepared for her yelling and nagging.''


    <Yeah, I guess you''re always prepared for that>


    ______ ______


    The goalkeeper got home to receive the nagging and yelling just like he expected, and even after telling her that nothing happened, she kept on nagging him.


    "If you have to go out for a run, go early or use the thing rk got for you." She said before crossing her arms.


    "Okay," Dave said before slowly bringing his head down. "I liked the way you werest night although you were a bit crazy for the woman I married."


    "Crazy?" She said before quickly turning her gaze back to him.


    "Oh, no, it''s nothing." He said before he quickly got up from the couch and rushed upstairs.


    The two ate their breakfast together while talking about a couple of things.


    He couldn''t keep up with how many times he got her mad with his words because she failed to get the joke.


    By 2:00 PM, she finally left the house to go take care of other things at her workce and now, he could breathe easily at least until she gets back.


    "I hope she''ll be in a better mood when she gets back." He said before turning away from the door. "I sort of liked that crazy side of her I saw for the first timest night."


    <You mean you loved it>


    ''I told you to leave my thoughts in my head, don''t say it to me.''


    <Oh, I''m sorry>


    He had a little rxing moment watching a couple of shows for about an hour before he finally decided to go outside and check something out.


    He set up the goalpost on thewn before he returned to the garage and dragged out the ball ster.


    ''Now, to get this skill to level five.''


    <Yeah>


    [ -20 skill upgrade points ]


    [ 20/20 skill upgrade points ]


    [ Double jump has leveled up to level three ]


    ''Eighty left.''


    [ -30 skill upgrade points ]


    [ 30/30 skill upgrade points ]


    [ Double jump has now leveled up to level four ]


    ''Fifty left.''


    [ -40 skill upgrade points ]


    [ 40/40 skill upgrade points ]


    [ Double jump has now leveled up to level five ]


    [ Congrattions on getting double jump to level five ]


    [ The skill has now sessfully evolved to thrust ]


    ''Thrust?''


    Checking back at the skull''s info, the word written there now was ''thrust'' instead of double jump.


    ''The skill evolved?''


    <Yeah>


    ''You never told me that could happen.'' He said subconsciously with a shocked expression on his face.


    <Well, now you know, test it out and see the difference>


    ''Okay.''


    [ Thrust activated ]


    He quickly tried to jump up and just at that moment, he felt something push him up below allowing him to reach a height that he could never jump to on his own.


    "Waoooh." He said in excitement after dropping back to the floor. "This is awesome and unlike the double jump, it''s not obvious at all."


    <Yeah, but there''s a bit of a problem>


    ''Oh, I can see what you''re talking about.''


    [ Cooldown time left: 15 mins 41 secs ]


    *****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 328 Unexpected Guest

    ''Fifteen minutes is quite a lot but it will get less as I level the skill up, right?''


    <Yeah, but the drops won''t be that significant until you get it to a very high level>


    ''That''s not a problem, I''ve been holding my ground without this skill and I will continue to do that. Once I use it and it starts cooling down, I''ll just try hard to deal with those dangerous high balls until the cooldown is over.''


    <Well said>


    ''If I knew this skill would evolve into this, I would have leveled it up a long time ago.''


    <Yeah, but you weren''t getting skill upgrade points then, and using the skill to try and level it up that way was just too obvious, isn''t that right?>


    ''Yeah, I forgot to put those into consideration.'' He said before putting his hand on the back of his head. ''So what other skill can be evolved into something better?''


    <You want me to tell you?>


    ''Yeah.''


    <No>


    ''Why not.''


    <What''s the fun in that, if I tell you you''ll just go and start trying to level that particr skill up>


    ''Yeah, and what''s bad about that.''


    <There''s no excitement for you especially because you know the skill is going evolve into something, you just don''t know what it will evolve into>


    ''I think the excitement of not knowing what it will evolve to is enough for me.''


    <No, I''m not telling you anything>


    ''Fine, I''ll just get all of them to level five and see which one evolves.''


    <If I couldugh, I would have burst into a feat ofughter in your head now, you think getting them to level five will evolve them>


    ''Isn''t that how Double jump evolved to thrust?''


    <Yeah, because that only applies to double jump, to get the other evolving skills you have to evolve, you''ll need to get them to a higher level>


    ''And by higher you mean six, right?''


    <No, eight to ten>


    ''Eight to ten?''


    <Yeah>


    ''That''s going to take a while.''


    <Yeah, so you have to be careful>


    ''I know.'' He replied before putting his hand on his chin. ''It''s either Ball ma, Double stamina, or focus, huh, whichever one it is, I hope it evolves into something really good.''


    ''You''ll have to keep leveling them up to see.''


    _______ _______


    Mateo was mostly outside during afternoons looking for where to go or something to do, but today he decided to stay at home and rx.


    He was lying on his bed with his phone ced against his ear as he happened to be on a call with someone.


    "Yeah, that goal was unbelievable." He said. "So, How''re your studiesing?"


    "Hold on with that question for a moment," Sofia said from the other end.


    "Huh? What''s wrong?"


    "You know I was about to go do something else after watching that match yesterday, but just as I was about to turn the television off, I saw you getting all cozy with that reporter." She said,


    "You saw that? Of course, you saw it, I told her this was going to happen." The winger said.


    "So, you do know the reporter on a personal level."


    "Yeah, she''s sort of my sister''s subordinate at their workce, she''s a new employee, I met her during our match against Lesica United first and then she came to my sister while I was at Dave''s ce, we''ve gotten close due to all the times we''ve met."


    "Close in what sense?"


    "Sense? We''re just friends."


    "Just friends?"


    "Yeah."


    "And what about me?" She asked.


    "What about you?"


    "Yeah."


    "I didn''t get your question."


    "Do you¡­."


    "Do I¡­."


    "Ah, just forget it, I have to go, bye."


    Those words were said abruptly and she didn''t even give him time to say anything before ending the call.


    "I guess she needs to take care of something urgent, but things got a bit awkward there."


    He let out a deep sigh before he dropped his phone on the bed.


    Hey on the bed and stared at the ceiling quietly for a while before he suddenly heard knocking soundsing from the door.


    "I wonder who that could be." He muttered before he slowly got up from his bed and made his way to the door.


    He stared at the door for a couple of seconds before pulling it open just as the person was about to knock again.


    "Amber?" He said with a surprised expression on his face.


    "Hey, Mateo." She said before quickly forcing her way past him and into the house.


    She was putting on a long-sleeved blue dress that was only able to react to her thighs, but she had ck socks on to cover her legs.


    She had her hair tied back which was something Mateo was seeing for the first time.


    "What are you doing here?" The winger asked before slowly closing the door.


    "I think I forgot something in your car yesterday." She replied.


    "Oh, yeah, I think I picked up something in there this morning. The item you are looking for, is it a ck sh drive?"


    "Yeah, I was nning to use it after getting home that night but I forgot it in your car so I had to use another one but I really need it now, that''s where all my work is stored."


    "You stored everything in there without considering what would happen if it gets lost," Mateo said.


    "No, I''m not that stupid, I have them all backed up on my PC, the sh drive just makes things easier for work so I keep it around." She exined.


    "Oh, I see."


    "So, where is it?"


    "In my room."


    "Can you go get it for me then?" She requested.


    "No," Mateo said before he began to make his way to the fridge near the kitchen area.


    "Hey." She inted her cheek with an annoyed look on her face before following him.


    "Go get it yourself." He said before opening the fridge.


    "You want me to go into your room and take it?"


    "Yeah, is there anything wrong with that?"


    "Um¡­.not really, so where is it?" She asked.


    "It''s in a pretty obvious spot, so when you get there just look around and you''ll see it."


    "Seriously?" She said before crossing her arms.


    "Just look around, you''ll see it, trust me."


    "Okay, fine." She said before heading off before Mateo could pick up what he wanted from the fridge.


    As soon as she got to the room, she began to search the table, the cupboard, and the bed, but she wasn''t able to find anything until Mateo entered the room with two sses filled with a red liquid.


    "As my unexpected guests, it''s only right to offer you a drink."


    She was sitting on the bed now with both of her legs stretched out and she didn''t have the nicest expression on her face.


    "I thought you said it was in an obvious spot." She said.


    "Yeah, it is in an obvious spot." He said before dropping the drinks on the table beside the bed.


    "Liar." She muttered before she stretched her hand, grabbed him by his cor, and pulled him down on the bed but she seemed to have pulled him down on the wrong ce, her body.


    "Look over there on top of the television, isn''t that an obvious spot?" The winger said after pointing to the sh drive on top of the television but there was no response from her.


    She was frozen with her gaze directly fixed on his eyes.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 329 Complicated Feelings

    "Amber." The winger called to try and snap her out of her daze, but she wasn''t responding. "You sh drive''s over there."


    He quickly figured out that maybe it was because he was on her body and quickly got up from her body to sit on the bed.


    "I''m sorry about that, but you were the one that pulled me down." He said.


    She didn''t say anything for a few seconds before she slowly sat up from the bed.


    "Yeah, it was my fault." She said before sitting up on the bed.


    ''He was on my body for a while, didn''t he feel anything? Or doesn''t he see me that way?''


    "Um¡­.Amber." He said before giving her a light tap on her forehead to snap her out of her thoughts.


    "Uh¡­.Yeah, I''ll just pick up the sh drive and leave." She mumbled before she got up from the bed and slowly made her way to the television.


    "Hey, are you alright?" Mateo asked after noticing her sudden change of attitude.


    "Yeah, I''ll be leaving now." She said after putting the sh drive in her bag. "See youter."


    "Hey, wait," Mateo said and grabbed her by her arm before she could get to the door. "What''s wrong with you?"


    "What are you talking about? Nothing''s wrong with me." She had to put on a smile to say that, but that wasn''t fooling Mateo.


    "You can''t fool me with that smile, I know it''s fake." He said.


    After saying that, the smile on her face suddenly vanished.


    "Hey, what about this?" He said before he got up from the bed and went behind her to push her closer to the bed. "You sit down on the bed and we can talk for a couple of minutes, you''re not in a hurry to get back to work, are you?"


    "Um¡­.not exactly." She said before shaking her head.


    "It works out then." He said before he ced his hands on her shoulders and got her to sit down.


    After making sure she was sitting, he slowly sat down beside her.


    "So, what''s the problem? You look like you suddenly remembered something that put you in a bad mood."


    ''Seriously? Is it really that hard for him to see?''


    "Do you really want to know?" She asked.


    "Yeah, as long as it''s okay with you." He said.


    "Okay, then." She said before letting out a sigh. "It''s you."


    Before the winger could even say anything, she leaned closer to him and pressed her lips against his.


    That was very unexpected.


    The kiss didn''tst that long as she had to pull back after a couple of seconds to read the emotions his eyes were giving out.


    He was shocked for sure, that came out of nowhere.


    "You kissed me." He muttered.


    "Yeah." She replied with a nod.


    "Why?"


    "Why? Because I like you of course." She said.


    "You like me?"


    "Yeah." She replied. "Don''t you feel the same way about me?"


    "Um¡­.I like you but not in that way." He said.


    "Not in that way."


    Just repeating those words, she felt a stinging pain in her heart over and over again.


    "I see." She muttered before slowly putting her head down.


    "Amber." He called but there was no response from her.


    ''What was I thinking? That was a desperate move, he''s going to think I''m cheap now on top of this rejection.''


    As those thoughts ran through her mind, she slowly clenched both of her hands into fists.


    "Amber."


    As soon as he called her name again, she quickly got up from the bed and made her way to the door.


    "Hey, you''re leaving?"


    "Yeah, maybe I should have just left the first time, I wouldn''t have to hear this anyway, I''m sorry."


    "Wait, Amber."


    Before he could try to reach her, she left the room and mmed the door shut.


    The winger stared at the door for a while before he slowly crashed down on his bed.


    "What is wrong with me?"


    _______ _______


    The second leg of the Europa conference League qualifiers wasing up tomorrow, and because of that, the team needed to have a nice training session.


    The training session started at 10:00 AM and had just ended by noon.


    Dave was heading down the tunnel alongside Mateo and just like since the start of the training session, he didn''t seem to be in a very good mood and that reflected on his performance a bit.


    "Hey, are you going to tell me what''s going on or not?" Dave asked. "You''re not usually like this."


    "It''s nothing." He said before he let out a sigh and shook his head.


    "It''s nothing and your face is like that, you know when something''s not right with me, you always persuade me to tell you what''s wrong, why is it different in your case?"


    "Um¡­I don''t think I can talk about it in the locker room." The winger said.


    "Then, let''s go outside," Dave said before walking past the entrance to the locker room but Mateo just stood there.


    "Hey,e on, let''s go."


    "Okay," Mateo said before following him.


    It didn''t take long before the two got outside and sat on the little step leading down.


    "So, can you tell me what the problem is now?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Um¡­."


    "Does it have anything to do with Amber?"


    "How do you know that?" Mateo asked.


    "Well, Emma told me she came back to work yesterday looking really, she said she went to your ce to pick up something she forgot in your car."


    "Oh, I see." The winger said before slowly putting his gaze down.


    "She tried to find out what was wrong with her, but she just said everything, now I''m starting to wonder what you did to get her upset."


    "She had feelings for me and I didn''t know." He muttered with his head down.


    "She has feelings for you and she told you that?"


    "Yeah, I wasn''t expecting it but she kissed me, it was my first kiss, after that I told her I didn''t feel that way about her and she had to leave heartbroken, I feel bad for her, I shouldn''t have said anything." The winger expressed.


    "If what you told her is the truth, then it was the right choice to tell her there, you would only be hurting her by making her believe you feel something for her when you don''t, but I wonder."


    "Huh?"


    "I wonder if what you told her was actually the truth." The goalkeeper said.


    "What do you mean?"


    "If what you told her was the truth, then you wouldn''t be this hard on yourself because that was truly how you felt but you are not even clearly sure of how you feel, I know you''re in a dilemma, Mateo."


    "What are you talking about?"


    "Well, you already had feelings for Sofia before she came around and started messing with those feelings and because you already have feelings for Sofia, you try to tell yourself that you don''t feel anything for her but this isn''t exactly the truth." Dave articted.


    "I¡­um¡­"


    "Don''t think about it too much," Dave said before putting his arm around his shoulder. "I warned you not to get caught up in stuff like this and you had to go get caught up in it."


    "What you just said, it''s sort of true, I don''t know how I feel anymore." The winger said.


    "Yeah, but just put that at the back of your mind for now," Dave said.


    "Huh?"


    "We have FC Basel to face tomorrow, and if we''re going to beat them, we need you to be at full strength, thinking about all these is already zapping away all your strength, just focus on the match and after we win, we can talk about this again."


    "Okay, I''ll try to get my head straight for the match, I know we''re not going to lose."


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 330 We Are Going For The Win

    The day for the match was finally here but the match wasn''t going to kick off until 6:00 PM so there was a lot of time left before the kick-off.


    Because the match was scheduled sote, FC Basel''s squad decided to make their journey to Bilbeth in the morning of the match day instead of yesterday.


    Saturdays seem to have be normal days for Emma to work at home.


    She was busy working on herptop in the dining area while Davey on the couch like azy cat.


    He had been trying to spark up a conversation with his wife but every single time she told him to go away so he had to give up and take a little nap on the couch before the match.


    The tranquility in the roomsted for only a couple of minutes as someone suddenly knocked on the door.


    "Hey, babe, do you mind getting that?" She asked before turning her gaze to the couch, but there was no response from Dave.


    "Babe." She called again but there was still no response from him.


    "Trying to get back at me, I see." She mumbled before she got up from her seat and made her way to the door which she opened to see Amber standing there.


    "Hi, Mrs. Emma."


    "Amber,e inside." She said before she let go of the door and began to make her way back to her seat.


    Amber entered the house and closed the door before making her way to the dining area to sit opposite Emma.


    She pulled out herptop and dropped it on the table, but just as she was about to start doing anything on it, someone knocked on the door thrice.


    "Who could that be now?" Emma grumbled before turning her gaze to the door.


    "Your husband, maybe," Amber said.


    "No, he''s over there pretending to be asleep." He said before pointing to the couch.


    "Oh," Amber said after turning her gaze to the area. "Are you sure, he''s not really asleep, ma''am?"


    The knock came again forcing Amber to quickly get up from her seat.


    "I''ll go get it." She said before quickly making her way to the door.


    She opened the door expecting to see someone she didn''t know only to see Mateo standing there.


    "I wasn''t expecting to see you here." The winger said.


    "Oh, hey." She stuttered.


    "You haven''t been picking up my calls," Mateo said. "Is it because of what happenedst time?"


    "I don''t really want to talk about that now, if you want to see Dave, he''s over there on the couch." She said before she left the door open for him and made her way back to her seat.


    It really took a lot of effort for her to keep a straight expression on her face back there.


    "Who''s that, and why did you leave the door open?" Emma asked as soon as she sat down on her.


    "Um¡­it''s your brother, I''m sure he''ll being in anytime soon now." She said,


    "Oh, I see."


    Mateo stood at the entrance for a while before he slowly entered the house and closed the door.


    "Hey, sis." He said after seeing his sister.


    "Mateo, if you''re looking for your cunning teammate, he''s lying there pretending to be asleep just to get back at me." She said before pointing at the couch.


    "Since you were the one who did something to him first, it''s only right if he gets back at you." The winger said.


    "I knew you were going to side with him, just go see your fellow cunning man." She pouted before turning her gaze back to what she was doing.


    "Okay." He said before getting closer to the couch to see that Dave pretending to be asleep was something she just made up. "You said he was pretending to be asleep but he seems to be asleep for real."


    "Oh, maybe he fell asleep while pretending to be asleep." She said.


    "Seriously?"


    Mateo just stood there for a while without knowing what to do since he came to talk to Dave who happened to be asleep.


    He could have just woken him up, but he didn''t like disturbing people while they were asleep.


    He stood there for a while until Emma decided to go upstairs and do something.


    "I''ll be back soon."


    "Okay, ma''am."


    Mateo followed her with his eyes as she made her way upstairs, and as soon as she was out of sight, he slowly began to make his way to the dining area.


    As soon as he got there, he pulled out the seat beside Amber and sat down there.


    She acted as if she didn''t see him and continued doing what she was doing.


    "I''m sorry about how things endedst time." He said but there was no response from her. "I guess you probably hate me now but¡­"


    "No, I don''t hate you." She said before quickly turning her gaze to him. "It wouldn''t be fair to hate you just because you don''t have feelings for me and I have feelings for you."


    Just as she said that, he clenched his right hand into a fist.


    "If that''s true, then why have you been avoiding me since that day? You don''t even pick up my calls anymore."


    After hearing him say that, she slowly put her head down.


    "Um¡­. it''s a bitplicated." She muttered.


    "Complicated, I see, how about this, after we beat FC Basel today, what do you say we go grab ate dinner together and talk things through?" He asked.


    "Late night dinner?"


    "Yeah."


    "I don''t know, I''ll be workingte at night after the match." She said.


    "Okay, how about lunch or dinner tomorrow?"


    "Lunch will be okay." She said,


    "Okay." He said.


    "So, is this like um¡­ a date?" She asked.


    "Yeah, I guess you can put it that way."


    "Oh, okay." She said, "So, who is she?"


    "Huh?" Mateo said with a confused expression on his face.


    "You said you don''t like me in that way which means there has to be someone else, right?"


    "Yeah, you''re right, there is someone else but to be honest¡­."


    "Huh?"


    "When I said I didn''t have feelings for you, it wasn''t exactly the truth."


    As soon as he said that, her eyes suddenly brightened up.


    "What?"


    ______ ______


    There was only an hour left before the match could kick off, and right now, the yers from both teams were all on the pitch warming up for the match.


    "Here goes!" Mateo yelled before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the with a stupendous.


    Dave was only able to get the tip of his gloves on the ball as it hit the crossbar before falling into the goalpost.


    "Nice hit, Mateo," Ferran said as he softly pped his hands.


    "I see you''ve gotten that confident and positive demeanor of yours back," Dave said as he made his way to him.


    "What are you talking about? I never lost it." The winger said.


    "Yeah, but you were acting sort of different during ourst training session," Merino said. "But since you''re back to your old self now, let''s go for the win."


    "Yeah, we are going for the win," Dave said before waving back at Filip who was waving at him from the other side.


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 331 System Deactivated

    The match was set to kick off and right now, the yers were in the locker room getting dressed up and ready to start making their way to the pitch for the match.


    Norman had already told them everything that he needed to tell them, so all they had to do now was get dressed up and start making their way to the pitch.


    They were putting on their home jersey as expected, the orange jersey with ck polka dots, and instead of the lemon green kit he usually had on at home, he was putting on a ck kit with orange outlines running down the sleeves, edges of his shirt, and shorts.


    It was clear that their kits for the Europa conference League matches were modifiedpared to the ones they wear for league games.


    After getting dressed up, they made their way toward the exit where they met FC Basel yers already lined up.


    They were putting on their away jersey which was a white shirt with ck shorts and as for their goalkeeper, he was putting on an orange kit.


    They waited there for a while before they were finally given the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    "Wee to our viewers from all around the world, it''s your regrmentator Jim Waterson and joining me in the studio as always is Mr. Steve Waterson." Jim expressed.


    "Hello and wee everyone, it''s good to be back here to watch and talk about the continuation of a match that startedst week at St. Jakob-Park, it was an entertaining match, and I''m sure this one will not disappoint." Steve expressed.


    The yers lined up in front of the pitch, and after shaking hands with each other, the captains of both teams made their way to the referee for the coin toss.


    Adolf ended up winning the coin toss, so he chose the goalpost on the left and Unique FC were going to bed the ones to start the match from the kick-off spot.


    "The first leg was a tight match but in the end, Unique FC managed to emerge Victorious thanks to a brilliant pass from Mateo and a wonderful finish from Fredinho," Jim said. "I''m sure looking forward to something better in this one, aeback is still possible and if that should happen, it''s going to be wild."


    "Certainly, but I doubt that Unique FC''s going to let go of their lead that easily," Steve said.


    Fredinho was standing over the ball and all he needed was the referee''s whistle to put the show on the road.


    As always, they were ying the four-three-three C formation; they had Norman, Adolf, Pirlo, and Rnd at the back.


    Martinez, Ferran, and Minino were in midfield, and upfront, they had Merino Fredinho and Mateo.


    FC Basel on the other hand were also using the same formation they used in the first leg.


    Just before the referee could blow his whistle, something shocking appeared on Dave''s screen.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Keep a clean sheet without the help of the system ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +1 attribute point ]


    [ +100 exp ]


    ''Wait, is this the kind of quest you were talking about?''


    <Yeah>


    ''But, I don''t have toplete it, right.''


    <Uh...about that>


    [ System functions have been deactivated ]


    [ Skills and attributes have been deactivated ]


    ''Wait, just like that.''


    <It''s apulsory quest, I should have told you earlier>


    ''If my system functions have been deactivated, how are you still talking?''


    <Because I''m not particrly part of the system, I''ve told you this a couple of times, I''m just a voice assistant, I don''t control the actions>


    ''Oh, I see, so I don''t have any of my special attributes in this match.''


    <Yeah, but your physical stats are still there, the only skill you have been using that much is ball ma, I''m sure you''ll be able to pull through this>


    ''Yeah, I can do it.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before joining both of his hands together.


    As soon as he said that, the referee blew his whistle to signal the start of the match.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    Fredinho quickly pushed the ball to Minino as soon as he heard the whistle.


    Minio received the ball and just before Hans could get to him, he passed it to Adolf who sent it rolling to Rnd.


    Rnd got his foot and quickly zoomed past the midfielder hearing toward him beforeying the ball off toward Mateo.


    "Mateo."


    Mateo moved a little further down the wing before he pushed the ball to Ferran and quickly got past the yer blocking his path to receive the ball back from Ferran.


    "Nicebination between Ferran and Mateo as always," Steve said.


    The winger tried to dribble past the right back, but that was a mistake as it resulted in him losing the ball.


    The defender was aggressive to the level that he couldn''t handle and he ended up winning the ball without fouling him.


    "Nice work from the defender there to get the ball off Mateo," Jim said.


    He pushed the ball to the central midfielder on the right and without further ado, he pushed the ball to Hans who had to send it to Henrique behind him to avoid losing it.


    "Henrique."


    Ferran quickly rushed to Henrique to try and take the ball off him but the winger was calm andposed despite that.


    All he needed to take care of Ferran was a little bit of skill and ball control and boy did he drag the midfielder around in midfield before pushing the ball to Reto on the left.


    "Henrique did Ferran quite dirty there," Steve said.


    "Yeah, he''s not happy about that," Jim said.


    Reto received the ball and quickly raced down the wing until his path was blocked by Norman and Pirlo.


    He was forced to push the ball back to the midfielder behind him and that midfielder had Minino right in front of him, but before Minino could do anything, he sent the ball rolling to Hans.


    The striker knew Adolf was right behind him and quickly twisted away from him.


    "Oh, he''s gotten away from Adolf!"


    Without hesitation, the striker fired the ball toward the right side of the goalpost.


    Dave dived toward the ball just at the right time to hit it out.


    "Saved by Dave but it''s not over yet."


    The excitement was slowly building to the climax.


    Henrique quickly zoomed past Rnd to get to the ball inside the box before Dave could get his hand on it, and with the heel of his left boot, he stabbed the ball into the goalpost.


    "It''s in! FC Basel has finally pulled one back just early into the first half!" Jim eximed. "Henrique needed that goal and he did everything he could to get it!"


    The winger quickly raced to the sidelines and did a knee slide before his teammates got to him and fell on his body.


    Their fans were celebrating wildly now while Unique FC yers'' faces didn''t look so bright.


    "It looks like Dave Richards has finally conceded his first goal in allpetitions this season," Jim said.


    The goalkeeper let out a sigh as he rxed his back on the right post with his hands on his waist.


    [ Quest failed ]


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 332 Things Arent Looking Good

    ''I''ve failed the quest, it''s supposed to reactivate, but why is it still not activated?''


    <Ugh...about that>


    ''What?''


    <Remember when I said that the system was going to disappoint you in some matches and you should be prepared for those days?>


    ''Yeah.''


    <Well, this has turned out to be one of those days but since you have already failed the quest at the sixth minute of the match, you''ll have to scale through it with no reward guaranteed at the end>


    ''Oh, I see, but did it really have to be in this match?''


    <You know it is said most footballers crumble under pressure, and with your system, you''ve been dealing with that pressure quite well, but now that it''s gone temporarily, let''s see how well you do under the biggest pressure you''ve felt so far in your career, this is the biggest stage that you''ve yed in so far in your career after all>


    ''Crumble under pressure.'' The goalkeeper muttered in his mind.


    <I''ve already started seeing signs>


    ''No, I will not crumble and neither will teammates, it''s all square once again now, but we can get back into it, we can take the lead once again, they came prepared, but this is our home turf.''


    <Well said, now let''s see you put that into action>


    "The game is leveled once again, Unique FC are going to try and take the lead once again and FC Basel are going to try and take the lead for the first time." Jim expressed.


    "That goal came as quite a shock to the hosts, Dave did well to stop that shot from Hans but Rnd just wasn''t fast enough to get to the ball and clear it, that goal was the defense''s fault," Steve said.


    "Yeah, but let''s see if they''ll be able to make up for it," Jim said. "After seven games without conceding a single goal, Henrique has managed to put the ball past Dave Richards, he still hasn''t conceded any goal in the Bilbeth Premier League."


    "Yeah, at least he still has that going for him with Ronino FC being their next opponent."


    After conceding that early goal, Unique FC were being careful now.


    Instead of going for a direct attack which they tried and it backfired on them, they decided to start with a slow build-up and work their way into FC Basel''s goalpost.


    Rnd received the ball back from Ferran and raced down the middle a little with it trying to find any of his teammates moving forward, but seeing that his teammates were upied, he had to send the ball to Minino who moved back to receive the ball from him.


    "Minino."


    The midfielder feigned moving the ball back to Norman with his back heel before he quickly pushed the ball forward and zoomed past him to get his foot on the ball once again and continue moving forward with it.


    "Nicely done by Minino."


    Minino moved further down the wing with the ball beforeying it off to Ferran in the middle.


    Ferran moved down the middle before pushing the ball to Fredinho.


    The striker had someone quickly approaching him from behind, but before the person could get to him, he drifted to the right a little before passing the ball to Merino.


    All Merino needed was a single touch to send the ball rolling toward Mateo who had gotten into the box now.


    "It''s Mateo!"


    All the winger needed was a single touch to slot the ball toward the right side which Filip couldn''t get to as he watched the ball roll into the goalpost.


    "It''s in! Unique FC''s wonder kid strikes again!" Jim eximed as the winger took off to the sidelines with his teammates rushing after him. "They have the lead back."


    Unfortunately, their celebration was cut short as the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the spot where the winger was standing when he received the ball before pointing back at their goalpost.


    "What''s this? The linesman had his g and it looks like the referee agrees with him, he''s calling off the goal." Jim said.


    Unique FC yers quickly made their way to the referee with theirints but it didn''t look like he was going to listen to them.


    "Yeah, his right foot was offside by millimeters, most fans wouldn''t notice it if they took a look at it but the difference is still there so that was a right call by the referee." Steve articted.


    "Oh, that''s a bummer, Unique FC thought they had taken the lead once again but the game''s still leveled to FC Basel''s relief."


    Since Mateo was caught offside, FC Basel had to take a free kick on the spot, and right now, Filip was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he sent the ball flying into the pitch.


    Ferran contested for the ball in the air with Henrique but the right winger ended up winning it, leaving the midfielder on the floor.


    "Henrique doesn''t want to give Ferran a break in this match today."


    Henrique moved down the wing with the ball, and just before he could run into Rnd, he quickly pushed the ball to Hans.


    "Hans," Jim said. "FC Basel are trying to cook up something here."


    Hans feigned shooting at the goalpost before he quickly pushed the ball back to the midfielder behind him.


    All the midfielder needed was a single touch to float the ball over toward Reto on the left wing.


    The winger brought the ball down with Norman hot on his trail, and when he found an opening through the defender''s legs, he put the ball through there before pushing it back to their attacking midfielder who was heading toward the edge of the box now.


    "It''s Felix!"


    All he needed was a single touch to fire the ball toward the right side of the goalpost.


    Dave dived toward the ball at the right time, but he was only able to get to it with the tip of his gloves as the ball ended up hitting the post before rolling into the goalpost.


    "Felix hits it! Felix scores! Oh, what a magnificent strike from the midfielder, it was just too much for Dave to handle!"


    The attacking midfielder burst off toward the guest fans area as his teammates caught up to him and pulled him down to the floor.


    "They''re now leading, but I don''t understand what is wrong with Unique FC in this match, it''s like their defensive capabilities have dropped," Jim said.


    "No, that''s not it, Dave used to save them from shots like that, but this one was just too much for him to handle," Steve exined.


    "FC Basel are the ones running the show here today, two goals in ten minutes to put Unique FC behind."


    Unique FC yers all had devastated looks on their faces and that included Dave who was still lying on the floor after failing to stop that ball.


    ''I was so close.''


    <Ball ma could have made that easier>


    ''Yeah, but I don''t have ball ma right now, do I?''


    <Yeah, and things aren''t looking so good>


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 333 Looking For A Way Back

    "Unique FC are still behind and they are struggling to get control over the game, FC Basel just stung them by surprise but they need to snap out of it quickly if they want toe back from this one." Jim expressed.


    Henrique raced down the wing with Rnd hot on his trail. He had to quickly pull back to get the left back out of the way a little before he sent the ball flying toward the edge of the box.


    Hans was right there to receive the ball, and just before Adolf could get to him, he fired the volley toward the goalpost.


    "Hans!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the left side of the goalpost but Dave dived right on cue to catch the ball with both of his hands before crashing to the floor.


    "Close save from Dave, it would be a disaster if they concede a third goal and he doesn''t want that to happen," Jim said.


    The goalkeeper quickly got up from the floor and rushed to the edge of the box before he threw the ball up and sent it flying into the pitch toward Mateo.


    Mateo contested for the ball with the midfielder there after bringing it down but with a little bit of wriggling and luck, the winger managed to get the ball past him.


    "Mateo''s still with the ball."


    The winger got closer to the left back who had been moving back to gain the proper ground to stop him.


    The winger could have attempted to dribble past him and get inside the box but instead, he pushed the ball a little to the left and continued racing down the wing.


    The ball had almost gone past the line for a goal kick when he floated it into the box.


    "He''s floated it in, is there anyone there to make good use of it?"


    Fredinho quickly got past the defenders to leap high into the air and nod the ball toward the goalpost but the ball ended up hitting the right post even though Fillip was glued to the spot.


    "Oh, it hit the woodwork, but it''s not over yet."


    Merino quickly got to the rebound at the nick of time just before the defender close to the area could get to it, but his shot ended up hitting the post before rolling out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, another woodwork hit," Jim said.


    "Although, they''ve been a bitckluster since the start of the match, I think they''ve been quite unlucky with their chances, that header from Fredinho could have gone in at least because Filip wasn''t even going after it."


    "Oh,e on." Merino stomped his foot on the ground in anger before slowly turning around.


    The match continued till the fortieth minute, and so far Unique FC were doing pretty well in holding their ground and preventing another goal from happening.


    The ball was sent flying in from the left by Reto and Felix managed to get his head to it, but the headed shot didn''t have much power to it, and it was sent flying directly toward Dave who didn''t have any trouble catching it.


    Unique FC got pretty good chances too; two shots from Mateo were stopped by Filip for his teammates to clear it, the winger even managed to set up Fredinho with a beautifully timed pass inside the box, but Fredinho happened to have been a little bit slow as Filip got to the ball and quickly picked it up to prevent anything from happening.


    "Oh, that was a very close chance for Unique FC to make the game leveled once again but it was not meant to be," Steve said.


    Unique FC still had more ball possession, it was just a five percent difference but despite that, it was clear that they were being outyed by FC Basel.


    The match hit the forty-fifth minute and still Unique FC had not been able to get that equalizer and as if that wasn''t enough, they had just conceded a free kick right at the edge of the box after Hans was brought down by Adolf under a not-so-good challenge.


    The captain was shown a yellow card for that challenge which he didn''tin about, he was just d that it didn''t happen inside the box.


    Unique FC had formed their four-man wall inside the box and they made sure to put someone below, they didn''t want to take any chances.


    "This could be FC Basel''s chance to go two goals clear, but the question is if Henrique will be able to do it properly," Jim said.


    Henrique was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he took three steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    "Henrique!"


    The winger sent the ball flying toward the top right side of the goalpost with a powerful shot, but Dave was fast enough to get to it on time and tip it over the bar.


    "Oh, my goodness, what a magnificent save from Dave!" Jim eximed.


    As soon as that ball went over the bar, the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    "That''s the whistle," Steve said.


    "What a magnificent first half this has been, I was expecting FC Basel to put up a show but I didn''t expect them to act up this early." Jim expressed. "Unique FC haven''t been at their best so far, but they could have gotten a couple of goals from the really good chances, they''re still having that finishing problem."


    "Yeah, and despite conceding two goals, Dave Richards has really turned up for them in this match, FC Basel would be at least two goals up by now," Steve said.


    "Well, everyone agrees that this was quite an interesting first half and we''ll be looking forward to how the second half will y out."


    Unique FC yers were all in the locker room now with Norman standing in front of them, his arms were crossed and he didn''t have the most pleasant look on his face.


    "How can we go out there and throw away our lead like that? We struggled to beat them in Switzend and now theye to our home and look at what they''re doing to us." He said. "Even if we manage to equalize it, they still have the upper hand with the away goal advantage."


    "Then we just have to equalize the current scoreline, not just the aggregate scoreline, right?" Minino said.


    "How? With the way, you guys yed in the first half?"


    "We''re trying our best, coach." The midfielder muttered.


    "You guys aren''t getting things right, but I am also be med if we are to bepletely honest here, I used the same tactic I usedst week against them without even thinking about their coach studying that tactic anding up with a countermeasure but despite that, we should be leading this match now if you guys had converted the good chances Mateo had been creating and you too, Mateo, you''ve missed a couple of good chances, it''s not exactly like you."


    As soon as he turned his gaze to the winger, he slowly put his head down.


    "But don''t worry guys, I have a new set of tactics and I''m sure they will be able to get us back into this game." He said as a smile suddenly appeared on his face.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 334 The Instincts Of A Sharp Playmaker

    After telling his yers everything that they needed to know about his new tactics, the yers began to make their way to the pitch as it was almost time for the second half to kick off.


    "Wee back everyone, the second half is about to kick off as we can see the yers making their way to the pitch now," Jim said as the yers made their way to the pitch. "One thing I learned from a couple of Unique FC''s matchesst season is that theye into the second half looking better than they were in the first half."


    "Well, let''s see if they can replicate that here today," Steve said.


    Since Unique FC were the ones that started the match from the kick-off spot.


    Hans was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he sent the ball rolling to Henrique who quickly sent it rolling back to Felix.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way," Jim said as soon as the referee blew his whistle. "FC Basel didn''t make any changes but it looks like Norman isn''t happy with the way his team yed in the second half which is expected, Frankie just came on to rece Fredinho."


    "There''s no way he would y Frankie upfront when there are other forwards in his squad, so that means he''s cutting one man from the front and putting him in midfield, he just changed formation." Steve expressed.


    He was right about that, Norman''s n was to change formations just before the second half kicked off, and in other to do that, Frankie needed toe on and Fredinho had to go off.


    Now they were ying with the four-four-two formation, Frankie, Ferran, and Minino were up front as the attacking midfielders and Martinez still had the role of the defensive midfielder.


    "It''s a shame how there are strikers in the squad and Norman decides to use two wingers up front in this formation," Jim said.


    "Well, when the wingers are better finishers than the strikers you have to do it, he has to make decisions that will benefit the team not just some specific set of yers," Steve said.


    FC Basel were still with the ball here. They were passing it around looking for a way through but the midfield was beginning to get a bit suffocating for them and the reason for that was Frankie who had the yers around him on the edge whenever they got the ball.


    The yer was aggressive in chasing the ball until he finally seeded in dispossessing Felix of the ball.


    "Frankie is quite the character, putting that much pressure on Felix and getting the ball off him without a foul," Jim said.


    As he got hold of the ball, he pushed it to Mateo who quickly sent it back to Ferran with his back heel before continuing his run forward.


    "Thanks to Frankie''s aggressiveness Unique FC have the ball now."


    Ferran pushed the ball to Minino who lobbed the ball over the yer right in front of him to get the ball to Merino who quickly took off with it down the wing.


    He tried to dribble past the left back there but there was a better option as Minino called him from behind to give him the ball.


    He didn''t hesitate to send the ball back to Minino who quickly sent it flying over to Mateo with a lobbed pass.


    "Another sessful lobbed pass from Minino."


    Mateo got hold of the ball and allowed it to bounce on the floor once before he sent it past the right back trying to stop him and quickly zoomed past to get to the ball and dribble past the center back who had already closed up on him.


    "Mateo, woah!"


    Unfortunately, he wasn''t able to get past the other defender who sent the ball flying away from the box.


    "Danger cleared, oh, wait, it''s not over yet."


    The ball was sent flying toward Merino on the right and the winger was d to receive the ball in such an open space with almost everybody in the box.


    He brought the ball down with his chest and pushed it a little forward as he was about to do something.


    "Looks like he wants to go for a direct shot, Merino!"


    The winger didn''t hesitate to pull his left foot back and send the ball flying toward the top right-hand corner but Filip was there right on time to push the ball over the bar.


    "Nice save from Filip, it wouldn''t take too much to guess how that could have ended differently," Jim said.


    "Yeah, great save but now they have a corner kick to deal with," Steve said.


    Ferran was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he took a deep breath as he took two steps backward, before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box or to be precise, he went directly for goal.


    The ball curved toward the left side of the goalpost as it got into the box, but it ended up hitting the post and was immediately cleared by Filip who happened to be in the area.


    "Oh, my goodness, Ferran almost scored from the corner spot," Jim said, sounding quite shocked.


    Filip wanted to start a counterattack with that clearance but it failed as Frankie was in the right spot to get that ball, and without hesitation, he sent it flying back to Dave.


    He could have passed the ball to anyway one up front to start the mes of attacks again, but he knew what his goalkeeper could do.


    "Well, this isn''t the Unique FC I saw in the first half, I think if Norman started Frankie in this match, he wouldn''t be two goals down now." Jim expressed.


    Dave had the ball under his foot now and Felix knew best to stay right on his goal line in a situation like this.


    Dave knew that a direct kick was going to fail, but that wasn''t the only thing he could do.


    He scanned the area and spotted Mateoing out from the box, he seemed to be in an offside position and waited until he was right out of the offside position before he sent the ball flying to him.


    The left-back quickly rushed to try and stop him, but the winger brought the ball down with his chest and quickly put it through the defender''s legs to get through him and now he had free space to run down the wing but he wasn''tpletely free as everyone else was hot on his trail from the other side.


    "Mateo''s through, this could be that moment."


    The winger raced into the box but before that, he took note of how everyone was focused on him and how he was going to put that to proper use.


    With everyone focused on him, Ferran was free right at the edge of the box, and just before Mateo could get to Filip, he sent the ball rolling back to Ferran who quickly fired it toward the right side of the goalpost.


    Filip tried to stop it but it was just impossible.


    "They''ve finally done it, they''re back on leveled terms again, what a magnificent strike from Ferran to put that away!" Jim eximed.


    "Yeah, that was a well-taken strike but you have to give Mateo his credit, he dragged everyone away like a ma dragging pieces of metal with it, that''s how Ferran was able to get that much space."


    "Well, they know how dangerous he is with shots, that''s why they were after him like that, they just didn''t know that he also has the instincts of a sharp ymaker and it came through for him."


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 335 Looking For The Scoreline Equalizer

    That goal from Ferran was enough to give the yers the super boost of confidence that they needed and the support from the fans was starting to get louder, but it wasn''t over yet.


    "You can say Unique FC are back in the game because that was an equalizer from Ferran on aggregate but they are the ones who are going to get eliminated if the match ends with just this scoreline, FC Basel still have the away goal advantage, so, If Unique FC want to run away with this one, they''ll have to equalize the current scoreline." Steve expressed.


    "We just have to equalize the current scoreline," Minino muttered as he quickly raced toward the midfielder who had just received the ball from his teammate to try and take the ball off him, but before he could get to him, he quickly pushed the ball to Felix up front.


    Unique FC were trying to take the ball away from the guests here, but they were doing well in passing it around with the aim of drawing them out and then striking an attacking move at the right moment.


    Hans received the ball from Felix, and just before Martinez could close up on him, he pushed the ball to Reto who had to push it back as quickly as possible because Norman was already upon him.


    "Looks like FC Basel are all out of ideas here and they are trying really hard toe up with one," Jim said.


    The ball found its way back to Felix and without hesitation, he sent the ball rolling to Henrique.


    "Henrique."


    The winger tried to find his way past Rnd, but the left back wasn''t giving him the space he needed so he had to pull the ball back to Hans.


    Who quickly initiated a quick one-two with him, but just as they got inside the box, Henrique''s path was quickly blocked by Rnd who came out of nowhere giving Dave the time to step up and pick up the ball.


    "And that attack has been stopped right in its tracks," Jim said.


    ''It''s quite a shame how I can''t even add my unused stat points to my stats now.'' Dave said before he threw the ball up and sent it flying into the pitch.


    <I told you to add them but you didn''t listen>


    ''I was waiting for the right moment, if you had told me that something like this was going to happen then I would have done it.''


    <No, you just don''t like taking my words seriously, when you start taking them as seriously as you are supposed to take them, then you will start getting into situations simr to this one>


    The ball was sent flying directly toward Ferran who brought it down with his chest and pushed it to Minino just before Felix could get to him.


    "Minino."


    Minino quickly moved down the wing with the ball before he found Frankie making a run down the left wing and pushed the ball to him.


    The midfielder got his foot on the ball as the midfielder grabbed his shirt to try and pull him down, but Frankie had more strength than he could possibly imagine.


    The midfielder kept struggling until he was able to get away from the yer pulling his shirt.


    "That was an intentional pull on Frankie there, he has a lot of strength to be able to pull himself out of a situation like that." Jim said.


    After getting away from the situation, Frankie passed the ball to Mateo before quickly turning to confront the guy who was pulling his shirt.


    Mateo got hold of the ball and quickly tried to cut into the box but he was stopped right on his track as he was pushed down by one of the center backs just before he could go any further.


    The referee didn''t need to look twice or check VAR before blowing his whistle as that was a very clear foul.


    The way the defender pushed down Mateo pissed off a lot of his teammates especially Minino and Frankie who quickly rushed to the area to have a word with Bet, the defender who just had to get rough with their wonder kid.


    Fortunately, the referee was right there to stop the situation from escting further and he didn''t hold back in showing Be a yellow card.


    "Things looked like it was about to get a little rough there, but it''s a good thing the referee''s there to calm things down."


    That push wasn''t enough to do anything to Mateo as he was back on his feet even before his teammates got to the area.


    "That was an intentional push," Amber said from where she was watching the match alongside Emma.


    "Yeah, yers like him are always targets for the opposing defenders who try everything possible to get him injured and put him out of the game and sometimes they ended up getting red cards because of their aggressive and obvious tackles." Emma expressed.


    "Yeah, that''s exactly what happened when they yed against Spree Cityst week, that guy seriously wanted to injure him, he got sent off because of that, and dly, Mateo didn''t pick up any injury." She said. "If things like this keep happening in almost every match, he may pick up a terrible injury and his career will go downhill."


    "Hey," Emma said before turning her gaze to her. "Mateo''s way more durable than you think, if yers like Ciro was able to survive those horrendous tackle at the early stages of his career, then I''m sure he can do it too."


    Amber kept her gaze on her senior for a while before she slowly turned it back to the pitch where Mateo could be seen standing over the ball now.


    "Hmph, I hope so." She muttered.


    Mateo was standing over the ball now right at the edge of the box.


    FC Basel had already formed their four-man wall inside the box with a man below, and now all that was left was for the referee to blow his whistle.


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle.


    Mateo kept his gaze on the ball for a while before he slowly took two steps backward, after that, he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    "Mateo!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right side of the goalpost and it was a close call for Fillip as he was only able to get the tip of his glove on it, but that was all he needed to push the ball a little further for it to hit the crossbar before falling over for a corner kick.


    "Magnificent save from Filip, that was a very close call."


    "Yeah, but now they have a corner kick to deal with."


    Ferran quickly picked up the ball and moved to the corner spot.


    He could have created something nice with that corner kick, but he ced it a little closer to Filip who didn''t have any trouble springing up and catching it.


    "The danger has been averted."


    Filip tried to start a counterattack after making that catch but unfortunately for him, Dave sensed it even before he did it, the goalkeeper had to go far from his box to thwart that n.


    The match continued until the seventy-ninth minute, and so far, Unique FC had not been able to get that equalizer that they needed so desperately.


    "Ten minutes left in normal time and Unique FC are still in danger of getting knocked out of the Europa conference league," Jim said.


    FC Basel had just won a corner kick after a wonderful save to deny Henrique from giving his team the lead once again.


    Felix was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    The ball fell directly toward Reto who aimed his shot directly toward the bottom left side of the goalpost and that could have gone in if Dave didn''t stretch his leg out right on time to block it and just before any of the opponents could get to it, he stretched his hands and pushed the ball to Norman who quickly sent the ball flying out to Merino.


    "That was a close call and now they have a chance to start a counterattack." The excitement in his voice was slowly rising.


    Merino quickly pushed the ball to Mateo to avoid the defender right in front of him.


    Mateo received the ball with Be quickly heading toward him, but he wasn''t afraid to take him on.


    He quickly pushed the ball forward and zoomed past the defender to receive it at the other end just before the defender could get to him.


    "Woah!"


    The other defender quickly rushed to the winger to try and bring him down with a sliding tackle, but that was a big mistake as the winger quickly paused to allow him to slide right in front of him before he quickly went around him with the ball.


    Bet was still hot on his trail and there was two more defenders who had closed up on him from the right but he wasn''t afraid and kept moving forward.


    Deleting both of those defenders didn''t take him time and now he had a clear sight of the goalpost right from the edge of the box.


    "Oh, my goodness, Mateo is tearing apart the defense and he''s got that shooting space!"


    ***


    Today was quite hectic so I was only able to do one chapter, it''s a little longer than the normal ones though, hope you enjoyed it.


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 336 Final Whistle

    "Mateo''s still going and he has a clear sight of the goal, could this be it?"


    Mateo quickly shifted the ball a little further into the box and knowing that there was no other way, Filip quickly closed up on him with the idea of sweeping the ball off his feet just before he would be able to do anything with it, but he was unaware that that was just the moment the winger was waiting for.


    He waited for the goalkeeper to get a little closer to him before he quickly lobbed the ball over him.


    "Mateo''s gone for the lob!"


    Filip ended up almost crashing into him as the ball flew directly into the goalpost.


    "Mateo gets it into the!"


    As soon as the referee blew his whistle to confirm that goal, the winger took off to the sidelines.


    It wasn''t his style to go crazy after scoring goals but he just had to do it for this one because that was a very wonderful goal, and not just that, it was also a very important goal.


    He raced toward the sidelines and leaped up, and just as his feet touched the ground, he screamed at the top of his lungs before Minino got to him and ced both of his hands on his shoulder to thrust up on his back.


    The home fans were exploding with celebration and Norman couldn''t help but smile.


    "He alwayses up at thest moments," Dave muttered with a bright smile on his face.


    ''If things go well for us in allpetitions this season, he''ll surely get a spot in next year''s Ballon d''Or rankings.''


    <True, but he''ll have no chance of winning it though>


    ''I know, getting a spot is all he needs.''


    <And what about you? You might also be able to get a spot for yourself>


    ''I''m not sure about that given that the goalkeepers in the top five leagues don''t even get that much attention, but I''ll be d if it happens.''


    FC Basel yers had devastated looks on their faces after witnessing that brilliant effort from Mateo, and now they were behind, the away goal advantage wasn''t going to work in their favor now as Unique FC now had more goals on aggregate.


    The yers on the bench had to join the celebration, and they just couldn''t get their hands off their wonder kid and that was only fair given the fact that he just restored their hopes of going through to the group stage.


    From the start of the season, it was already established that Mateo was the most important yer on the team, and today, he just showed why he was the most important yer on the team.


    The match was about to resume as Hans was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly pushed the ball to Felix.


    "The game has resumed now and we have just five minutes left in the game, there''s also going to be a couple of added minutes but will FC Basel be able to escape from this with the little time they have?" Jim expressed.


    "Letting their guard down around Mateo was a big mistake, they tried quite well to stop him but it just wasn''t enough and in the end, the youngster ended up getting what he wanted." Steve articted. "It would be best for Unique FC to switch to a more defensive style of y at this moment because if FC Basel manages to grab a goal at this crucial moment, the game would be over for them and Mateo''s effort would have been in vain."


    Just like Steve said, Norman had given his cue to switch to defensive y, but that didn''t mean they weren''t going to attack with the opportunities they got, he had everything nned and after that goal from Mateo, he was pretty sure that things were going his way.


    Felix tried to lob the ball over to Henrique after receiving it from Be, but Rnd jumped up before the winger could do anything and sent the ball flying to Aima who came on to rece Pirlo a few minutes ago.


    "Nice defending from Rnd to prevent that ball from getting to Henrique," Jimmented.


    The match had just hit the nieth minute now, and as soon as that happened, the official with the board raised it to show that there was going to be eight minutes of added time.


    "Eight minutes? That''s quite a lot." Jim said.


    "Yeah, but it is understandable."


    Mateo was with the ball now, and just before Felix could pull him into a corner, he quickly pushed the ball to Edward who came on to rece Ferran at the eighty-seventh minute.


    Edward passed the ball to Merino who ran forward a bit before returning the ball to Edward who quickly sent it flying over to Fredinho who was entering the box now, but he seemed to have overhit a bit as Filip quickly rushed toward the ball before anyone else could get to it and caught it.


    "Filip steps up to make sure that doesn''t be a problem," Jim said.


    Right at the sixth minute of added time, FC Basel won a free kick right on the edge of Unique FC''s box, there were contemtions about it being a penalty and it sure looked like it happened inside the box, but after confirming with VAR, the referee was sure that it happened right at the edge of the box.


    Henrique was standing over the ball now with his gaze on Unique FC''s four-man wall waiting for the referee to blow his whistle.


    "This is a really good chance, if he scores this right now, it''s game over for Unique FC," Steve said.


    ''This is very dangerous if that ball goes past it''s game over for us.'' Dave said subconsciously as he adjusted his gloves.


    <Are you doubting your skills now?>


    ''No, that''s not it, I know I can stop it, but anything can happen.''


    <I know anything can happen, but you should be d that it wasn''t a penalty>


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle, and now it was time to see how things were going to turn out.


    After hearing the whistle, Henrique quickly shifted his gaze to the ball as he slowly took three steps backward, and as soon as he stopped moving backward, he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    "Will he be able to pull it off? Henrique!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost but Dave was equal to the task as he dived toward the ball at the right time and knocked it down with both of his hands.


    "Nice save from Dave but it''s not over yet."


    The rebound fell directly toward Reto who quickly fired the ball toward the bottom left side of the goalpost but Ronald quickly got in position right in time to block the ball with his legs.


    "Oh, my goodness that could have gone in!"


    The ball was sent toward Adolf who quickly shifted the ball to Mateo with his back heel.


    Nobody needed to tell the winger to send that ball flying far away from their goal area.


    "Oh, my! That was so...so close for FC Basel!"


    As soon as that ball was sent out by Mateo, the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end.


    "There''s the final whistle, the match has finallye to an end now and we can see the host yers raising their hands with bright smiles on their faces and the fans cheering them louder, FC Basel could have been the ones celebrating now but Unique FC fought hard to prevent thatst chance from being a goal or as I always like to say, it was not meant to be." Jim articted.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 337 Through To The Group Stage

    "Right from the first half, it looked like FC Basel were going to be the ones to pull through but Unique FC came into the second half and turned everything around," Jim said. "Mateo Smith was at the center of everything, setting up Ferran with that pass to level the aggregate scoreline and thening up with that wonderful solo goal to seal the game."


    "Yeah, Mateo was really extraordinary tonight and everyone else did pretty well too, but another yer that stood out tonight was Dave, I wasn''t expecting him to concede two goals early but he did quite well to make sure he didn''t concede a third goal because he knew that was going to put the team in a really tough spot." Steve expressed. "Pulling off thatst save was wonderful but Reto would have still put it in if it wasn''t for Rnd."


    "You can see the bright smiles on the faces of the yers, it was a really tough battle for them, but they managed to pull through."


    ''We did it.'' Dave said subconsciously as he slowly got up from the floor.


    He was the only person who crashed to the floor after hearing the whistle.


    ''I pulled through a match without the help of the system.''


    <Well, the match ended in a draw so you barely made it out, but it''s still a fair result, good job>


    ''Thank you.''


    "It''s nice to see that Unique FC''s Europa conference league dream is still alive after not being able to show up in any Europeanpetition, don''t you think, Steve?"


    "Yeah, it sure is, they fought hard for it and they deserve what they got, they''re now in the group stage and there''s no doubt that they will make it to the knockout stage." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah. Alright, that brings us to the end of this coverage, goodnight to you all and we''ll see you again next time."


    Just before going to apud the fans for their support tonight, a couple of the yers had a few that wanted to talk to them.


    "Hey," Henrique said as soon as he got close enough to Mateo who happened to be sitting on the floor because his legs were quite tired from all the running he had been doing.


    "Oh, hey," Mateo said before stretching his hand toward him. "Do you mind giving me a hand up?"


    "Sure," Henrique said before he grabbed his hand and helped him up.


    "Thank you," Mateo said after getting up on his feet.


    "My pleasure," Henrique said. "You were pretty awesome todaypared to the time you guys came to Switzend, I didn''t know you had that in you."


    "I don''t like to see my team lose so I did what I had to do." He said. "To be honest, it was quite risky going solo and anything could have happened, but I''m d things turned out well, you guys came quite prepared in this second leg and you did quite well yourself."


    "Yeah, but we made a mistake of not putting you on the list of seriously dangerous threats," Henrique said.


    "Seriously dangerous threats?" Mateo muttered. "At least you''ll remember to do it the next time we get to face each other."


    "Yeah," Henrique said with a fake smile before proceeding to change the topic. "So, do you want to swap shirts?"


    "Okay." He replied with a nod.


    After agreeing to swap shirts, the two removed their shirts and exchanged them.


    "Thank you," Henrique said.


    "You too."


    "I''ll be going down now." The Swiss Super League yer said before offering his hand for a handshake.


    He took two steps away from Mateo before he suddenly stopped as he had something that he needed to tell him before leaving.


    "One more thing."


    "Oh, what is it?"


    "I know you''re prettyfortable here in Unique FC but this shouldn''t be your final destination, besides not being able to win many trophies and individual awards, you won''t be able to discover your full potential here."


    "Well, that''s not particrly true, but don''t worry, I''m not nning to stick around here for long and I''m not in a hurry to leave either, I just want to help my childhood club in every way I can before leaving," Mateo exined.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Okay, that''s good," Henrique said before turning away from him. "I''ll see you around then, I won''t lose to you the next time we meet."


    "I''m not looking forward to losing either."


    "You beat me to it once again, congrattions on getting through to the next round once again, we won itst two seasons ago anyway so getting knocked out isn''t that much of a big deal although I wished we could have progressed further." Filip expressed.


    "Well, only one team gets to progress in every match," Dave said.


    "Yeah, and you guys beat us to it," Filip said. "I have to go now, I hope we''ll meet again someday."


    Dave didn''t say anything and just kept his gaze on him until he disappeared down the tunnel.


    <He''s a pretty good goalkeeper, he''ll certainly do well in a top-tier team>


    ''Yeah, I think so too.''


    After joining the rest of his teammates to apud the fans, it was now time for them to start heading home.


    The official match interview was already over by the time they were about to start heading down the tunnel and that meant that both Emma and Amber were done with their work there.


    As soon as she spotted her husband heading toward the area with his teammates, she quickly rushed to him and wrapped her arms around him.


    "Congrattions."


    "Thank you," Dave said with a warm smile on his face.


    "Good job, Mateo." She said after turning her gaze to her brother who had caught up to them now.


    "Thanks, sis, but um...where''s your colleague?" The winger asked.


    "Colleague?" She said before quickly turning her gaze to where Amber just standing beside her to see that she was no longer there. "Oh, she was just here, she has a lot to do tonight so she must have already left."


    "Yeah, she did tell me about that, but it''s sort of strange that she has a lot of work to do and you don''t, are you sure you''re not just piling your work on her?"


    "Seriously? No, I wouldn''t do that unless it''s necessary, but why are you so concerned? Is there anything going on between you two that I don''t know about?" She asked as she slowly pulled her face closer to his.


    "No, no, no, it''s nothing like that, I was just asking." The winger said abruptly before rushing out of the area.


    "Yeah, nothing''s going on for sure." She said before turning her gaze back to Dave. "I''ll see you at home, dear, don''t stay out too long, and don''t even think ofing home drunk."


    "Yeah, sure, you know I don''t even take alcohol that much." The goalkeeper said as he scratched the back of his head.


    "Yeah, but you''ve gotten drunk on a couple of asions so that possibility isn''t ruled out for you, just be careful." She expressed.


    "Okay, I will."


    Just as he was about to take a step forward toward the tunnel, something suddenly popped up on his screen.


    [ System is back online ]


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 338 Strong Influence

    The locker room celebration seemed to be quite louder than usual and that was expected because the match that just ended was a very important match for them and they got so close to losing it that thateback came as a shock to them also.


    They were chanting songs of jubtion so loudly that nobody could even speak in the room and hear what he said clearly.


    Just like always, Dave didn''t feel like joining them and the same could be said for Mateo who was sitting beside him.


    But, unlike Dave, Mateo seemed to be quite interested in all the running around they were doing while Dave just sat there.


    [ Post-match rewards ]


    [ Six crucial saves: +60 saves ]


    [ Goals conceded (02): 0exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.0 ]


    ''Only sixty experience points, that''s expected.''


    <Yeah, but you did quite well without the system>


    ''Yeah, but I was caught off guard, things wouldn''t have gotten so intense if I was prepared for what was going to happen.''


    <That''s true, but I did tell you to always be ready for your system failing you in matches, you shouldn''t have been ready but you still managed to pull through>


    ''Yeah, I wonder what they would have been doing now if we were the ones that got eliminated instead.'' He said subconsciously before turning his gaze to his teammates who were still celebrating wildly in the locker room.


    <They''ll be depressed of course, and worst of all, you''re going to start ming yourself in your head>


    ''Huh.''


    <You''re a specialist in doing that, ming yourself for things that aren''t exactly your fault>


    ''Hey, let''s not talk about that now, after all, we didn''t lose, no one is depressed and I''m not ming myself.''


    "Hey,e on you two, you don''t have to just sit down in a situation like this."


    Before the goalkeeper could even turn his gaze to his teammate who just spoke those words, he was pulled along with Mateo.


    Both of them were dragged into the middle of everything before they could say anything and who else other than Minino would do something like that?


    "Hey, Dave, give this a try." The midfielder said before raising a cup filled with some sort of alcoholic drink in front of the goalkeeper, it wasn''t beer, it was something stronger.


    "No, I don''t¡­."


    Before he could finish what he was saying, Minino quickly forced the mouth of the cup into his mouth and poured more than half of the content inside. It was at that moment that Dave fully became part of the party.


    He quickly grabbed the drink from Minino and staggered his way to Mateo.


    Once he got to the winger, he put his right arm around his neck before holding up the drink to his nose.


    "Woah, that''s pretty strong, Dave, did you drink that?" Mateo asked as soon as the stench of the drink entered his nose.


    "Um¡­yeah." The goalkeeper said. He seemed to be dozing off.


    <Get a hold of yourself, Dave> Catherine tried to call him back to his senses, but his mind waspletely nk. <Just like I thought, he''s totally under the influence of alcohol now>


    "Here, have a drink too." The goalkeeper said before moving the drink closer to Mateo''s mouth but the winger wasn''t going to allow that to enter his system, at least not in a situation like this.


    "No." He said before he quickly took the drink off the goalkeeper''s hand and dropped it on the table in the middle of the room. "If you''re already this drunk, then you shouldn''t remain here anymore."


    He already had his arm around the winger''s shoulders so moving him out of the area was easier.


    "Hey, guys, I''m just going to take Dave home, I don''t know who told him to drink something he couldn''t handle and now he''s like this," Mateo said as he walked out of the locker room with Dave.


    "I wasn''t expecting anyone to get drunk," Rnd said.


    "Wasn''t he just sitting over there with Mateo? I knew he had his reasons for staying out of it." Martinez said before taking a sip from the drink he was holding.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I didn''t know he was a light drinker," Minino said with an awkward expression on his face.


    "Oh, so you were the one that did it."


    Minino quickly turned around to see that Merino was the one standing behind him and he didn''t look that happy.


    Mateo managed to drag Dave through the hallway without getting spotted by the coach or anyone who was going to make a fuss about his current situation, and now that he was outside, he was a bit confused.


    "Putting you in your car to drive home by yourself will be a suicidal attempt, so there''s only one thing to do." He muttered to himself.


    He made his way to his car, opened the door, and slowly pushed the goalkeeper in there.


    Just before closing the door, he slowly turned his gaze to Dave''s car which was parked on the other side.


    ''I should probably go make sure his car is locked properly.'' He said subconsciously before he searched for the goalkeeper''s car keys and when he found them, he closed the door before making his way to his car to make sure his car was properly locked.


    After making sure the car was properly locked, he made his way back to his car and he didn''t waste any time opening the door to the driver''s seat.


    After entering the car, he turned his gaze to the back to see that Dave was already fast asleep there.


    "You''ll have toe pick up your car in the morning." He muttered before he started the car''s engine and drove out of the area before zooming off down the road.


    Emma was busy watching a show in the living room when she suddenly heard a knock on the door.


    After hearing that knock, she turned her gaze to the wall clock to see that the time was just 10:57 PM.


    "He''s back pretty early." She said before she got up from the couch and made her way to the door.


    What she saw after opening the door wasn''t something she was expecting to see.


    "Oh, my God, what happened to him?" She asked with a surprised expression on her face.


    "Um¡­.he''s drunk, I think that''s pretty obvious," Mateo said before entering the house with the goalkeeper.


    He led him to the couch and slowly dropped him there before turning his gaze to his sister who seemed to have a worried expression on her face.


    "He''s gotten drunk a couple of times before but what did he drink that made him pass out like this?" She asked after she sat down beside him on the couch and ced her hand on his forehead.


    "It was a strong alcoholic drink, I don''t know the name but I''m not surprised he''s in this state because of it, I don''t know how much of it he drank though," Mateo exined.


    "And you decided to bring home for me." She said before turning her gaze to him.


    "Yeah, it was the least I could do, his car is still at the stadium though, so he has to go over there in the morning and pick it up, I made sure it was locked, here''s the key." He expressed, before dropping the key on the table.


    "Thank you."


    "Don''t mention it." The winger said. "I have to get going now."


    "Yeah, it''s alreadyte," Emma said before she got up from the couch and wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace. "Get home safe, okay." She added before raising her gaze to look at his face.


    "I will."


    She saw him out, and as soon as he was gone, she closed the door before returning to Dave.


    "I told you not toe home drunk, but I guess you just never listen to me." She said before cing her hand on his head.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 339 Day Off

    It was already morning as the bright rays of the bright morning shone into the room through the ss window, and just as the rays fell on Dave''s face, he slowly opened his eyes.


    "Where am I?" He muttered before slowly sitting up on the bed with his hand on his head. "A."


    <What type of question is that supposed to be?>


    "Oh, you''re awake?"


    He slowly turned his gaze to the door to see Emma entering the room with a tray in her hand.


    "I thought it would be nice for you to have breakfast in bed today after your magnificent featst night." She said before dropping the tray on the table beside the bed. "I made Bacon and egg but I need your preference on what you would like to drink."


    "Drink?"


    "Yeah, tea or coffee?" She asked.


    "I think I''ll take coffee." He said.


    "Okay, then."


    She was about to start heading toward the exit when he grabbed her by her wrist.


    "Wait."


    "What is it?" She asked after turning her gaze back to him.


    "Um¡­do you have any idea how I got homest night?" He asked.


    His cheek was turning red in embarrassment just as the things that happenedst night before he passed out came back to him.


    She didn''t say anything for about seven seconds before she suddenly burst into a feat ofughter.


    "Hey, what''s funny?"


    "You think you came homest night?" She was stillughing as she said those words.


    "Huh? What are you talking about?" The goalkeeper said with a confused expression on his face.


    ''Can''t you just tell me, Catherine? I can sense she''s about to start mocking me.''


    <No, hear it from her>


    "Huh? If I didn''te homest night, then how am I here now?" He asked with a confused expression on his face.


    "No, you''re just lucky you had Mateo to drag you home." She said.


    "Mateo?"


    "Yeah, he''s the one that brought you homest night, you werepletely wasted." She said before crossing her arms.


    ''Oh, now I remember, I was trying to make him drink that thing.''


    <You''re lucky he didn''t drink it>


    "Oh, so that''s what happened." He said before slowly putting his head down.


    She kept his gaze on him for a while with a smile on her face before turning toward the exit.


    "What do you think I meant when I said you deserved breakfast in bed after your magnificent featst night?" She asked as she made her way to the door.


    "Wait, you weren''t talking about the match?"


    "Of course, I wasn''t." She said before leaving the room.


    He kept his gaze on the door for a while with a stunned look on his face before he suddenly crashed down on the bed.


    "I''m done for today."


    <You certainly are>


    To make up for what happenedst night, Emma had to leave some of the chores she was used to doing during the weekends for him to take care of.


    She was busyughing her out in the living room as she happened to be watching something funny when Dave walked into the room from the kitchen, he was wiping his hands with a cloth.


    "Hey, babe, I''m done cleaning up your kitchen." He said, but she kept her gaze on the television as she continuedughing her heart out.


    "I can see, you''re enjoying yourself." He said after getting a little closer to her.


    "Oh, I''m sorry, babe." She said before slowly turning her gaze to him. "What did you say?"


    "I said I''m done with the kitchen." He said.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Oh, that''s nice, then you can just go upstairs and do theundry." She said,


    "Laundry? Seriously?" The goalkeeper said before letting out a deep sigh.


    "It''s thest one for today." She said,


    "That''s what you said when you told me to clean the kitchen." He said.


    "I wanted to do it until I started watching this ridiculous show, so you have to deal with it now." She said. "You were the one that promised to help me today to make up forst night, it''s not like I forced you or anything, are you going to break your promise now?"


    "Fine, I''ll go do it even though you were the one that forced me to make that promise." He said before he began to make his way toward the staircase.


    "Yes, that''s what you get for making a pregnantdy carry you up the stairs." She smirked before turning her gaze back to what she was watching.


    _____ ______


    There were matches today being Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday but because of Unique FC''s match against FC Basel on Saturday, their own match was going to be on Wednesday, Norman gave them a day off on Sunday and some of them were going to put it to good use.


    That included Mateo who already ns with someone that afternoon.


    Amber had just walked out of her house putting on a red sleeveless dress that was only able to get to her knees in length.


    She had her hair tied back and it didn''t look like she was putting on that much makeup.


    "He should be here by now." She said before raising her watch to check the time.


    As soon as she did that, she heard the sound of a car engine as a car suddenly pulled up in front of her.


    "Hey," Mateo said before opening the door for her.


    "I was expecting you to be a littlete." She said as she made her way to the car.


    "I don''t like to keep people waiting." The winger said. "You look nice by the way."


    "Thank you." She smiled before entering the car.


    Nothing was said between them for the first few minutes of the drive until Mateo decided to say something.


    "You left pretty early afterst night''s match." He said.


    "Yeah, I had something to finish, I think I told you about it." She said.


    "Yeah, I was just saying, I know that''s why you left." He said. "Do your parents also live here in Unique City?"


    "No, we moved to Spain right when I was six years old because my dad found a better job there, that''s where I went to school and did everything, I just decided toe home after graduating and now I have a job so I''m going to stay here for a while." She exined.


    "You grew up in Spain, cool, so you can speak Spanish, right?"


    "Yeah." She responded with a nod.


    "You know, I may be moving to a Spanish club next season, a few Spanish lessons won''t be bad, don''t you think?" He expressed before turning his gaze to her.


    "I don''t really have that much time to spare except during weekends, but sure, I''ll do it for you." She said.


    "You''ll do it for me, that''s sweet."


    "Um¡­that''s¡­."


    "Huh?"


    "Nevermind." She said before slowly putting her head down.


    "Okay." He said before turning his gaze back to the road.


    "So¡­."


    "We''re almost there."


    Whatever she wanted to say she wasn''t able to finish as Mateo suddenly stepped on the elerator causing her to suddenly fall back in her seat.


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 340 Day Off (02)

    It didn''t take long for them to get to the restaurant which didn''t particrly didn''t look that impressive from the outside, but once they got inside, the story was different.


    They were in a very fancy restaurant, one of the most expensive restaurants.


    Anybody could tell that just by looking at the fancy chandeliers hanging here and there, the tables, and the type of people that were there.


    After realizing that, Amber had to pull closer to the winger because she was starting to feel ufortable.


    "Hey, what''s wrong?" Mateo asked.


    "Nothing, it''s just that this ce looks really expensive." She said as she slowly looked around the area.


    "Is that what you''re worried about?" The winger said with a little chuckle.


    "Yeah." She replied.


    "I understand but I''m the one taking care of the bills, have you forgotten?"


    "Okay, but it''s not necessary, we could have just gone to one of the moderate restaurants in town." She said.


    "You don''t like it here, oh?" He said before slowly turning away his gaze from her.


    "No, it''s not that I don''t like it, I just don''t like having all these rich people looking at me, I didn''t even dress properly for a ce like this." She dressed.


    "What''s wrong with your dress? I think you look okay with it, and as for people looking at you, just don''t think about it, it''s something that has to happen." He said before grabbing her hand. "There''s a free table over there."


    He pulled her along with him to the table he saw and left her on that side before walking to the other side to sit there.


    "You know, I didn''t know you liked fancy things and ces." She said as they both slowly sat down on their seats.


    "No, I don''t like fancy things, I decided toe here with you because I thought you would like it but I guess that wasn''t the case. Although, I''m sure you''ll like it after today." He expressed.


    "Maybe." She muttered before shifting her gaze away from him a little to avoid making eye contact with him.


    It didn''t take long before the waiter pulled up and after making their orders, Mateo turned his gaze back to her.


    "You know, I never really thought about it, but you must be really intelligent up there to be able to graduate at the age of eighteen." The winger said.


    "Well, when your parents never allow you to leave the house to go do whatever you want, the only thing you can do is stay in the house and study." She said as she lightly tapped her fingers on the table.


    "Only thing you did was stay at home and study? That can''t be true." Mateo said.


    "What makes you say that?" She asked after turning her gaze to him.


    "I mean the young people of this generation are pretty addicted to their phones although that''s not exactly for some people, but you had a phone back then, right? So there''s no way the only thing you did all day long was studying." Mateo expressed.


    "That''s true, but not for someone who gets his smartphone confiscated for twenty hours in a day." She said.


    "What?" Mateo said with a confused expression on his face.


    "They said I had to work hard to graduate with good grades, get a good job and be the best version of myself." She said,


    "So, they take away your phone for almost the whole day and prevent you from going out." The winger said.


    "Yeah." She muttered.


    "I think that''s a bit too harsh, my sister didn''t even have to go through all that and she still managed to graduate just at the age of neen." He said.


    "I tried to tell them that what they were doing wasn''t exactly necessary, and it felt like I was starting to get through to my mom but my dad just wouldn''t budge." She said.


    "I never knew you grew up with strict parents." The winger said.


    "Yeah, but they weren''t bad to me in any way, they were just looking out for me which I understand."


    "Do you even have any friends over there?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Of course, I love making friends, I have three friends in the university, they''re all older than me which is expected." She expressed.


    "Three friends in the university, that''s nice."


    "Yeah, and outside that, I also have another, she''s the only one I can call my best friend, she''s very supportive andes to see me whenever she has the chance, and as a result of that, my parents became prettyfortable with hering over."


    Their conversation was interrupted as the waiter seemed to have arrived with their food and drinks.


    Amber just kept her gaze on him as he helped the waiter put everything on the table with a certain thought running through her mind.


    ''Should I ask him about it again? We''re having such a good time together, this may end up ruining the mood.''


    "Amber."


    That call from Mateo was enough to call her back into the real world.


    "You''re spacing out, are you okay?"


    "Yeah, I''m okay." She said before slowly shaking her head.


    "Okay, let''s enjoy our meal then." The winger said before turning his gaze to his food.


    "Yeah." She said before she picked up the fork and slowly brought her gaze down.


    ______ ______


    After about an hour of fighting sponsored by Emma herself, she finally fell asleep on the couch giving Dave the breathing space that he had been asking for.


    "She used to be so peaceful." The goalkeeper said with his gaze on her.


    <And she still is, she just loves disturbing you>


    ''Yeah, I''ve figured that out.'' He said subconsciously before getting up from the couch. ''I didn''t even get to watch the match properly because she kept changing the channel, she could have picked up a few things from that match for her job.''


    <I think someone else is dealing with that, you can''t expect her to work everyday>


    ''Yeah, you''re right.'' He said subconsciously before turning to the door. ''I need to go get some fresh air outside.''


    He made his way to the door and opened it to step out of the house.


    As soon as he was outside, he took a deep breath before he stuck both of his hands into his pocket and began to make his way to the garage area.


    ''As always, Supreme United are making sure no one catches up to them in the title race, if they win it this season, it''s going to be the fourth time in a row.'' He said subconsciously before letting out a deep sigh.


    <Yeah, they''re quite unbelievable when ites to fighting for the League title but you should look on the bright side>


    ''Huh?''


    <You guys are considered to be in the title race along with Dynamo and Supreme, the season is just starting and there''s a chance that you guys can do it, but whatever happens, you guys should be happy with a champions league spot because it''s been a while>


    ''Yeah, winning the league with Unique FC is something I would love to see happen but I think getting a champions league spot will also make the fabs happy.''


    <Yeah, exactly>


    ''I know we beat them in the charity match but we''ll be facing them after Ronino FC and I don''t have a very good feeling about that match.''


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 341 Crossbar Challenge: Time Quest

    Supreme United destroyed Ballena United five goals to zero on Sunday to keep their spot at the top safe.


    They had twenty-four points from eight matches, no dropped points so far unlike the teams below them.


    After that match on Sunday, Dynamo FC faced off against Lesica United, and what a match that was.


    It was a tough match, Okafor gave his team the lead as early as the twentieth minute.


    Dynamo FC fought hard for an equalizer and right at the eighty-fifth minute, Frank found the back of the from a free kick twenty-five yard out.


    Both teams tried hard to get that winning goal but in the end, none of them were able to get it and the match ended in a draw.


    That match saw them drop two points from a match since the start of the season and that meant that Unique FC who had a match in hand could overtake them if they manage to grab all three points against Ronino FC on Wednesday.


    Tuesday came by pretty quickly and right now, Unique FC yers were on the pitch having a training session.


    They were doing stretches which was supervised by one of the coaching staff, and after that, they moved to the strategic parts of the training session.


    They did a lot of that before they started practicing with the ball.


    Dave and Mateo were passing the ball between each other now as they talked about a couple of things.


    "Ourst match against Ronino FC was pretty tough, I wonder if this one will be any different." The goalkeeper said before pushing the ball back to Mateo.


    "That was then, we''re a whole different team now, we''ve already defeated some of the good teams in the league this season but Ronino FC hasn''t been doing that well, that''s why they''re in eighth ce with the possibility of falling further down." Mateo expressed before quickly sending the ball back to Dave. "This is our chance to move to second ce and be the closest team to knocking Supreme United off the top spot."


    "Yeah, I know," Dave said before sending the ball back to him. "If we manage to beat Ronino FC tomorrow we''ll move past Dynamo FC and top them with two points and will just be three points away from equalling Supreme United on points and as we may have it, our next match after facing off against Ronino FC will be against Supreme United."


    "That''s going to be a tough match," Mateo said before he sent the ball rolling back to him.


    "Yeah, but I''m sure we''ll be able to pull through," Dave said.


    The team did some practice shots before Norman decided that it was time for them to take a short break.


    While everyone rushed to the sidelines to pour some water into their system and sit down for a couple of minutes, Dave didn''t feel that tired or dehydrated yet so he decided to do something while he was still on the pitch.


    ''It''s been a while since I''ve tried a crossbar challenge during a training session.'' He said subconsciously as he gathered six balls on the kick-off spot.


    "Does that guy ever get tired?" Martinez asked from where he was sitting beside Norman Kole. "For a goalkeeper, I expected him to have low stamina, we''ve been running around for a while and he still doesn''t want to rest."


    "That''s quite ironic given the fact that he used to have the poorest stamina among all the yers on the squad," Norman said.


    "Really? The guy who used to have the poorest stamina now has this kind of stamina, how is that even possible?"


    "I don''t know how he did it but after that match against Supreme Unitedst season, I just noticed that his stamina started to improve and it wasn''t long before his stamina got to a good level and his goalkeeping skills got good too," Norman exined. "It''s like our team got better after he improved because we didn''t lose any other match after that loss against Supreme United and we also ended up beating Lesica United to qualify for UEFA Europa conference league qualifiers."


    "I see," Martinez said before turning his gaze to Dave who was standing over the balls he had lined up in other now. "But don''t you think it''s a little bit odd the way he rapidly improved?"


    "If you''re talking about doping, then you should know that he has already undergone a test for that and they didn''t find anything, that cleared my doubt on that because I used to think that that was the case." Norman expressed.


    "Yeah, I know, I was already part of the team when that happened, have you forgotten?"


    "Yeah, it happened during the pre-season tour," Norman said.


    "He''s not doping, that''s clear, I don''t think someone like him can do something like that, but that doesn''t mean his rapid improvement isn''t suspicious."


    Dave was standing over the lined-up balls now as he was nning to take them one after the other.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Hit the crossbar with at least four balls ]


    [ Duration: 20 seconds ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +20 skill upgrade points ]<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [ +100 exp ]


    [ +2 stat points ]


    ''I wasn''t even thinking of a quest.''


    <Well, you have one now so take care of it>


    ''Four hits in twenty seconds.''


    <Get on with it, your time''s going>


    ''Right.'' The goalkeeper replied before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying toward the right side of the goalpost and ended up making slight contact with the crossbar before falling into the goalpost.


    <Fourteen seconds left>


    He quickly sent the second ball flying toward the goalpost down the middle but it ended up floating past the crossbar without making any contact with it.


    <Twelves seconds, get the next one you still have to make three more hits>


    He quickly got on the next ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost and this one ended up hitting the crossbar head-on before flying over the bar.


    <Ten seconds, two more hits>


    He quickly sent the next ball flying toward the right side and it ended up making slight contact with the crossbar before falling off to the side.


    <Eight seconds, one more hit with two balls left>


    He quickly got on the next ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost down the middle but that one ended up missing the crossbar entirely as it flew into the goalpost.


    <Get on with thest one you have one five seconds left>


    Dave was a bit hesitant to take thatst shot because he knew that missing it was going to mean that everything he had done up to that point was in vain but still, not taking it was worse than taking it and missing it.


    <Three seconds>


    As soon as Catherine said that, he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    This time he decided to for the left side and for a second there it looked like the ball was going to fly over the bar because it was a lobbed shot but it ended uping down right on time to make contact with the crossbar.


    <Right on target>


    "Yes." He muttered before crashing to the floor.


    [ Questpleted ]


    <You did it>


    ''You know, Catherine, I have never seen you be so enthusiastic about mepleting a quest before.''


    "At this rate, you might just be a midfielder or forward."


    The goalkeeper quickly raised his gaze to see that the owner of the shadow lurking over him was the club''s newly employee goalkeeping coach Mr. Lucas.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 342 You Know The Answer

    "You know, Dave, you''re a really good goalkeeper, there''s nothing that disputes but to be honest I think you should really consider changing position?" Mr. Lucas expressed as he made his way toward the tunnel alongside Dave.


    "I should consider changing position?" Dave replied.


    "Yeah, just think about it, your vision is wonderful and your passing ability isn''tcking either, that''s why you''re able to set up the likes of Mateo from your goalpost, to top that off, your shooting is also very powerful, you''ll do perfectly well as a midfielder, striker or winger," Lucas exined.


    "Yeah, I sort of know all that but you could also say the same about my goalkeeping skills," Dave said without hesitation.


    "Yeah, I did say that there was nothing to dispute your goalkeeping skills but if I were someone like you who had the skills to be a midfielder, forward, or goalkeeper, staying in between the sticks the whole game would be thest choice I would make." Lucas expressed before suddenly stopping at the entrance to the tunnel.


    "And why is that?" Dave asked before cing his hand on his chin. "Because goalkeepers tend to get overshadowed by the ones contributing to the goals on the field no matter how hard they try in their own role."


    "Exactly, you seem to understand where I''ming from," Lucas said as his face immediately lit up with a smile.


    ''I see, you think just like my father.'' The goalkeeper thought with his gaze on the coach.


    "Is there a problem, Dave?" Lucas asked after realizing that he was strangely looking at him.


    "No, it''s nothing, I was just spacing out for a while." He said as he slowly shook his head.


    "Oh."


    "I''ll give a thought to the idea you just passed on to me, thank you, I''ll get going now." The goalkeeper said before he turned to continue his walk down the tunnel.


    "You''re wee, I hope you make the right choice, a talent like yours shouldn''t be wasted standing between the sticks."


    "Yeah, I hope I make the right choice." The goalkeeper stopped for a while to reply to him before he continued his walk down the tunnel.


    <For a goalkeeping coach, he sure doesn''t value goalkeepers that much>


    ''You''re right in some sense, but that isn''t exactly the case.'' Dave replied.


    <Then what is exactly the case?>


    ''He recognizes my skill as a goalkeeper, but he also recognizes the other things I can do and just thinks that somebody who can do stuff like that would be better off contributing directly to the game rather than staying in between the sticks.''


    <ording to everything he said, I''m pretty sure he doesn''t rate goalkeepers that highly just like everyone else but let''s forget about that for now>


    ''Huh.''


    <I can see that you haven''t made a decision based on what he told you, why''s that?>


    ''Why''s that? Is that supposed to be a question, Catherine?''


    <Of course, did it sound like anything else? I thought it was your dream to be a top goalkeeper, a better goalkeeper than your grandfather, why are you questioning that path now?>


    ''I¡­um, I''m not questioning it, I''m just trying to piece things together.'' Dave replied.


    <You''re considering? Wow, and I thought your will of bing and staying a goalkeeper was unshakable>


    ''It''s not like that, Catherine, you can look through my mind, right? Why don''t you do that and see for yourself?''


    <No, I''m not going to do that, I want you to tell me what stupid choice you made yourself> The tone of her voice suddenly changed as she said this.


    ''Let''s just change the topic, Catherine, I have a match to win tomorrow, I can''t afford to worry about something like this.'' He replied but there was no response from her. ''Oh, she''s quiet now, that''s great.''


    The goalkeeper walked into the locker room to see that some of his teammates had already left but Mateo and a few others were still there.


    "That was quite a long conversation between you and Mr. Lucas," Mateo said as soon as he spotted the goalkeeper.


    "Yeah, you could say that," Dave said as he made his way to him and sat down beside him.


    "Oh, then you two happened to be talking about something really important, what was it?" The winger asked.


    "I''m not sure it really falls into that category, but if you want to know, he was just advising me on how good it would be for me to change position," Dave said before crossing his arms.


    "Change positions? You mean like stop being a goalkeeper?"


    "Yeah, I sort of know already, but he said I would make a good midfielder or forward." The goalkeeper said.


    "Well, he''s not the only one who has that idea, a lot of people have been saying the same thing, I''m sure you must have heard something about it even before he decided to speak to you about it." Mateo expressed.


    "Yeah, but he''s the first person to say it with great persuasion, it felt a bit like the time when my dad was forcing me to give up on bing a goalkeeper and choose another position."


    "Oh," Mateo said before slowly putting his head down. "But you know, he isn''t wrong with the suggestion he made to you, you would make a formidable attacking midfielder."


    "Attacking midfielder? You think so?"


    "Yeah, but don''t get the wrong idea, this isn''t me advising you or trying to persuade you to change position, I''m just saying what I think, you make a formidable goalkeeper too, and I feel more at ease on the pitch whenever you''re in between the sticks."


    "It''s really nice hearing that from you, Mateo," Dave said. "So, you think goalkeeping suits me best?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Yeah, but at the end of the day, it''s your choice." The winger said.


    ''As expected, he doesn''t look down on goalkeepers.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.


    "If you''re not nning on staying here any longer, I think we should get going." The goalkeeper said before pulling out both of his boots.


    "Yeah, everyone''s gone now." The winger said as he looked around the locker room.


    He wasn''t kidding, the locker room was pretty much empty and quiet now.


    _______ _______


    Dave spent the rest of the day sleeping after returning from his training session.


    He woke up by 8:00 PM only to discover that he didn''t turn off his dream control feature but Catherine didn''t appear to him while he was asleep, and she was still quiet.


    "Still quiet, eh." He muttered under his breath before slowly sitting up on the bed.


    He went downstairs to discover that Emma had already made something nice for dinner.


    At first, he was a bit wary because he thought that it was going to turn into another one of those crazy nights but after a while, he came to the conclusion that she had no intention of disturbing him or trying to get on his nerves, she seemed to be in quite a cheerful mood.


    After eating his fill, the goalkeeper made his way to the living room to see what he could learn from the highlights of the matches that took ce earlier during the day.


    He had his gaze on the screen but his thoughts seem to have drifted off elsewhere, hence he wasn''t able to realize that Emma was standing right in front of him with her arms crossed.


    "Hey!"


    She had to get a bit loud to knock him out of his own mind.


    "Oh, when did you get here?" He asked as soon as he snapped out of his daze.


    "Hmm, looks something seems to be troubling my husband." She said before slowly sitting down beside him. "What is it? I''ll listen."


    "Hmph, you seem to be acting quite sweet tonight."


    "What are you talking about, when have I not been sweet to you?"


    Looking at her eyes, he could see the mes lighting up.


    "I¡­um, didn''t mean it like that?"


    "Ah, forget it, just tell me what''s got you all worked up?" She asked.


    "Um¡­.I don''t even know how to exin this to you." He said.


    "Exin it in any way, I''ll understand somehow, that''s part of my job as a journalist." She expressed.


    "Okay, fine." He said before letting out a sigh. "You''re a sports journalist who keeps up with almost all my matches right?"


    "Yeah." She replied.


    "And you have assessed my skills and know most of the things I can do on the pitch, right?"


    "Yeah." She replied.


    "Now tell me, if I were to suddenly be an attacking midfielder, what would you think of it?" He asked.


    It took her a while to process that question before giving him an answer.


    "I know you''re going to tell me first before going through with it, I would be surprised although I think you would make a great attacking midfielder from what I''ve seen, that role fits you fine, maybe more than a goalkeeper from what I''ve seen from your improved self." She replied.


    "Is that your answer?"


    He was quite shocked, but he had to hide the expression.


    "Yeah, but I think it''s really funny how you fought with your father all these years because you wanted to be a goalkeeper and even somehow fought to show him that you could make it in that position, and then you got serious and managed to make it to this point, finally getting recognized as a  good goalkeeper." She expressed before turning her gaze to him. "And now you want to abandon that position for an undoubtedly better one that will no doubt fetch you more fame and wealth. I think you know the answer to what you''re asking deep down, Dave."


    After saying all that, she got up from the couch and returned to the kitchen to finish what she was doing.


    Dave stayed like that for a while with his gaze on the television elsewhere and after a little while longer, he let out a deep sigh before crashing onto the couch.


    ''You''re still not going to talk, Catherine.'' He said subconsciously before slowly closing his eyes.


    *****


    Hey, guys, I''m sorry I had to stop updates without notifying you, but there were things I needed to take care of.


    Updates are still going to be a bit shaky after this one but daily updates will resume fully next month no doubt about that.

 Chapter 343 A Must Win Match

    Dave had his dream control Activated the whole night but Catherine didn''t show up to help him with anything, he was half expecting it though.


    ''Wow, Catherine, you''re really serious about giving me the silent treatment this time around.'' He said subconsciously after slowly opening his eyes, he wasn''t really expecting any response from her, and he didn''t get any from her.


    He slowly turned to the side to see that Emma was already gone from the bed something quite rare since he made getting up every morning for a run a habit.


    "Maybe I got up toote." He muttered before he picked up his phone to see that it was just 5:55 in the morning. "Oh, I wonder why she''s getting up this early today."


    After saying that, he sat up on the bed to pick up his running boots where he usually left them beside the bed only to realize that they weren''t there.


    ''Okay, what''s going on here?'' He said subconsciously with a confused expression on his face. ''Is she trying to stop me from going out for my morning run today?''


    Just to bepletely sure, he searched the room thoroughly but he still wasn''t able to find the boots, so he decided to head downstairs to see the type of trouble he had woken up to this morning.


    Just as he began to make his down the staircase, he could see her sitting on the couch in the living room with her head down as if she was trying to pick something up from the floor, it was after he got closer that he was able to see that she was trying her boots, not just her normal boots, her running boots that she hardly ever wore.


    "Um¡­what are you doing?" Dave asked as soon as he got a little closer to her.


    She paused for a while before she slowly raised her head to reveal the bright smile on her face.


    "Oh, hey, good morning honey." She said.


    "Good morning, um¡­what are you doing?" The goalkeeper asked again.


    "What does it look like? I want to exercise with you today." She said before bringing her head down to finish tying her boot.


    "Exercise with me?"


    "Yeah, I just want to run with you and¡­." She suddenly paused before pushing his running boots to him with her foot. "You''re looking for these, right?"


    "Yeah, why did you take them?" He asked as he bent over to pick up the boots.


    By the time he got up, she had a wide smile on her face but she didn''t answer the question.


    "You know what, never mind, I''ll go upstairs and change into something more suitable for running." He said before quickly making his way upstairs with the boots.


    It didn''t take him long to get changed, and by the time he was downstairs again, she was already waiting for him at the door.


    "Hey, we''re going to have to take the forest route from the start, I don''t want to be crowded by people when you''re with me," Dave said as soon as he got close to her.


    "That''s very considerate of you, sweetie, but you should try to keep up, I may trip and fall. You wouldn''t want that to happen would you?" She said before quickly running off.


    "Hey, wait, what do you mean by trip and fall!"


    He had to shut the door quickly and go after her.


    "You better not fall." He muttered under his breath as he went after her.


    _______ ______


    The match against Ronino FC was scheduled to kick off by 7:00 PM and that gave Norman a lot of time to go through things with his boys.


    They had five minutes left before noon, and right now, all the yers were gathered in the locker room as the coach was going to reveal the formation, starting eleven, and tactics.


    "As always, we''ll be using our standard formation for the main starting eleven but I am going to make a couple of changes to the ones who will be starting, first, Frankie will be starting in the defensive midfield position," Norman exined.


    "I wanted a position a little upfront but this one works too," Frankie muttered.


    You could tell by the expression on his face that he was really excited.


    "Up front, Mateo will be on the left wing, Fredinho will be in the striking position and Merino will be starting on the right. The attacking midfielders will be Ferran and Minino and, the back line will have Luis in the right back position, Adolf and Aima in the middle, and Rnd on the left, we all know who the goalkeeper is."


    After going through the starting eleven and formation, it was now time to talk about tactics.


    "Thest time we yed against Ronino FC, we barely managed to grab a win, you could say we had a little bit of luck on our side that day, but this time, I want us to winfortably." Norman expressed. "Winning this match will put us ahead of Dynamo FC in the title, I believe that alone should tell you guys that this is a very important match.


    "Now, I''ll do my best to help you guys with all I know and I''ll leave it to you to show them what you can do on the pitch."


    It took quite a while for Norman to finish filling them in on the tactics and after that, it was time for the yers to head home and prepare for the match.


    Most of the yers had left now, but Dave was still in the locker with his gaze on one of the lockers but looking at him, you could tell that his mind was somewhere else.


    Mateo had just returned to the locker room after going out to ease himself and was surprised to see that Dave was still there.


    He stood at the entrance for a while waiting for the goalkeeper to notice, but he never turned his way so he had to go to him.


    "Still thinking about yesterday''s topic?" The winger said after sitting beside him.


    "Oh, Mateo." The goalkeeper was quite surprised as he turned to his teammate. "When did you get here?"


    "I''ve been standing at the entrance for a while now but your mind seemed to be upied with something else that you didn''t notice." Mateo expressed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Oh." He said before slowly bringing his head down. "Yeah, I guess I was lost in my thoughts."


    "Is it about what you told me yesterday?" Mateo asked but there was no response from Dave.


    The room was silent for a while before the winger decided to say what he wanted to say.


    "You know if you keep thinking about it, it''s going to affect your form in the match, to be honest, this isn''t something you should even be thinking about." The winger said.


    "What do you mean?" Dave asked before slowly turning his gaze to him.


    "You have a goal and two assists so far this season, right?"


    "Yeah."


    "Cool, it''s a surprise that even Ferran doesn''t have that kind of stats so far this season, so let me ask you a question. Who is more unique, a goalkeeper who can score an assist or a midfielder who can also do the same thing?"


    "Well, since the goalkeeper has the lowest chance of scoring and assisting among all the yers on the pitch, it''s the goalkeeper." The goalkeeper replied.


    "I think you have your answer there, I''m not telling you to not change positions if you want to, all I''m saying is that you are very unique goalkeeper and I think anyone who had a dream of bing a goalkeeper would be happy with that aplishment." He expressed.


    "Hmm, you make a good point, thanks, Mateo."


    "Don''t mention it." The winger said before getting up from the seat. "I have to get going now, please don''t get distracted during the match."


    "I won''t, bye."


    Mateo responded with a nod before making his way out of the room.


    ''I was just trying to get Catherine to talk, but thanks for the advice, Mateo.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before raising his gaze to look at the ceiling. ''You''re still not going to talk.''


    _______ ______


    The match was about to kick off as both teams were lined up in the tunnel waiting for the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    Ronino FC were putting on their new away Jersey which was made up of a blue shirt with three curvy white stripes and in white shorts and as for Unique FC, they were putting on their signature home jersey orange and ck.


    It didn''t take long before the yers were given the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    Thementators did their introductions as usual and now it was time for the coin flip.


    "You know, Steve, Unique FC vs Ronino FC has always been tough, both teams managed to grab a win against each otherst season, Ronino FC''s win was obviously the more convincing but that match wasn''t easy for them in any way." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, but you know Unique FC is a way better team now, they are in third ce and looking to use this match to climb above Dynamo FC on the table, Ronino FC aren''t doing that badly to be honest but they are in ninth ce with just eleven points this season, of course, all that might not mean anything but if we consider what Unique FC has been doing this season and how Dave Richards has not conceded a single goal so far, I think they have the clear advantage." Steve expressed.


    "I think so too, Steve, but we''ll have to wait and see what happens, this is football and as we all clearly know, anything can happen," Jim said.


    Ronino FC ended up winning the coin flip and that meant that they were going to be the ones to start the match from the kick-off spot as they chose the left side.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Make sure to keep a clean sheet in this match ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +70 exp ]


    [ +1 stat point ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points ]


    ''That''s strange, I''ve been cleaning sheets all these while and now I get a match quest about only keeping a clean sheet and the reward is also poor.'' Dave said subconsciously as he made his way to his goalpost.


    Ronino FC used the four-five-one formation thest time they faced Unique FC but today, they were ying with a in four four two formation to make room for their newly signed striker to y alongside Sandro.


    Sandro was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he quickly pushed the ball to his closest teammate.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    The ball was quickly pushed to Zen by the midfielder who Sandro passed the ball to and without giving much thought to it, the midfielder sent the ball flying over the top toward a yer with the name Xavier written above the number fourteen on the back of his jersey.


    "Ronino FC going for a direct attack here."


    Xavier got his foot on the ball and just before Luis could get to him, he pushed the ball to Sandro who fell right inside the box just after making slight contact with Adolf.


    The defender raised his hands to im his innocence but the defender but the referee wasn''t buying it as he blew his whistle and pointed to the spot for a penalty kick.


    ''It hasn''t even been a minute and my quest is in danger.''

 Chapter 344 Second One

    ?


    "Looking at the footage again, it does look like Sandro was the one who got to Adolf first and made, and even at that, I don''t think that would have been enough to make him fall." Jim expressed after taking a closer look at the footage of the foul.


    "Yeah, Jim, that looked like a dive to me, but the referee doesn''t seem to care, he thinks it''s a penalty and he doesn''t look like he''s going to take back his words, he''s not even going to check VAR." Steve expressed.


    A couple of Unique FC yers were gathered around the referee trying to convince him to overturn his decision or at least go check VAR, but the referee wasn''t listening to them.


    In the end, Minino got a red card for saying something he wasn''t supposed to say and the penalty was going to stand.


    "First booking of the evening, Minino, it''s weird that he''s gotten a good number of cards just by saying something to the referee," Jim said.


    "So, that''s the way it''s going to be," Dave muttered under his breath as he adjusted both of his gloves.


    Sandro was standing over the ball now in the penalty kick spot waiting for the referee''s whistle so that he could drill the ball into the goalpost and give his team the lead.


    ''This could go either way, but I mustn''t allow them to take the lead this easily and this early.''


    After making sure that everyone was behind the penalty taker and Dave was ready for the kick, the referee blew his whistle.


    ''I could use focus but it would be dangerous in a situation like this, ah¡­I just wish you would stop this and tell me what you think, Catherine.''


    After hearing the referee''s whistle, Sandro slowly took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost.


    Looking at the way he positioned himself, Dave knew he was going to fire it toward the right side and he was right about that, the only problem was that he didn''t know how high or low he was going to kick the ball.


    He didn''t give much thought to that as he decided to go low, but unfortunately, Sandro seemed to have fired the ball toward the right side with a little bit of elevation.


    That could have been disastrous but fortunately for Unique FC, Dave had a quick solution just as he was about to miss the ball.


    He quickly raised his right arm just as the ball was about to go over him from the top and smacked it down before it could cross the goal line.


    "Oh, my goodness, he saved it, I thought that was going in!" Jim eximed.


    "Yeah, but it''s not over yet."


    Steve was right, it wasn''t over yet as the ball had fallen to the center of the box and now it was up to who was going to get there first.


    Zen was one of the first yers to burst into the box with a slide as he wanted to put the ball in no matter what, but before he could get there, Rnd got there with a slide.


    He pushed the ball to Aima with his slide, and without hesitation, the center back sent the ball flying far away from their box.


    "Wow, what a moment we had there, Rnd Ryle is arguably one of the fastest yers in the Bilbeth Premier League, especially when ites to situations where he has to stop someone from getting to the ball first and putting it in while the goalkeeper is disoriented." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, that was a close call for Unique FC, it''s a good thing he was close enough," Steve said. "Dave Richards did quite well in stopping that penalty kick, and that save means that he still hasn''t conceded any goal in the Bilbeth Premier League this season."


    "If he survives this one, it''s going to be seven straight clean sheets for him and zero goals conceded I''m seven straight matches, that''s going to be a first for any goalkeeper in the Bilbeth Premier League." Jim articted.


    ''That was scary.'' Dave said subconsciously as he got up on his feet before letting out a deep sigh. ''I''m d it''s over.''


    The match continued with Ronino FC trying everything they could to put the ball in the back of the but all five of their shots after that penalty kick had been off target.


    Unique FC had been quiet so far with their only goal attempting from a clumsy shot from Mateo which the goalkeeper didn''t have any trouble stopping.


    Unique FC were the ones with the ball now as they were trying to slowly work their way up to Ronino FC''s box.


    One of the main reasons Ronino FC had been having trouble with their attacks was Frankie.


    Norman was right to put him in the defensive midfield position as he was causing a lot of problems for Ronino FC whenever they got close to him with the ball, and he wasn''t letting anything get through him easily.


    Frankie received the ball from Minino after he trapped back to avoid losing the ball in a tough situation.


    Frankie moved a little bit forward with the ball before he found Ferran making a run down the left and sent the ball flying over to him.


    "Frankie''s sending it over to Ferran."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Zen quickly rushed to the area to try and dispossess Ferran but before he could get to him, Ferran brought the ball down with a single touch from his right foot, and without hesitation, he sent it rolling to Mateo who had shifted a little bit to the middle.


    "Ferran to Mateo, can they do something here?"


    One of the defenders quickly rushed out to try and stop the winger, but before he could get to him, he pushed the ball to Frankie who had decided to cover up and help the attack.


    After receiving the ball, Frankie sent it rolling to Minino who moved it to Merino with a single touch as he had a yer hot on his trail.


    Merino got past the yer right behind with a dummy and now he was through on the right wing.


    There were a couple of his teammates in the box, so the right thing to do was cross and that was exactly what he did.


    "He''s sent it flying in."


    Fredinho jumped high to get his head on the ball together with two defenders in the box, but they all ended up missing it as the ball flew toward Mateo who quickly pulled his head back and sent the ball flying toward the left side of the goalpost.


    The header didn''t have much power to it but it sure was a tricky one as the winger went for the angle.


    Fortunately for Ronino FC, their goalkeeper was able to get there with the tip of his glove, and that was all he needed to send the ball over the bar.


    "Oh, my goodness, I thought that was going in, what a save!"


    "Yeah, that was a close call," Steve said. "Mateo seriously looking for that goal to extend his scoring streak to eight consecutive matches."


    The match had just entered the twenty-fifth minute now as Ferran was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    "Unique FC can be quite tricky with corner kicks, let''s see what they''ll be able to do with this one," Jim said.


    It didn''t take long before the referee blew his whistle, and after hearing it, Ferran slowly took three steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    The first person to get his head on the ball was a defender but he wasn''t able to get nod it out as the ball grazed past his head before falling to Mateo''s chest.


    The winger was in quite a tight spot but he knew Fredinho was right behind as he quickly brought the ball down before he could lose it and pushed it to Fredinho with a backheel pass.


    All Fredinho needed to get into the goalpost was a small touch and that was what he did as the ball rolled into the goalpost as the goalkeeper watched from the spot he was glued to.


    "I thought he was going to shoot himself but it turns out he had a better idea, what a goal!" Jim eximed.


    Minino didn''t even wait for Fredinho to get to the sidelines as he chased him down and dragged him down before he could get there.


    "I was expecting something toe out from that penalty and it happened, Unique FC now have the lead," Stevemented.


    The fans were going wild as the yers celebrated in front of them and Dave couldn''t help but let out a scream because winning this match would take them past Dynamo FC to second ce and then they would be just three points behind Supreme United.


    The joy from that goalsted until seven minutester when something dreadful happened once again.


    Zen was lying inside Unique FC''s box clutching onto his right foot as the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty box.


    That wasn''t all as the referee walked straight up to Aima and showed him a straight red card.


    "Oh, dear," Jimmented.


    "That''s clearly a penalty kick, I don''t think he should get a straight red card through, but there''s no doubt, things aren''t looking good for Unique FC here right now." Steve expressed.


    ''Oh,e on.'' Dave said subconsciously before stomping his foot on the floor.


    ****


    Happy new month guys, daily updates are back but it''s going to be mostly a chapter per day, I''ll do two on any good day but it''s going to be mostly one, hope you guys enjoyed it.

 Chapter 345 One Man Down: Does It Make A Difference?

    ?


    "Things aren''t looking good for Unique FC here."


    Just seven minutes after that goal from Fred, Ronino FC slowly walked their way into Unique FC''s goalpost.


    They got stuck at some point and when Zen tried to create something out of his own effort, he was brought down by Aima under a reckless challenge right inside the box.


    It would have been okay to just give him a yellow card for that challenge, but the referee wanted to go extreme and that was exactly what he did by showing the defender a straight red card.


    Now, Unique FC had to deal with another penalty kick while being one man down.


    Zen was clutching onto his right foot the entire time, but as soon as Aima was sent off, he was able to slowly get up from the floor with the help of his teammate, and in no time, he was walking normally again.


    ''Not this again.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    He didn''t have a pleasant look on his face and the same could be said about his teammates, coach, and the fans.


    "If Ronino FC manages to convert the penalty kick this time, it''s going to be pretty hard for Unique FC to take the lead again now that they''re one man down, the match could take a whole different turn." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, it could take a turn against them," Stevemented.


    After talking with Xavier for a while Sandro stepped up to the ball in the penalty spot.


    "Looks like Sandro is going to be the one to take the penalty kick once again," Jim said.


    For the striker, this was like a penalty kick redemption arc and he was determined to make this one count.


    ''Deep breaths, Dave, you saved the first one and you''re also going to save this one.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before taking a deep breath.


    The other yers were all behind the penalty taker and both the goalkeeper and penalty taker were ready, all that was left now was for the referee to blow his whistle.


    Afterpletely making sure that everything was in ce, the referee blew his whistle, the signal Sandro had been waiting for.


    "That''s the whistle, will Sandro be able to redeem himself with this one?"


    ''I''m not taking any chances.''


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    Sandro slowly took three steps backward before he slowly began to close up on the ball, and as soon as he was close enough, he pulled his right leg back and fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    He sent it flying toward the farthest side of the left side of the goalpost exactly where Dave predicted him to y it as he had gone for the right side thest time.


    Dave didn''t even need ball ma to get to the ball as he was able to get to it right on time and hit it down, and just before anybody could get to the ball, he stretched his hands and covered the ball.


    "Oh, my goodness, he''s done it again!" Jim eximed.


    Unique FC fans erupted with cheers as soon as Dave made that Dave, Norman was the most hyped up of them all as he could be seen celebrating on the sidelines.


    Minino quickly rushed to the goalkeeper while he was still lying on the floor and fell on his body before the rest of their teammates got to the area.


    "I can''t believe it, Jim, two penalty kicks from Sandro and he stopped both of them," Steve said. "Even after facing two penalty kicks in this match, Dave Richards still hasn''t conceded any goal in the league this season."


    "Yeah, I''m shocked too, I thought he was finally going to score that one after missing the first one, but I guess Dave was never going to make it easy for them." Jim expressed.


    ''Two penalty kicks in the first half, I just hope we don''t concede another one.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before he slowly got up from the floor and sent the ball flying into the pitch.


    "That save from Dave may have given his team a little bit of breathing space to try and sort things out, but they''re still one man down, I''m not sure their y is going to flow as smoothly as it did when they had all their yers on their pitch." Steve articted.


    Steve was right, things were going to be a bit difficult for Unique FC now that they were one man down but it could have been worse if they didn''t have Norman who had an idea to still cover up the void that was going to be left on the pitch by the absence of one yer.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    A lot of people were expecting the coach to pull out one of the yers on the pitch and rece him with a defender to fill up the void Aima left as it was very much possible to y with only two midfielders, but Norman wasn''t nning on doing any of that.


    Rather, what he did was ask Frankie to remain mostly stationary on their side of the pitch, he could still cross the boundary line of course to help the attack but the coach advised him not to be in a haste to do that.


    In this way, he could always return to fill that void in the defense whenever the need came up.


    Unique FC were one man down, but they were still bossing the game in terms of possession and they were even doing it better now because they knew it was best to be extra careful when you''re short of one man on the pitch.


    The home side kept hold of the ball for seven whole minutes while looking for the best-attacking options and all Ronino FC yers could do was chase the ball around with faces showing how frustrated they were. Nobody would be happy to blow two penalty kicks in a match after all.


    Unique FC created really good chances with their passes, Mateo was at the receiving end of two of those chances but unfortunately, both of his attempts ended up hitting the post before going out, the third andst chance from the home side came from Fredinho.


    Merino found his way past two yers after receiving the ball from Minino, and just before he could run into the yer heading toward him at full speed, he pushed the ball to Ferran who quickly lobbed it to Mateo on the left.


    Mateo quickly brought the ball down with his chest before he sent it flying over to Fredinho inside the box.


    The striker got a good head on the ball but he wasn''t able to ce it well as the ball was sent flying directly toward the goalkeeper who caught it with no problem at all.


    "Oh, that could have been a great goal."


    Ronino FC also managed to get a few chances but they weren''t able to get any shots on target.


    Their only short targets so far hade from Sandro alone, two from the penalty kicks and the other one a shot from outside the box which was a really easy save for Dave.


    It could have been the other way round or at least evened out, but the first half came to an end with Unique FC still leading.


    "You know, Steve, I expected Ronino FC to turn things around after seeing Aima get sent off, but Unique seems to still have control over the game." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, me too, but Norman''s side really knows what they''re doing, that said, it''s not over yet anything can happen in the second half, we''ll just have to wait and see."


    "Yeah."


    ''We made it through the first half, Catherine.'' Dave said subconsciously as he made his way down the tunnel alongside his teammates.


    Norman didn''t have much to tell them besides his countermeasure which he always had prepared if the other team should try something in the second half, but Ronino FC''s coach sure had a lot to talk to them about.


    After getting a good rest in the locker rooms, the yers began to make their way to the pitch to kick off the second half.


    "Wee back everyone to a match that has turned out to be unpredictable so far, the yers are making their way to the pitch as we all can see and we will be finding out how the second half will y out soon." Jim expressed.


    "I have a strange feeling about this second half," Dave muttered as he slowly made his way to his goalpost.


    Fredinho was standing over the ball now, and as soon as he heard the whistle, he quickly passed the ball to Ferran who quickly pushed it to Luis Roberto.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    Luis Roberto pushed the ball forward before he tried to send it to Frankie, but his pass was clumsy and was easily intercepted by Xavier who didn''t even waste any time to go for a direct shot.


    Everyone was caught off guard, Dave was glued to the spot as the ball flew past him toward the right side and hit the crossbar before falling out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, my goodness," Jim said as he let out a loud gasp.


    He wasn''t the only one, the entire stadium let out a loud gasp.


    "What was that?" Dave muttered with a shocked expression on his face.

 Chapter 346 Controversial Decisions

    ?


    The second-half brave attempt came as a surprise to almost everyone on the pitch, and there was one thing that that attempt indicated, Ronino FC came prepared in the second half and things were about to get aggressive.


    Unique FC were still with the ball after it was sent in by Dave, they were going to try and approach y slowly just like they had been doing because losing the ball was something they didn''t want to happen.


    Mateo received the ball from Ferran and made an attempt to dribble past the yer right in front of him before pushing the ball back to Rnd who had gotten close to him now.


    "He sends it back to Rnd."


    Rnd moved the ball a little to the middle before he suddenly paused as he was looking for someone to send the ball over to.


    As soon as he stopped moving, Zen quickly increased his pace as he wanted to get to him quickly and take the ball from him, but just before the midfielder could get close enough, Rnd suddenly dashed past him with the ball and now he was loose on one of his runs.


    "Rnd is racing down the middle with the ball, we will be able to see something here?" Jimmented as the left back raced down toward the eighteen-yard box.


    Just as he got close enough to the eighteen-yard box, he pushed the ball to Minino who immediately sent it rolling to Merino.


    "Merino."


    Merino raced down the wing and just before reaching the line, he sent the ball into the box with a low cross.


    The ball was sent rolling toward Mateo who was being tightly marked.


    The winger knew he wouldn''t be able to do much even if he got the ball in that situation but he had a great idea.


    He quickly closed up on the ball as the yer marking him quickly followed him, and just as he got close to the moving ball, he moved past it, dragging the defender marking him along with him and allowing the ball to continue moving forward toward Ferran who he had anticipated was going to get into that position right on time.


    "Hepletely left it for Ferran."


    Ferran knew what he had to do as he quickly pulled his leg back and sent the ball rolling toward the left side of the goalpost.


    "Ferran!"


    The goalkeeper was glued to a spot, but there was no need to be worried as the ball ended up hitting the post before rolling out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, it hit the woodwork."


    The midfielder couldn''t handle that miss as he let out a groan before crashing to the floor.


    "I thought that was a goal for sure," Dave muttered before biting his lower lip.


    Mateo was the one to help the midfielder up and cheer him up like he always did.


    "Unique FC have been quite unlucky in this match, blowing chances that could have easily been converted to goals, even Mateo is having a hard time scoring, by all rights, he should have a goal by now." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, but the same can be said about Ronino FC, just imagine blowing two penalty kick opportunities in a single match," Stevemented.


    "Yeah, that''s awful, really awful."


    ''So far, and I still haven''t gotten the chance to use this shot-stopping attribute, it''s almost like it''s useless to me at this point.'' Dave said subconsciously as he watched Ronino FC yers move the ball around from his box.


    That was said mainly to get Catherine to react, but he also wanted to say it.


    "Hmph."


    Ronino FC were the ones moving the ball around now and they were seriously looking for a way to break through Unique FC''s defense.


    Unique FC werecking one man so it would be quite logical for things to be easier for them but that didn''t seem to be the case as Norman knew the best way to close up the gap that was going to make things easier for them.


    Zen received the ball back from Sandro after he was stopped right on his track, and just before Ferran could get to the midfielder, he moved the ball back further.


    The defender who received the ball had to send it flying over to Xavier but that was a mistake as Frankie popped up from nowhere to steal the ball mid-air.


    "Nice interception by Frankie."


    Frankie quickly sent the ball rolling to Minino and just as the midfielder got his foot on the ball, he was taken down from behind by a Ronino FC defender.


    "Oh, dear, that doesn''t look good."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    That was no exaggeration as Minino was lying on the floor with his hands on his right foot and it looked like he was in a lot of pain.


    There was no doubt that that was a terrible challenge worthy of punishment.


    A lot of people were expecting the referee to show the yer a red card because there wouldn''t be any argument there if that happened, but the referee showed him a yellow card instead, something that a lot of fans found surprising, and Unique FC yers and staff didn''t like.


    ''What is going on? Aima''s tackle wasn''t even that bad and he got a straight red, why in the world is he getting just a yellow card?'' Dave said subconsciously with a confused expression on his face.


    "I don''t think Unique FC yers are going to be happy with that decision seeing how their teammate was sent off for a less offensive challenge," Jim said.


    Merino sure had a lot of things to say to the referee but the official didn''t budge and rather decided to book him for speaking to him in an uneptable manner.


    "That''s Unique FC''s third booking of the night and Merino''s first card this season," Steve said.


    There was really nothing the home team could do about the decision besidesin and hope that Minino would be able to continue.


    Fortunately for them, after receiving some attention from the medical team, Minino was able to get up, he was limping a bit, but he was sure that he would be able to continue.


    "Talk about a fair match," Dave muttered before crossing his arms.


    The match continued until the eighty-seventh minute and so far none of the teams had been able to produce a goal as Unique FC was still leading one goal to nothing.


    The home side came up with a lot of brilliant chances, but they were quite unlucky with their finishing.


    Ronino FC on the other hand had not been able to do much, and now that the match had entered the eighty-eight minutes, they were the ones with the ball.


    Zen received the ball from one of the other midfielders before quickly pushing it to Sandro.


    The striker avoided Rndpletely as he shifted the ball a little to the middle before he fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    "Sandro!"


    The ball was fired toward the top left side of the goalpost and because Dave wasn''t in a really good position, he used something he had not used in a match before.


    [ Thrust activated ]


    With the help of thrust, he was able to get to the ball fast enough to send it over the bar for a corner kick.


    "At this point, I''m not even surprised, another stupendous save from Dave to keep their lead safe," Jim said.


    "That was a clean save, I don''t think there''s any argument about who''s the best goalkeeper in the league so far this season," Stevemented.


    "Yeah, no argument at all."


    Zen was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle as everyone gathered in the box, and as soon as he heard it, he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    Adolf was marking Sandro because he knew how deadly he was with headers and fortunately and at the same time unfortunately, the ball was heading their way.


    Adolf sprang up and ended up being the person to make contact with it, and what he did was push the ball up to give Dave the space to jump up and grab it and that worked out well for him, but things didn''t end there.


    Ronino FC yers happened to have caught sight of something that the referee didn''t see as they were gathered around him touching their arms to show that Adolf''s arms made contact with the ball when he headed it up.


    The referee didn''t see it himself and could have just waved it off if he wanted to, but he decided to go check VAR.


    ''So, now he''s going to check VAR.''


    "It would be terrible for Unique FC if they get to face a third penalty kick in this match, they may not be able to get away from this one if it happens."


    "Well, we''re about to find out."


    It didn''t take long before the referee began to make his way back to the pitch and as soon as he got back, he blew his whistle and pointed to the spot for a penalty kick.


    "Oh, dear it''s another penalty."


    "Seriously?" Dave muttered with a confused expression on his face.

 Chapter 347 Intense Five Minutes

    ?


    "Well, it''s not the first time in the history of the sport and it''s not the first time it''s happening in the Bilbeth Premier League but it is the first time it''s happening to Unique FC, and I''m pretty sure they''re not taking it well." Jim expressed.


    Who would take it lightly? They escaped the first one, escaped the second and now they were going to face the third one.


    They could still escape this one and if that happened, it was going to be a huge shame to Ronino FC and that goes a long way to exin how much they didn''t want to miss this.


    ''I just feel like everything is working against us not winning this match.'' Dave said subconsciously as he adjusted his gloves. ''He didn''t even check VAR when Minino got tackled like that and now he rushes to go check VAR.''


    Theirints weren''t going to get them anyway and they knew that, so they had to wait for the penalty kick to be taken and hope that Dave would be able to perform another miracle like he did with the previous two.


    It was no surprise that Xavier was the one stepping up to take the penalty kick, Sandro did miss the first two so it was only normal to sideline him for this one or maybe he could have been the one that told Xavier to take it because he didn''t want to embarrass himself again.


    "Looks like Sandro is leaving this one for Xavier, will he be able to do what his teammate couldn''t do?" Stevemented.


    ''No pressure, I just have to stop this one like I stopped the first two, I can do it again.'' Dave said as he jumped up and down on his goal line.


    After making sure that all the yers were behind the penalty kick taker and both the taker and keeper were ready, he blew his whistle.


    "That''s the whistle, will Ronino FC be able to level it at the nieth minute?"


    Xavier didn''t move immediately after hearing the whistle as he kept his gaze on the ball for a while before he slowly took three steps backward and paused for a couple of seconds.


    ''This is the moment.''


    Once the striker was done observing what he wanted to observe, he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost with his right foot.


    "Xavier!"


    Looks like the striker seeded as he ended up sending Dave the wrong way.


    The goalkeeper dived toward the right side of the goalpost as the striker sent the ball rolling in through the bottom left side of the goalpost and there was no doubt about that, it was a goal.


    "Oh, he''s done it!" Jim eximed as Xavier raised his hands before Zen got to him and quickly lifted him.


    The away fans were chanting the name of their club loudly now and Unique FC yers all had devastated looks on their faces.


    ''I guess it was going to end this way one way or the other.'' Dave said subconsciously as he slowly sat up on the floor.


    [ Quest failed ]


    "With the match already in the nieth minute, that may have been the final moment of the match," Steve said.


    "I know nobody is going toe out and say it but this match was messed up from the beginning!" Minino yelled as he made his way to the sidelines.


    The expression on his face said everything about how he felt.


    "Minino isn''t really happy about that goal and he''s clearly showing his anger," Jim said.


    "Well, they were going to move to first ce if they grab all three points, to be honest, I would be angry if I were him," Stevemented.


    "Yeah, and now Dave''s clean sheet run hase to an end, but at least he is still the only goalkeeper that has not conceded any goal from open y this season."


    "Yeah, I guess that still counts as something," Steve said.


    Five minutes got added to the match and it was unbelievable what Unique FC were able to pull off during those few minutes.


    They were one man down but it looked like they had twelve men on the pitch.


    Mateo created two chances that his teammates weren''t able to convert and when he got the chance to convert on his own, he sent the ball flying over the bar.


    Merino also got a clean shot which could have been a goal if the goalkeeper had not dived right in time to stop it.


    As for Minino, well, he tried a desperate shot from outside the box that almost went in, the only thing that got in the way was the crossbar as the ball ended up making contact with it before flying over for a goal kick.


    At the end of the day, they weren''t able to find that winning goal as the referee blew his whistle to bring the match to an end.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "There''s the whistle," Jim said before taking in a deep breath.


    "Oh, my God, Jim, that has to be the best five minutes of a match that I had ever seen, these guys just went crazy, I wouldn''t have been surprised if they had pulled out a goal from all that."


    "Yeah, Steve, I was out of breath the whole time, to think that a team with one less man would be able to do this against a team with a full squad, but, at the end of the day the matches to an end on level terms." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, that''s quite sad for Unique because, to be honest, they deserved to win this match a hundred percent, luck just wasn''t on their side today."


    The statistics board said everything about their performance today.


    The home side had eighteen shots with eight being on target while the away side had six shots with just four being on target.


    The home side had seventy-two percent ball possession and the guests had whatever was left of that.


    There was no doubt that Ronino FC were totally outssed by Unique FC today and just like Steve said, theypletely deserved to win, but sometimes things don''t go the way they''re supposed to because of certain factors whether good or bad.


    Minino was one of the yers to quickly make his way out of the pitch after the match as he was really pissed off but surprisingly Dave wasn''t that angry or down even after losing his clean sheet streak.


    I guess winning the man of the match was part of what helped brighten up his mood.


    The goalkeeper was making his way toward the tunnel alongside Mateo when the two were suddenly stopped by Amber who was there for the official match interview.


    "Hey, guys." She said with an awkward smile on her face because she didn''t know if she should smile or keep a straight face, it would have been easier if they had won the match.


    "Oh, hey, Amber," Dave said. "Where''s Emma?"


    "Um¡­. she''s talking to a couple of fans, it''s something she has to do today, so I''m here to take care of this." She replied.


    "Oh."


    "So, which one of you should I pick for the interview?"


    "You can take Dave, he won the man of the match after all, I''ll get going now, see youter," Mateo said before slowly walking past her.


    "Are you okay?" Amber quickly turned to ask before he could walk far from her.


    "Yeah, I''m just tired, bye."


    He didn''t even turn to reply to that question and just kept going as he gave her the response.


    "He''s not in a good mood but don''t worry, this kind of stuff doesn''t weigh him down for too long," Dave said.


    "Yeah, I understand." She said with a little nod.


    Dave answered all the questions that were thrown at him by Amberfortably until she decided to throw in a question.


    A question that Emma told her to avoid asking but she decided to ask it anyway.


    "How do I feel about the refereeing decisions in the match." The goalkeeper repeated to make sure he heard the question right.


    "Yeah, that''s what I asked." She said.


    "Okay. First, I''m going to say this, there are controversial decisions in almost every match of the season and if you''re asking if I think those kinds of decisions happened today, my answer is yes. Did I feel like those decisions were made against us? My answer to that question is also yes, three penalties in a single match is not something you see every day and there''s a chance that if it was someone else in that goalpost we would have ended up losing, we would have lost a match that we weren''t supposed to lose in any way.


    "But, all that aside, I think we could have done better, we wasted um¡­.a lot of chances, and if we had converted those chances, we would have won the game no matter how many penalties they got deserving or undeserving."


    "Alright, thank you, Mr. Richards for your answers, that will be all for today."


    "Alright, see youter, bye," Dave said before making his way out of the area.


    <So, you decided to be true to your feelings and say what you really think>


    ''And you''ve decided to say something.''

 Chapter 348 I Am A Unique Goalkeeper

    ?


    <Don''t interpret this the wrong way, I just wanted to know how you would do in a match without my guidance>


    ''Huh, so you didn''t start ignoring me because I was considering changing positions?'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he made his way down the hallway.


    <Well, I was angry because you even gave it a thought but I already knew the decision you were going to make so no, it''s not that but I did use it as a catalyst>


    ''Oh, I see, speaking of your guidance, I don''t seem to recall a lot of matches that it helped me that much in.''


    <What are you trying to say?>


    ''Um¡­. nothing really, so, how did I do with your guidance, my dear voice assistant?''


    <Well everything was working against you guys losing just like you thought, and in the midst of all that you still managed toe out with a draw plus you won the man of the match awards, so, I would say you did pretty well, your teammates could have been better, but that''s not your fault>


    ''Thank you.''


    <So, this makes it the eighth man of the match award in your career>


    ''Yeah, you got that right.''


    Just as the goalkeeper got closer to the locker room, he spotted Lucas standing there with both of his hands stuck into his pocket.


    "Oh, hey, there coach." The goalkeeper said as soon as he got close enough to him.


    "Oh, hey, Dave, good job out there today, things could have ended badly if it weren''t for you." The coach said.


    "Thank you, but everyone also did their part pretty well, that''s why things didn''t end badly, at least it wasn''t just me." Dave expressed.


    "You''re way too modest, Dave," Lucas said as a smile slowly appeared on his face. "So, have you decided to consider what I told you yesterday?"


    "Um¡­.yeah." He replied with a nod.


    "Really? So, which position are you nning to switch to?"


    Dave didn''t reply immediately and just kept his gaze on him for a while before a sheepish grin suddenly appeared on his face, something that caught Lucas off guard.


    "I don''t mean to sound rude but did you really watch that match just now, Mr. Lucas?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "What are you talking about? Of course, I watched it." Lucas replied.


    "Really? Are you sure about that? Because anybody who watched that match and saw how things yed out wouldn''t be reminding me about something like this." The goalkeeper expressed. "I know I said everybody especially the defense did their best in this match, but if we''re being honest here, I am the reason why this match didn''t end with a scoreline worse than a draw, I don''t like singing my praise but saving two penalty kicks in a match is not something any goalkeeper can pull off."


    "So, what are you trying to say?"


    "You still don''t get it, I''m trying to say that my decision is to remain a goalkeeper, it was the decision I made the moment you made that suggestion to me yesterday, I was just ying along to get reactions from you and some other people." Dave expressed before crossing his arms.


    "You were just ying along?"


    "Yeah, being a goalkeeper was all I ever wanted and I''ve struggled to get where I am today, you can''t expect to just abandon it now that I''ve gotten to this stage, that would be the most absurd thing ever."


    "You''re talking about dreams and passion? I''m talking about more money, a better career, more achievements and rewards, and even a way better public image." Lucas said.


    Dave didn''t reply to him immediately as he smirked before slowly moving a little closer to him.


    "I can''t deny that fact, I may get all those things and be way better in that aspect if I decide to change positions but I think you read me wrong."


    "Huh?"


    "Everyone likes those things, maybe public image is a little debatable but back to my point, I''ve never really liked to follow the crowd, I''ve always liked uniqueness and ording to many, I am a unique goalkeeper and that is enough for me." Dave expressed before walking past him a little. "Goalkeepers are underrated and overlooked that''s for sure, but my career is just starting out and I am going to try everything I can to make sure that changes."


    "But Dave¡­."


    "Why are you being so persistent? How much did my father even pay you to try and convince me?"


    That one caught Lucas off guard as he slowly opened his mouth in shock.


    "How did you¡­.?"


    "To be honest I didn''t know when you first made the suggestion to me, it only became clear after you began to persuade me, many people have made the suggestion to me, but that was where it stopped, there was no persuasion because they respect my choice. The only person who ever tried to force me not to be a goalkeeper was my father." The goalkeeper expressed.


    "Oh."


    "I thought he would give this up but I guess he''s adopted other methods, go tell him that he should start respecting this choice of mine that he''s been fighting for over a decade now, I thought he was proud of me now." He said before letting out a deep sigh. "I guess I''ll have to pay him a visit tomorrow." He added before making his way into the locker room.


    <Well, that was smooth>


    ''You think so? It''s nice to hear that from you.''


    <Yeah, but I''m still angry that you considered it that day even if it was for a few seconds>


    ''Geez, sorry.''


    [Post-match rewards ]


    [ Four crucial saves: +70 exp received ]


    [ Match rating: 8.5 ]


    He quickly read through the message to see the single reward he was able to salvage from the match before he slowly sat down beside Mateo.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I see you were discussing something with Mr. Lucas outside," Mateo said as soon as he sat down beside him.


    "Yeah, it was about what he told me yesterday," Dave replied.


    "Oh, and what did you tell him?"


    "Why don''t you take a guess?" The goalkeeper said.


    "Um¡­.I don''t know, you''re not changing."


    "Yeah, that''s exactly what I told him."


    "Oh, I guess that was going to be your decision at the end of the day." The winger said.


    "Yeah, there''s no way I''m just going to quit being a goalkeeper after getting this far."


    "Yeah, I know I said no matter what choice you made that things would still be alright, but I was going to be surprised if you decided to change, to be honest."


    Dave didn''t reply to that and just smiled before turning his gaze to the rest of his teammates who were still down as a result of the draw.


    Normanter came in to cheer them up and try to correct some things but at the end of the day, they were going to be the ones to cheer themselves up properly.


    Dave got home by 10:00 PM after spending some time with his teammates.


    After parking his car in its usual parking spot, he made his way to the door and opened it to find Emma in the living room.


    She was putting on her pajamas with her gaze on the nk screen of the television, so it was obvious that he was the one she was waiting for.


    After hearing the sound of him opening the door, she turned her gaze to the area before slowly turning away.


    "Hey, babe, were you waiting for me to get back?" He asked as he made his way to her.


    "Yeah, I was waiting for you to get back so that I can throw some questions at you." She said.


    Her tone suggested that he wasn''t happy so Dave had to kill the smile on his face.


    "What''s wrong?" He asked as soon as he stopped moving.


    "Why would you answer that question?" She asked.


    "Question? Oh, are you talking about the post-match interview?"


    "Of course, what else would I be talking about?"


    "What did you expect me to do? Tell her that I can''t answer it? She asked the question, and gave her my honest opinion. What''s wrong with that?"


    "I told her to avoid that question for now, Amber." She grumbled before biting her lower lip.


    "Why are you angry? Isn''t this the type of stuff that sells in cyberspace?" Dave asked.


    "Yeah, but you don''t have to be the face of it, she could have approached it in a better way."


    "Oh, so, you''re worried because it''s me."


    "Yeah." She said before turning away from him.


    "Isn''t that a bit petty and selfish of you?" The goalkeeper said.


    "Huh?" She said before quickly turning her gaze to him with a shocked expression on her face.


    "What you''re saying is that you would have been okay if it was another person.


    "No, that isn''t exactly what I meant, I would have still presented the question to you if I was the one asking the questions but not that way, she was too direct about it and you were also too direct with your answer, you''re not wrong for calling out the refereeing decisions but doing things like that draws too much attention to you from the media and I don''t want something like that to happen." She expressed. "The headlines from everywhere tomorrow will be something like, ''Dave Richards calls out the referee for unjust decisions in their draw against Ronino FC, and that''s not even the end."


    "Huh?"


    "Once they all figure out that you aren''t afraid to speak out against things like this, they will always like to hear your opinion about things like this to get more media exposure and they may even add things that you didn''t say that may harm your personal image, all they care about is profit."


    "Oh, that''s why you were worried?"


    "Yeah, and you called me petty and selfish." She said before crossing her arms.


    "I''m sorry, but, I don''t think I''ll get caught in their trap, I''ll still call out bad decisions whenever I''m given the opportunity but I won''t do it in any way that will harm my personal image." He expressed.


    "You promise?"


    "Yeah, I promise." He said before kissing her on her forehead. "Oh, I''m so tired, I''m going to head upstairs now."


    "You''lle down and eat something, right?" She asked as she watched him make his way toward the staircase.


    "No, I''m not hungry, I''ll just go to bed."


    "Okay." She muttered.


    ''Still behind Dynamo FC with Supreme United to face on Sunday, only God knows how that match will turn out.'' He said subconsciously as he made his way up the staircase.

 Chapter 349 Group Of Death

    ?


    Dave got up pretty early the next day and unlike yesterday, his wife was still asleep beside him on the bed.


    "I guess she doesn''t have the strength today." He muttered before slowly sitting up on the bed.


    His morning run was a short one and after that, he did a little bit of workout in his gym before he moved to thewn for some ball practice.


    He joggled the ball with both of his feet for a while before he kicked it up with his right foot and then sent it flying toward the goalpost with his left.


    The ball flew toward the top right-hand side and ended up hitting the crossbar before falling into the goalpost.


    <Your left foot works well for you>


    ''Of course, it will, I''ve been forcing myself to use it in certain conditions since I was just a child, I don''t want it to be useless to me in certain conditions where it can be useful.'' Dave replied subconsciously.


    <Yeah, I understand>


    Dave didn''t reply to her as he slowly began to make his way to the goalpost to pick the ball up.


    <You said you were going to pay your father a visit today, right?>


    ''Yeah, I did say that yesterday.'' He replied before picking up the ball.


    <When are you going then? I''m surprised you weren''t thinking about it until I brought it up just now>


    ''I wasn''t thinking about it because I''m no longer going.''


    <And why''s that?>


    ''I don''t think there''s any need for that since Mr. Lucas is going to report back to him anyway, and besides, I may end up stirring up trouble between the two of us again if I go, things just returned to normal between us.''


    <Okay, I think I get your point>


    ''Yeah, but if he  employs another method to do something like that again, then I''ll have to pay him a visit for sure.''


    After practicing on thewn for a while, he decided to make his way inside, and just as he entered the house, he caught sight of Emmaing down the stairs.


    "Hey, you''re back." She said with a bright expression on her face. "Good morning?" She added before taking a sip from her cup.


    It was a tea that did quite a good job of calming down the strange feelings she got every morning because of her pregnancy.


    "Good morning, how''re you doing?" Dave asked with a smile on her face.


    "I feel a little bit sour and nauseous but it''s nothing." She replied.


    "Okay." He said with an awkward expression on his face as that wasn''t exactly the answer he was expecting.


    "I''m going to head over to the kitchen now and make something for breakfast, you cane help if you want to." She said as she slowly made her way to the kitchen.


    "Okay."


    "What am I saying? You have toe help since you''re not going to be doing anything today." She quickly turned back to him to say.


    "I already said okay." The goalkeeper said before letting out a deep sigh.


    "Oh, you said okay?" She seemed surprised because she didn''t hear when he said okay. "Well, then stop dragging your feet."


    Dave didn''t reply and just let out a deep sigh before he made his way to the kitchen after her.


    As soon as he entered the kitchen, he received a notification from his phone.


    ''What''s that, Catherine?''


    <Just a bunch of stupid messages, and¡­.>


    ''And what?''


    <An update on the group stage of the Europa Conference League>


    ''Are you serious?''


    <Why would I not be serious?>


    As soon as Catherine said that, he quickly brought out his phone from his pocket to see things for himself.


    <I don''t think you''re aware but the group stage was actually pickedst night>


    ''Wait, you even knew about it before now and you didn''t say anything?''


    <Well, you were already tired from the match against Ronino FC that night and this morning you just ran out for your morning workout so, I didn''t want to distract you>


    By the time she was done speaking, Dave had already stopped listening and was just going through the group stages looking for their group to see which teams they were going to be facing off against. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It didn''t take him long to find group F which was their group as Unique FC was the first team he saw in the group.


    "You''ve got to be kidding me."


    He was quite shocked by the rest of the team in the group that he didn''t know when he said.


    "Huh? What''s wrong?" Emma asked after quickly turning her gaze to him.


    "Did you know about the Conference League group stage picksing out?" He asked.


    "Oh, yeah, I saw thatst night and I was nning on telling you after we''re done making breakfast, but I guess it''s no surprise that you already found out." She expressed. "What''s with that look on your face?"


    "Why won''t I have this look on my face when we are clearly in a group of death?" Dave asked.


    "Group of death? Hmmm." Emma said before cing her hand on her chin. "Well, given their performance in thepetitionst season and their performance in their respective leagues this season, I guess you''re not really mistaken for calling it the group of death.


    "West Ham United made it to the semi-finals where they were knocked out by FC Basel, Virreal also made it to the semi-finals where they were knocked out by Frankfurt. Lazio on the other hand exited thepetition in the quarter finals but you can''t judge them by that as they are currently the league leaders in the Italian Serie A, leading from the front four points ahead of second-ced Juventus."


    "You''ve said it all, surviving this group is going to be hard, we''re the least favorites to make it out of this group and move to the next round of thepetition." The goalkeeper said.


    "You''re not wrong about that, but you have to remember that you guys beatst season''s runner-ups in the qualifiers to advance to the group stage that you''re in now," Emma said.


    "Yeah, we beat them, but we barely survived that second leg, I really want to stay positive but seeing West Ham United, Virreal, and Lazio together in our group is really making me nervous, I wonder what the others think of it."


    "Oh, dear," Emma said before cing her left hand on her forehead. "Do you really rate your team that low?"


    "Huh?"


    "If it wasst season, I wouldn''t say anything but you guys are on fire this season, made it through to the group stage of the Europa conference league and currently sitting in third ce in the league table five points clear of fourth-ced Lesica United.


    "Sometimes things don''t go your way in football, big teams even lose to small teams, I don''t think it makes sense to be nervous about a team just because of what they did in thepetition, you guys haven''t faced each other before, so who''s to say whether you''re strong enough to beat them or not?"


    "Yeah, you''re right, we are ying better this season and there''s no way to tell those things so, we''ll have to wait until we can face them, I am still a bit nervous but we''ll just have to wait." He expressed.


    "As long as it doesn''t affect your form in the match, it''s okay." She said. "Now, that''s enough of talking,e give me a hand over here."


    "Okay," Dave said before quickly walking closer to her.


    "That reminds me." She said before turning on the tap in the sink to wash her hand.


    "Huh?"


    "You didn''t tell me anything about your choicest night." She said.


    "You mean the thing I told you about changing positions?"


    "Yeah, what decision did you make or you still haven''t decided?" She asked.


    "Well, since I haven''t told you anything about it until now, I think you should know that nothing changed." He said.


    "Oh, so you decided to keep on chasing your dream." She said.


    "I was never going to stop chasing it, I just wanted to see your reaction, and I have to say it wasn''t exactly what I thought."


    "Really?"


    "Yeah."


    "It''s a shame."


    "Huh?"


    "It would have been nice to have more money and a husband with a better public image." She said.


    "Hey, don''t say that."


    "Ha, I was just kidding." She said with a little chuckle. "I love you just the way you are."


    "I love you too," Dave said with a bright smile on his face.


    ______ ______


    Unique FC''s next match was against Supreme United and that match was quite an important match for both teams.


    Supreme United had to win at all costs because losing meant that they would remain level on points with Dynamo FC who managed to grab three points after beating Rojo Sturm United on Friday.


    Unique FC on the other hand also had to win to make sure they stayed close enough in the title race.


    The match was set to kick off the next day, and because of that reason, Norman wanted to take his time to exin his tactics to the yers who were all in the locker room now.

 Chapter 350 A Highly Anticipated Match

    ?


    "Alright, boys, there''s no doubt that this is going to be our toughest match in the league this season factoring in the fact that we''ll have to face them twice," Norman said as he paced up and down in front of the yers.


    ''Thest time we faced them in the league wasn''t fun at all.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    <Yeah, and you yed quite a role in making it not fun>


    ''Hey, it''s not like you were there, but I guess you''re not entirely wrong.''


    "I know we defeated them in the Charity Cup friendly but it would be delusional to assume that we would be able to beat them asfortably as we didst time. Don''t get me wrong, I believe we have what it takes to beat them but underestimating them is not an option." Norman expressed. "They''ve started off with an eight-game unbeaten run just likest season and unless they encounter some big problem, they''re going to run away with the league title once again."


    "If they seed in winning this one, it will be the fourth in a row," Minino muttered before biting his lower lip.


    "This is my second year in this club as a coach and I have faced Supreme United with you guys five times so far including the cup matches and I think I''m starting to understand their rapid style of y, I implemented it in the charity match as an experimentation and it worked quite well, so I am going to be implementing an improved version of those set of tactics for tomorrow''s match, but you all have to listen carefully."


    ''I hope this works.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    After telling the yers everything they needed to know about the tactics, Norman had to attend the press conference with two yers, and the yers who went with him were Dave and Minino.


    The table was already set with everything and the cameramen and reporters were all there to capture everything.


    "Hello," Norman said as soon as he took a seat at the far edge.


    Dave sat at the other end and Minino sat in between the two.


    "Yeah, um¡­.good day Mr. Norman, Dave, and Minino, and thank you all for joining us here today." One of the reporters said.


    "The pleasure is ours," Norman said.


    "Okay, Mr. Norman, you guys will be facing off against first-ced Supreme United tomorrow, is there anything that you think that may make your squad not perform to their fullest potential in that match?" The reporter asked.


    "Umm¡­.I don''t think so, Minino here was feeling a little bit of difort after the match against Ronino FC but he''s okay now, so he will be okay for the match." Norman expressed. "We have no injury cases and although Aima will be missing the match because of suspension, I have yers that will fill his role in that match properly."


    "Okay."


    "Supreme United are currently on a winning streak in the league, do you think your team has what it takes to end their winning streak or better still, end their unbeaten run?" A female asked from behind before any of the other two reporters could ask their questions.


    "They are a strong team for sure and that''s why they''re still at the top of the table, but we''ve also been doing well this season, we''ve already beaten them this season and I''m confident that we can do it again, beating them is going to be hard of course, but there''s no way we are going to let them defeat us," Norman answered.


    "Um¡­.Minino, Supreme United''s midfield is epted in the Bilbeth Premier League as the best midfield in the league, what do you think about that? Do you think your midfield has what it takes to keep up with their midfield in the uing match?" Another reporter asked.


    "Um¡­.I''m pretty clear we subdued their midfield thest time we faced them and it''s not like they were missing any of the major yers in their midfield so no one can call it a fluke, I think that answers your question." The midfielder replied.


    "Yeah, I guess." The reporter replied.


    <What a reply>


    It was now time for thest reporter to ask his question, and the person he wanted to question was Dave.


    "Regarding the matching up tomorrow, there has been an ongoing debate about who is the better goalkeeper between you and Perez Zoe, what''s your thought on that, Dave?"


    <This is one of those questions to get you to say something that will make them a lot of money in the inte>


    ''Yeah, I know all their tricks, my wife''s a journalist after all.''


    "Well, I think everyone should agree that Perez is the better goalkeeper since he''s been able to do a lot with Supreme, although ying for a top teames with its advantages."


    <Oh, dear, you just gave them something to rephrase and add to>


    "He is a great goalkeeper no doubt about that and even this season he is still doing great this season, I on the other hand only started to make a breakthrough this season. I don''t think there''s really any debate at the moment, but I''m sure there will be one in the future when I have gone further enough in my career." The goalkeeper expressed.


    "Okay."


    The reporters asked a bunch of other questions, reasonable, unreasonable, and even questions that had nothing to do with the uing match, but it was their job anyway.


    The press conferencested for exactly twenty minutes, and after that, Dave went straight home.


    It didn''t take him long to get home, and after parking his car in its usual parking spot, he made his way to the door.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Emma wasn''t home yet as the time being disyed on the wall clock was just 3:50 PM, and he was somewhat d that she wasn''t there at the moment as he made his way to the couch and crashed down on it.


    <Hey here''s a question from a hot reporter, who do you think will be the goal scorers tomorrow and do you think you will be able to pull off an assist at the very least?>


    "Um¡­. that''s a bit, wait, what''s with that voice, and did you just call yourself hot?" He said abruptly with a shocked expression on his face.


    <Oh, so that''s the part that sparked your interest>


    ''Oh, please stop with the voice, it''s ufortable.''


    <What, you don''t like it?>


    ''No, I don''t.''


    <That''s surprising, I thought you were going to like it since¡­.>


    ''The fact that it''sing from you is why it''s ufortable.''


    <Okay, fine, I''ll stop but you still haven''t answered my question>


    Dave didn''t say anything for a while until he let out a deep sigh.


    ''I don''t know, am I going to get rewarded if I get it right? Because this sounds like one of those online prediction games.''


    <Umm¡­.I think it is within my abilities to give you some stat points, so, you''ll get one stat point if you get any of the scorers right>


    ''Okay, I think that''s enough.''


    <So, what are your predictions?>


    ''Um¡­.I don''t know but I think Mateo will score.''


    <Okay, and?>


    ''I think he will score two goals, does a second goal prediction also guarantee a stat points?''


    <Yeah>


    ''Okay, for Supreme United, I think Rnd may end up getting a goal although I won''t be happy with that result.''


    <Is that all?>


    ''Yeah.''


    <Okay, that''s three stat points worth of predictions, and to show my generosity, I will throw in an extra stat point if all of them turn out to be correct>


    ''Okay, we''ll just have to wait till tomorrow to find that out.''


    <Yeah, and tomorrow may finally be the day you get to use your level two attribute>


    ______ ______


    Time passed and tomorrow finally came, the day to find out the oue of a match that was surprisingly highly anticipated in the league despite the fact that Supreme United had been trashing Unique FC for a while now.


    It was an away game for Unique FC which meant that they were going to be traveling to the Wonder stadium but there was going to be no flight involvement because both clubs were from the same state and the cities were pretty close to each other so the team bus was enough for the trip.


    The match was set to kick off by 3:00 PM so by noon all the yers were already in the stadium and were ready to move out.


    It didn''t take long for the yers to all get their stuff on the bus before getting on themselves, and after making sure that everyone was there, the driver started the engine and zoomed off.


    "Oh boy, this is going to be tough," Frank muttered before letting out a sigh.


    "Hey,e down buddie, they may be better than us on paper but we''re not going to let them beat us, just do your stuff and let us do our part," Minino said before cing his hand on Frankie''s shoulder.

 Chapter 351 The Audiz Derby: Kick Off

    ?


    "I guess we''re here," Dave said as soon as the bus pulled up beside Supreme United''s stadium.


    The yers got off the bus with whatever they came with before making their way into the building.


    They had already been there a couple of times, so they knew where to find the locker room.


    The yers still had a lot of time left before they could make their way to the pitch for the pre-match warm-up.


    "Mateo, do you remember what happened in the first minute of our first leg against Supreme Unitedst season?" Ferran asked with a little chuckle as he slowly sat down.


    "I don''t want to talk about that," Mateo said with his face slowly turning red in embarrassment.


    "I haven''t seen Mateo like that before," Gregory muttered as the topic seemed to have piqued his interest. "What happened?" He asked after turning his gaze to Ferran.


    "Yeah, what happened, Ferran? I would like to know what was able to make Mateo''s face turn red like that." Martinez said.


    "Sure, I''ll tell you guys, I was involved anyway so I don''t need to ask for his permission," Ferran said.


    "Involved how?" Martinez asked.


    "Just listen. The match had just begun with the signal from the referee''s whistle and as per custom, Rnd had to pass the ball to any of his teammates and he chose Diego.


    "Mateo along with me quickly closed up on him to try and dispossess him as fast as possible, but guess what happened?"


    "What?" Gregory asked.


    "Well, he nutmegged us both," Ferran said.


    "Wait, he nutmegged the both of you and still got the ball?" Martinez asked.


    "Yeah," Ferran replied with a nod.


    "Wow."


    "And the funniest part is that as soon as he got past us, Mateo crumbled to his knees as if he was suddenly pushed down by a force from above." The midfielder said before bursting into a feat ofughter.


    "Oh,e on," Mateo said before pping his palm into his face.


    "That was quite embarrassing, but it was nothingpared to what I went through in that match," Dave said.


    "I know coach said a lot of things about this Diego and how he''s even deadlier than Rnd with the ball, but it looks like I have to take him way more seriously than that," Martinez said.


    "Yeah, you have to, don''t let your guard down around or something terrible is going to happen," Ferran said.


    "I''ll do my best," Martinez replied. "He didn''t do anything special during the Charity Cup match but maybe he was holding back to get us to lower our guard in this match."


    "Yeah, do your best but I don''t think you''ll be doing much work anyway because I have a way to hold him down," Minino said.


    "Please don''t do any stupid, Minino." Ferran pleaded.


    "Where''s thating from? Since when was I known as someone who does stupid things?"


    As soon as he asked that room, the whole room went silent as everyone pretended not to have heard what he asked.


    "Oh, you guys, so you all think I do stupid things!"


    After spending some time in the locker room, the yers put on their training outfits and made their way to the pitch for the pre-match warm-up.


    Mateo and Dave along with Gregory were the first yers to make their way out of the tunnel, and that was when they ran into Rnd who seemed to be heading down the tunnel at that time.


    "Oh, hey, there Mateo, Dave, and this new yer that I have never seen." The striker said as soon as he spotted the three.


    "Hey, Rnd, umm¡­this is Gregory, he just got promoted from the academy, he''s a striker," Mateo said introducing the young striker to him.


    "Oh, a new striker, wee to our world buddy, you look like someone who has a lot of potential," Rnd said.


    "Thank you, that means a loting from you," Gregory said as a smile suddenly appeared on his face.


    <Looks like he really looks up to Rndpared to the strikers in your team>


    ''Well, there''s no rule saying you must look up to the yers in your team who y simr positions, so, it makes sense that he looks up to an elite striker like Rnd.'' Dave replied.


    Rnd smiled back at him before turning his gaze back to Dave and Mateo.


    "You guys are doing quite great this season, you weren''t even closest season but now you''re in the title race." The striker said.


    "Yeah, a lot of things have changed and we''re happy for where we are now," Mateo replied.


    "I am really d to see you guys making a difference and maybe now we can finally have an Audiz derby that isn''t one-sided."


    "Um¡­.I don''t know, the Charity Cup match was pretty one-sided in a way to me." Dave said with a little shrug.


    "Yeah, you''re not wrong, but I think this will be the real test for you guys," Rnd said.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "A test? Sure, we''ve already beaten you once and I''m confident we can do it again." Mateo said.


    "Ha, we''ll see about that," Rnd said as he walked past the three to continue his walk down the tunnel. "See you guys on the pitch."


    "He''s pretty nice and friendlypared to some of the yers I''ve met before," Gregory said.


    "Yeah, he has a nice personality," Mateo said.


    p¦Ánd¦Á---no¦Í?1,§ão§® "I''m d he''s like that." The young striker said.


    "But don''t be fooled, he''s nothing like that on the pitch, when he''s on the pitch, the only thing he cares about is scoring and scoring alone."


    "I know, it''s like that for every striker," Gregory replied with a warm smile.


    The warm-up sessionsted for a while and with just forty minutes left before the kick-off, they all made their way down the tunnel to get ready for the match.


    This was an away match for Unique FC, so they were going to bed putting on one of their away kits, and the one they chose today was the kit that was just a reverse of their home jersey.


    Their home jersey was orange with ck polka dots and that meant that the reverse was going to be ck with orange polka dots.


    Dave on the other hand was putting on a ck kit with just two curved orange designs on the front.


    After getting ready, the yers made their way to the exit where they met up with Supreme United yers.


    It was a home match for them so they were putting on their home kit which was a red shirt and shorts with very well-detailed ck outlines running around the edges while their goalkeeper was putting on a ck kit just like Dave.


    It didn''t take long before the yers were given the signal to start making their way to the pitch, and as they did that, thementators gave their introductions and greetings.


    "I have a feeling that this is going to be the best Audiz derby in the history of the league," Jim said. "I know almost everything points toward Supreme United winning, but I don''t think it''s going to be that easy."


    "Well, football is an unpredictable game so I can''t really say, but yeah, I get the feeling that this is going to be a pretty interesting match," Steve said.


    The captains of both teams made their way to the match officials for the coin toss, and at the end of the day, Unique FC ended up winning the coin toss.


    Norman was ying with his standard formation. He had Mateo, Fred, and Carlos up front.


    The midfield had Ferran, Martinez, and Minino and finally in defense, we had Rnd, Adolf, Pirlo, and Norman Kole.


    Supreme United was ying with the normal four-three-three formation and upfront they had Carlos, Rnd, and Diego their deadliest front three.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Keep a clean sheet in this match ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +300 exp ]


    [ +6 stat points ]


    [ +70 skill upgrade points ]


    ''Clean sheet, oh boy, this is going to be hard against Supreme United, the rewards even say everything about the level of difficulty.'' Dave said subconsciously as he made his way to his goalpost.


    <Yeah, but don''t forget you''ll be getting extra stat points from me if your predictions turn out to be correct>


    ''Yeah, I hope they turn out to be correct.''


    Fred was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    He was d that Norman had finally decided to start him in an important match, and the fact that this match had such a high level of importance, and yet the coach decided to start him made him want to prove himself and show everyone that he was a great striker.


    It didn''t take long before the referee blew his whistle, and as soon as he did that, the striker quickly pushed the ball to Minino who quickly sent it rolling back to Martinez.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    Unique FC just passed the ball around for a while until the fourth minute when Minino decided to make a bold move.


    He received the ball from Martinez before quickly zooming past Felcao who was heading toward him at the exact time.


    "Wow, he''s gotten past Felcao, what''s he scheming?"


    After getting past Pelcao, he spotted Mateo making a run down the left wing and quickly sent the ball flying over to him.


    The winger had the right back heating toward him at the exact time but he had a cheeky n.


    He waited for the ball to get closer before he lifted his right leg and sent it over and past the wing-back at the same time as he ran past him, and just before the ball could hit the floor, the winger struck it with his right foot and sent it flying toward the goalpost with a powerful shot.


    The ball was sent flying toward the top left-hand corner as Perez dived toward it, but he wasn''t able to get to it on time as the ball ended up hitting the angle created by the crossbar and post before falling into the goalpost.


    "Oh, my goodness. WHAT WAS THAT?!"

 Chapter 352 What A Relief

    ?


    That goal came as a really big shock to Supreme United and the scorer wasn''t able to keep his voice down.


    Mateo raced to the sidelines pulling himself out of the grip of Fred who was trying to pull him down, and as soon as he got there, he lifted both of his hands before screaming as loud as he could.


    "Yes!" Dave yelled from his goalpost as he lifted both of his hands.


    The fans were jumping in jubtion and even some of the home fans couldn''t help but apud that goal.


    "This the first time Supreme United is conceding a goal this early in thest two decades, that was a truly magnificent goal," Jimmented.


    "Yeah, normally he wouldn''t try something like that but he just went all the way, that has to be the goal of the month, I haven''t seen a goal as good as that since the season kicked off." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, no doubt about that, Steve," Jim said.


    That was a magnificent strike that Perez couldn''t do anything to stop, it was really worth that hyped celebration, but the celebration had toe to an end for the game to resume.


    ''Hey, Catherine that''s one correct prediction right, so that means one guaranteed stat point, right?''


    <No, you''re not there yet>


    ''Huh?''


    <Your prediction was that Mateo was going to score two goals, and as far as I am concerned, that hasn''t happened yet>


    ''Hey, but you didn''t put it that way back at the house.''


    <Because I thought you understood it, but I guess you don''t, you could have stopped at a goal and guaranteed yourself a stat point, but unless Mateo scores a second goal, you won''t be getting anything on the prediction you made on him>


    ''Fine, I know Mateo is going to score a second goal anyway, but it may take a while.'' The goalkeeper replied.


    The match resumed with Supreme passing the ball around looking for the slightest opportunity to strike back at Unique FC, but so far, they had not been able to find any as Unique FC were being extremely cautious in this match.


    Foden got hold of the ball from one of the defenders before he quickly moved it down the middle, and just as he was about to run into Martinez, he pushed the ball to Zlensky whose path was quickly blocked by Ferran who didn''t have any trouble taking the ball off him with a neat tackle.


    "Nicely done by Ferran."


    As soon as he got hold of the ball, Ferran moved a little further up with it, before passing it to Martinez who quickly sent it flying over to the other side with a lob.


    Minino brought the ball down with his chest before Pelcao could get to him and just like how that first goal happened, he found Mateo making a run down the wing.


    There was a good chance that it was going to fail since he had already done it before but to him, it was worth another shot and he did exactly what his instincts told him to do.


    "Oh, he''s sent it flying over to Mateo again," Jim said.


    Mateo was running toward Michael just like the first time, but this time, Michael looked fierce, and as soon as the ball got close enough, he jumped up and headed the ball away from the area.


    "Michael''s not letting him through this time."


    The ball flew past his teammates who were rushing toward the goalpost to prevent another goal from happening and was now flying toward Ferran who was for some reason keeping his distance from the box.


    The midfielder quickly brought the ball down with his chest, and as soon as the ball bounced on the pitch once, he pulled his right leg back and sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    "Ferran!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the right side of the goalpost with a little bit of elevation and it had quite the shot power pushing it from behind, but all those things weren''t able to stop Perez as he dived toward the ball and caught it before it could go any further.


    "Wow, what a save from Perez!" Jim eximed.


    "That could have turned out differently for them, that''s why it''s very important to have a decent goalkeeper between the sticks," Steve said.


    Perez quickly got up and sent the boy flying toward Rnd to try and create a counterattack, but his n was thwarted by Martinez who was able to get to the ball before him and knowing that the striker had what it took to get the ball off him, he quickly sent the ball flying back to Dave.


    "That was a close call, Unique FC don''t want to give them any free spaces," Jim said.


    "And they shouldn''t give them any free space because if they do, they''re going to regret it and it won''t be a nice experience for them." Steve expressed.


    "I think they know that, even more than you do, Steve."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The match continued till the thirtieth minute with Supreme United being unable to find that equalizer that they were desperately looking for and Unique FC being unable to get that second goal to give themselves a little bit of assurance that they were going toe out on top at the end of the day.


    The match had been quite interesting in terms of the way both teams seemed to attacking aggressively as if they were trying to see who was going to outscore the other, the way the defense from both teams were handling themselves quite well, and the little dramas that had already happened because of some tackles, but so far there had only been four yellow cards and three of those cards were shown to Supreme United yers.


    Namely, Pelcao, Zlensky, and Michael, and as for the one card against Unique FC, it wasn''t against Minino fortunately and he was still valid for the next match.


    The yer who received the card was Rnd after he pulled off a questioning tackle against Diego.


    One thing and one thing alone was very odd in this match, and that was the fact that Supreme United had not been able to get a single shot on target up till now and that meant that Dave had not been able to make any saves or contribute to the match in any major way.


    This was the first time in history that they had not been able to get a shot on target for the first thirty minutes in a match.


    They were doing quite well with their attacks and they were putting the pressure on Unique FC with the opportunities they got, but their shots were just going sideways and upward.


    The closest they hade to getting a shot on target was a header from Rnd which ended up hitting the right post before going out for a goal kick.


    The match had just entered the thirty-fifth minute when Supreme United won a free kick right at the edge of the box after Diego was tackled down by Martinez right there.


    The midfielder didn''t get any booking, but it was a foul and now Supreme United had a good chance to try and do something.


    "Considering the fact that three out of Diego''s six goals this season havee from free kicks, this is a really good chance for Supreme United." Jim articted.


    "Yeah, but he is going up against Dave, the best goalkeeper in the league so far this season, it''s not going to be that easy," Steve said.


    "Anything can happen though, let''s just watch and see."


    Unique FC set up their four-man wall with the other yers inside the box.


    After making sure that everything was set, the referee blew his whistle and now it was up to Diego.


    ''He''s really good with freekicks but I''m going to stop him.'' Dave said subconsciously as he adjusted his gloves. ''I have to stop him.''


    Diego slowly took three steps backward and paused for a while before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost.


    "Can he add another one to his free-kick tally this season? Diego!"


    Dave dived toward the ball right on time, and with the tip of his glove, he sent the ball over the bar.


    "Of course, he saved it, that''s what he does best," Steve said.


    "First shot on target for Supreme United and first save for Dave in the match," Jim said. "It had to be a memorable first save for the ball ma."


    "Let''s see how they deal with the corner kick."


    Zlensky was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he sent the ball flying into the box, directly toward Rnd who was being marked by Adolf.


    Adolf jumped up at the same time as Rnd and fortunately for him, he was able to get his head on it, but he wasn''t able to control it as the ball fell toward the goalpost and hit Rnd Ryle before Dave dived forward and caught it.


    "Dave dives forward and catches the ball. Uh oh, looks like there''s trouble here." Jim uttered.


    Diego along with two of his teammates were all gathered around the referee pointing at their hands and trying to convince him that the ball hit Rnd''s hands while he wasn''t putting his hand away.


    Even the linesman had his g up for a handball, but the referee wasn''t in a haste to make any decisions. At the end of the day, he decided to go check VAR.


    "Best choice, he''s going to check VAR," Jim said.


    "Oh, not again," Dave muttered before resting his back on the right post.


    It didn''t take long before the referee returned, and as soon as he entered the pitch, he blew his whistle and gave Dave the signal to send the ball out so that y could resume.


    "There''s the decision, it''s not a penalty, Unique FC yers would surely be relieved."


    "What a relief," Dave muttered before letting out a sigh.

 Chapter 353 Super Aggressive

    ?


    After all the struggles to either get an equalizer or get a two-goal cushion before the first came to an end, the first half finally came to an end with none of those things happening.


    "That was quite an entertaining first half, don''t you think so, Steve?" Jim said as the yers made their way down the tunnel.


    "Yeah, it could have been better if Supreme United put up a better resistance than they did, bus still it was a good and interesting first half." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, they could have put up a better form of resistance, but if you look at it from another angle, it doesn''t look like Unique FC are nning to let go of their lead easily, their putting all their effort into it. They''re doing great so far, but there''s always something different in the second half so we''ll have to wait and see."


    Unique FC yers were all in the locker room now with Norman standing right in front of them as he had something to tell them.


    "You guys are doing quite great so far, but it''s not over yet so don''t let your guard down in the second half, even for a second in the second half." He said.


    ''I think anyone who''s been in this team for a while doesn''t need to be told that, we all know what happens as soon as we do that.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    "Good job everyone, Diego could have caused us a lot of trouble in midfield but you''ve done quite well in not giving him any space to do anything from midfield, Minino."


    "I said I was going to do it and I''m doing it, it''s my job and I''m going to continue doing it in the second half." The midfielder said.


    "You too, Rnd, you''re doing fine in restricting his movement on that right-wing so far, but try not to get a second yellow card, okay."


    "I''ll try," Rnd said.


    "The second half will be starting anytime now, and there''s a big chance that they''re going to switch things up. But don''t worry, if that happens, we''ll just switch to n B, our own way of switching things up, for now, just keep doing what you''re doing." The coach expressed as the yers replied by nodding.


    ''I just need Mateo to score one more goal and so far the clean sheet quest is still safe.'' Dave said subconsciously as he made his way toward the exit with his teammates.


    <You forgot to mention that you also need Rnd to score>


    ''Yeah, that one too although I don''t have any desire to allow him put the ball past me just for one stat point.''


    <Oh, really? And what if you guys go four goals up in this second, will you allow it to happen then?>


    ''Um maybe, but that means I''ll have to fail the match quest which will give me better rewards, uh forget it, I''m never going to willingly allow him to score against me just for one stat point.''


    <Whatever your decision is, he may still end up putting the ball past you in this half depending on the situation>


    ''I know, but I''m going to do everything I can do to prevent that from happening.''


    "Wee back everyone, the second half is about to kick off as we can see the yers from both teams making their way to the pitch now," Jim said as the yers hopped their way onto the pitch.


    Unique FC were the ones who started the match from the kick-off spot in the first half and that meant that Supreme United were going to be the ones to do it in this half as Rnd Hills could be seen standing over the ball in the kick-off spot.


    "Considering how the first half went off, I''m expecting more from this half," Jim said.


    "Yeah, me too, for Supreme United, it''s either strike back or be struck downpletely and I''m sure that Unique FC would very much prefer thetter." Steve expressed.


    Rnd was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he quickly rolled the ball to Diego who quickly sent it to Zen with a backheel pass.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    So far, Supreme United weren''t making attempts to attack as they were just passing the ball around intending to dragstrikeque FC''s defense and striking them as quickly as possible.


    It was quite surprising how Supreme United had more possession than Unique FC in the first half since that used to be the only way Unique FC could dominate them in the past.


    It was just one percent more possession though, and the fact that the away side were still leading gave them more reason not to care, more possession or less possession, winning the match was all that mattered.


    Foden received the ball from Pelcao after his path was blocked by both Minino and Carlos.


    As soon as Foden received the ball, he turned and quickly passed it to Diego before Ferran could get to him.


    "Diego."


    Diego had Rnd right in his path and he could have tried, but he didn''t want to lose the ball unnecessarily, so he found Rnd Hills making a run toward the box and quickly sent the ball rolling to him.


    Rnd could have lost the ball to Adolf if he had continued moving further but he was quick enough to suddenly stop before sending the ball to Foden with a backheel pass.


    Foden got hold of the ball and quickly sent it rolling toward Diego before he was brought down by Martinez.


    "Back to Diego."


    Diego quickly pushed the ball forward as he saw Rnd making a quick run into the box, and without giving much thought to it, he sent the ball flying over toward him.


    "He''s sent it flying in."


    "That''s easy," Dave muttered before he quickly rushed toward the ball, jumped up, and caught it before Rnd could get his head to it.


    "Dave steps up and grabs it, that''s danger averted," Jim said.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Dave didn''t stop for anything after catching that ball as he quickly threw it up and quickly sent it flying toward Mateo before Supreme United yers could organize themselves.


    "Looks like Dave is trying to catch them off guard here."


    The situation was by no means a counterattack as Supreme United had three yers ahead of him, but at the same time, Mateo had Ferran, Minino, and Merino running alongside him with all the other yers right behind them.


    "There''s a high chance that Unique FC''s going to pull something out of this one," Stevemented.


    As soon as Mateo got close enough to Michael, he pushed the ball to Ferran who quickly sent it rolling to Minino.


    Minino quickly moved toward the box with the ball, he knew they had to act quickly now that the yers behind them were closing up on them.


    The defender quickly rushed out to try and stop him, but before the defender could get to him, he quickly pushed the ball to Ferran.


    Mateo was inside the box now and Ferran being aware of that quickly lobbed the ball over to him.


    "This could be the moment."


    The winger quickly brought the ball down with his chest, and just before Perez could get to him, he struck the ball this time with his left foot, and that was all that was needed to send the ball flying past the goalkeeper and into the goalpost.


    "Mateo shoots! Mateo scores!" Jim eximed. "Oh, my goodness, it''s the second one."


    The crowd broke into cheers as the winger raced to the sidelines, but their celebration was cut short as the referee blew his whistle.


    "Looks like the referee''s not giving it and the linesman has his g up. He was offside?"


    "Yeah, Jim, looks like his right foot put him offside by a few centimeters," Steve said.


    "Come on," Dave said before pping his palm into his face.


    <It''s frustrating, but still it was the right call, you guys are surprisingly dominating this match>


    The away fans and yers were not entirely happy with that decision but they couldn''tin about it since it was going to be clear to anyone that Mateo was offside once they were shown the footage.


    "That could have been a wild moment, but Supreme would sure be relieved that things didn''t turn out that way for them, they would have been devastated." Steve expressed.


    After setting up the ball in the right spot, Perez sent it flying in toward the middle, but that was a mistake as Martinez jumped in from nowhere to steal it before Foden could get a hold of it, and without further ado, he quickly pushed it to Minino.


    "Unique FC have the ball back in their possession, they''re being super aggressive here."


    Minino quickly raced toward the box with the ball, and as soon as he got close enough, he quickly sent it flying toward the goalpost with a powerful shot.


    "Oh, he''s gone for the shot!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost, but Perez was able to get there right on time to push it over the bar with both of his gloves.


    "What a close save from Perez, that could have turned out differently."


    "Yeah, but now they have a corner to deal with," Steve said.


    Ferran quickly went to the spot to take the corner kick, and as soon as he heard the referee''s whistle, he slowly took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    Conan jumped up along with Fred to try and nod the ball out of the danger zone, and he seeded in doing that as the ball fell toward Zen who quickly sent it flying toward Rnd to try and start a counterattack but unfortunately for them, Martinez got there right on time to take the ball off the striker with a neat sliding tackle.


    He quickly got up after getting hold of the ball and quickly sent it rolling all the way back to Dave.


    ''Sending the ball back to me when you could have sent it forward in that situation.'' Dave said subconsciously as he trapped the ball under his feet. ''I know what you''re looking for.''


    The goalkeeper quickly pushed the ball forward before he quickly closed up on it and sent it flying in toward the middle.


    "Hmph, it''s not a super shot, why do I feel disappointed?"


    The ball was headed straight for Ferran who quickly headed it over to Minino.


    Minino brought the ball down with his chest before he found his man near the box and quickly lobbed the ball over to him.


    Mateo quickly got past Conan and just before Perez could stretch his hands and grab the ball, he got his head on it and lobbed it over the goalkeeper and into the goalpost.


    "It''s in! It''s another Minino and Mateobination and this time the g stays down!"


    The winger quickly rushed to the sidelines and did a sliding celebration as the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the kick-off spot.


    "Unique FC are having fun in the Supreme Stadium of all ces, it''s Supreme United nil, Unique FC two."

 Chapter 354 Not This Way

    ?


    ''That''s two goals from Mateo, Catherine, and that means that my prediction was spot on.'' Dave said subconsciously with a bright smile on his face.


    <Yeah, surprisingly>


    [ +2 stat points received ]


    ''Thank you.''


    <You''re wee>


    [ Unused stat points: 17 ]


    <You should really start putting those stat points to use, you''ll regret it if you guys end up blowing this lead just because you weren''t fast enough to stop a shot>


    ''That''s not going to happen, fine, I''ll add some dexterity.''


    [ +7 stat points added to dexterity ]


    [ Dexterity: 60 ]


    <Your main concern has always been speed>


    The match continued with Supreme United trying anything they could to try and get back in the game, but nothing was working for them so far.


    They were doing quite well in keeping the ball away from Unique FC yers, but their passes weren''t clicking that well, in short, they were starting to look a bitckluster.


    "Supreme United had won most if not all of their matches till this pointfortably, but it looks like they''ve finally met their match today, and that''s quite ironic considering what they did to Unique FCst season." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, Unique FC is a totally different team now."


    Zen received the ball from Foden and moved further down the wing with it before he turned and sent it back to Foden.


    "Back to Foden."


    Foden paused for a while because he didn''t know exactly what to do with the ball as all his teammates who were forward were being marked, but the sight of Martinez quickly heading toward him was enough to force him to turn and send the ball rolling to Pelcao.


    Pelcao caught hold of the ball, and just before Minino could get to him, he passed the ball to Carlos who seemed to have drawn back a little to get out of Norman''s pocket and receive the ball.


    Carlos received the ball and quickly tried to dribble past Norman, but that attempt failed although he was able to avoid losing possession and quickly sent it rolling to Rnd who quickly passed it to Rnd before running into the box.


    "Back to Foden, looks like Supreme United are cooking something, what does Unique FC have to say about that?"


    Foden found Diego down the right wing and quickly lobbed the ball over to him.


    The winger brought the ball down with his chest and was able to strike it with his right foot when the ball was quickly taken off his feet with a neat tackle from Rnd.


    The ball was sent rolling into the box as Dave quickly rushed toward it and grabbed it.


    "Nicely done by Rnd, and Dave is there to pick it up."


    This was one of those moments Dave loved so much, a moment to strike them when they still had most of their forces on their side.


    He quickly threw the ball up and sent it flying toward Carlos on the right wing as he seemed to be the closest to Supreme United''s goalpost.


    The winger brought the ball down with his right foot and quickly zoomed off down the wing with the other yers quickly closing up on him from behind and three of the defenders in front of him slowly retreating to avoid making any mistakes.


    Two of the defenders quickly blocked his path, but that was a mistake, a mistake that gave Mateo the opportunity to get into a good position on the left wing.


    Carlos didn''t hesitate to send the ball over to Mateo but thest defender seemed to have predicted that move as he quickly rushed and raised his right foot toward the ball to try and stop Mateo from getting to the ball, but still, Mateo was able to get to the ball first with his head, and it wasn''t exactly what he wanted to do, but he ended up nodding it toward Ferran right outside the box with the goalkeeper being the only one standing in his way.


    "Oh, my goodness, this could be another one!"


    Ferran had a lot of yers right behind him but his focus was on the goalpost as he pulled his food back and sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    He seemed to have struck the ball with his side foot and that was where the trouble came as the ball was sent flying toward the far right side of the goalpost until it hit the post and rolled out for a goal kick.


    Perez chased it of course, but it was out of instinct as a goalkeeper as there was really no need.


    "Oh, they could have gone three goals up just, a terrible miss from Ferran," Jimmented.


    "A very terrible miss, that''s certainly getting added to the top five worst miss of the season."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Ferran bit his lower lip in anguish as he pped his palm into his face, even he couldn''t believe how he missed that.


    There was no reason to dwell on it so far as y had to continue now that Perez was about to send out the ball.


    Perez dropped the ball at the edge of the box inside the eighteen-yard box and observed the area for a while before he sent the ball flying out.


    As soon as the ball was sent out, Mateo turned and began to head toward his goalpost, but just after taking a few steps, he suddenly crashed to the floor.


    "Oh, it looks like Mateo Smith''s suddenly fallen to the floor," Jim said.


    The referee had to stop the game for now as the medical team quickly rushed over to see what was wrong with him.


    "We didn''t see this and it wasn''t even reviewed, but it turns out when Conan tried to stop the ball from getting to him earlier, he seemed to have hit the winger''s head with his foot." Jim expressed.


    "I don''t think anyone would know, because he didn''t even act like anything happened, but now he is starting to feel the effects," Steve said.


    After a few minutes on the floor, Mateo was able to get up on his feet again with the help of one of the medical staff and it looked like he was going to continue.


    "Something the fans are quite happy about, looks like Mateo will be able to continue," Jim said.


    The fans were all happy to see Mateo get up on his feet, none of them would be able to bear seeing him leave the pitch when there was still a lot of time left in the match.


    "That''s a relief," Dave said before letting out a sigh.


    <Yeah, he''s the main man in terms of goal creation, things would get tough if he leaves>


    ''Yeah, but that''s a shame since he will be leaving the club at the end of the season.''


    The match had just ended the sixty-fifth minute now and so far there had been no change in the scoreline but managers seemed to have brought on some fresh legs on the pitch.


    Norman made two changes while Supreme United''s manager made only one.


    Norman had decided to give Gregory his league debut in this match and so the young striker came on to rece Fred, the second yer that was reced was Norman Kole who had to leave the pitch for Luis Roberto to take over.


    The change Supreme United''s manager made was removing Carlos and putting in their newly signed left back, a twenty-seven year old who just joined their club from Tottenham Hotspur, Jan Pierre."


    Supreme United were the ones with the ball now after a goal attempt from Mateo was sent flying over the bar.


    The home side were passing the ball around quite well now, unlike when they looked quite overwhelmed.


    Their y style seemed to be calm and collective now.


    Zen received the ball from one of the defenders and moved a little forward to it before he passed it to Foden the closest person to him.


    Foden wasn''t looking for any short passes and immediately sent the ball rolling toward Diego.


    "Diego."


    Diego quickly moved back with the ball before Rnd could get to him.


    He moved a little closer to the center before passing the ball to Rnd who Adolf was heading toward at that time.


    Rnd got hold of the ball, and just before Adolf could get to him, he sent the ball rolling to Jan.


    The winger didn''t even stop for a second after getting the ball as he quickly drilled the ball past Luis with a snake bite.


    "Oh, my."


    He was in a good shooting position, and he didn''t hesitate to take his chance as he fired the ball toward the goalpost with a powerful shot.


    The shot didn''t have any elevation and so Dave was able to block it with his leg, but the ball was still in the area.


    Rnd quickly rushed toward the ball to send it into the goalpost but Adolf was right there to brush it off his path and send it rolling toward Luis.


    The wingback knew what he had to do as he quickly kicked the ball with the intention of sending it far away from the box, but his shot''s elevation wasn''t that much as the ball ended up hitting Pirlo before falling into the goalpost from the right side while Dave was still on the floor.


    "Oh, dear, it''s an own goal, Supreme United have one back."


    "Not this way," Dave said with a sigh before falling into the goalpost.

 Chapter 355 It Happened

    ?


    That own goal was really something Unique FC weren''t expecting, they were doing so well with their two-goal lead and now Supreme United needed one more goal to equalize.


    It was likely that that equalizer was going toe now as Rnd was standing over the ball in the penalty spot with all the other yers behind him.


    "I''m sure the yers can''t believe this is happening right now," Jimmented.


    Just a few minutes after that own goal, Supreme United won the ball back and quickly began to move forward.


    They did well in outsmarting Unique FC with their passes, and when the ball finally got to Rnd in a good position inside the box, he was brought down by Adolf in an attempt to stop him and that was how they won the penalty kick.


    ''I didn''t think we woulde crumbling this fast.'' Dave said subconsciously as he stretched both of his arms.


    "Unique FC had full control over this match at some point, but it looks like they''re finally going to get that equalizer. That said, it may still not happen given the fact that Dave stopped two out of the three penalties he faced in theirst match." Steve expressed.


    <What if you end up saving it?>


    ''That''s what I''m looking forward to.'' Dave replied.


    <You know you''ve already failed the clean sheet quest, wouldn''t it be wise to let him score and get the stat points>


    ''Keep quiet, Catherine, the most important thing is winning the match, you can hold on to your stat point a little longer.''


    <Okay, if you say so>


    The only thing Rnd was waiting for now was the referee''s whistle, and it didn''t take long before he heard it.


    He slowly took three steps backward before he closed up on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost.


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    Rnd sent the ball flying toward the middle as Dave dived to the right, but fortunately for the goalkeeper, his legs didn''t go too far from the center just yet and ended up making contact with the ball to block it from entering the goalpost.


    Rnd quickly rushed to the ball before Jan could get to it, and with a shot, he sent it flying out for a throw-in on the other side of the pitch.


    The fans were quiet during that penalty take but now that it was saved and cleared, Unique FC fans burst into cheers of joy.


    "Three penalties saved in just two matches, he''s starting to be the master of stopping penalties," Jimmented.


    "I never ruled this possibility out for a second, and now it looks like Unique FC still have the lead. But how long will they be able to hold down Supreme United with fifteen minutes of normal time left to go or will they be able to get a third goal and return to theirfort spot?"


    <Wow, you did it>


    ''Yeah, but I waspletely off the radar, if my legs didn''t get in ce right on time, they would be celebrating an equalizer now.''


    <Yeah, but don''t let your guard down, there''s still a lot of time left for that equalizer to happen>


    ''I know, but it''s not going to happen.'' Dave replied.


    Supreme United were still with the ball passing it around in their half looking for an opportunity to break through Unique FC but so far they had not been able to find any.


    Foden received the ball in central midfield, and just before Martinez could get to him, he passed the ball to Diego who sent it rolling to Rnd with a single touch.


    "Rnd."


    Before Rnd could turn around and do anything with the ball, it was quickly swept off his feet by Adolf who quickly got up from the floor and passed the ball to Ferran.


    "Adolf has been giving Rnd a lot of trouble since the start of the match and it doesn''t look like he''s nning to stop until the match''s over," Jimmented.


    "Yeah, he''s the reason why Rnd has looked pretty average this evening. It''s surprising how a yer of his caliber has only been able to get three shots so far and two of them were off target with the only one on target being the penalty kick that Dave just saved." Steve expressed.


    "He used to be Unique FC''s destroyer, but it looks like they''ve found a way to keep him contained with Adolf being the main part of it."


    Ferran was moving down the middle with the ball now with Foden hot on his trail.


    Just as Foden was about to catch up to him, he quickly paused, and while the midfielder was still trying to match his movements with the one he was chasing suddenly stopping.


    Ferran got the ball past him with a neat nutmeg before he quickly moved a little further to the left found Mateo and sent the ball rolling to him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Oh, dear, Rosen''s not going to be forgetting that soon."


    Mateo moved toward the box with the ball, he quickly turned toward the middle and began to make his way down it along the edge.


    With each movement he made, he feigned taking a shot causing the defenders to react in a lot of ways.


    The funniest part was that he even didn''t take any of those shots or attempt to dribble his way into the box and that was because he didn''t want to do any of that.


    It didn''t take long before Gregory raised his hand toward the winger before making his way into the box.


    That was what he was looking for as he quickly sent the ball rolling toward the young striker.


    Gregory got his foot on the ball, but before he could do anything with it, it was quickly snatched away from his foot by Perez who wasn''t ready to take any more chances.


    "That could have been Gregory''s debut goal, but it looks like Perez isn''t taking any chances with him," Jimmented.


    Perez sent the ball flying out as soon as he got up on his feet, but sending it toward Diego was a mistake as both Martinez and Rnd ganged up on the winger and got the ball off him before passing it to Ferran who quickly stretched it to Mateo.


    Mateo quickly zoomed off down the middle as soon as he got the ball with Foden hot on his trail from behind and just as the winger got closer to the box, he was dragged down by the midfielder from behind.


    The referee didn''t need to check or ask anybody since he was right beside them.


    He blew his whistle before he made his way to the midfielder and showed him a yellow card.


    "A yellow card for Foden which is well deserved because that pull was not cool, and now Unique FC have a free kick in a very good spot.


    It was pretty clear who was going to take the free-kick as Mateo could be seen standing over the ball with no one else beside him, maybe that was because Ferran just didn''t want to get involved with this one.


    Supreme United set up their four-man wall right at the edge of the box with most of the yers inside the box.


    "Can Mateo convert this one and give his team that winning assurance once again? This will be his first hat trick against Supreme United if he puts it in."


    After making sure that everything was as it was supposed to be, the referee blew his whistle and now it was over to Mateo.


    The winger slowly took three steps away from the ball before he quickly closed up on it and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    "Mateo!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost as Perez dived toward it at that exact time, but he wasn''t able to get his hand to it as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, crossbar," Jim said.


    e¦Áglesn?¦Íel "It''s quite surprising how close he gets whenever he misses a free kick, his precision is quite something else," Steve said.


    Mateo stared at Supreme United''s goalpost for a while with both of his hands on his waist before he let out a sigh and turned around.


    The match had just entered the eighty ninth minute when Adolf wrested Rnd off the ball right at the edge of the box preventing the striker from making good use of a very good scoring opportunity.


    The defender quickly pushed the ball to Rnd while he was still on the floor, and without hesitation, Rnd sent the ball flying over to Minino.


    Unfortunately, he seemed to have hit the ball with the wrong side of his foot as the elevation was just not enough and that made it super easy for Foden to pop up from nowhere and steal the ball.


    "Uh oh, this doesn''t look good for Unique FC."


    Foden quickly pushed the ball to Jan who quickly found a way past Luis and sent the ball flying in.


    Rnd got his head on the ball but it ended up hitting the crossbar before bouncing off toward the right.


    Dave quickly dived toward the ball to try and grab it, but Diego was already there and all he needed was the tip of his boot to send the ball over the goalkeeper and into the goalpost.


    "It''s in! I can''t believe it but they pulled it off! They''ve gotten that equalizer with just four minutes of added time to go."


    ''I guess shot stopping attribute couldn''t save me from that one.'' Dave said subconsciously before putting his head down while he was still lying on the floor.


    <Sweeper keeper would have done a better job>

 Chapter 356 The Title Race Is Close

    ?


    Four minutes of added time wasn''t enough for either side toe up with a winning, although it looked like Unique FC were the only ones that desperately searched for a winning goal during those few minutes until the referee finally blew his whistle to bring the match to an end.


    "That''s the whistle, the matches to an end with a result that both sides would be equally happy with," Jim said.


    "You say equally happy, but I don''t think anyone would be happy to lose hold of a two-goal lead like that, but then again, this is better than losing. Supreme United got quite lucky but they could have gotten luckier and grabbed the win instead." Steve expressed.


    Just like Steve said, Unique FC yers weren''t happy with the final oue, unlike Supreme United yers who were d that they were able to drag out a draw from their neighbors who were surprisingly fearsome today.


    Unique FC yers weren''t happy with that result but the fans who would have loved it more if they had actually won the match were still happy that they dominated Supreme United and came out with a draw instead of losing to them like they had been doing for a couple of seasons now.


    They were chanting the name of team happily, they knew the yers would be sad after letting a possible win go like that so they were just trying to cheer them up.


    "They did not seed in winning the match and ending Supreme United''s unbeaten run and winning streak, but at least they seed in doing thetter, handing the Supremes their first draw of the season." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, and that shows just how far they''vee as a team, they''re clearly title contenders this season, Supreme United and Dynamo FC should watch out because they may swipe it by surprise." Steve expressed.


    After greeting the fans, the yers began to make their way toward the tunnel.


    Mateo was obviously announced as the man of the match and today there was no one to bug them about the official post-match interview as Emma had already chosen those she needed for it, but they still had to deal with the normal ones.


    After taking care of those things, they made their way to the locker room.


    Minino couldn''t help but take out his anger on a trash can that did absolutely nothing to him as he sent it flying across the room with a kick.


    "We almost had them and then everything just fell apart." He huffed before he made his way to the bench and sat down there.


    Despite having an aggressive nature, Minino was never one to call out his teammates for making a mistake during the match.


    He would still tell them, but never in a mean way like Jonas always did.


    "You should have just sent that ball flying, Rnd." The midfielder said before turning his gaze to Rnd.


    "I''m sorry," Rnd muttered.


    "Hmph, it''s all in the past now," Minino said with a calm voice before letting out a deep sigh.


    "Yeah, it''s all in the past now, we just have to focus on winning our next match," Adolf said.


    "Yeah," Ferran responded with a nod. "You know, Adolf, I''m quite surprised by how you were able to hold Rnd down to the extent that he didn''t look like a threat again, if it weren''t for you seriously man-marking him, I doubt things would have ended this way."


    "You can say that again," Dave said as he pulled off his boots. "Their first goal was a mistake from our side and that second goal also came as a result of a mistake from us too, we should have won but things ended the way it did, at least we made them drop points." The goalkeeper expressed.


    "Our next match is against Junami United, right?" Mateo asked.


    "Yeah," Dave replied with a nod.


    "Well, we''ve drawn ourst two matches now, we can''t draw or lose that one we have to win it or we''ll move further away from the title race." The winger said.


    He was right about that because now that they ended up drawing against Supreme United, they now had twenty points from nine matches, Dynamo FC were ahead of them with three points and now that Supreme United dropped points to Unique FC, they were only ahead of Dynamo FC with two points.


    It was pretty close between these three times but any slip-off from Unique FC from this moment onward and they were going to fall deeper.


    Lesica United won their match that day, unlike Unique FC which meant that Unique side were just ahead of them with two points now.


    "Yeah, we have to win that match," Adolf said.


    "And after that, we''ll go on to face Lazio in the group stage of the Europa conference league," Martinez said.


    The yers had already talked about their group and they all agreed that their group wasn''t fair and looked like something that was done on purpose to make sure that they were eliminated in the group stage even if that may not be the case.


    There was nothing they could do besides buckling up and making sure they go into every single one of those matches well-prepared and confident, and that was just what they were nning to do.


    "Being at the top of Series A this season is not a small feat even if it is just the start of the season, they have a good point gap against second-ced Juventus, and that speaks volumes about their strength this season. However, we just dominated the team that is at the top of our table and currently in the UEFA champions league this season, if we managed to get this close to beating them, then beating Lazio cannot be described as impossible." Adolf articted.


    "Sure, if we avoid making big mistakes, we''ll win," Frankie said.


    While his teammates continued to talk about other things, Dave decided to take a look at his post-match rewards.


    [ Post-match rewards ]


    [ Four crucial saves: +70 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.0 ]<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''Another match, another day to gaze upon a single reward.''


    <Well, you only have yourself to me for that, an assist or goal would have been nice>


    ''Yeah, because I saw the opportunity and didn''t take it, right?''


    <I don''t think there was an opportunity>


    ''Exactly, you said it yourself, but shouldn''t I get extra rewards for saving penalties?''


    <Um¡­. that''s umtive>


    ''umtive how?''


    <Don''t worry, you''ll find out soon>


    ''And trying to get it out of you anyway is going to be futile.''


    <Exactly, you''re catching on pretty fast>


    [ Penalties faced: 28 ]


    [ Penalties saved: 06 ]


    <You know your penalty save ratio has gone up quite well after saving three penalty kicks in two matches, the fact that you did it without focus is quite impressive, I just hope you can keep it up>


    ''Thank, I''ll try my best, I just need enough attribute points to unlock sweeper keeper for that speed boost, shot-stopper is really not that useful to me, to be honest.'' He said subconsciously.


    <Well, it depends on how you use it, you can already shoot rockets without any boosts, just imagine what will happen if you activate shot-stopper before taking those shots>


    As soon as she said that, Dave''s face suddenly lit up.


    ''Why didn''t I think about that before?''


    <Because you can be dumb sometimes>


    ''Hey, don''t say that.''


    <That''s the harsh truth, but don''t worry, you have your smart moments just like everyone else>


    ''That''s it, I''m turning you off.''


    <Okay, okay, I''m sorry>


    _______ _______


    Matchday ten came by pretty fast, it was just four days from their match against Supreme United and that meant that this was the day they were meant to face off against Junami United.


    The match was set to kick off by 2:00 PM and that meant that it had already kicked off.


    It was a home match for Unique FC and they weren''t taking things lightly with their opponents.


    Twenty minutes had just passed since the match began but the home side were already two goals up and were dominating the match.


    "Unique FC came into this match red hot, it''s like they''re taking out their anger from theirst match on Junami United," Jim said.


    Adolf received the ball from Rnd and had to send it back to Dave after he was pressed by Junami United''s center forward.


    Dave quickly dashed past the yer after receiving the ball and just as he got outside the box, he sent the ball flying over to Mateo.


    "They feelfortable to the extent that Dave is now taking risks of this level," Stevemented.


    Mateo brought the ball down with his left foot before he put it past the yer right in front of him and zoomed past him to take the ball.


    He fearlessly raced toward the box taking on the defenders until he was able to find enough space to take a shot just before he was tackled down.


    The ball flew toward the right side with a little bit of elevation as the goalkeeper dived toward it, but he wasn''t able to get to it on time as the ball flew past him and into the goalpost.


    "This is crazy, three goals up with just twenty-two minutes on the clock!" Jim eximed.

 Chapter 357 Another Record Broken

    ?


    "That''s his second goal in the match," Steve said as the winger raced to the sidelines before he was dragged down by both Ferran and Minino.


    "Three goals up with twenty-plus minutes left to go in the first half, they are showing no mercy." Jim expressed. "Dave Richards has his third assist of the season and Mateo Smith is on his way to score his first hat trick of the season.


    The fans were chanting and cheering for the yers now and even some of the opposition fans couldn''t help but admire that goal.


    ''An assist, that''s one criterion in the quest crushed.'' Dave said subconsciously as he jumped up and down inside his box.


    <It''s good to be happy about that, but you have to make sure to crush the other ones or it will all be in vain>


    ''I am aware of that.''


    The match continued with both teams trying their best to get something.


    Unique FC had already gotten enough goals to win the match but they were still fighting for more while doing everything they could to make sure that Junami United wouldn''t score a goal against them.


    At the start of the match, Junami United looked underwhelming in every aspect of the game and although they still looked underwhelming in attack, they were starting to pick themselves up in defense as they were no longer giving Unique FC that free space they had to run down their wings or through the middle and cause a lot of problems for them.


    Fixing themselves up a little defensively didn''t mean that they were now imprable as Unique yers were still creatively finding a way to get past them but still, now that things weren''t that easy for them, finding the back of the had be a little tough.


    Fred came really close to scoring his second goal of the day after he was set up right inside the box.


    It was a neat pass from Mateo after taking on three yers at once but the striker wasn''t able to finish the chance as his shot ended up going directly toward the goalkeeper who didn''t have any trouble stopping it.


    "Oh, what a goal that could have been, that could have been their fourth, a fourth goal that was surely going to break the guest team''s spirit," Jimmented.


    The match had just entered the fortieth minute with Unique FC still passing the ball around relentlessly trying to find that fourth goal.


    Minino received the ball from Frankie but because he had two yers around him trying to dispossess him of the ball, he sent the ball rolling back to Frankie who pushed it forward a little before passing it to Mateo this time.


    The midfielder on his side quickly rushed to him as the ball rolled toward him.


    He was quite keen to take the ball off the winger, but all Mateo needed to take care of him was a dummy and as soon as he got rid of him, he passed the ball to Ferran.


    The two yed a couple of one-twos with each other before Ferran had to send the ball rolling to Merino.


    "Merino."


    Merino feigned shooting at the defender right in front of him to get him to turn his back before he quickly got past him and pushed the ball forward to Fred.


    Fred quickly got closer to get hold of the ball fast enough, but just as the ball touched his feet, it was quickly swept off by one of the defenders.


    Fred crashed to the floor and raised his hand calling for a foul but it didn''t look like a foul to the referee and he wasn''t going to call it no matter what and that he was right about.


    Junami United were moving the ball forward now Unique FC hurried to get in their positions and stop them before their attack would be something dangerous.


    They had gotten to the edge of their box now and were passing the ball around while looking for a way to get in and something but so far they had been unable to find a way in.


    Pirlo quickly rushed out to try and stop one of their yers after the ball was passed to him, and that was what they had been counting on as their striker quickly rushed in through the space Pirlo now had unupied.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The ball with the ball quickly sent the ball rolling to him with a backheel pass.


    Out of desperation, Pirlo quickly turned around to try and stop the striker and that was what led to him pushing the striker down right inside the box.


    The referee was right there and he didn''t need to look twice before he blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot.


    "Oh, Pirlo just brought down Benson right inside the box and it''s a penalty for Junami United."


    Minino, Merino, and Adolf quickly made their way to the referee to try and get him to reconsider his decision or at least go check VAR, but it didn''t look like the referee wanted to do any of that and he wasn''t going to do it.


    <Looks like your quest is about to face its first major challenge>


    ''More like the ultimate challenge, this is the only thing that can decide whether I fail the quest early or not.'' Dave said subconsciously. ''I just can''t believe that we''ve managed to concede five penalties in just three matches.''


    <Well, two of those were terrible calls from a referee who is supposed to be professional, but still, it''s not like conceding three penalties in three matches is any good either>


    "With this penalty, Unique FC have now broken the record for the most penalties conceded in three consecutive with the record being previously held by Dynamo FC, they conceded four penalties in their first three matches in the 2014/15 season campaign and although only one of those penalties ended up not going on, they still managed to lift the league title that season. I''m starting to wonder, does this mean something for Unique FC?"


    "To be honest, this is a record that no team would want to break but Unique FC just did it in what is turning out to be one of their best seasons. I''m starting to wonder if this means something for them too but it might be the opposite given the fact that only a goal has been scored from thest four penalties they faced, Dave stopped the rest." Steve expressed.


    The penalty was about to be taken as Benson could be seen standing over the ball in the penalty spot with his gaze on Dave who was just standing there stretching his fingers.


    "Now that I think of it, Steve, Dave Richards is one of the few goalkeepers who doesn''t care about ying mind games with the penalty taker during a penalty kick. Could it be that he is so confident in himself during penalty kicks that he thinks he doesn''t need to do it?" Jim asked.


    "I remember there was some time in the past when a rule was made prohibiting goalkeepers from doing that after a certain goalkeeper used it excessively to his advantage in a world cup tournament, many people weren''t happy about that rule and in the end, it got canceled but limitations were put to prevent the goalkeeper from saying certain words. Maybe Dave''s just the type of person who likes to do something like that or it may be what you said." Steve replied.


    The only thing Benson was waiting for now was the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he slowly took three steps backward before he closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost.


    Dave dived toward the ball at that exact time and with just the tip of his glove, he was able to get to the ball and send it over the bar for a corner kick.


    "Oh, my goodness! I can''t believe he saved that!" Jim eximed with a shocked voice. "He''s faced five penalties in hisst three matches and he saved four of them, unbelievable."


    "That''s a new record," Steve said. "He now holds the record for the most penalty saves in a Bilbeth Premier League season and he may extend it further if they concede more penalties which I''m quite sure they wouldn''t want."


    The fans went wild after that terrific save from the goalkeeper and Minino couldn''t help but make his way to the goalkeeper and grab him.


    They couldn''t celebrate that save for long because Junami United had to take their corner kick.


    The ball was quickly sent in from the side, but because it was ced quite close to the goalpost with a desperate attempt to get a goal, Dave was able to simply jump up and grab it.


    He quickly sent the ball out to try and set up Minino but he ended up overhitting the ball as it went straight for Junami United''s goalkeeper.


    At the end of the first half, none of the side were able to get a goal after that goal from Mateo but it was pretty obvious that Unique FC were happy with that scoreline so far.


    "What a first half," Jim said before letting out a sigh.

 Chapter 358 Ten Stat Points

    ?


    "You guys are doing superbly so far," Norman said with a bright smile on his face.


    All the yers were in the locker room now and as always, Norman was standing in front of them because he had something to tell them even if he didn''t have to.


    "Dominating the match doesn''t mean you have to let your guard down, they almost pulled one back with a penalty and they have a lot of time to equalize the whole thing in the second half." He said with his arms crossed behind him.


    "Um¡­it''s possible but I don''t think that''s going to happen to us," Adolf said. "Mateo wants his first hat trick of the season so I don''t think he''s going to cam down, Fred also wants to score more goals, the midfield is doing their best to help them, Dave is doing his best from the goalpost and as the defensive leader, I will make sure that nothing gets past us easily. Don''t worry, coach, there''s no way we''re drawing a third match in a row, we''re already winning this one and we''ll see it through to the end." He expressed.


    Saying that seemed to have calmed Norman''s mind from whatever he was thinking, but he still had something to tell them.


    After telling the yers everything he wanted to tell them, it was now time for them to start making their way to the pitch so that the second half could kick off.


    "Hey, Dave."


    The goalkeeper quickly turned around after hearing his name to see Martinez standing there.


    Mateo wasn''t with him this time because he had to go ease himself.


    "Oh, hey, Marts, any problem?" He asked.


    "No, there can''t be any problem when we''re winning a match by a three-goal margin," Martinez said as both of them slowly made their way toward the exit. "Um¡­.I just wanted to say that it''s quite rare to see a goalkeeper who can dish out the kind of thing you dish out on a regr basis."


    <This again?>


    "I know you love this club but you should really consider moving to the English Premier League or Laliga at the end of the season, your career would surely blossom in any of those leagues." The midfielder said before running off into the pitch.


    He didn''t even give the goalkeeper the time to say anything before leaving like that.


    Dave didn''t say anything and just let out a sigh before continuing his walk to the pitch.


    "Wee back, everyone, the second half is about to kick off as we can see the yers from both teams making their way to the pitch now," Jim announced. "The first half was pretty entertaining but one-sided, let''s see if this will be any difference."


    "I doubt it will be but it sure would be nice to see Junami United fight back a little," Steve said.


    ''One criterion has already been crushed, the second is still safe and thest one is definitely going to get crushed in this half.'' Dave said subconsciously as he made his way to his goalpost.


    <Considering how their only shot on target throughout the first half was only that penalty, you shouldn''t be saying that with such confidence>


    ''Yeah, you do have a point, but our defense is going to loosen up and they''re going to get a couple of good chances.''


    <Huh?>


    ''Just watch, you''ll see.''


    <I don''t really see that happening but, okay>


    Unique FC were the ones who started the match from the Kick-off spot in the first half and that meant that Junami United were going to be the ones to do it in the second half.


    Benson was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he quickly passed the ball to the teammate closest to him.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    They had to quickly move the ball back to avoid losing it to Unique FC, but it didn''t take long before they returned it to the middle by passing it around.


    Benson received the ball right on the Kick-off spot with Frankie quickly racing toward him to try and take the ball off him, but before the midfielder could get to him, he sent the ball rolling to the yer on the right with the name Elvis written below the number seven on the back of his jersey.


    They had already seeded in drawing out the defense well enough, and now it was time to strike them.


    The winger pushed the ball forward a little and acted like he was about to attempt dribbling past Rnd before he sent the ball flying toward the box from the top as Benson zoomed past both Adolf and Pirlo who were both caught unaware.


    "Uh oh, it''s a one-on-one situation here," Jimmented.


    You could tell the excitement in his voice was slowly building up.


    "No, no, no," Dave muttered as he contemted between rushing out or staying where he was as Benson raced toward the ball with the defenders and other yers right behind him.


    <Don''t overthink things, just do something><novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [ +10 stat points added to dexterity ]


    [ Dexterity: 70 ]


    Right at that time, Benson got his foot on the ball and pushed it into the box.


    Dave quickly rushed out with a knee slide to stop him right at that time, Benson was quite shocked because he didn''t expect him to be that fast.


    Out of instinct, the striker tried to lob the ball over the goalkeeper, but Dave was quick enough to raise his hand right on time, but he wasn''t able to stop itpletely as the ball grazed past his hand and was now rolling toward the goalpost.


    Dave quickly rushed toward the ball just as it was about to cross the line and with his left hand, he pushed the ball out toward Rnd who didn''t hesitate in sending it as far away from their goalpost as possible.


    Junami United yers gathered around the referee iming that the ball had already crossed the line before Dave got to it but the referee didn''t listen to anything they said and allowed y to continue.


    "That was a very close save from Dave, that could have really gone in if he had been a second slower," Jim said. "He doesn''t like seeing the ball go into his goalpost and he does everything possible to make sure that doesn''t happen."


    "Yeah, he now has a lot of what he used tock, passion, it''s good to see that," Stevemented.


    <Wow, you just dumped ten stat points into dexterity>


    ''You asked me to stop thinking and do something and I did the best thing I could think of, what''s wrong with that?''


    <I never said anything was wrong with it, I''m just saying that I hope you will start adding stat points to your dexterity which is way high now, and focus on your strength and endurance which are just as important>


    [ Unused stat points: 7 ]


    ''I know, I know, I won''t be adding any more stat points to it.'' He said subconsciously. ''My body sure feels lighter now after adding that amount of stat points.''


    <It''s expected, your speed has increased greatly>


    The match continued with both teams trying their best to outsmart and strike their opponent.


    Junami United were finding some spaces through Unique FC''s defense to fire deadly shots toward the goalpost and although all those shots were on target, only one ended up being quite the threat to Dave.


    An acrobatic kick from their attacking midfielder right from the edge of the box.


    The ball was sent flying toward the right side with a little bit of elevation but Dave was able to get to it on time and hit it down for Adolf to get to it and clear it with a single kick.


    Junami United had been able to get a couple of good moments against them but despite that, Unique FC were still tearing them apart.


    Right now, Minino was racing down the right wing with the ball, and just as the yer in front of him got closer to try and take the ball off his feet, he sent the ball rolling forward to Merino.


    Merino caught hold of the ball and moved forward with it a little before he passed it to Ferran.


    Ferran got hold of the ball and quickly cut past the yer in front of him before he pulled his right foot back and fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    "Ferran!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost and it looked really close until the goalkeeper got to it with the tip of his gloves and sent it over the bar for a corner kick.


    "Oh, what a save!" Jim eximed. "Ferran thought he had a goal but the goalkeeper was there right on time."


    After seeing the goalkeeper stop that, the midfielder quickly made his way to the corner kick spot to take the corner kick.


    "Yeah, nice save but let''s see how they deal with this corner kick," Steve said.


    After making sure that nothing was out of ce, the referee blew his whistle, and as soon as Ferran heard it, he closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    One of the center-backs got to the ball before Adolf and nodded it down for another defender who was about to turn around with the ball when it was quickly stolen off his feet by Mateo who dribbled past the goalkeeper before putting the ball into the goalpost.


    "He made that look simple! What a way to score his second hat trick of the season!"


    Mateo didn''t celebrate that goal that much as he just pointed to the sky before his teammates began to gather around him.


    "And not only that, he has now passed Rnd with a goal to be the league''s current top scorer," Stevemented.

 Chapter 359 The Last Minute

    ?


    Mateo had just scored his hat trick and Unique FC were now leading four goals to nothing, but the match was still going on.


    Junami United knew that there was no hope left for them at this point, but they were still pushing, pushing themselves to try and pull one back at least.


    That goal lowered their morale a bit though and that meant that things were a bit easier for Unique FC whenever they got the ball.


    "With just thirty minutes left of normal time, this match is pretty much over," Steve said.


    "Yeah, but I''m looking forward to more goals," Jim said.


    Junami United were the ones with the ball now and they were slowly pushing it forward with their passes trying to find an opening where they could strike through but Unique FC weren''t making things any easier for them.


    Elvis received the ball down the right wing and just before Rnd could run into him, he sent the ball rolling to Benson who quickly turned away from Adolf with it, and out of desperation, he fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying directly toward Dave who didn''t have any problem palming it down before catching it.


    "That''s not troubling anyone."


    Dave quickly sent the ball flying out toward Ferran who trapped it with his chest and just as it was about to hit the floor he sent it flying over to Minino with an overhead kick.


    One of Junami United''s midfielders quickly rushed toward Minino to steal the ball from him at that time but he wasn''t able to do that as Minino nodded the ball back to Ferran who sent it rolling to Mateo.


    "Mateo."


    Mateo tried to dribble past the yer right in front of him before he changed his mind and sent the ball rolling to Fred.


    Fred knew what the winger was scheming and quickly sent the ball back to him as soon as he got past the yer in front of him.


    "Back to Mateo, what''s he nning?"


    Mateo raced toward the right back without slowing down, he used the momentum from his speed to dribble past the defender and get into the box, but he wasn''t clear yet as he now had two yers pulling his shirt from behind.


    Just before he was pulled down right inside the box, he sent the ball rolling toward Fred, but before the ball could get to the striker, one of the center backs got to it and sent it flying to the other side of the pitch and out for a throw-in.


    "Looks like Mateo wanted to go all the way there before he was pulled down," Jimmented.


    "That''s supposed to be a penalty kick but it doesn''t look like the referee''s going to give it," Steve said.


    "Yeah, and it doesn''t look like Mateo cares."


    The reason why Jim said that was because the winger was running back to the other side of the pitch now with a smile on his face.


    The match had just entered the seventieth minute now when Norman decided to bring on a couple of yers.


    Rnd was reced by Jonas, Martinez came on to rece Frankie and finally, George came on to rece Fred.


    Junami United also made a couple of changes.


    Unique FC were already winning the match with just twenty minutes to go, so Norman found it necessary to bring out a couple of yers and rest them for their match against Lazio on the sixth of November.


    He wanted to bring Mateo out now but on second thought he decided to let the winger y for a little while longer.


    With the new yers now on the pitch, y seemed to have slowed down a bit for Unique FC but they were still controlling the game more than Junami United.


    Jonas received the ball from Adolf after the center-back got it off Benson with a tackle.


    Jonas got his foot on the ball and quickly raced down the wing with it beforeying it off toward Martinez.


    All Martinez needed to send the ball rolling to Ferran was a single touch and as soon as Ferran got the ball, he moved down the right with it before passing it to Minino who passed it to Merino with a backheel pass.


    Merino moved a little forward with the ball before he sent it rolling to George.


    The young striker had a lot of yers clustered around him in no time so he had to push the ball back to Ferran who found Mateo cutting into the box from the left and sent the ball rolling to him.


    The winger bodied the yer marking him out of the way to get his foot on the ball.


    "He''s through, this could be his fourth!"


    Just like Jim said, Mateo had a clear sight of the goalpost and knew every way to beat the goalkeeper from that position but just as he turned to the right, he found George in space as everyone else was heading toward him, that was when he decided to do something else. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He sent the ball rolling to George who waspletely free now and the young striker didn''t have any problem putting the ball away through the right side of the goalpost while the goalkeeper was glued to a spot.


    "It''s in! They''ve got the fifth one!" Jim eximed. "I thought Mateo was going to take that because he could have easily put it away from there but I guess he wanted to be the one to assist George''s first goal for Unique FC."


    "Yeah, that''s a pretty nice gesture setting the youngster up for his first goal for the club and as far as Junami United, there''s nothing to fight for anymore." Steve expressed.


    George really appreciated that assist as the person he made his way to after putting it away was Mateo.


    ''We weren''t even able to beat any team like thisst season.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    <Yeah, because you guys weren''t there then, this is just what it feels like to see a team improve>


    ''Yeah, the second criterion has been met a few minutes ago, I just need to end the match with a clean sheet and everything will be ticked green.''


    <Right, don''t slip off now or you''ll miss it>


    The match had just entered the eighty-fifth minute now when Norman decided to remove the rest of the yers he wanted to remove.


    Mateo was reced by Carlos, Minino was reced by Edward, and Ferran was reced by Harry.


    Harry received the ball from George and because of the yer quickly heading toward him, he sent the ball rolling back to Jonas.


    Elvis quickly closed up on the left back and instead of passing the ball to Dave or anyone else, he tried to dribble the winger and that was a big mistake.


    It didn''t take the winger long to get the ball off him but luckily for Unique FC, he seemed to have overhit the ball when doing that as Dave was able to get to the ball first and clear it before anything dangerous could happen.


    "That was close."


    <Clean sheet almost got blown there>


    ''Yeah, he shouldn''t try things like that in front of the goalpost>


    Unique FC held on to the ball until the nieth minute and now that five minutes had been added to the time, they started to push forward harder.


    Edward got hold of the ball from Martinez and without hesitation he sent the ball rolling to Merino who quickly pushed it to George.


    George found Carlos entering the box at that time and lobbed the ball over to him but the winger wasn''t able to get his foot to the ball as one of the defenders got to the ball first and sent it flying out for a corner kick.


    "It''s out for a corner kick, probably thest moment of the match, can Unique FC get their sixth out of this?"


    ''There''s only a few minutes left so I might as well try this.'' Dave said subconsciously as he made his way toward the box.


    <You do realize that this is very risky and could ruin your clean sheet goal?>


    ''I know, but none of that is going to happen.'' The goalkeeper replied as he got in position inside the box.


    "Looks like Dave wants to try his luck with thisst corner kick," Jim said.


    "It could lead to them getting scored but they''re already five goals up so I don''t think he will mind if he''s doing something like this." Steve expressed.


    Edward was standing over the ball in the corner kick spot now and as soon as he heard the referee''s whistle, he sent the ball flying into the box.


    It went straight through the middle and was nodded back by a Junami United defender.


    The ball was sent flying toward Dave right at the edge of the box.


    He brought the ball down with his chest before getting his right foot on it, but before that, he did something.


    [ +2 stat points added to strength ]


    He sent the ball flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost and although the goalkeeper was able to get one of his hands on it, it wasn''t enough to stop it as the ball smashed past his hand and fell into the goalpost.


    "Oh, my goodness, what was that?"


    This time there was no shouting rather he sounded quite shocked.


    "Did I just witness a goalkeeper score and assist in a match?" Steve muttered.

 Chapter 360 I Am Your Biggest Fan

    ?


    That was a really wild goal from Dave and he wasn''t going to keep quiet.


    He raced to the corner spot with his teammates chasing him and as soon as he got there he kicked the g breaking it in the process.


    "Looks like he broke the g," Jim said.


    "Well, the referee is certainlying for himter," Steve said.


    It didn''t take long before his teammates joined him to celebrate in front of the fans, and after they were done celebrating, the referee walked up to the goalkeeper and showed him a yellow card.


    He knew what he did so he didn''tin about that.


    "That''s the yellow card as expected." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, but I don''t think he will be bothered given the fact that he has just done something no goalkeeper has ever done in the history of the sport." Jim asserted. "The first goalkeeper to ever score and assist in the same match, that''s a new record."


    "Yeah, and besides that, he now has two goals and three assists in the league this season, with those numbers you wouldn''t even believe he''s a goalkeeper." Steve expressed.


    After receiving that yellow card, his second booking in the season so far, Dave continued smiling as he made his way back to his goalpost while the fans chanted his name.


    [ Congrattions, you have created an impressive record ]


    [ The first goalkeeper to ever score and assist in the same match ]


    [ The system has decided to reward you for this feat ]


    [ +200 exp received ]


    [ +5 stat points received ]


    [ +5 stat points added to energy ]


    ''How generous, I could even say that''s more than what I''m receiving forpleting this strenuous conjoined quest.'' He said subconsciously as got in between the sticks now.


    <Maybe, but you didn''t get any attribute points>


    ''Yeah, you''re right but I still wish the quest would have given me a little more experience points.'' Dave replied.


    The match continued with just two minutes left before the referee blew the final whistle.


    Junami United knew that there was nothing they could do with that time and they weren''t pushing it.


    What team would be able to do something being six goals down with just two minutes left in the match, even the Spanish kings ofebacks wouldn''t be able to pull something like that off.


    Junami United yers just passed the ball around until the remaining two minutes got exhausted and the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end.


    "There''s the whistle, it is all over," Jim said. "This was an interesting match but there''s no doubt that it waspletely one-sided."


    "Yeah, Unique FC totally destroyed them here today, six goals to nothing," Steve said.


    [ Conjoined questpleted ]


    [ You sessfully assisted a goal ]


    [ You made five crucial saves ]


    [ You kept a clean sheet ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +150 exp received ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points received ]


    [ +2 stat points received ]


    [ +2 attribute points received ]


    ''It''s always nice to see those rewards poo up.'' Dave said subconsciously as he made his way to the sidelines to greet the fans along with his teammates.


    "Before we bring this coverage to an end, I will like to ask you a little question, Steve."


    "Okay, go on," Steve said.


    "It''s clear to everyone now that Dave is among the top three best goalkeepers in the league, his performance tells no lies and he has just pulled up numbers that certain midfielders struggle to pull up in a season. What do you think about his recent burst in form and do you think that he may start declining somewhere down the season?" Jim asked.


    "Umm¡­.yeah, you''re right, he is now one of the top goalkeepers, top two in my opinion, his clean sheet streak got broken recently by Ronino FC and Supreme United still got two past him but he still did superbly in those matches and things could have ended badly for his team if it wasn''t for him.


    "To answer your question, what I see now is a Dave who wants to help his team win every match while conceding the least amount of goals possible, he''s passionately fighting for the club and you can see it with every save he makes. What he is doing doesn''t look like a fluke so the question of him declining down the season, no offense, doesn''t make any sense when he''s not going to get any older.


    "He has shown the Bilbeth Premier League that he is a wonderful goalkeeper, something that no one believed before and I think I can see him winning the league''s golden glove this season."


    "Alright, thank you for that answer, Steve and that brings us to the end of today''s coverage, goodbye everyone and we''ll see you in the next one."


    After greeting the fans, the yers began to make their way toward the tunnel.


    Mateo was announced as the man of the match which was expected for someone who scored a hat trick and provided an assist in the match.


    The winger was making his way to the area alongside Dave and Minino to pick up his award when someone suddenly grabbed him by his arm.


    The winger quickly turned to the person who grabbed him by his arm to see that it was someone he was quite close with.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Amber." He said, sounding a bit relieved.


    "Hey, guys." She said with a smile as she waved at the three.


    "Hi, Amber," Dave said before waving back at her.


    Minino didn''t say anything as he moved closer to the winger to whisper something to him.


    "I didn''t know you were this close with the reporter." The midfielder whispered.


    "Well, she is my sister''s colleague so it sort of happened," Mateo said.


    Minino wanted to say something else but he couldn''t as Amber suddenly said something.


    "I want to interview you." She said before pulling Mateo a step closer to the interview area.


    ''Oh, dear.'' The winger said subconsciously.


    "Um¡­.why don''t you take Minino instead?"


    "Huh?" Minino said with a confused expression on his face.


    "Yeah, I''m sure he has a lot of things to talk about." The winger said before pushing his teammate toward her.


    "Okay, fine, let''s go Mr. Minino." She said before she began to make her way toward the interview area.


    "You''ll pay for this, Mateo," Minino grumbled before he turned around and followed Amber.


    "Sorry," Mateo said as he scratched the back of his head with his right hand.


    By the time he turned his gaze to where he saw Dave standingst, the goalkeeper was no longer there but just as he looked further ahead, he spotted him near the entrance of the tunnel, Emma was also there and the two seemed to be talking about something.


    After taking care of everything that needed to be taken care of outside, the goalkeeper made his way down the tunnel, he was going down alone because Mateo had already gone down a few minutes ago.


    As he made his way through the hallway, there were a lot of people calling his name and congratting him because of the team''s victory and also for the new record he just created.


    ''Scoring and assisting in a match as a goalkeeper is quite the big deal.''


    <Of course, it is, no goalkeeper has ever done it before you and it''s hard to say if any goalkeeper will do it after you>


    ''It''s not entirely impossible since I did it, but it may take a while given how most goalkeepers don''t get involved in the game the way I do.''


    The goalkeeper walked into the locker room to see most of his teammates including Mateo were there and even some of the staff were there but Norman wasn''t there as he seemed to be taking care of something.


    "Hey." He said as soon as he got close to Mateo and sat down beside him.


    "You did a pretty good job out there today, pulling off a goal and assist." The winger said.


    "Yeah, I know it''s the first time for a goalkeeper to do it but you still did better, a hat trick and an assist." Dave expressed.


    "Because that''s my job, it wouldn''t be right if I didn''t do it, but you, scoring and assisting isn''t really in the job description of a goalkeeper but yet you pull off those wonderful saves and still find a way to pull them off, that''s what makes you a very special and unique goalkeeper." Mateo expressed before slowly turning away from him. "If you move to a new club and keep up this performance and you end up not winning a Ballon d''Or or Fifa best yer at the end of your career it would be an injustice."


    "You think so?"


    "I know goalkeepers are usually neglected during those awards, but you''re different, you bring a lot more to the tablepared to other goalkeepers, if you keep up this performance then I''m sure you''ll win at least one of those awards."


    After hearing him say that, Dave couldn''t help but smile.


    "Thank you, Mateo, thank you for always believing in me." He said.


    "Don''t mention it, I am your biggest fan after all." The winger smiled before getting up from the bench. "I''ll be back."


    <He really is your biggest fan>


    ''Yeah, no doubt about that.''


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Five crucial saves: +50 exp received ]


    [ Goals conceded (0): +150 exp received ]


    [ Goal + assist: +1000 exp ]


    ''Woah, that is a lot of experience points.''


    [ Level up ]


    [ Congrattions, you are now level 11 ]


    [ +2 stat points received ]


    [ +1 skill point received ]


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter, dropping a few golden tickets would be nice.

 Chapter 361 I Set A New Record, Yet...

    ?


    [ 710/1885 exp ]


    ''It''s going to take a while before I can level up again.''


    <Not if you can pull off a goal and assist in a match again or do something better>


    ''Uh¡­.I don''t think it''s going to be easy to do this again but I''ll try.''


    [ Career info ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ Age: 21 ]


    [ Height: 187 cm ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Strong foot: right ]


    [ Developed qualities: Shot stopper ]


    [ Developing qualities: Sweeper Keeper, ball ying keeper. ]


    [ Current Team: Unique FC ]


    [ Status: Starter ]


    [ Market value: €1M ]


    [ Matches yed: 93 ]


    [ Goals: 4 ]


    [ Assists: 7 ]


    [ Shots faced: 273 ]


    [ Goals conceded: 91 ]


    [ Saves made: 165 ]


    [ Penalties faced: 28 ]


    [ Penalties saved: 06 ]


    [ Clean sheets: 11 ]


    [ Career average rating: 7.9 ]


    [ Awards ]


    [ Man of the Match awards: 08 ]


    [ Trophies ]


    [ Minor trophies: ¡Á1 Bilbeth Charity cup ]


    [ Major trophies: 0 ]


    [ Records set/broken ]


    [ Bilbeth Premier League record: First goalkeeper to score from 42 yards ]


    [ Only goalkeeper to score twice and assist in a season ]


    [ Goalkeeper with the most consecutive clean sheets (06) ]


    [ First goalkeeper to ever score and assist in the same match ]


    <You have a career average rating this high when you haven''t gone anywhere yet>


    ''Yeah, but most yers don''t know what their career average rating is so you can''t really say whether it''s weird or not.''


    <Eight man of the match awards in ny-three games>


    ''Yeah, is there anything wrong with that?''


    <I didn''t say that, it''s okay for a goalkeeper at least but your most impressive stat is having four goals and seven assists in ny-three games most goalkeepers don''t have up to half of that number>


    ''Yeah, it''s quite impressive but I''m still looking forward to increasing them.''


    At this point, there was no doubt that he had already be a seasoned goalkeeper capable of putting up a good performance in any match even without all the advantages his system gave him but he still wanted more, there was still a lot of room for improvement and he was going to take full advantage of it.


    Winning against Junami United by that huge goal margin couldn''t take them past Dynamo FC who also seeded in winning their match day ten match and were still sitting in second ce three points ahead of them.


    However, they were now five points ahead of Lesica United who lost their match yesterday. This meant that they weren''t in danger of getting pushed off their position anytime soon while they tried to overtake Dynamo FC and then Supreme United.


    There was really no celebration from the team after that stupendous win as Norman came inter to congratte them and then tell them about their next match which was going to be their reason for traveling to thergest city of Italy next week, the capital of Italy, Rome.


    They were going there to face current Serie A league leaders S.S Lazio in what would be their first match of the Europa Conference league group stage.


    After telling the yers the few things he wanted to tell them, they were all free to go.


    Most of his teammates wanted to go somewhere nice and do something nice that evening because they had a day off the next day because of that victory but Dave didn''t feel like joining them so he decided to leave early.


    Just as he opened the door and stepped out of the building, he spotted his fathering up the few stairs leading up to the door.


    "Oh, hey, Dad." The goalkeeper said as soon the two got close enough to each other.


    "Dave," Tom said as his face suddenly lit up with a smile. "How''re you doing?"


    "I''m fine what about you?" He replied.


    "I''m okay, I couldn''t make it to the match because I had something urgent to take care of, but I know you guys won six goals to nothing and you scored a goal and assisted Mateo''s second goal." Tom expressed.


    "Yeah, you got that all right."


    "That''s pretty impressive but you know you could have done more than that if you were upfront or in midfield at least."


    ''Wow, so you''reing out to do it yourself.''


    "So, you think doing it as a midfielder or forward would have been better than doing it as a goalkeeper." The goalkeeper said before crossing his arm.


    "No, I said you could have done better if you were in those positions."


    "I heard you the first time, Dad, but didn''t you see the news?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Huh?"


    "I created a record, Dad, the first goalkeeper to score and assist in a match, that record wouldn''t have been created if I wasn''t a goalkeeper." He affirmed.


    "Oh, yeah, I forgot about that," Tom said before cing his right hand on his forehead.


    "I guess trying to force your ideals on your son is a good reason to forget that he aplished something today and congratte him."


    "Force my ideals?"


    "Yes, Dad, I know you were the one that sent Mr. Lucas to tell me all those things and now you''re trying to do it yourself." Dave expressed.


    "You knew?" Tom said with a shocked expression.


    "Yeah, it was pretty obvious, I guess he didn''t tell you about me finding out." The goalkeeper said.


    Tom didn''t know what to say and just slowly put down his head. He was only trying to make the suggestion in a sly manner unaware that his son had already seen through him a long time ago.


    "I thought we''ve been through this already, Dad, being a goalkeeper is what I want, it''s what I love to do. Aren''t you proud seeing your son do what most goalkeepers can''t or do you just despise goalkeepers to the extent that you still can''t bear your son bing one despite the fact that he is doing well if not great?"


    "No, Dave, it''s not that."


    "Then, what is it? Why don''t you want me to continue my career as a goalkeeper?"


    To that question, Tom didn''t have any particr answer.


    "I didn''te to you directly when I found out about what you were trying to do with Mr. Lucas because I don''t want things to go back to the way it used to be between us and things won''t ever go back to that no matter how much you try to persuade. But, seriously, I just wish you would stop." He said before slowly walking past him.


    "Dave, wait."


    "I just wonder what you thought about Grandpa since he was a goalkeeper too." The goalkeeper said before continuing his walk.


    <Wow, you handled that better than I expected> Catherine said as soon as he entered his car and shut the door.


    ''I just told him how I truly felt, there was nothing else to it.'' He replied before he started the engine and zoomed off.


    He got home by 5:50 PM, and after parking his car in its usual parking spot, he made his way to the door and opened it with his key.


    As soon as he entered the house, he turned on the lights to see that there was no one there unlike what he was expecting.


    "I guess she isn''t home yet." He muttered before he made his way to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of chilled water from the freezer.


    He raised the bottle above his mouth and gobbled down the content before he pressed the empty container and threw whatever was left of it inside the trash can.


    He stood there for a while and stared at the fridge before he let out a deep sigh and turned around to start making his way to the living room.


    <Hey, what is up with you?>


    ''What are you talking about?'' The goalkeeper replied as he got to the couch and slowly sat down on it.


    <Why are you like this? You just won a match>


    ''Don''t think anything of it, I''m just really tired.''


    Just like he said, Catherine pretended that it was nothing and proceeded not to ask him anything about it anymore.


    The goalkeepery on the couch with his gaze on the ceiling and he stayed like that for a few minutes before the door was suddenly pushed for Emma to enter the house with something covered with ck nylon in her hands.


    "You''re already home, that''s a surprise." She said before she made her way to him and dropped was in her hands.


    "Wee back," Dave muttered trying to sound a bit lively.


    Emma stared at him for a while with a questioning look on her face before she got close to him, grabbed him by his chin, and pulled his face a little closer to hers.


    "Hey, what''s wrong? Your face doesn''t look bright for someone who just won a match with a huge goal margin and set an impressive record in that match." She said staring directly staring into his eyes.


    "No, it''s nothing, I''m just tired." He replied, shaking his head a few times.


    "Are you sure that''s what''s wrong?" She asked.


    "Yeah, I wouldn''t say it if it wasn''t what''s wrong." He replied.


    She didn''t exactly buy what he said but it didn''t look like he was going to tell her anything so she decided to move on to something else.


    "Okay, I know you''re tired, but you''ll have to stay awake for a few more minutes."


    "Why?"


    "Because I have a surprise for you." She replied.


    "Surprise? I don''t remember today being my birthday."


    "Yeah, it''s not your birthday but you did do something special."


    "Wait, you mean¡­"


    "Yeah, you guessed correctly." She said before pulling the nylon covering the item on the table to reveal a cake with a writing on it, a writing that read, ''Congrattions on your new record.''


    "Wow." Dave''s face brightened up with a smile as soon as he saw it.


    "I see you like it." She said with a smile on her face.


    "Yeah, I love it, you really went out of your way to get me a cake."


    "Well, I didn''t congratte you back at the stadium so I decided to do it this way." She replied.


    Dave didn''t know what to say and just stared at her with a bright smile on his face.


    "Anyway, I heard you guys have a day off tomorrow." She said.


    "Yeah, what about it?"


    "Well, I also have a day off tomorrow."


    "Really?"


    "Yeah." She replied with a nod. "So, don''t you think we should go somewhere nice and have fun just the two of us?"


    "Just the two of us? Yeah, that would be nice." He replied with a nod.


    "Cool, we''ll talk about where we''ll be goingter then,  but before that, we''ll have to eat this cake." She said before she got up and made her way to the kitchen to get a knife.


    ''The beach would be nice for a day off.'' The goalkeeper thought with his hand on his chin.


    <Wow, what a mood glow up>

 Chapter 362 Dont Steal If You Cant Run

    ?


    Dave wanted to go to the beach just like he said that night but somehow, he ended up going to a bunch of different ces instead.


    Emma didn''t like the idea of them going to the beach in Unique City for obvious reasons, and because none of them wanted to leave the city just for a day, she suggested something else.


    First, they went to the amusement park and did a lot of fun things together, then they went to the zoo and then the museum and other different ces.


    She said to go somewhere and have fun but this felt more like a tour around the city to Dave, he found it enjoyable though.


    His recent performance for Unique FC had caused a spike in his poprity especially in Unique City and that meant that close to seventy percent of the people living in Unique City knew who he was and that meant that he was going to get crowded in most of the ces that he was going to go.


    However, he had a simple solution to that problem and all he needed was just two items, a hoodie and dark sses.


    There were some instances where he had to take them off and that was only when he was alone with Emma in certain ces, once they were back in the public, he would put them back on and they were doing quite well in concealing his identity.


    It would have been easy for all those people to spot Emma beside him and read the situation but most of them despite knowing who she was didn''t exactly know what she looked like, it would be easy to find that out because she was a news reporter.


    Of course, there were those who were able to put the pieces together as soon as they spotted her and fortunately for the two, they were chill fans who didn''t even attempt to make a fuss about it, I guess it''s understandable since smart people are always calm and reasonable.


    Their lost stop for the day was the movie theatre where they went to see a movie that Emma had already bought the tickets for beforehand.


    By the time they were done with that and made their way outside, everywhere was already dark which meant that their daily tour was over.


    "You sure like dragging me around and you made good use of that habit today," Dave said as he walked down the street alongside her.


    "Hey, don''t act like you didn''t enjoy yourself, and saying that I was dragging you around is a blown out-of-proportion exaggeration." She said before turning her gaze to him.


    "Yeah, you''re right, I enjoyed myself a lot today especially since I got to spend it with you, but what in the world is a blown-out-of-proportion exaggeration?"


    "Do you want to know?" She asked with a little giggle.


    The two suddenly stopped under one of the street lights on the street now.


    "No, I know they mean the same thing." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah, but don''t you want to know what they mean for you?" She asked before cing her hand on his chest.


    "For me?"


    "Yeah."


    "Okay, then, tell me."


    "I will, but first you have to remove these." She said before she slowly pulled down his hood and was about to remove the sses when someone suddenly zoomed past them grabbing her bag which was freely hanging on her shoulder in the process.


    <That''s some speed>


    ''Shit, I didn''t know this kind of stuff still existed in this city.''


    He didn''t even give his wife the time to react to her bag getting stolen as he quickly zoomed off in pursuit of the thief.


    "Dave, wait!"


    "Just wait for me there!"


    The thief was really fast when he stole the bag and that was the reason why Dave was quite surprised by how fast he was catching up to him.


    The thief was running out of breath now but he couldn''t stop because Dave was right behind him, so out of desperation, he ran into the dark alley on the left hoping to lose him there.


    Dave cranked up his speed at that moment as he immediately caught up to him and pushed him causing him to crash into therge trashcan by the side.


    As soon as the thief was down, he quickly picked himself up and sent a punch at the goalkeeper''s face.


    He didn''t even try to avoid it maybe because it was too fast for him to do that but when the punch did hit his face, he didn''t flinch and sent a punch of his own into the Thief''s face forcing him to crash back to the floor.


    Before saying anything to him, he quickly bent down and picked up his wife''s bag.


    "You shouldn''t go around robbing people when you know you can''t run that fast."


    "How are you so fast? No one has been able to catch up to me before." The Thief said still breathing heavily.


    "Oh, well, you shouldn''t have attempted to steal my wife''s bag today, maybe your business would still be safe. Either way today is the day you pay for your wrongdoings." The goalkeeper said before dipping his hand into his pocket.


    <Dave, quick knock him out, he has intentions of hurting you><novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Just as Catherine said that, the culprit picked up some kind of rod from the floor but before he could use it, Dave quickly sent a kick on his head.


    That kick was enough to get him on the floor and it didn''t look like he was getting up again.


    ''Thanks, Catherine.'' He said subconsciously before letting out a sigh of relief.


    <It''s my job>


    Just to make sure he was still alive, he bent down beside him and ced his hand on his neck to check his pulse before he brought out his phone from his pocket and ced it against his ear.


    ______ _______


    Emma was still waiting anxiously for her husband in the spot where he left her, there was a bench by the side but her anxiety wouldn''t let her sit down.


    She could have called someone while she was waiting there but that was impossible because her phone was in her bag.


    While she was still waiting there anxiously there, she spotted someone approaching her from the dark side and she was scared at first because there weren''t too many people around until the person entered within the range of the street light.


    "Dave." She said with a voice of relief as she quickly made her way to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Oh, thank goodness, you''re safe."


    "Hmph, I got your bag back." He said with a smile on his face.


    After hearing him say that, she pulled back her face from his body to look at his face.


    "You really¡­."


    She wasn''t able to finish what she wanted to say as she suddenly spotted red liquiding out from both of his nostrils.


    "Why is your nose bleeding?" She said with a panicky voice.


    "It is?" Dave said before wiping the spot with his fingers to see that he was bleeding. "Oh."


    ''When did that happen.''


    <Definitely that punch>


    ''Oh.''


    "Wait, don''t use your hand." She said before she opened her bag while he was still holding it and brought out a white handkerchief which she used to clean the blood properly. "You shouldn''t have gone after him, the only important thing in this bag is my phone."


    "Yeah, but still people shouldn''t take things that aren''t theirs and get away with it, don''t worry, he was only able to hit me once."


    "And where is he now?"


    "The police should be picking him up by now." He replied.


    "Oh, okay." She said before cing her head on his chest. "I sure didn''t expect our day to end this way."


    "Nobody expects bad things, let''s go home."


    _____ _____


    After that day, it was back to work for Emma, and as for Dave, he went back to training for their match against Lazio on the sixth of September.


    The fifth of September came by pretty fast, the day the squad was going to make their trip to Rome, Italy.


    They were set to move out by 2:00 PM and the time now being 1:30 PM, all the yers listed in the squad for tomorrow''s match were already at the airport.


    Most yers were making their way into the ne but Dave was still standing outside with Mateo, Minino, and Adolf as the four seemed to be discussing something.


    "Facing an Italian club for the first time is sure going to be fun," Minino said before stretching both of his hands.


    "Yeah, but it could be dreadful depending on how we approach the match," Adolf said.


    "Oh,e on Adolf, make a choice, are you trying to motivate us or demoralize us?" Minino questioned.


    "No, I''m not trying to demoralize anyone, I''m just putting the thought of a possibility across." The captain said.


    "That can''t be a possibility because we''re going to beat them, we have Dave, there''s no way they''ll be able to do much with him in between the sticks," Mateo said.


    "Um¡­.I can''t really do much if the defense isn''t working to be honest, all it takes to really win a match is a good team and fortunately, we have just that."

 Chapter 363 First Time In Rome

    ?


    The flight to Rome was a bit of a long one given the fact that it took them two hours and twenty-two minutes to get there.


    Once their ne got into Rome, itnded at the closest airport to the Stadio Olimpico, the Rome Ciampino ( CIA ) airport.


    As soon as the ne stopped moving, the yers alighted from the aircraft and were now standing beside it with their pieces of luggage as they waited for the bus that was going toe pick them up.


    "The weather here is quite pleasant," Merino said before taking a deep breath.


    "Yeah, it''s always like this during this period, if you came here around July or August, you wouldn''t call the weather pleasant." Martinez expressed.


    "Oh, well, then I''m d we had toe now."


    "I guess for most of you, it''s your first time in Italy," Martinez said.


    "Yeah, it''s my first time," Dave said with a nod.


    "Me too," Mateo said.


    "I''ve been here on a vacation before but it''s my first timeing to y a match so it is also some kind of new experience," Ferran said.


    It didn''t take long before the bus that was supposed to pick them up showed up and after everyone hopped on, it started making its way to where the yers were going to be staying for the night.


    Dave didn''t bother trying to look out the window throughout their short trip to the hotel as he seemed to be discussing something with Catherine in his mind.


    ''You know, Catherine, I''ve figured out a way to put all my stat points into good use.''


    <And what is that?>


    [ Unused stat points: 14 ]


    ''Since shot stopper and the other two attributes that I am going to unlock in the future eat up arge amount of energy over a small period of time, I''ve decided to focus on getting my energy level up for now.''


    <I see, so, you''re finally thinking outside the box>


    ''Now''s not the time, Catherine. Anyway.''


    [ +7 stat points added to Energy ]


    [ 151/151 Energy ]


    <If you''re focusing on getting it up why not just add everything to it?>


    ''I would love to but my strength and endurance are quite behindpared to my dexterity, it would be okay to leave them like that for a while but for the goalkeeper I''m aiming to be, it''s best to keep things a little close if not bnced.'' He replied.


    By the time they got to the hotel, the sun had almostpletely set.


    The yers made their way inside the hotel and to their rooms which had all been booked in advance.


    Once again, the yers had to share rooms and as always, Dave was sharing a room with Mateo.


    Just like the other ones they''ve shared in the past, this one also had two beds ced opposite each other and the room had a neat interior design unique to Rome.


    After dropping their stuff in the ces they found suitable enough to drop them, Dave stretched both of his hands before turning his gaze to the door.


    "Hey, what do you say we go check out the Stadio Olimpico?" He asked after turning his gaze to Mateo.


    "Right now?" Mateo replied before sitting down on his bed.


    "Yeah, right now," Dave said with a nod.


    "Um¡­I don''t think I can go." The winger said before cing his hand on his right ankle. "I don''t know if it''s because of the type of exercise but my ankle hurts."


    "Your ankle?" Dave said before quickly getting closer to him as the expression on his face suddenly turned into a serious one.


    "It''s nothing serious, it''s just a little pain, I''m sure it will be okay after a while."


    "Are you sure it''s nothing serious?"


    "Yeah, it''s nothing serious, trust me." The winger assured him.


    "Okay, I just hope it''s not something that will affect your performance tomorrow or end up tranting into an injury."


    "None of that is going to happen, don''t worry, Dave."


    "I hope so," Dave said before turning his gaze back to the door. "Well, since you can''t go, I guess I''ll just have to go see it alone."


    Mateo didn''t say anything and just kept his gaze on him until he left the room and closed the door.


    As soon as Dave was gone, his phone which was lying on the bed began to vibrate.


    He quickly turned to check who was calling him and let out a deep sigh as soon as he saw who it was.


    Dave was about to enter the elevator and head down when he heard footsteps behind him and quickly turned around to see Carlos making his way to him.


    "Oh, Carlos." The goalkeeper said as soon as he spotted him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Dave, where are you heading?" He asked.


    "I want to go check the Stadio Olimpico out, what about you?"


    "Well, this is quite the coincidence, that''s where I''m also heading right now," Carlos replied.


    <Looks like you got something to go with you>


    "That''s cool, I was looking for someone to go with and it looks like I found one," Dave said before pushing the number one button to open up the elevator. "Let''s go."


    The two entered the elevator and began making their trip down.


    Carlos was one of the yers who didn''t really enjoy conversations unless it was something important which was why Dave didn''t bother saying anything to him now that they were in the elevator


    He was on his own most of the time, but he didn''t really have any trouble with anybody and would help out whenever he was asked as long as it was something reasonable.


    Being thirty-one years old made him ten years older than Dave and given the fact that he had been in the club for quite a long time, he was the team''s second captain after Adolf.


    After getting to the bottom floor, the two made their way out of the building and we''re now walking down the street to get to the stadium.


    Compared to Switzend, Rome''s nightlife didn''t really look that impressive but there were still a lot of people walking around and the streets looked really lively.


    They were weed by the staff there as soon as they entered the building and one of them had to take them to go see the stadium.


    They were walking down the hallway when they ran into someone.


    A man who looked to be in his early twenties, he had a finely chiseled body but he didn''t look that muscr.


    He also gave off the aura of someone who would be really chill.


    "Oh, hey, Romeo." He said, waving to the staff as soon as both parties ran into each other.


    "Andrea? I didn''t know you were still here." Romeo said.


    "I just wanted to practice for a little while longer today since I didn''t really have anything important to do at home," Andrea replied.


    "Andrea, you mean Andrea Enzo?" Dave said before turning his gaze to the yer.


    "Oh, and you must be Dave Richards, right?"


    "You know me?" Dave asked, sounding quite surprised.


    "Of course, I do, after what you did against FC Basel and how you guys knocked them out, there''s no way I wouldn''t know you plus I like to do a little bit of research about the dangerous opponents of any team I''m facing for the first time." Andrea expressed before turning his gaze to Carlos. "You''re Carlos, right?"


    "Yeah," Carlos replied with a nod.


    "It''s nice to meet the both of you." He said before shaking hands with the both of them.


    "Nice to meet you too," Dave said.


    "You know I was expecting to see Mateo when I saw you since the both of you are together most of the time but I guess he''s not here."


    "Oh, Mateo, he just wants to get a proper rest for tomorrow," Dave said.


    "Oh, I see, I guess I''ll have to wait till tomorrow to meet him, and speaking of rest, I think I should go get a proper rest before I break down, see you guys tomorrow."


    After saying that, he quickly ran off down the hallway until he disappeared.


    <He''s quite friendly>


    ''Yeah, I like him already.''


    It didn''t take long before the two got to the stadium and Dave had only one word to say as soon as he stepped into the area.


    "Wow!"


    He had seen better in Spain but that didn''t mean the Stadio Olimpico wasn''t a stadium to be marveled at, and also the fact that thest stadium they had been to outside Bilbeth was quite smallpared to this made it even more impressive.


    The Wondanimo stadium only had a roof that could cover the main stands but this stadium had a roof that covered everything.


    "Stadio Olimpico, home to S.S. Lazio and AS Roma," Dave muttered as he looked around the area.


    The Stadio Olimpico was shared by Lazio and Roma just like Dave said and although it looked quite impressive andrge, it wasn''t thergest stadium in the league.


    That title belonged to another stadium in the league that was shared between two teams, a stadium shared by the Mn brothers.


    The San Siro, home to Inter Mn and AC Mn.


    [ Advance Quest received ]


    [ Score from your goalpost tomorrow ]


    ''Oh, dear.''

 Chapter 364 S.S. Lazio Vs Unique FC: Match Day One

    ?


    ''Hey, Catherine, you have roughly urate information of what SS Lazio yers should be able to do in a match, right?''


    The goalkeeper was back in his room now and had his gaze on the ceiling as hey on his back.


    <Yeah, I have that kind of information about almost every team in Europe but it''s not as urate as you think>


    ''That''s okay, seeing a little bit of what they can do is okay.'' He said subconsciously before turning his gaze to Mateo to see that he was already fast asleep.


    He returned his gaze to the ceiling and didn''t move it away from there for a while until his eyes began to get heavy and finally, he shut them and dozed off.


    Just a few minutes after falling asleep, he found himself in the empty white space with Catherine standing right in front of him with that expressionless look on her face.


    "What did you do to your hair?" The goalkeeper asked with a puzzled look on his face.


    She had silver hair now and the sses she had on when he saw herst were gone.


    "What, don''t you like it?"


    "No, it''s not that, the silver hair looks fine and you, I just wish you would keep up one appearance." He replied.


    "One appearance? But the only thing I did was change my hair and remove the sses, my face is the same.


    "Yeah, I guess you''re right, just forget it, let''s get on with what I''m here for." He said before shaking his head.


    "Okay."


    As soon as she said that, the whole scenery began to change as he suddenly found himself standing between the sticks in the Stadio Olimpico with the pitch filled with his teammates and SS Lazio yers.


    The stands were filled with fans from both teams and they were all cheering loudly for the team they were supporting.


    It looked like Lazio were going to be the ones to start the match from the kick-off spot as a yer with the name Carrigher written above the number nine on the back of his jersey was standing over the ball there.


    He was obviously waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he quickly passed the ball to his closest teammate.


    Dave was quite surprised by how well his fake teammates were able to control the game but he sure had a lot of shots to deal with and almost all of them came from outside the box.


    Andrea Enzo managed to find his way around Rnd with neat footwork and once he got a little closer to the edge of the box, he fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    Fortunately, the ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost meaning that it was quite close to Dave who was able to easily send it over the bar with a punch.


    "That''s the fourth shot from him in fifteen minutes." The goalkeeper muttered with a puzzled look on his face.


    ''They have yers who canfortably score from a distance, if you didn''t leave at that time, you would have known that this is the reason why your coach wants two defensive midfielders in this match.'' Catherine exined.


    "yers that canfortably score from outside the box, that''s scary but, noted."


    _________ ________


    The goalkeeper spent thirty minutes there which was the time required for the night to be exhausted in the real world.


    He wasn''t able to finish that match but he was able to learn a couple of things from it.


    ''Fierce but somehow we managed to get a goal without them scoring.'' He said subconsciously before sitting up on his bed.


    <Yeah, you did a good job of stopping them without using any of your abilities>


    Dave didn''t reply to that as he turned his gaze toward Mateo''s bed to see that he wasn''t there.


    "He left already?" He muttered before picking up his phone to see that the time was just 6:00 AM.


    The match was set to kick off by 4:00 PM and that meant that the yers had some time for a training session before the match.


    Norman took his boys to the Stadio Olimpico in the morning for a short training session before they returned to the hotel to rest and get ready for the match.


    "I''m quite surprised they didn''t show up until we ended our session," Dave said before slowly sitting down on his bed.


    "Maybe they''re going to do itter before the match starts or they''re not nning to train until the pre-match warm-up," Mateo said before pulling off his shirt.


    "Yeah, maybe," Dave said before getting up from his bed. "I''m going to take a shower."


    _______ _______


    There was an hour left before the match kicked off and right now the yers from both teams were on the pitch warming up for the match.


    Dave was supposed to be in the goalpost telling someone to try a shoot out against him, but he was out on the pitch juggling a ball with both of his feet and other parts of his body.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Hey, Dave, pass the ball over here," Fredinho said as he made his way to the goalkeeper from behind.


    "Sure," Dave said before he quickly turned toward him and sent the ball flying to the striker.


    Fredinho stopped the ball with his head before he brought it down and began to joggle it with his feet.


    "You know I was just talking with their goalkeeper." He said before sending the ball back to Dave who was able to neatly catch the ball with his foot in mid-air.


    "Jorge?"


    "Yeah, he seems to be quite excited to face us and he asked me to tell you if he could get your shirt after the match." Fredinho expressed before catching the ball with his foot.


    "Oh, sure, but he could have juste to ask himself, I also wanted his shirt," Dave said.


    "Um¡­.he seemed to be quite busy with what he was doing, I was the one who went over to his side." The striker said.


    <Lazio yers are quite nice, don''t you think>


    ''Yeah, they seem to be nice people but does that extend to the pitch.''


    <Nobody is nice in a football match, Dave, every yer will do everything possible to make sure his team wins and you''re no exception>


    ''Yeah, you got that right, you have to be ruthless when you''re fighting for something.''


    There was only ten minutes left before the match kicked off and right now, the yers from both teams were lined up in the tunnel''s exit waiting for the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    Lazio were putting on their normal home jersey which was the blue shirt and white shorts kit and their goalkeeper was putting on a lemon-green kit just like Dave.


    Unique FC, on the other hand, were putting on their custom-made away kit made specifically for the Europa Conference league.


    It was a ck kit with broken orange stripes on the upper part and a couple of orange polka dots below, the short was just in ck.


    The yers stayed for just a few minutes before they were given the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    "Wee to our viewers from all around the world, it''s your regrmentator Jim Waterson and with me here as you all have guessed already is Mr. Steve Jefferson." Jim expressed as the yers made their way to the pitch.


    "Wee everyone, it''s match day one of the Europa conference league group stage and we have Lazio facing off against a team that hasn''t been in thispetition for a while." Steve articted.


    "It was a really close call for them in the second leg of that qualifiers match, FC Basel were quite close to eliminating them, but Mateo came in clutch to make sure his team made it this far," Jim said. "Unique FC has been an outstanding team this season both in the league and in Europe, I can''t wait to see how this match will turn out."


    The captains from both teams went to the officials for the coin toss, and at the end of the day, Lazio ended up winning which meant that they were going to choose a goalpost first and were going to be the ones to start the match from the kick-off spot.


    [ Conjoined quest received ]


    [ Thwart two counterattack opportunities ]


    [ Make seven crucial saves ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +2 attribute points ]


    [ +150 exp ]


    [ +3 stat points ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points ]


    ''At least it''s not linked to the one I got yesterday.'' He said subconsciously as he made his way to his goalpost.


    Carrigher was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly passed the ball to the midfielder close to him who immediately sent it flying toward Andrea who had just zoomed past Rnd.


    "Oh, it''s that quick kickoff attack."


    Andrea could have done something with that chance but unfortunately for him, Dave got to the ball first and sent it flying out toward their side and out for a throw-in.


    "Wow, Dave Richards'' gotten really fast, or has he always been that fast?"


    "You seem to be quite better than I thought," Andrea muttered before he turned and slowly began to move back to his side.


    "That''s one opportunity thwarted," Dave muttered after letting out a sigh.

 Chapter 365 Free-Kick Master

    ?


    The match had just entered the fifteenth minute now and so far, there had been no breakthrough from either side.


    As expected, Lazio had been trying their tricky long-range shots and two out of those three shots were quite close to going in but Dave was able to get to them on time and stop Lazio from taking the lead against them.


    Lazio was going all attack on them just like their formation suggested.


    They were ying a four-three-three formation with two attacking midfielders and a defensive midfielder who seemed to be causing a lot of trouble offensively.


    Unique FC on the other hand were ying with a four-four-two formation that had two attacking midfielders and two defensive midfielders.


    The attack was being led by Mateo alongside Merino and in midfield we had Ferran and Minino upfront and Frankie and Martinez behind them as the defensive midfielders.


    Norman was in the right back position, Rnd in left back and the center was upied by both Adolf and Aima.


    Unique FC were the ones with the ball now and they were neatly passing it around, moving forward with it with every opportunity and looking for any opening to strike their opponents from.


    So far, they had only been able to make one goal attempt which ended up flying over the bar, but they were looking forward to doubling it and getting a goal with it.


    Lazio''s midfield looked quite impressive in attacks and somewhat controlling the game, but in terms of fluidity, Unique FC had the better midfield.


    Frankie received the ball from Mateo after the winger almost lost it to one of the midfielders.


    The midfielder moved forward with the ball a little, and just before the yer quickly heading toward him could get to him, he sent the ball rolling to Minino.


    Minino got hold of the ball as the midfielder on his side quickly rushed toward him at that moment, but before he could get to him, he sent the ball rolling to Merino with a backheel pass.


    "Lazio are being quite aggressive with the way they''re chasing the ball here," Jimmented.


    "Looks like they''re trying to overwhelm Unique FC but if they''re not careful, they''ll end up overwhelming themselves instead."


    Ferran received the ball from Merino and gave it a single push before he sent it flying over to Mateo.


    The winger had the right back hot on his trail and after bringing the ball down with his chest, his path was blocked by the yer, right at the edge of the sideline near the box.


    Mateo tried to confuse him with fast leg movements and it looked like that worked quite well as he ended up getting past the defender with a nutmeg.


    "Oh, he''s through here."


    The winger raced toward the box and was about to enter it when he was suddenly brought down with a horrendous tackle from an attacking midfielder who had the name Ryan written above the number eight on the back of his jersey.


    "Oh, that is a horrendous challenge."


    The referee didn''t need anyone to confirm anything to him as he blew his whistle before quickly getting closer to the area even the lineman had his g up.


    Mateo was expected to stay on the floor after a challenge like that, but he got up like nothing happened to him.


    Ryan could have gotten a red card there and none of his teammates would have solid ground toin but the referee decided to show him a yellow card.


    There were Unique FC yers who weren''t happy about that, but none of them made a fuss about it.


    "To be honest that should have been a straight red card if this was some referee, Ryan should just keep himself in check or else he''s going to get sent out in this match and miss their next match." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, but that aside for now, Unique FC have a really good scoring opportunity now. This is a massive scoring opportunity if you consider how great Mateo''s free-kick conversion rate has been so far this season."


    "Yeah."


    Both Mateo and Ferran were standing over the ball now, something that was done sometimes to make the fans, opponents, and everyone else confused about who was going to take the free kick.


    Lazio formed their four-man wall inside the box and as cautious as they were, they didn''t forget to put someone below.


    "I think Ferran is going to leave it for Mateo but he could take it, who knows," Jim said.


    "I think leaving it for him is the reasonable thing to do," Steve said.


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle and now it was time to find out who was going to be taking the free-kick.


    "Who''s it going to be?"


    Ferran raced toward the balls and pulled his leg back before quickly jumping over it.


    At that same time, Mateo had gotten close enough to the ball as he was right behind the midfielder.


    He quickly pulled his right foot back and sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The ball seemed to be flying a little to the left at first until it suddenly curled toward the top left-hand corner.


    Jorge dived toward it with his right hand to try and stop it but he was only able to get the tip of his glove on it as the ball ended up hitting the angle between the post and crossbar before falling into the goalpost.


    It looked like Unique FC fans held their breath as soon as the winger kicked the ball as they immediately burst into screams.


    "Oh, my goodness, what a free-kick!"


    Mateo wasn''t even given the chance to celebrate on his own after scoring that goal as Minino quickly dashed toward him and pushed him down before the rest of his teammates got to him.


    "What a neatly struck free-kick, I don''t know about you Jim, but I think his free-kick technique might just be better than Ciro''s," Steve remarked.


    "I have to agree with you there, Steve, but still it''s a bit too early to start debating about who''s the better free-kick taker," Jim said. "Back to the match, Lazio didn''t expect it but Unique FC has just shocked them to take the lead in the twenty-first minute."


    "Mateo just keeps getting better and better," Mateo said with a face beaming with a smile.


    <He knows what he''s fighting, this is his first time in a Europeanpetition and he wants to leave a good first impression even though it isn''t the Champions League or Europa League, he wants to be the best but you wouldn''t hear someone like him telling anyone about it>


    ''Yeah, I get that feeling about him too.''


    <He''s done his part now and you guys have the lead, make sure you guys don''t bottle this>


    ''I''ll do my best, Cat.''


    The match continued with Lazio desperately trying to find an equalizer, but so far, Unique FC were doing a good job of keeping them at bay.


    Andrea received the ball down the wing when Rnd quickly closed up on him and sent the ball out for a throw-in.


    <I didn''t check before but it looks like he''s gotten faster>


    ''Who?''


    <Rnd, you''re the fastest yer in the team now because of how you dumped so many stat points into your dexterity but he''s pretty close to you>


    ''How close?''


    <Very close, I could say the difference is a bit negligible>


    The ball was thrown to Ryan who quickly sent it back to the yer behind him with a backheel pass.


    He pushed forward with the ball a little before he sent it rolling toward Carrigher who quickly passed it to the left forward with a single touch.


    The yer had the name Zahid written above the number seventeen on the back of his jersey and had a pretty dark skin tone, there was no doubt that he was African.


    Zahid got hold of the ball and tried to dribble past Norman but Norman wasn''t giving him any space.


    After seeing that he couldn''t get through easily, he sent the ball rolling back to Ryan who said ''Screw it.'' in his mind before he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    The ball didn''t have that much elevation to it as it flew toward the right side of the goalpost.


    It had quite the shot power to it, but that wasn''t a problem for Dave who quickly dived toward it and caught it with both of his gloves.


    "Nice catch."


    ''I don''t really need ball ma when I can move that fast.''


    <But not every situation requires you to move fast to stop a ball from going in>


    ''I''m aware of that, I wasn''t saying the skill was useless to me now, just saying its usefulness has been reduced to just critical situations.''


    The match had just entered the fortieth minute now as Unique FC were lurking around Lazio''s box looking for a way through.


    Merino received the ball from Ferran and was about to do something with it when it was quickly swept off his feet but before the yer who swept it off could get to it, Martinez got to the ball and sent it flying back to Dave.


    "Um¡­that''s pretty stupid given the fact that they were already cooking up something but he may be on to something," Stevemented.


    "You''re always doing this, Martinez," Dave said as soon as he trapped the ball under his foot.


    After saying that, a smirk suddenly appeared on his face.


    [ Shot stopping attribute activated ]

 Chapter 366 The Source Of Danger

    ?


    [ +10 stat points added to all stat ]


    [ Additional+10 stats added to strength ]


    [ Strength: 40(+20) ]


    [ Dexterity: 70(+10) ]


    [ Endurance: 56(+10) ]


    That was what his stats looked like before he sent the ball flying toward Lazio''s goalpost with a powerful shot.


    "He''s going for that rocket shot!"


    Jorge was a bit off his line but he was able to move back on time and get his right hand on the ball.


    He seeded in getting his hand on the ball as it hit his hand before flying up further to hit the crossbar.


    This time it didn''t fly over the bar and ended up flying back into the box toward Fredinho who made no mistake in heading it into the box while the goalkeeper was still off bnce.


    "It''s in! They''re two goals up with just four minutes left!" Jim eximed as Fredinho raced to the sidelines screaming as loud as he could.


    "He stopped Dave''s rocket shot but he couldn''t put it over and Fredinho was there to send it home," Stevemented.


    ''I was aiming to score by myself but I guess going two goals up is all that matters no matter who scored the goal.''


    "Causing offensive troubles from the goalpost is not something you will see from a goalkeeper unless the goalkeeper is Dave Richards."


    The fans were going wild now and all you could hear them chanting was Dave''s name.


    It was pretty obvious that he got more credit for that goal than Fredinho even though it wasn''t an assist from him.


    "When I heard he could shoot rockets, I didn''t it to be like this," Jorge muttered under his breath as he slowly got up from the floor.


    There was no doubt that Lazio yers had devastated looks on their faces, going two goals behind in the first half wasn''t a good thing and unless they could think of a way topletely subdue Unique FC in the second half, they were going to lose this match.


    ''So, what level two shot-stopper does is add an extra ten stat points to my strength but there is no extra bonus for dexterity and endurance.'' Dave said subconsciously with his gaze on his system screen.


    <You forgot to add that your energy drops faster nowpared to how it was at level one>


    [ 88/151 Energy ]


    ''That''s not a problem, I''ll just y it cool for now, the first ising to an end soon anyway, the skill will deactivate as soon as the referee blows his whistle and my Energy will start recovering.''


    <Activating the skill close to the first half''s end was a pretty good idea, you''re starting to catch on quite well>


    ''If the shot-stopper increases my strength boost in level two ignoring the others and will keep on doing that as its level progresses then that means the sweeper keeper attribute will increase my dexterity as its level progresses and ignore.''


    <Okay, I''m just going to say this one, that''s pretty good, figuring it out as soon as you saw how shot stopper improved>


    ''It wasn''t really that hard to figure out.''


    The match continued with Lazio trying all they could to pull one at least and Dave really wished they didn''t try so hard with just a few minutes to go.


    Still, with the help of his activated attribute, he was able to easily stop all their attempts until the referee blew his whistle to bring the first half to an end.


    "That was a pretty hecticst three minutes for Unique FC, Lazio were totally running over them, and I''m quite surprised they weren''t able to pull one back. They should have pulled one back but it''s a good thing Unique FC have Dave in between the sticks to take care of those close calls." Jim expressed.


    [ 25/151 ]


    [ Shot stopper attribute deactivated ]


    ''I''m d that''s over.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before letting out a sigh of relief.


    <Yeah, that was quite hectic>


    "It''s like Unique FC just switched off during thosest minutes, it could have been costly for them but luckily for them, they still have their two-goal lead," Stevemented. "They looked quite mediocre and if they don''te up with a smart way to deal with Lazio''s aggressiveness in the second half, they were dealing with it quite well until thest minutes."


    Unique FC yers were all in the locker room now with Norman standing in front of them.


    He was happy that his team was leading two goals to nothing at the end of the first half but he didn''t look calm and there was a good exnation.


    "Listen guys, there''s no doubt that we will lose this lead if we rx in the second half or start making any mistakes and the worst part is that the only method I had to stop them while also taking our chances doesn''t seem like it willst much longer." He expressed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "So, what are you saying, coach?" Adolf asked.


    "I am saying that if they get too aggressive in the second half, then we will have to PARK THE BUS."


    ________ ________


    <Watching hime up with all those smart tactics, he never came off to me as someone who would park the bus against a team but I guess people can do anything in dire situations>


    ''Yeah, like he said, the most important thing is going through to the knockout stage and if we''re going to seed in doing that, we''ll need to win this match through any means possible.''


    The yers were making their way to the pitch now as the second half of the match was about to kick off.


    "Wee back, everyone, the second half of this interesting match is about to kick off as we can see the yers from both teams making their way to the pitch now," Jim said. "The first half was a st, Lazio FC dominated the game in almost every aspect but somehow, Unique FC managed to get the ball into their goalpost twice while they have failed to score once against them so far, let''s see how they respond in this half."


    Since Lazio started the game from the kick-off spot in the first half, Unique FC were going to be the ones to do it in this half.


    Fredinho was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly rolled the ball to Mateo who immediately sent the ball rolling back to Martinez.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way," Jim said.


    "Unique FC will like to cling on to this lead for as long as they can."


    Unique FC were doing quite well in holding onto the ball so far and it didn''t look like they had any intention of attacking as they seemed to be pushing the ball back just after going a little further on their opponent''s side.


    That was until¡­


    Ferran got the ball taken off his feet in his attempt to dribble Ryan but before he could do anything with it, the ball was swept off his feet with a neat tackle from Rnd.


    "What a way to get the ball back."


    As soon as the left back got hold of the ball, he got up and zoomed off with it down the wing.


    He raced toward the box and just before getting to it, he tipped it over into the box as he found Fredinho there with only one yer with him.


    Fredinho had the height advantage there so he was able to get his head on the ball.


    His touch was on point as the ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost but it didn''t have that much power to it so Jorge was able to get to it and tip it over the bar for a corner kick.


    "Oh, that was so close, great save from Jorge," Jim said.


    "They have a corner kick to deal with now."


    Ferran quickly rushed to the spot as it was his time to find someone in the box and hope that they go three goals up.


    He stood over the ball as the referee made sure everything was ready and was he was sure that there was nothing out of ce, he blew his whistle.


    Ferran slowly took two steps backward before he closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    The ball was nodded back by a Lazio defender before it fell to the foot of another defender who quickly set the ball flying toward Carrigher to set him up for a counterattack.


    The ball was sent flying past the striker close to the line dividing both sides but before he could get to it, Dave was already there.


    "Taking the risk of leaving his goalpost once again."


    He got hold of the ball and could have easily passed it to Martinez who was close by, but he quickly got past the striker with the ball before he sent it flying toward Lazio''s goalpost.


    "When was thest time I saw a goalkeeper attempting a dribble far away from his goalpost?"


    The ball was sent flying toward the left side and was about to go out when Mateo slid toward it and sent it flying in toward the goalpost with his foot.


    Jorge blocked the unexpected shot with his body but unfortunately for him, the rebound was sent rolling toward Ferran who was all alone in the middle.


    The midfielder didn''t have any trouble putting that away.


    "Oh, my goodness! It''s the third one! They''re three goals up!"


    Ferran quickly rushed toward Mateo who was still trying to get up from the floor and pulled him down before Minino and the others got to them.


    "I know that goal happened as a result of Mateo getting to that ball before it went past the line but it also wouldn''t have happened without the balling in like that," Stevemented.


    "Yeah, it looks like Dave has been the source of danger so far."

 Chapter 367 Unbelievable!

    ?


    Unique FC were now three goals up with fifty-seven minutes on the clock.


    There was a lot of time left for Lazio to make aeback but it didn''t look like Unique FC were going to make that easy for them as they seemed to have switched to a more defensive style of y.


    They had not parked the bus yet and that was because Norman instructed them to only do that if Lazio got too aggressive or somehow managed to pull one back and because of how they didn''t immediately park the bus, they were able to get a third goal.


    Ryan was approaching Martinez with the ball now and it looked like he was going to attempt to dribble past him, but on second thought, he canceled that idea and sent the ball rolling to Zahid on the left.


    "Zahid," Jim said as soon as he got his foot on the ball. "He has the most assists in the Serie A so far this season nine assists in eleven matches but he has been rather quiet so far in this match."


    "Yeah, I''m sure the fans would love to see a little bit of something from him."


    Zahid was cornered by Norman now as he seemed to have moved the ball too far down the wing.


    He tried to dribble past Norman but he wasn''t able to outwit him so he decided to use speed.


    With his speed, he was able to get past the left back just a little before he sent the ball rolling into the box toward Carrigher.


    That could have been costly for Unique FC but Adolf was able to get to the ball from right behind Carrigher with a slide and that was all he needed to push the ball out for a corner kick.


    "Nice defending from Adolf, that could have been costly," Jimmented.


    "Yeah, and now they have a corner kick to deal with."


    Carrigher was brought down when Adolf came from behind to prevent that chance.


    He sat up on the floor immediately and raised his hand calling for a foul but the referee wasn''t buying it, he was close to the area when it happened and he saw quite well that the defender got to the ball first.


    Zahid was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle as the other yers from both teams ran around inside the box.


    ''In the past, corner kicks have always been the point where I get really nervous in a match, excluding penalty kicks of course.'' Dave said as he pulled down his gloves.


    <And now?>


    ''I say, bring it on.''


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle and now it was over to Zahid.


    The winger slowly took two steps backward and observed the movement inside the box for a while before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying in.


    The ball was sent flying toward Carrigher, but before the striker could get his head on the ball, Dave got to it with both of his hands and punched it out.


    "Dave steps up to clear the danger but it doesn''t seem to be over yet."


    Jim''s reason for making that statement was that the ball fell toward a Lazio yer who didn''t hesitate in passing it to Ryan.


    Dave was still trying to get up from the floor when Ryan sent the ball flying toward the farthest right side of the goalpost.


    It only had a little bit of elevation to it but it was carrying quite the power.


    Dave was caught off guard as the ball zoomed past him but luckily for the team, Rnd was right there to block the ball with his right foot.


    The rebound came rolling toward Ferran who didn''t waste any time passing it to Dave so that he could pick it up.


    He had to trap it with his foot before picking it up because of the backpass rule.


    "Wow, that was really close, Ryan was really close to pulling back one for his team, but Rnd said no." Jim expressed. "This is one of the ways Unique FC has been taking care of things, when Dave gets put in situations where he can''t really do anything then the defense shows up to make sure they don''t concede."


    "Yeah, it''s quite surprising how they were known for their bad defensest season but this season, they have the best defense in the Bilbeth Premier League, they have conceded the least amount of goals in the league so far just one less than Supreme United." Steve expressed.


    "That was a really close one," Dave muttered under his breath as he slowly got up from the floor with the ball.


    There was no chance for him to do anything cheeky, but still, he had to send the ball in.


    <This team looks quite fit to perform even in the champions league, the only problem is the team rotation. Jonas is the only one avable to rece Rnd if anything ever happens to him, there''s not really anyone in the team who can do what Mateo does and then there''s the case of you and a proper goalkeeper¡­.>


    ''Yeah, I get your point.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    He interrupted her before she could finish speaking.


    ''The club just needs enough money to clear some debts and bring in a couple of good yers and all that is going to happen soon.''


    <I wonder about that><novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''You know you seem to be talking quite a lot today, it''s a little bit out of character for you.''


    <Fine, I''ll keep quiet then>


    ''No, that''s not¡­.oh, just forget it.''


    The match had just entered the eightieth minute now, and so far, Lazio had not been able to produce any goal.


    They were being really aggressive forcing Unique FC to get more defensive to have a chance of keeping them at bay.


    They still weren''t parking the bus yet, but they were more defensive now while looking for ways to get through Lazio because this was the part where certain teams begin to make mistakes in matches.


    Adapting a more defensive style of y now meant that Unique FC weren''t attacking that much and Mateo didn''t seem to be actively doing anything anymore besides passing the ball around whenever he got it.


    The statistics board was proof of how aggressive Lazio had been so farpared to Unique FC.


    They had twenty-seven shots so far in the game with twelve of them being on target while Unique FC had only nine with just five being on target.


    Unique FC were the ones with the ball now after Edward got it off Carrigher with a smart move.


    He passed the ball to Ferran who quickly sent it to Mateo who sent it straight back to him with a single touch.


    "Looks like they''re just nning to stall time, finally decided to park that bus, haven''t they?"


    They continued to pass the ball around like that with Lazio yers chasing it until¡­.


    Mateo got hold of the ball down the left wing with the midfielder there quickly moving closer to him but that was a mistake on his side as the winger quickly cut back with the ball before zooming off down the middle.


    "Mateo''s making a move with the ball, what''s he nning?"


    After getting a little closer to the box, he sent the ball rolling to Carlos before making a quick run into the box.


    Carlos moved a little forward with the ball before he quickly trapped back with it and passed it to Ferran who sent it floating in with his first touch.


    He was looking for Mateo but unfortunately, he seemed to have overhit it as the ball was sent flying right into the hands of Jorge.


    "That could have tranted into something."


    That match continued from that point till the nieth minute.


    Eight minutes were added to the match and although there was practically no hope left for them, Lazio just got more desperate.


    Andrea, who had been doing everything so far to make sure his team didn''t lose, raced down the right wing with the ball and just before he could run into Rnd, he sent the ball rolling to Ryan.


    Ryan wasn''t able to do anything with the ball though as it was quickly swept off his feet by Edward bringing him down in the process.


    Whether that was a foul or not was debatable but the referee didn''t blow his whistle so y continued.


    The midfielder passed the ball to Minino who stretched it further toward Ferran.


    Ferran moved a little forward with the ball before passing it to Mateo who quickly took off with it.


    He raced down the wing before he quickly cut back with the ball and sent it rolling to Rnd.


    Nobody really expected the wingback to shoot from that position and distance but he did it anyway.


    He fired the ball toward the top left-hand side of the goalpost with his left foot.


    Jorge quickly dived toward the ball whilst he was a bit off bnce and although he managed to get his hand on it, it was a tricky shot as the ball curled away from his hand a bit and hit the post before falling into the goalpost.


    "I can''t believe it, they''re four goals up."


    This time there was no yelling because he was really shocked.


    There wasn''t much of a celebration from Rnd who just raised both of his hands before he began to make his way back to his side of the pitch.


    Minino wasn''t going to leave him alone, obviously.


    "If I was told this morning that Unique FC woulde to the Stadio Olimpico and destroy S.S. Lazio, I wouldn''t believe it, it''s a good thing it happened right before me," Stevemented.

 Chapter 368 Its Been A While

    ?


    That fourth goal going in was the point where Lazio yers finally realized that there was really nothing they could do to reverse the oue of this match, and even if they wanted to try and pull one back, they weren''t given that chance as the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end a few minutes after y resumed.


    "That''s the whistle it is all over!" Jim said. "It''s quite hard to believe but Unique FC just came to the Stadio Olimpico and trashed S.S Lazio, I never ruled out them being able to beat Lazio but trashing them."


    "I think Lazio yers were way toox with them, especially during the first half, their attack worked quite hard to get a result but the defense really didn''t do much to stop Unique FC.


    "That plus the fact that Unique FC put in a massive amount of effort in their defense to make sure that the home team didn''t get the ball past them and it all worked out for them. They''re at the top of the table with three points and four goals without any deduction."


    Despite that terrible result, there were a couple of Lazio yers who didn''t storm off the pitch immediately and even took the time to catch up with some Unique FC yers, exchange a couple of words and even shirts.


    Andrea was even smiling as he spoke with Mateo while the two made their way out of the pitch.


    As expected, Dave was speaking with Jorge now as the two slowly made their way to the sidelines.


    "As a goalkeeper, you have one heck of a monstrous shot power even from that far," Jorge said.


    The amusement he felt after facing that shot wasn''t gone yet.


    "Thanks," Dave replied with a smile.


    "If you weren''t also so good in goalkeeping I would have suggested that you change position.


    <You know at first I thought he didn''te to meet you then because his English wasn''t that good but I guess I was wrong>


    ''Yeah, that''s a relief.''


    "You know, you''re the first person to factor in my goalkeeping ability when saying something like this. A lot of people just say that I''ll be good on the field and that it would be wise to switch position." The goalkeeper said.


    "Don''t listen to them, you''re a great goalkeeper, whatever you can do with your legs helps in making you a different kind of goalkeeper, a unique goalkeeper." Jorge expressed.


    "I guess you understand because you''re a goalkeeper too."


    "Well, of course, I''m aware that we get underrated a lot but I don''t want to talk about that." He said. "Um¡­about that shirt I asked for during the warm-up session."


    "Yeah, I almost forgot," Dave said before he pulled off his shirt to reveal the ck vest he was wearing under.


    Jorge also removed his shirt and exchanged it for Dave''s.


    "Thanks, Dave." He said before he began to walk past the goalkeeper. "I''ll see you in Bilbeth. I''m just a goalkeeper so I can''t really say but I know things won''t end like this next time."


    "I''ll be looking forward to it."


    <This team has a different breed of yers, talking to you like that even after losing four goals to nothing>


    ''It''s called good sportsmanship, Catherine, but still¡­you''re right, they have really nice and friendly yers.''


    "Alright, Mateo, I''ll see you in the next one," Andrea said as he gave the winger a rub on the head before he turned around and quickly made his way down the tunnel.


    Mateo didn''t say anything and just let out a deep sigh.


    "He seems to like you a lot."


    He quickly turned around to see Ferran standing there with a nk expression on his face.


    "Yeah, I''ve never met a yer who was this nice to me after losing the match," Mateo said.


    "Yeah, it''s quite odd, just be careful."


    Mateo wanted to respond to that but Ferran didn''t give him the chance as he quickly walked past the winger and made his way down the tunnel.


    As expected, Mateo was announced as the man of the match at the end of the match and when he went down the tunnel, he was given his award.


    The yers were all back in the locker room now and that included Dave who was busy looking at his system.


    [ Quest failed ]


    [ You failed to score from your goalpost ]


    [ Conjoined questpleted ]


    [ You thwarted two counterattack opportunities ]


    [ You made seven crucial saves ]


    [ +2 attribute points received ]


    [ +150 exp received ]


    [ +3 stat points received ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points received ]


    ''At least Ipleted the one with the most rewards.''


    [Post-match rewards ]


    [ Nine crucial saves: +90 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded (0): +150 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 8.4 ]


    ''I guess I yed a very important role in keeping this clean sheet.''


    <Yeah, anybody would be able to see that>


    ''The amounts of shots I had to face in this match was quite overwhelming, it''s a good thing the ones that were really close to going in ended up going out.''


    The goalkeeper was still deep in his thought when Mateo suddenly pulled him closer to his body.


    "Hey, Dave, smile." He said before raising his phone.


    The goalkeeper had no choice but to smile but it was pretty clear that he was unaware of the winger wanting to take a selfie with him.


    ________ ________<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The yers made their trip back to Bilbeth that evening and ended up reaching their destination by 8:30 PM.


    After reaching the stadium, the yers made cars and drove home to get some rest just like they deserved after doing what they did today.


    Emma was lying on the couch going through her phone when the door was suddenly pushed open by Dave who slowly walked into the house before closing the door.


    She quickly sat up on the couch just to be sure it was him, and as soon as she saw his face, she crashed down back on the couch.


    "Wee back." She said with her gaze on her phone.


    Dave didn''t say anything until he got to the couch and sat down.


    "How''re you doing? I hope you didn''t miss me too much."


    "I was at work all day so, of course, I didn''t."


    "Oh, is that so?" Dave said before he leaned closer to her and took her phone from her.


    "Hey, give it back." She said before stretching her hand to grab her phone but Dave wasn''t going to let her take it that easily.


    He raised his hand to put the phone out of her reach before pressing his body down in hers to prevent her from getting up.


    "You seem to be in a bad mood tonight, did anything happen at work or are you on another mood swing?"


    "Nothing happened at work, I don''t why I''m angry, it''s frustrating." She said before shaking her head. "Please get off me."


    "Mood swing." He muttered before slowly getting up from her body.


    He also dropped her phone back on her body before getting up from the couch.


    "Where are you going?"


    "Oh, I''m not going anywhere," Dave said before he dipped his hand into his pocket and brought out a small round case.


    "What''s that?"


    "It''s just a little something I bought for you." He said before handing it over to her.


    "For me?" She said before taking it.


    She slowly opened the case and picked up what was inside to see that it was a silver-coated ne with a tiny heart-shaped crystal on the part that was meant to stick out.


    "A ne." She muttered.


    "I know it''s nothing special but I saw it in a ss showcase and thought it would look nice on you so I bought it." He expressed.


    "Who said it''s not something special, I think it''s beautiful and besides, any gift from you is something special." She said smiling at him.


    "Any gift?"


    "Yeah, as long as it''s something I can use or something we can use in the house." She said.


    "Oh."


    "Sorry about the way I acted earlier." She muttered.


    "Don''t worry about it."


    "I know you must be hungry." She said before getting up from the couch. "I made something a few minutes ago."


    After saying that, she quickly made her way to the kitchen.


    Dave had to follow her because he was thirsty and needed to grab a drink.


    Emma was standing near the microwave when he walked in so it was pretty clear that she was warming something.


    "You know I watched the second half of your match today." She said as soon as she saw him enter the kitchen.


    "You watched it at work?" Dave said before opening the freezer.


    "Yeah, I had nothing to do at that time so I just watched it."


    "Oh."


    "You guys were pretty fierce, I wish you yed like this against Supreme United, you would have won that match."


    "Yeah, we''ll keep that in mind for the next time we face them."


    "The first round of the Bilbeth Super Cup is starting next week, right?"


    "Yeah." He said as he slowly walked over to her side to grab a cup.


    He had just finished pouring himself a ss of water and was about to pour it down his mouth when she opened the microwave.


    "I forgot to tell you earlier, but my dad is visiting tomorrow." She said.


    As soon as Dave heard that, he quickly spilled the water in his mouth before turning his gaze to her.


    "Your dad?"


    "Yeah." She said with a nod.


    "Oh, do I have to be here?"


    "Yeah, he picked tomorrow because he knows you don''t have any match or training session."


    "Oh."


    <You know this is going to be a nice visit for him, it''s been a while since you two have seen each other>


    ''Yeah, and what about me? I don''t think it''s going to be a nice visit for me.''

 Chapter 369 A Day With My In-Law

    ?


    The sun was already up in the sky as a brand new day for people to get up and go about their businesses hade up.


    While there were people who had gone to take care of the things they had to take care of that day, there were also those who had no particr thing to do for that day.


    Mateo was lying on his bed and since there was really nothing for him to do that day, he didn''t really feel like getting up.


    He wanted to sleep in a little longer but after getting up, he couldn''t get himself to fall asleep again so he justy there with his gaze on the ceiling and a lot of thoughts going through his mind.


    He stayed like that for a while without saying anything until his phone which was lying behind him began to ring and vibrate at the same time.


    He didn''t react to it immediately as he kept his gaze on the ceiling for a few more seconds before he turned to check who was calling him.


    "Hmph, it''s been a while." He said as soon as he found out who was calling him.


    After saying that, he pushed the answer button.


    "Hey, girlie, how''re you doing?"


    "Girlie?" Sofia said as her voice resounded through the phone''s speaker.


    "Yeah, how''re you doing?"


    "I''m doing fine, what about you?" She replied after letting out a sigh.


    "I''m doing great, thanks for asking." He said before stretching himself on the bed. "You haven''t called for a while but somehow you seem to know when I have nothing to do and that''s when you call."


    "Yeah, and you never bother to call during those free periods."


    "Sorry, it''s just that¡­."


    "Oh, don''t worry, I wasn''tining or anything, if you were avoiding my calls that would be a problem so it''s okay." She expressed.


    "Oh."


    "So, I''m guessing that you''re still in bed now."


    "Yeah," Mateo replied. "What are you doing?"


    "Oh, I''m in the shop, I told my dad I was going to help him today."


    "Are you sure that''s really the reason why you''re there?"


    "What do you mean? I don''t have any ulterior motives."


    "You said it yourself, what is it this time? Socks¡­."


    "I need new boots." She said before he could finish asking what he wanted to ask.


    "New boots again? What happened to the ones you tookst time?"


    "It makes my feet feel stuffy now so I can''t keep on using it, this time I''m actually working for the boots so like I said, there is no ulterior motive." She exined.


    "Oh, I see, that''s good."


    "I heard you guys trashed Lazio four goals to nothing yesterday."


    "Yeah, it was a tough match but we did our best and got the result we wanted."


    "Who in this world wins a tough match with a four-goal margin? You guys are starting to grow some massive wings."


    "Massive wing? Maybe."


    "You guys areing to Virreal for your next match, right?"


    "Yeah, what about it? Are you nning oning there?"


    "Actually, that''s part of the reason why I''m working in the shop today."


    "Huh?"


    "I told my dad to go watch the game with me since he doesn''t allow me to go to far ces on my own but he said he wasn''t going to be busy, but we made a deal. If I work full-time in the shop three times this week, then he''ll allow me to go see it with my uncle who is going over there next week." She exined.


    "Oh, and I take it that you''reing there to support your Spanish brothers."


    "No, I don''t really like Virreal C.F. so I''m going there to support you."


    "Oh."


    "Um¡­.I have to go now, a couple of customers just walked in."


    "Okay, bye."


    "Bye, have a nice day." She said before ending the call.


    After ending the call, the winger rolled away from his phone and turned his gaze back to the ceiling with a warm smile on his face.


    _______ _______


    Dave had just returned from doing his morning exercises and returned to the house to find his nose filled with a spicy and delightful aroma.


    He made his way straight to the kitchen to find Emma there as expected.


    "Something smells nice, what are you making, babe?" He asked as he slowly made his way to her.


    "It''s a new recipe I learned yesterday, you like the aroma then you must surely like the taste." She replied.


    "Yeah, the smell is a representation of the taste in most cases." The goalkeeper said.


    <Yeah, in most cases, in a couple of cases the smell attracts you but the taste leaves you disappointed>


    "You should go take a shower and dress properly, my dad will be here any moment now."


    Hearing that, Dave''s cheerful face suddenly turned gloomy.


    "Yeah, I''m going." He said before he turned around and made his way out of the kitchen.


    ''Can''t that old man just stay in his house and leave us alone.''


    <Well, you are married to his daughter so I don''t think that''s possible><novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''I''m just d Emma is nothing like him attitude-wise.''


    <Are you sure about that? I''m sure she finds it fun to troll you whenever she gets the chance>


    ''Yeah, that''s true but that man takes it to the next level.''


    It took him about twenty minutes to do everything he needed to do upstairs and when he returned to the living room, he found the old man sitting on the couch while Emma was setting up the table.


    ''Oh, he''s here already, great.''


    "Hey, Mr. Smith, how''re you doing?" He asked as he made his way to him.


    "Emma told me that it''s been thirty minutes since you went up there, what were you doing up there, practicing what performance you were going to give me?"


    "Performance?" Dave said with a confused expression on his face.


    "Yeah, a clown performance."


    "Dad," Emma stressed from the dining area. "I never said he has been up there for thirty minutes and quit calling my husband a clown."


    Dave only forced out a littleughter before he slowly retreated to the kitchen to grab a drink.


    <Clown performance, that was a good one>


    ''Keep quiet, Catherine.''


    Emma had just finished setting up the table now and that meant that it was time for the three of them to sit down to a nice meal.


    Dave sat near his wife because there was no way he was going to sit near that man.


    The three ate quietly for a while until Johnson decided to say something.


    "So, you''re two months gone now, right?" He said after turning his gaze to Emma.


    "Yes," Emma replied with a nod.


    "Looks like my little girl is going to be a mother very soon." After saying that his voice suddenly changed as he turned his gaze to Dave. "And you''re going to be a father."


    Dave just ignored him and focused on his food.


    "I just hope my granddaughter or grandson gets most of his or her features from the mother, especially the face, you''re not very good-looking," Johnson said before pointing his fork at the goalkeeper.


    ''Okay, that does it.''


    "Not good-looking," Dave said with a little chuckle. "Big words for someone whose daughter found me to be good-looking enough to date me, marry me, she''s quite happy with me and she''s carrying my child."


    "Eh, sometimes I question her taste."


    "Dad."


    "Well, she doesn''t really look anything like you, she has your eyes but she looks more like her mother, I guess that''s why she''s beautiful, I''m d she doesn''t look like you."


    After saying that, Johnson didn''t say anything and just stared intensely at the goalkeeper who stared back at him while Emma kept looking back and forth between the two.


    Dave expected him to say something but he was shocked as he broke into a feat ofughter instead.


    ''Hmm, what''s going on?''


    "Well, you do have a point there." He said. "I thought you were just going to bend your head and not. The trolls out of the way for now let''s talk about something useful."


    "Okay," Dave muttered.


    He was quite confused by how fast things switched up.


    "I watched the match against Lazio yesterday, you guys sure showed them what you''re made of." He expressed. "I''m quite surprised by how fast you''ve improved, Dave, I thought you were going to remain a wimpy goalkeeper your whole life at some point and was starting to feel sorry for my poor Emma."


    "You said trolls out of the way," Dave grumbled.


    "No, no, it wasn''t my intention I just said it like I thought," Johnson said.


    "No, Dad, I know you meant to say that."


    Johnson just smiled at her before turning his gaze back to Dave.


    "The talk of beauty out of the way, it''s quite nice to know that there''s a high chance that my grandchild will have good football genes."


    "Yeah, our son is going to be a pretty good footballer if he chooses to be a footballer that is," Emma said.


    "You mean our daughter," Dave said.


    "Arguing over the child''s gender is pretty pointless because it will end up being what it is supposed to be but you can keep arguing," Johnson said before taking a sip from his drink.


    It was clear that Johnson enjoyed making fun of his son-inw for fun but today also made it clear that he also enjoyed hispany.


    The two spent the day together talking about a couple of things together.


    They shared a drink and even ignored Emma most of the time but she didn''t mind since seeing them together like that was a first for her.


    As evening approached, the old man had to get going and the couple were seeing him off at the door.


    "Alright, Dave, Emmy, I guess I''ll get going now."


    "Alright, Dad," Emma said before stretching her hands to hug him.


    "My daughter seems to be really happy so it''s obvious you''re doing a good job, just don''t fall off or you''ll get to see my bad side."


    "I''m looking forward to seeing it," Dave said.


    "Oh, I see," Johnson said with a nod. "You two shoulde visit sometime, bye."


    The two kept their gaze on him until he was out of the area before they decided to go back inside.


    Dave slowly made his way to the couch and crashed down on it before letting out a deep sigh.


    "Behind that scary re of his, he''s pretty nice when he wants to be." He muttered.


    ''But still, I feel relieved that he''s gone.''

 Chapter 370 Keep Going And Dont Slip Off

    ?


    After handing Lazio that handsome loss, league football returned.


    Unique FC were still behind Dynamo FC and Supreme United as they were still in third ce, but there was a chance that all that could change very soon.


    Matchday eleven was the match day where Dynamo FC were going to face Supreme United and that meant that one of those teams was going to drop points on that match day.


    Unique FC on the other hand were facing Rojo Sturm United a team that had just been promoted to the Bilbeth Premier League that season.


    That match started out quite tough for Norman''s boys in the first half and for that reason, they ended up going in for the break with neither side being able to get a goal.


    Unique FC controlled that match obviously, but they just couldn''t find the back of the.


    After receiving some scolding from Norman in the locker room, they came in for the second half.


    Norman''s scolding seem to have worked out quite well as they ended up getting the ball into the back of the just two minutes after the restart.


    It was a lob from Mateo all the way from the kick-off spot.


    Fred got to the ball fast enough and lobbed it over the goalkeeper and into the goalpost with his head.


    Rojo Sturm got a couple of good chances but none of them were enough to make Dave wary as the goalpost was just chilling in his goalpost most of the time.


    Unique FC controlled the match for quite a well without being able to find the back of the again until the fifty-ninth minute.


    Mateo raced down the left wing with the ball after receiving it from Ferran.


    The winger suddenly stopped and got the ball past the defender chasing.


    He humiliated that defender right there before he got into the box and sent the ball rolling right where Fred was going to be.


    There were a lot of yers heading toward the ball at that time, but Fred was able to get to it right on time with a slide.


    All he needed was both of his feet to shove the ball into the goalpost and there was nothing the goalkeeper could do about it.


    "Gooallllll! It''s his second!"


    Fred let out a scream as he ran to the side and did quite an impressive flip before his teammates could get to him.


    "It looks like he has been trying to improve his finishing and that could be the result right there, he''s only missed two chances so far in this match and they weren''t even his fault." Steve expressed.


    The match continued with Rojo Sturm looking quiteckluster now that it was pretty clear that they were going to lose.


    Unique FC tried to use that opportunity to rain down goals on them, but that didn''t work out quite well for them as they weren''t able to get another goal until the eighty ninth minute.


    There had been a couple of substitutions now and that meant that Fredinho was now on the pitch to rece Fred.


    The ball was sent in from the corner spot by Ferran and was flying toward Mateo now.


    Mateo was able to get his head on the ball but because he had another yer right in front of him that blocked his view at that time, he didn''t know exactly where he headed the ball and it didn''t look like he went for the goalpost.


    Fortunately, the ball was sent flying toward Fredinho at that time, and because he wasn''t in a good position to kick it, he decides to try something.


    With an overhead kick, he sent the ball flying toward the bottom right-hand side of the goalpost, the goalkeeper tried to get to it, but he wasn''t able to do so on time as the ball hit the post before going into the goalpost.


    "What a massive strike from Fredinho! It''s their third!"


    Fredinho just let out a sigh before crashing down right there inside the box.


    There was nothing Rojo Sturm could do about that scoreline and because of that, it remained like that until the referee blew his whistle to bring the match to an end.


    "There''s the whistle, it is all over," Jim said. "It was theirs right from the start despite not being able to get a goal in the first half and they made sure to seal it off with a bang in the second half, that''s three points in the bag for them."


    "Mateo just went full creator mode in this match,ing up with a hat trick of assists, the first yer to aplish that feat this season." Steve expressed. "He''s now tied on goals with Rnd after the striker managed to get a goal against Dynamo FC and now he''s also tied with Frank on assists, looks like he wants both awards this season, a greedy but bold move."


    After getting to the locker room, the yers found out that the match between Dynamo FC and Supreme United ended in a two two draw which meant that both teams ended up dropping points which was quite good for them<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    These results meant that things were quite close now.


    Dynamo FC were only ahead of them with one point now and Supreme United were just ahead of them with three points, anything could happen from this moment onward.


    Any slip-off from both teams and Unique FC would zoom right past them but they also had to make sure not to make any mistakes or they were going to fall far behind again and start struggling to catch up again.


    ________ ________


    Matchday twelve came by pretty fast and today was the day that Unique FC were going to be facing Troham United.


    They had a match against Virreal on Thursday which meant that they had only a day to rest before their match against the Spanish team.


    It was a tight schedule for them which meant that Norman had to choose his squad wisely to avoid losing any of his important yers to injury.


    That was the reason why a couple of his elite yers were missing from the starting eleven.


    Mateo was reced by Fredinho, Ferran had Edwarde in for him and he knew Frankie would do a good job recing Minino.


    It was going to be a tough match given the fact that Troham United were doing quite well this season and were sitting in seventh ce at the moment.


    It started out as a tough match as expected with Daveing in clutch to clear two mistakes from the defense that could have easily been tranted to goals if it weren''t for him.


    Throughout most of the first half, it looked like Unique FC were constantly being driven into a corner but it was a good thing their defense was doing a good job in preventing any goal from happening with Daveing to deal with the ones they couldn''t deal with.


    Unique FC weren''t able to find their foot in that match until the forty-fourth minute when something happened.


    Rnd raced down the middle with the ball before he sent it flying over to Frankie.


    Frankie brought the ball down with his chest before he quickly sent it rolling to Merino who raced down the middle with it before passing it to Fred.


    Fred got hold of the ball and quickly pushed it back to Edward who sent it rolling back to Edward.


    Edward moved a little to the right with the ball beforeying it off for Fredinho who quickly raced into the box with it.


    As a striker, his dribbling ability wasn''t that great but he had that speed which he used to overpower the wingback and get into the box.


    As soon as he got near the goalpost and found that space, he sent the ball rolling toward the middle.


    Frankie was racing toward the ball at that time with two defenders right around him but he was able to pull through them and send the ball into the goalpost with his right foot.


    "Frankie, Goaaalllllll!!" Jim eximed as the midfielder quickly raced toward Frankie and put his arm around his shoulder as they both raced to the sidelines.


    "They''ve looked out of ce since the start of the match but when they got that chance they didn''t blow it, they''re one goal up with the breaking up soon." Steve expressed.


    Despite Mateoing inter on in the second half, Unique FC weren''t able to get another goal but things also became tougher for Troham United.


    That was the way the second half ended goalless as either side were able to find the back of the but that wasn''t a problem for Unique FC as they still emerged victorious thanks to that first-halfst-minute goal from Frankie.


    It was another three points in the bag for Norman and his boys.


    And as if that wasn''t enough, the yers returned to the locker room to find out something quite interesting.


    Dynamo FC lost two goals to one against Ballena United and Supreme United just managed to grab a one-goal victory in thest minute against Lesica United.


    Those results meant that they were now in second ce just three points behind Supreme United.


    "I can''t believe the title race has gotten this close for us with twelve matches yed," Rnd said.


    ''I never really expected it, but things seem to be going quite well for us this season.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    <Yeah, all you have to do is keep going and don''t slip off>

 Chapter 371 Off To Villarreal

    ?


    Moving to second ce just three points behind Supreme United and two points ahead of Dynamo FC was something Unique FC yers were quite happy about.


    But, they knew it wasn''t over yet and anything could happen with the number of matches left to y.


    They knew it was better to focus on the matches ahead and not let down their guard now that things were this close.


    This week''s match schedule had been quite hectic for them to the extent that their first Bilbeth Super League match was moved to next week instead of the same week the other teams yed theirs.


    Their next match was a Europa Conference League group stage match against Virreal and they were ying it away from home which meant that they were going to be travelling to Virreal tomorrow.


    It was quite crazy to y three matches in the space of five days but they did something simrst season so it was nothing new.


    Norman did what he had to do to make sure none of his yers got injured due to fatigue and it worked quite well for him as all his yers were fit and ready for the match against Virreal.


    The match against Troham United was yed in the afternoon so the yers had the rest of the evening to rest and on top of that, Norman told them to get a good rest tomorrow and only starting to the stadium once it was 4:00 PM.


    There were yers who wouldn''t listen to that and would still go ahead to do whatever they wanted but Mateo wasn''t one to let a moment of rest slip by.


    The time being disyed on the clock now was 6:30 AM as the sun was slowly rising up to the sky, but the winger was still lying on his bed with both of his hands at the back of his head and his gaze on the ceiling.


    ''Virreal beat West Ham, two goals to onest week, and are currently on leveled points. If they beat us they move to first ce, if we beat them we stay where we are, a draw also means we will still stay at the top. So, it''s either a draw or a win, I''m not looking forward to losing.''


    The winger still had other thoughts running through his mind when he suddenly felt his phone vibrate.


    He didn''t even turn toward it and just stretched his hands toward it with his gaze still on the ceiling and picked it up.


    "Amber?" He muttered before pressing the answer option. "Hello."


    "Hello, Mateo, um¡­I''m at your front door, do you minding to open the door?" She requested as her voice resounded through the speaker.


    "You''re in my front door?" Mateo said before quickly sitting up on his bed.


    "Yeah." She replied.


    "You never told me you were visiting me today and you had toe this early," Mateo said as he got up from the bed and made his way out of his room and to the door.


    Amber didn''t say anything until he opened the door to see her standing there with a small bag in her hand.


    "But, seriously, you should have at least told me earlier." He said before putting his phone down.


    "I''m sorry but I didn''t n toe visit you."


    "Huh?"


    "I just came by to buy something from a shop around here so I figured that since I was near your home I should pay you a visit." She replied before raising her gaze to look at him.


    "Oh, so, you just wanted to say hi." The winger said.


    "Yeah, but not exactly." She said before walking past him to enter the house.


    Mateo just let out a sigh before shutting the door.


    "So, what did you go to buy?" He asked with his gaze on her bag.


    "Um¡­.a couple of cooking ingredients that I didn''t have." She replied.


    "Oh, so you were about to go make breakfast." The winger said before slowly moving closer to her.


    "Yeah, but since I''m here now, why don''t I make breakfast for you?" She suggested before slowly turning her gaze to the kitchen.


    "You want to make breakfast for me?"


    "Yeah." She said already making her way to the kitchen. "I''ll make you something nice so you can skip this part of your daily routine."


    "Okay," Mateo muttered.


    "Just don''t think too much about it, we are friends after all." She said before smiling at him.


    "Yeah, I guess I''ll go brush my teeth now." He said as he slowly made his way to the door leading to his room. "Thanks for the help."


    ''She''s acting a bit weird but I guess it''s not exactly out of character for her.'' He said subconsciously before making his way into his room.


    It took a couple of minutes for Amber to finish what she was doing and now that she was done, the two sat down together to enjoy the meal.


    There was this awkward silence in the room as the two sat opposite each other and ate their meals.


    Amber didn''t like this and decided to do something about it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "So, how do you like my cooking?" She asked.


    "Um¡­. It''s okay, you cook better than me that''s for sure." He replied.


    "Oh, I''m d you''re enjoying the food then." She said. "You guys are heading to Virreal today, right?"


    "Yeah, but we still have a lot of time left, we were told to get enough rest before then," Mateo replied.


    "Oh, okay."


    "Um¡­Amber, can I ask you something?"


    "Sure." She replied with a nod.


    "You wanted toe here this morning from the start, it wasn''t because you came to this area to buy something, right? There are a lot of ces where you can buy the kinds of stuff you bought here over at your side." The winger expressed.


    After hearing him say that, she was quiet for a while before slowly putting her head down with a sigh.


    "Yeah, you''re right, I just wanted toe make breakfast for you before leaving this afternoon." She said.


    "Leave? Where are you going?" Mateo asked with a puzzled look on his face.


    "I''m not going away forever so don''t worry." She said.


    "Oh, but where are you going?"


    "I made a request for a week leave and got it, so I''m going to visit my parents in Barcelona, it''s been a while since we''ve seen each other." She exined.


    "Oh."


    "Yeah, and since I wasn''t going to be seeing you for a week, I decided toe make my friend breakfast, I just wanted to um¡­.spend the morning with you even if it is just sharing a meal." She expressed.


    "I don''t really know what to say, but, thanks, you''re a really thoughtful person and a good friend." The winger said.


    "Thank you." She replied with a smile. "I maye to watch your match against Virreal tomorrow and if I do then you already know that it''s not as a reporter but as a friend."


    ________ ________


    Some hours went by and now it was time for the yers to start making their way to Virreal.


    The time was 3:50 PM and all the yers were already on the ne waiting for it to take off.


    Mateo was sitting next to Dave just like always and while he was going through his phone, the goalkeeper was just staring at the seat in front of him but that wasn''t really what he was doing.


    <It was just a simtion, Dave, and besides it was just a one-goal defeat>


    ''Yeah, but that one goal defeat means they''ll move ahead of us with three points.''


    <It hasn''t happened yet, Dave, and who''s to say it''s going to happen? You guys already trashed S.S. Lazio who are obviously stronger than them so on paper you guys appear stronger than them and you also have the yers to prove that you are stronger than them>


    ''You have a point, we have what it takes to beat them, but I just don''t want my teammates to underestimate them.''


    <Of course, they wouldn''t they didn''t underestimate the smaller teams they''ve faced in the league and went out full force on them so why will they underestimate Virreal in a Europeanpetition?>


    ''You''re right, there''s nothing to worry about.'' He replied subconsciously before turning his gaze to Mateo.


    "Hey, Emma told me that Amber left for Barcelona this afternoon, did you know anything about it?" He asked.


    "Yeah, she came to my ce this morning," Mateo replied with his gaze still on his phone.


    "To tell you?"


    "Not exactly she wanted to make breakfast for me which she did, I don''t know if she wanted to tell me about it but when I asked, she told me anywhere." The winger exined.


    "Oh, so she came over to make breakfast for you before leaving, that''s interesting," Dave muttered.


    "Huh?"


    "Never mind."


    The pilot was already on the ne now as the time hit 4:00 PM.


    He started the engine and raced down the track before taking off to the sky, their destination being Virreal.

 Chapter 372 Villarreal Vs Unique FC: Match Day Two

    ?


    After over two hours in the air, the yers finally arrived at Virreal and just like always, a bus came to pick them up and drop them where they were going to be staying for the night.


    Compared to Italy, the weather in Spain during this period of the year was quite cold and for that reason, the hotel had their heaters turned on to make sure that their guests had a warm andfortable stay.


    As always, the yers had to share rooms, but this time, things were a little bit different.


    Instead of two people per room, they were going to go with three people per room today, the reason being that the rooms they had here was just enough for that and they would also be saving some money no matter how small.


    Mateo was with Dave as expected and as for their third roommate.


    Minino wanted to join them but Mateo quickly shook him off, his past experience of sharing a room with the midfielder wasn''t something he could easily forget.


    Rnd asked to join them after hearing him shake Minino off and the winger didn''t hesitate in saying yes.


    "Hey, Mateo, I already said that was never going to happen again, I''m a changed person now," Minino said as the winger slowly walked away with Rnd.


    "Yeah, but I don''t want to find out about it today, maybe next time," Mateo replied.


    Picking Rnd over Minino as a roommate was simply the best choice for anybody because Minino, ording to almost everyone on the team was the worst roommate ever.


    Mateo was someone who loved the room to be tranquil whenever he was resting and because Rnd was a quiet person naturally, he was the perfect roommate for him to have after Dave.


    Now that the three were in their room, they started setting up their things in the way they were supposed to be.


    Dave was the first person to finish, and as soon as he was done, he crashed down on his bed and let out a deep sigh.


    "What have you been doing today that you got exhausted to this extent?" Mateo asked after turning his gaze to the goalkeeper.


    He had a reason for asking that question and it wasn''t just because of what happened now.


    Just a few minutes after the flight took off, the goalkeeper started feeling drowsy and even now that they were in the hotel, it was still in his eyes.


    "I did a lot of things today, Mateo." The goalkeeper muttered.


    "A lot of things like what?"


    "Well, I started out with running fifteen kilometers then I ended up spending most of the day in the gym, I didn''t even know when I slept off in there." The goalkeeper exined with his eyes fluttering.


    "Wow, youpletely ignored the coach''s instruction," Rnd said.


    "Shhh¡­. don''t say that out loud, I''ll be back to full strength as long as I get a good rest tonight," Dave muttered.


    ''My energy recovery is faster than you would expect anyway.''


    <You know you could just tell them you were trying toplete a quest>


    ''Ha, stop joking with me, Catherine.''


    "So, you''re not going to check out the Estadia de Cer¨¤mica?" Mateo asked.


    "No, and it''s not really a big deal, I''ve been there before." The goalkeeper muttered.


    "Alright, then, I guess I''ll go see it without you." The winger said as he slowly made his way to the door. "Youing, Rnd?"


    "Yeah."


    Dave kept his gaze on the door until the two left, after that, he slowly turned to the other side.


    [ Biceps: 75% ]


    [ Triceps: 70% ]


    ''Three days, right, I should be able to finish it the day after tomorrow or even tomorrow if the match doesn''t exhaust me.''


    <Yeah, probably>


    "Yeah, it''s almost done." He muttered with a frail voice before he slowly closed his eyes and dozed off.


    _________ _________


    The goalkeeper made sure to turn off his dream control before falling asleep to make sure that he would get that feeling of having a proper rest after getting up the next day.


    The next day came by soon and that seemed to have worked pretty well for him as he woke up feeling as refreshed as ever.


    He turned his gaze to his roommates to see that both of them were still asleep.


    "Still asleep." He muttered before turning his gaze to the wall clock to see that the time was 5:40 AM.


    <Guess you woke up a little too early><novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''Well, I slept way too early without eating dinner so I guess it was expected.'' Dave replied before sitting up on his bed.


    Because of what happened yesterday, he didn''t want to overexert himself with anything so he just did a few pushups in the room before he made his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth and definitely find something to eat because he was starving having gone to bedst night without eating anything.


    The match was set to kick off by 6:00 PM and that meant the yers had a lot of time to train, rest and do anything they wanted to do before the match as long as it wasn''t going to affect their form in the match.


    Norman took his boys to the stadium by 11:00 AM for a short practice before the match and it was quite nice to see that the yellow submarine yers had gotten there ahead of them for a short training session.


    After practicing for a while, the yers from both teams decided to take a break and that was the opportunity they got to converse with each other for those who wanted to do that of course.


    "Hey, you must be, Mateo, right?"


    Mateo was sitting on the floor at that moment beside Dave and slowly turned his gaze to his side where he heard the voicee from to see that a Virreal yer was sitting beside him.


    "Yeah, that''s me," Mateo responded with a nod.


    "Cool, I don''t know if you''ve heard of me, I joined the club this season from Celtic, the name''s Fraser, Fraser Hamish." The yer said before stretching his hand for a handshake which Mateo didn''t have any problem epting.


    Looking at Fraser, he seemed to be about the same age as Mateo, you could even say he looked younger.


    "The one sitting beside you is Dave, right?" Fraser inquired.


    "Yeah," Mateo replied with a nod.


    "Fraser, right? Aren''t you the one who scored all two goals against West Ham United?" Dave said. " You''re the neen-year-old right winger, right?"


    "Yeah, looks like you did your research on me."


    "Um¡­.I always look into potential threats to my goalpost before a game against an opponent I''m facing for the first time, it''s a habit." The goalkeeper expressed.


    "Well, I guess that''s normal for everyone," Fraser said. "I saw what you guys did to Lazio, that was pretty scary, I don''t know how we''ll able to hold you down."


    To those, words, Dave and Mateo didn''t really have anyment to make.


    <You guys shouldn''t give that kid any free space, he seems to be quite deadly whenever he''s given enough space>


    ''Yeah, I''ll tell coach about that, and since he''s ying on the right, Rnd will be the one taking care of him most of the time so I''m not that worried.''


    After a few more minutes of training, it was finally time for the yers to head back to where they were staying and get some rest before the match.


    ''No advanced quest was triggered this time, that''s quite strange.''


    <I don''t know, maybe there was nothing for an advanced quest>


    ''Maybe, I guess I''ll just have to wait and see what I get for the match quest.''


    Time moved while the yers did what they wanted to do with their free time and now that the time was just 5:52 PM, the yers were all lined up in front of the tunnel waiting for the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    Virreal were obviously putting on their famous yellow home kit, were Unique FC were putting on their custom-made away kit for the Europa Conference League.


    It didn''t take long before they were given the signal to start making their way to the pitch and that was when they started matching onto the pitch.


    Jim and Steve gave their introductions and weed everyone and now it was time for the coin toss.


    Unique FC ended up winning the coin toss which meant that they were going to be the ones to start the match from the kick-off spot.


    "This is quite a match we have today, this match will decide who will be at the top of the group table at the end of match day two," Jim said.


    "Unique FC are slightly the better team on paper after what they did to Lazio, but let''s see how things y out," Stevemented.


    [ Conjoined quest received ]


    [ Complete five long passes ]


    [ Make three one-touch saves ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +1 attribute point ]


    [ +3 stat points ]


    [ +6 skill upgrade points ]


    [ +150 exp ]


    ''Okay, that seems to be fairly reasonable.'' Dave said subconsciously as he made his way to his goalpost.

 Chapter 373 First Half: Massive Chance

    ?


    After making sure that the yers, the other officials, and everything else were ready, the referee blew his whistle to signal the start of the match.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    As soon as Fredinho heard that whistle, he quickly passed the ball to Ferran who didn''t hesitate in sending it to Martinez.


    Unlike in their match against Lazio where they used the four-four-two formation, they were back to using their normal formation in this one.


    Four-three-three formation with Martinez in the defensive midfield position and Ferran and Minino upfront as the attacking midfielders.


    Norman Kole was in the right back position with Adolf and Pirlo covering the center and Rnd on the left.


    Their attack had Mateo on the left obviously, Fredinho in the middle, and Merino on the right.


    Virreal were also ying with the four-three-three formation but it was the normal type with just three central midfielders.


    It had already been three minutes since the match kicked off and so far, Unique FC were still passing the ball around mostly in their own half as they had not been able to progress far enough in Virreal''s side of the pitch.


    Mateo received the ball from Martinez and just before Fraser could run into him, he sent the ball rolling to Ferran with a neat pass.


    Ferran tried to move forward with the ball but his path was blocked so he had to send the ball rolling back to Martinez who trapped it neatly under his foot before he pushed it forward a little and sent it flying over to Merino with a nice long pass.


    "Unique FC is really being cautious here, they don''t want any slip-up."


    The atmosphere in the stadium was quite lively as the fans of both teams were continuously cheering their team on.


    Virreal''s Estadia de Cer¨¤mica wasn''t even in the top ten of thergest stadiums in La Liga but it was a pretty stadium with a nice atmosphere and that was something.


    Right now, Unique FC had managed to get closer to Virreal''s box as Merino was fast enough to pull one the midfielder marking him and quickly get past him.


    He was still with the ball now trying to confuse the left-back trying to stop him and get past him but he quickly checked back to the possibility that he could lose the ball there and sent it rolling back to Minino before the defender could pounce on him.


    "Back to Minino, surely they must have an option."


    Minino sent the ball to Ferran who quickly found Mateo making a run down the left wing and lobbed the ball over to him.


    Mateo wasn''t able to get the ball as it was aggressively headed back by the yer marking him but fortunately for the away side, the ball fell directly to the feet of Rnd who found Merino making a run into the box and immediately sent the ball rolling to him.


    Merino managed to get past two defenders and even got pulled down by one of the defenders in the process but he wasn''t going to let that stop him.


    He got his foot on the ball while he was still on the ground and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    "I said they must have an option!"


    There was nothing the goalkeeper could do as he was rushing out to grab the ball before Merino fired it, but there was really nothing to be worried about as the ball ended up hitting the left post before rolling out for a goal kick.


    "I cannot believe that didn''t go in! That was sooooo close." Jim expressed.


    "That could have been a nice early opener if only his uracy hadn''t been off by millimeters," Stevemented.


    "Well, he was a bit off bnce given that he took the shot from the floor, I doubt that he would have missed that if he was standing." Jim expressed.


    That was a moment of relief for Virreal yers and everybody supporting Virreal.


    They knew how hard it could be to get back into a game after conceding the first goal and they didn''t want to go through that here.


    They have lost three league matches so far this season and during those matches, they were the first to concede and after that, they just weren''t able to get back into the game.


    They knew how tough Unique FC could be just by seeing their result against Lazio.


    They were aware of the type of defenders and goalkeeper they had, it was pretty clear to them that conceding first wasn''t going to be a nice experience for them and they had no intention of letting that happen.


    With ten minutes being disyed on the match time and still moving, Virreal were the ones moving the ball around now trying to find a way through.


    Unique FC were keeping them at bay for now as they seem to have shut all the possible gaps for them to get closer to their box.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Their only option now was to try and draw out the defense a bit and that was exactly what they were doing.


    Slowly moving the ball back and dragging them out.


    Norman became aware of this pretty quickly and immediately instructed the two center backs not to move too far away from the box.


    Frazer received the ball down the right wing and just before both Mateo and Ferran could get to him, he sent the ball rolling to one of the midfielders who had the name Conrad written above the number six on the back of his jersey.


    Conrad got hold of the ball and quickly spotted their center back zooming past Martinez so he had to send the ball flying over to him with a lob.


    That was a mistake as he failed to take notice of how close the striker had gotten to Adolf or maybe he was just taking a gamble hoping that his teammate would get past Adolf and do something.


    Well, that didn''t work out particrly well for him as Adolf got to the ball with a header before the striker could do anything with it and sent it flying toward Martinez who caught hold of it and quickly sent it Rolling to Rnd before the yer right behind him could attempt to take it from him.


    Rnd caught hold of the ball but he wasn''t allowed to take a break as the midfielder on his side quickly rushed to him with a desperate sliding tackle attempt.


    Rnd was quick enough to read his movement and all he needed to do was tip the ball over him while jumping over him at the same time.


    "That''s just wow, nicely done by Rnd, that could have turned into something else if that ball was taken from him," Jimmented.


    The wingback moved down the middle with the ball before quicklyying it off to Minino who had to pass it back to him before both of the yers around him could gang up on him.


    Rnd received the ball and pushed a little forward with it before passing it to Ferran who quickly passed it to Mateo.


    Mateo zoomed past the right back with the ball before passing it back to Ferran who sent it rolling back to the winger as soon as he forced himself past the defender to get inside the box.


    The defender was pulling on his shirt but he ignored him and sent the ball flying toward the goalpost as soon as he got his foot on the ball.


    The ball was sent flying directly toward the goalkeeper who was able to block it with his body and send it out for a corner kick.


    "Oh, that was so close, that''s their second chance in the match while Virreal has not even been able to get to their goalpost."


    "I''m not sure the goalkeeper would have been able to save that if he wasn''t right there but now they have a corner kick to deal with." Steve expressed.


    Ferran was standing over the ball in the corner spot now while the goalkeeper was making sure that everything was ready.


    The yers from both teams were running around inside the box now, and after making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle.


    The midfielder slowly took three steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    The ball was sent flying toward Fredinho but he wasn''t able to get his head on it as the defender right in front of him rose and nodded it away.


    Fredinho and a couple of his teammates seemed to have spotted something at that moment as they quickly turned their gaze to the referee raising their hands.


    Virreal yers wanted to carry on with y but the referee had to bring the match to a halt as the linesman had his g raised for a foul.


    A couple of Unique FC yers were gathered around the referee now iming that the ball made contact with the defender''s hand before he nodded it away and of course, Virreal yers were there to deny it.


    In the end, the referee had to go check VAR to confirm things for himself.


    "Right choice, he''s going to check VAR, Virreal won''t be happy if hees back and awards Unique FC a penalty," Jimmented.


    <That was clearly a handball>


    ''If you think it was a handball then it has to be a handball.''


    As soon as the referee got to the VAR monitor, the screen above the stadium turned and there was something there now confirming that VAR was checking the footage.


    It didn''t take long before the result popped up on the screen.


    ''Handball, penalty decision.'' Dave read subconsciously.


    "Looks like they''re giving it, it was a handball after all and it looks like Unique FC now have a massive chance to take the lead after missing the first two chances they got." Jim expressed.

 Chapter 374 Greedy Gamble

    ?


    Mateo was standing over the ball in the penalty spot with his gaze on the goalkeeper while everyone else was behind him outside the box.


    "I don''t think he''s their standard penalty taker, but it looks like they''re leaving this one to him," Jimmented.


    The referee carefully observed everything and made sure none of the yers were encroaching into the box before he blew his whistle.


    "Jeremy has a good penalty save ratio in the league so far this season, saving two out of three penalties. Can he keep this one out?" Steve expressed.


    After hearing the whistle, Mateo slowly took three steps backward before he slowly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost.


    That was a tricky penalty from the winger as he sent Jeremy diving the wrong way.


    He fired the ball toward the right side with just a little bit of elevation while Jeremy dived to the left.


    There was no doubt, the ball was in the goalpost now and it was a goal.


    "Nice penalty from Mateo as expected, he sent Jeremy the wrong way and now Unique FC are one goal up," Jimmented.


    It was quite surprising for him not to yell after a goal.


    Mateo didn''t celebrate that goal like he would celebrate any normal goal as he just jogged toward the sideline before Minino caught up to him but the midfielder didn''t pull him down like he was known for and just put his arms around his shoulder.


    "Unique FC are one goal up with barely twenty minutes gone in the first half, there''s still a lot of time left for Virreal to do something about it, this match could get really interesting." Steve expressed.


    <That was a nicely taken penalty>


    ''Yeah, that was smooth, but if that was me, I would apply a lot of shot power so that even if he goes the right way, he won''t be able to stop it.''


    <Yeah, I''m sure you would and in the process, you''ll end up sting the ball over the bar>


    ''Hey,e on now, you know my uracy is better than that.''


    The match had resumed now with Virreal passing the ball around looking for a way through.


    For a team that had just conceded a goal, they were still ying with the sameposure as when the score was even, maybe they just wanted to add urgency to their y yet because sometimes it creates mistakes that may even cost them another goal.


    Conrad got hold of the ball from the left back and carefully evaded Ferran before passing the ball to Fraser.


    "Fraser," Jim said. "Scored two goals against West Ham United to win his team that match, can he do something here today?"


    Fraser moved a little forward with the ball before passing it back to Conrad who sent it rolling to their centre forward immediately.


    He had the name Henry written above the number nine on the back of his jersey.


    Henry caught hold of the ball and quickly sent it rolling to the left winger with a backheel pass.


    Adolf was right behind him and he could have lost the ball if he didn''t do that.


    The winger had the name Antonio written above the number eleven on the back of his jersey and he had no chill.


    As soon as he got his foot on the ball, he ignored Norman and stretched the ball toward the middle a little before he fired it toward the goalpost with a powerful shot.


    "Antonio''s going all out here!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost but that wasn''t a problem for Dave who dived toward it at the right time.


    He had the speed so he wasn''t really bothered as he wasn''t caught off guard.


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    He was going to stop that ball from entering the goalpost even without ball ma, but he needed to make sure he caught it because of the quest.


    "First save of the night and he does it in style," Jimmented as soon as Dave caught the ball and crashed to the floor with it.


    ''That''s one one touch saves.''


    "Yeah, that was a pretty neat save."


    The first half continued with both sides not being able to pull off any goal.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    But, looking at their chances, it was clear that Unique FC had been the better team so far.


    The away side were able to make four scoring attempts with three of their shots being really close to going in.


    The first close call was a shot from Ferran from outside the box that ended up flying off through the side and missing the goalpost by millimeters.


    The second chance came from a corner kick, a nice header from Mateo that came really close to going in, but it ended up hitting the crossbar before going out for a goal kick.


    That miss from the winger stirred up quite the sigh in the stadium.


    The third chance was the least close to going in but it was a really impressive attempt.


    Mateo dribbled his way past the right back before sending the ball in with a neat lob.


    The ball was sent flying toward Fredinho who quickly rose up and sent the ball flying toward the goalpost with a bicycle kick.


    Unfortunately, he seemed to have applied too much power to that shot as it was sent flying over the bar but it was pretty close to hitting the crossbar at least.


    Virreal were only able toe up with two goal-scoring attempts but they weren''t really that good so Dave wasn''t able to get another one-touch save.


    The first one was what would have turned into a really good goal as Henry had gotten his foot on the ball right inside the box, but Adolf was able to get to him fast enough to deflect the shot with his foot and make it an easy catch for Dave.


    The second one was what could be described as a desperate attempt from Fraser.


    He sent the ball flying toward the goalpost after receiving it from Conrad and the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before going out for a goal kick.


    Dave had learned a lot from this kind of situation so he was on the ball just to avoid any case of the wind suddenly blowing the ball into his goalpost.


    With those attempts, the first half finally came to an end, the statistics board had quite a lot to say about which team was doing better than the other.


    Unique FC had sixty-two percent ball possession ahead of the thirty-eight that Virreal had.


    They yed six shots with three being on target while Virreal had three with just one being on target.


    Finally, the away side were able toplete five hundred and sixty-seven passes in the first half while Virreal were only able toplete three hundred and ny-eight.


    That scoreline could have been more than one goal if the home side weren''t doing such a good job of keeping Norman''s boys at bay with their defense.


    "That was some first-half performance with the only goaling from a penalty, I just hope both teams step up their game in the second half."


    Unique FC yers were all sitting in the locker room now with Norman standing in front of them as expected.


    "A one-goal lead, not really what I expected but it''s good that we''re leading, I''m just d they''re not as aggressive as Lazio," Norman said. "That said, you guys have not really been yourself up front, failing even to create in certain conditions."


    After saying that, he paused and slowly looked around the room to observe everyone''s faces before clearing his throat to continue.


    "Still, you''ve managed to create a couple of good chances that you, unfortunately, failed to convert." He expressed. "They weren''t able to do much in this first half but who knows how they''re going toe into the second half."


    "So, what are your suggestions coach?" Adolf asked.


    "Well, all you have to do is strike them fast in the second half and get a second goal to break down their morale more then you can go on the defensive and take whatever they throw at you while looking for opportunities to counterattack," Norman exined.


    "Strike them fast? You mean an all-out attack?" Mateo inquired.


    "Yes."


    "But that''s going to leave us way too vulnerable at the back and anything could happen if there''s a mistake." The winger said.


    "I am well aware of that, but we''ll have to take our chance and make sure not to make an opportunity, once you find the opportunity for an all-out attack just do it."


    ''This doesn''t sound very good to me.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    <Yeah, this is a greedy move>


    ''Yeah, there''s nothing wrong with the way we''re ying, I''m sure we''ll be able to get another goal if we continue ying in the bnced way we''ve been doing so far.''


    <Well, it''s a greedy move but it could also work, that said, at the end of the day it is still a greedy gamble that could be costly>

 Chapter 375 Sparking Things Up

    ?


    The second half was set to kick off as the yers from both teams were already making their way to the pitch now.


    Dave was thest yer in his team to enter the pitch as Norman seemed to be talking to him about something as they walked down the hallway.


    "Wee back, everyone, the second half of the match is about to kick off as we can see the yers making their way to the pitch now," Jim said.


    "Well, the first half wasn''t exactly thrilling despite the good chances both teams managed to pull off, I hope the second half will be different." Steve expressed.


    The yers were all on the pitch now as Henry was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    The referee made sure that everything and everyone was ready before he blew his whistle to kick-start the match.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way once again."


    As soon as Henry heard the whistle, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Conrad who immediately sent the ball rolling back to the defender behind him.


    They were passing the ball around near the center now while looking for a way through but they weren''t able to find any so they decided to start moving the ball back, an attempt to drag out Unique FC''s defense of course.


    Well, it worked in dragging their midfield forward and that was when Fraser found the opportunity to get past Ferran.


    Conrad got hold of the ball and immediately understood what the winger was trying to do as he quickly sent the ball flying over to him.


    The winger brought the ball down with his chest as soon as it got to him and now he was heading toward the edge of the box to face Rnd.


    Looking at the way he was running, it was clear that he was ready to face the left back.


    "Fraser is still going here."


    Rnd knew that it wasn''t a good idea to rush toward someone with the ball without thinking properly because that is exactly what they would want you to do.


    He waited for the winger to get closer but that still didn''t help him as he managed to sweep the floor with him when Rnd pulled him on his shorts.


    That slowed the winger down a bit giving Pirlo the time to get to the ball and clear the danger.


    Fraser was quite pissed off by that dirty challenge and he seemed to be making a fuss about it with Rnd now.


    "Oh, tensions are building up here, that pull from Rnd wasn''t something nice to do."


    The referee saw everything clearly and had to step in, he gave the foul in favor of Virreal and after that, he showed Rnd a yellow card.


    "That is a well-deserved yellow card right there," Stevemented.


    The left-back knew what he did, so he didn''tin or try to fight back but he prevented what would have most likely tranted into a goal and that was the reason why he had a cheeky smile on his face right now.


    Even after missing that opportunity thanks to Rnd ying dirty, something he wasn''t used to doing, Virreal now had a pretty good chance to try and level the score.


    A free kick right at the edge of the box, a very good position for a free kick master to put the ball into the back of the from.


    Unique FC had to form their four-man wall inside the box and they didn''t forget to put someone under.


    Fraser was the one standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    "His first goal against West Ham Unitedst week came from a corner a little close to that same area. Will he be able to pull it off again and give this game a little bit of spark?" Jim expressed.


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle and now it was time for the young winger to test Dave.


    He didn''t move immediately after the whistle and just kept his gaze on the ball for a while before he slowly took three steps backward.


    After that, he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    The ball flew toward the top left-hand side of the goalpost just exactly where Dave predicted him to ce it.


    He dived toward the ball with his right hand just at the right time and he was able to get to it fast enough to tip it over the bar.


    He could have gone for the catch to try and add to his one-touch saves for the quest but that was a very tricky shot and he had to do what he had to do.


    "Oh, that was so close!" Jim eximed. "If that was any other goalkeeper, I am positive that that ball would have gone in! Dave is just so unbelievable with the things he can do now."


    "Agreed, that was a very well-ced free kick, Fraser could have gotten his second free kick goal in two matches but unfortunately, he was up against Dave."


    That was a magnificent save from Dave just like thementators said but now they had a corner kick to deal with, one of the spot kicks that Dave always gets wary about.


    Whenparing a free kick to a corner kick, the goalkeeper was quite confident with his ability to save a free kickpared to a corner kick. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    To him, anything could happen from a corner kick, a deflected header, a tricky ball, and even an own goal.


    That was the reason why he was always on high alert whenever it was time to take a corner kick.


    Antonio was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he slowly took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    "It''s flying in."


    The ball was sent flying toward Henry and Adolf who contested for the ball in the air but Henry ended up winning it.


    The striker sent the ball flying toward the right side of the goalpost with a header but unfortunately for him, his shot didn''t have much power to it and ended up being an easy catch for Dave.


    "Easy catch for Dave."


    This was one of those opportunities that Dave always looks for in a match, a counterattack opportunity and he was going to put it to good use.


    He found Minino down the right and didn''t hesitate to send the ball flying over to him with a very long throw.


    "Unique FC are looking to start a counterattack here."


    Minino caught hold of the ball right on the line dividing the pitch but his path was blocked by a Virreal defender so he quickly passed the ball to Ferran who quickly took off with it down the middle.


    The midfielder tried to outrun the yer that was already hot on his trail when he received the ball but it didn''t look like that was going to work and to avoid losing the ball, he sent it rolling toward Mateo.


    "Oh, looks like their counterattack has been stopped, what are they going to do now?" Jimmented.


    Mateo caught hold of the ball and was about to try something with it when he heard Rnd yell his name from behind.


    The winger didn''t hesitate to send the ball rolling to the left back as soon as he asked for it.


    As soon as Rnd got his foot on the ball, Fraser tried to steal it from him from behind but Rnd was already aware.


    He moved a little to the side with the ball, and with a roulette spin, he zoomed past the winger and was heading down the middle now.


    "He has asked for an all-out attack, how about we do that now?" He muttered as he made his way down the middle with the ball.


    "Looks like Rnd wants to start something here."


    The left-back was about to run into a Virreal yer when he found Mateo on the left and quickly sent the ball rolling to him.


    All Mateo needed was a single touch to send the ball flying into the box as he found Fredinho making a run into the box at that time.


    Unfortunately, the ball wasn''t able to get to Fredinho before it was headed away by one of the defenders in the area.


    The ball fell to the feet of Ferran who quickly sent it rolling back to Adolf with a backheel pass.


    Adolf got to the ball and quickly moved a little to the left with before passing it to Mateo who had drawn back a little.


    "The danger is still lurking around their box."


    Mateo spotted Merino lurking around the right side and as soon as he made eye contact with the right winger, the winger dashed through and he sent the ball flying over to him.


    The ball got to the right winger right on cue and with his right foot he fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    There was nothing the goalkeeper could do about that as the ball flew past him and into the goalpost.


    "It''s in! They''ve finally got that second goal!"


    Merino let out a scream as he raced to the sideline and kicked the corner g with his teammates right behind him.


    That celebration didn''tst for long though as the referee blew his whistle pointing at Virreal''s box and when they turned their gaze to the lineman to see that he had his g up.


    ******


    Happy new month guys.


    With this month, I''ve decided to set up a favorable mass-release goal.


    For every set of gifts worth 3000 coins, I will do a three chapters mass release.


    Every 100 GT= 4 chapters mass release.

 Chapter 376 Group Stage Hope

    ?


    That would have been a great second goal for Unique FC but Merino was caught offside and that meant that the goal wasn''t going to stand.


    Unique FC yers obviously weren''t happy with that decision and they could be seen trying to convince the referee to do something about the decision or go check VAR at least, but it didn''t look like the referee was going to do any of that.


    "Some referees wouldn''t have noticed given the fact that Merino was offside just by millimeters. That said, he was indeed offside and that was the right call from the referee." Jim expressed.


    <Well, that goal would have given you guys a little bit of breathing space>


    ''Yeah, I thought that was a goal for sure.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    The match continued with Virreal doing everything they could to try and get a goal, but getting past Unique FC''s defense wasn''t an easy thing for them.


    Fraser was slowly moving toward Rnd with the ball, and just before the wingback could get close enough to him, he sent the ball rolling back to Conrad who sent it rolling to Henry with a single touch.


    "Henry."


    Henry was quickly surrounded by Adolf and Martinez and before he could do anything to try and escape the situation, the ball was taken from him by Martinez who immediately sent it rolling to Minino.


    "Unique FC have the ball back here and they''re moving fast."


    Minino quickly zoomed off down the wing with the ball and just before he could run into the midfielder right on his path, heid the ball off to Ferran who quickly did a roulette spin with it to get past Conrad who was right behind him.


    "Nicely done by Ferran," Stevemented.


    Ferran took off down the middle with the ball until he found Merino with a little bit of space down the right and quickly sent the ball flying over to him.


    Merino caught hold of the ball with a neat trap, and just before the yer running toward him could get to him, he moved a little forward with the ball and passed it to Fredinho who sent it back to Ferran immediately with a backheel pass.


    "Unique FC are trying to cook up something here."


    Ferran moved a little to the right before sending the ball over to Mateo with a lob.


    Mateo had to quickly head the ball back to Rnd to avoid losing it to the wing-back who happened to be man-marking him.


    Rnd caught hold of the ball and quickly zoomed past the yer right in front of him before he sent the ball flying into the box.


    Fredinho was in the area at that time and was able to get a clean header on it, but his effort ended up hitting the crossbar before going out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that was so close," Jimmented. "It''s been clear since the start of the match but I didn''t want to say it because I thought Virreal were going to pick themselves up in this half, but that hasn''t happened yet.


    "Unique FC has been dominating this match and Virreal hasn''t been able to find any proper way to take advantage of them."


    "Yeah, and if they don''t find a way to deal with the hosts or better still find a leak in their defense then they are most likely going to lose this match." Steve expressed.


    The match had just entered the seventy-fifth minute and right now, Virreal had won a free kick right at the edge of the box.


    Virreal yers had a huge argument about the foul being a penalty kick as Henry fell into the box after he was tackled down by Aima, but the referee confirmed that the foul happened right outside the box and nothing was going to convince him otherwise.


    Virreal had to take what they could get as Fraser could be seen standing over the ball now with his gaze on Unique FC''s four-man wall which was set up inside the box.


    "Another opportunity for Fraser to try and put his team back on level terms, will he be able to put this one away?" Jimmented.


    <Keep your eyes peeled, Dave>


    ''Roger that.''


    Fraser was busy observing everyone''s movements especially Dave''s as the referee made sure that everything was ready.


    After making sure that everything was ready and nothing was out of ce, the referee blew his whistle and now it was up to Fraser to do something about his team''s current situation.


    After hearing the whistle, the winger slowly took three steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost.


    "Fraser!"


    The ball was sent rolling toward the right side of the goalpost with no form of elevation at all.


    The winger had decided had gone from below this time hoping that Dave would be one of those goalkeepers who had a hard time stopping fast-moving ground balls but to his surprise, Dave was able to get to the ball right on time to catch it with both of his gloves. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Oh, that was so close but Dave''s not taking any chances," Jimmented.


    ''How do you even score against this guy!'' Fraser screamed inwardly in frustration as he bit his lower lip.


    "Virreal have not been able toe up with anything so far and now we just have twelve minutes left of normal time.


    During those twelve minutes, Unique FC came up with a couple of good chances that they would have put away on any normal day, but that didn''t seem to be the case today.


    It was pretty obvious that they were equally finding it hard to score against Virreal and if it weren''t for that first-half penalty maybe the match would still be on level terms.


    Virreal also managed to get a couple of chances but none of them were as good as Unique FC''s chances.


    The first minute of the four minutes of added time had already been exhausted before Unique FC finally won a free kick twenty-five yards away from the goalpost.


    It was their first close free kick in this match and this looked like it was a chance for them two goals up even though that wasn''t really necessary.


    Mateo was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he slowly took three steps backward.


    "It won''t really matter because the match would probably be over after this kick but adding another goal wouldn''t hurt," Stevemented.


    After taking three steps backward, the winger quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost.


    "Mateo!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand corner and it looked quite tricky, but the goalkeeper was able to get to it right on time, and with the tip of his glove, he was able to push the ball just enough for it to hit the crossbar and fly out for a corner kick.


    "Oh, that was so close."


    That corner kick wasn''t going to stand as the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end.


    "Oh, that''s whistle, looks like it''s all over."


    As soon as he heard that whistle, Mateo smiled brightly before letting out a sigh of relief.


    "It was a hard-fought battle and atst they made it out victorious," Jimmented.


    "It''s shocking how they visited Lazio and Virreal and won against them, I wonder what''s going to happen when they go to Bilbeth for their away matches." Steve expressed.


    "Unique FC are making it out of this group, that''s slowly bing obvious, and that''s surprising given how they were voted as the least favorites."


    "I think it''s too early to make that conclusion, Jim but still, I also think they have what it takes to survive this group. If they''re going to be in the first ce then the second ce may be in contention as Lazio has just moved past Virreal to go into second ce after destroying West Ham United five goals to one." Steve expressed.


    "Looks like they took out their anger of losing to Unique FC on them."


    The Man of the Match award for this match was quite a tricky one given the fact that none of the yers were exactly outstanding, yeah, even Mateo was nowhere to be found during certain situations.


    But still, he scored the only goal of the match and pulled off a couple of good chances so he ended up receiving the award, making it his second one in a row.


    After greeting the fans, Mateo was now making his way toward the tunnel alongside Dave when he looked toward the stands and spotted someone waving at him and it didn''t take long before another followed.


    On getting closer to the area now, he could now see the people who were waving at him and now he had a confused expression on his face.


    "Why are they sitting together?" He muttered.


    *****


    Happy new month guys.


    With this month, I''ve decided to set up a favorable mass-release goal.


    For every set of gifts worth 3000 coins, I will do a three chapters mass release.


    Every 100 GT= 4 chapters mass release.

 Chapter 377 Spot On

    ?


    With the match now concluded and everything that was supposed toe after it done, the yers were all back to the locker to get some rest before they would change and start heading back to where they were staying.


    It was alreadyte at night, so they were going to spend one more knight in Virreal and head back to Bilbeth the next day.


    Tonight''s victory, although not being a huge one in terms of scoreline, was a big victory because they were still at the top of the table three points ahead of both Virreal and Lazio with their next opponent being West Ham United who were at the bottom of the table.


    They were by no means underestimating the English side because the phrase, ''Anything can happen.'' had been embroidered onto their head by Norman.


    But still, them losing to both Lazio and Virreal meant that they had a high chance of beating them, on paper at least.


    A yer like Minino took tonight''s victory way too seriously and was making a ruckus about how they were going to go all the way in the tournament.


    He obviously wasn''t doing it alone but Dave didn''t have any strength for that and neither did Mateo as they were both sitting on the bench with their gaze on the show happening in front of them, at least it looked like Dave had his gaze on them.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ Youpleted five long passes ]


    [ You made three one-touch saves ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +1 attribute point received ]


    [ +3 stat points received ]


    [ +6 stat upgrade points received ]


    [ +150 exp received ]


    ''Cool, now can I see my post-match rewards?''


    <Sure>


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Five crucial saves: +50 exp received ]


    [ Goals conceded(0): +100 exp received ]


    [ Match rating: 7.0 ]


    ''I guess this is the result of ying a boring game.''


    <It''s not your fault, Virreal also yed a part in making it a boring game>


    [ 1950/1885 exp ]


    [ Level up ]


    [ Congrattions you have now reached level 12 ]


    ''I didn''t even know I was about to level up.''


    [ +2 stat points received ]


    [ +1 skill point received ]


    <It''s going to take you a while to level up again>


    [ 80/2015 exp ]


    ''Yeah, I can see that, but it will still happen eventually.''


    <Yeah>


    The goalkeeper checked a couple of other things in his system while talking to Catherine, and after he was done, he turned his gaze to Mateo to see that he happened to be lost in his thought.


    It clearly looked like he had his gaze on the ruckus that was going on in front of him but Dave could tell from his eyes that his attention wasn''t there at all.


    "Hey." He said before giving him a little tap on his shoulder to call back his attention.


    "Oh." The winger said as soon as Dave called him back from his thoughts.


    He had to blink a couple of times.


    "What''s going on? I could tell you weren''t paying attention to Minino''s noise-making."


    "Oh, you could see that?"


    "Yeah, so what were you thinking about?" Dave asked.


    "It''s nothing serious, I was just wondering how far we could go in thispetition, I''m confident that we''re making it out of the group stage now but how far can we go after that?" The winger expressed.


    "Well, that will depend on whether we finish or second and who we get as our opponent in the knockout rounds, finishing first should be our priority because I''m sure none of us wants to face those Europa League dropouts."


    "Yeah, I thought so too."


    "Umm¡­.just don''t think too much about it, we have a good if the not great team, it''s going to get hard after the group stage but that''s just how everypetition is, we''ll just have to keep pushing and improve in the areas we made mistakes in during the group stage matches.


    "Winning the trophy is our goal and I believe we have what it takes to pull it off."


    "Yeah, with our strength and skill and a little bit of luck on our side, the chance of us pulling it off is there," Mateo muttered.


    "Yeah," Dave replied with a nod.


    What Mateo just told Dave wasn''t exactly what he was lying but still, he didn''t lie to him.


    He thought about what he just told Dave for a while before his mind waspletely taken over by another thought.


    ______ ______


    After spending some time in the locker room, the yers along with the coach and other staff made their way back to the hotel where they were staying.


    After returning to their rooms, they had to go freshen up to wash away the sweat from that game.


    There was nothing wrong with them sharing the bathroom since it was nothing new to them but Mateo and Rnd weren''t feeling like it so they allowed Dave to go first while they got some rest.


    "That was some tough match," Rnd said before sitting down on his bed.


    "Yeah," Mateo replied before crashing down on the floor with his head on his bed. "A lot of missed opportunities just like coach said but it''s a good thing we made it out victorious."


    "By the way¡­"


    Rnd wasn''t able to finish what he wanted to ask as Mateo''s phone which was lying on his bed suddenly began to ring. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The winger just stretched his hands and grabbed the phone to see that it was someone he was half expecting to call but he was a little confused about something.


    ''Why a video call?''


    He didn''t think too much about it though and just clicked the answer.


    Just a second after doing that, Amber popped up on the screen of his phone.


    "Hey." She said as soon as he picked up the call.


    "Hey, how are you doing?"


    "I''m okay, congrattions on your victory today."


    "Thanks," Mateo replied with a smile.


    He was seriously avoiding making long eye contact with her.


    "I''m assuming there''s no way you''ll go back to Barcelona by this time, so where are you staying?" The winger asked.


    "Oh, we booked a room at the Hotel Dona L, it was thest one so we got lucky." She replied.


    "Did you just say Hotel Dona L?"


    "Yeah."


    "That''s where we''re also staying." The winger said.


    "You can''t be serious." She said with a shocked expression on her face. "Well, this makes things better."


    "Huh?"


    "I know you''re tired, so you don''t have to say yes, but could youe downstairs for a second, I want to um¡­.give you something." She replied.


    "What?"


    "You''ll have toe down and see for yourself."


    "But, a lot of people were down there when we came in, I don''t really have the strength to deal with getting clustered now."


    "Don''t worry, there''s no one there right now," Amber replied.


    "How are you so sure?"


    "Because I''m there now, the only ones here are the receptionists."


    "Oh."


    "So, you''reing, right?"


    "If there''s no one there then I guess there''s no reason not to."


    "Great, I''ll be waiting for you then." She said before ending the call.


    "Was that that blonde-haired reporter?" Rnd asked as soon as he was sure that the call was over.


    "Yeah," Mateo replied before slowly turning his gaze to him.


    "I knew something was going on between you two."


    "Hey, hey, hey, nothing is going on between us, she just wants to give me something."


    He was really quick to deny that.


    "Yeah, and what type of girl just decides to give something to a guy?"


    Mateo didn''t know what to say at that point and just let out a sigh before slowly getting up on his feet.


    "You can think whatever you like, but please don''t let this escte within the team." He said before turning his gaze to the door.


    "Hey, you know I''m not like that, I don''t go around talking about things that don''t concern me." Rnd expressed.


    "Thank you," Mateo said before he opened the door and left the room through it before shutting it.


    It didn''t take him long to get downstairs with the elevator and it also didn''t take him long to spot Amber sitting down in one of the seats in the reception area.


    He was quite surprised by how there was literally no one there except the receptionists working behind the counter.


    If there were two or three people there, he would have been a little cautious but since there was no one, he was able tofortably walk to Amber.


    "That was fast," Amber said as soon as he got close enough to her.


    "Yeah, you said you were already done here, so I had to be fast." He said.


    "Thoughtful." She smiled.


    "So, what did you want to give me?"


    "Hey, calm down, you''re not nning on taking it and leaving immediately, why don''t you take a seat and we have a little chat?" She said before patting the space beside her.


    "Um¡­.I don''t really feel like sitting." Mateo said before shaking his head.


    "And I thought you would be tired."


    "No, I''m not." He uttered. "So, what do you want to talk about?"


    "Sit down first, please."


    She was still trying to convince him to sit down when someone suddenly walked into the hotel.


    A blonde-haired girl who had her hair tied back into a ponytail.


    She was putting on a ck long-sleeved dress and had a white bag in her hand.


    "What are you doing down here, Amber?" She asked as soon as she heard her voice, and when she got close, she saw who she was talking to.


    "Mateo?" She said with a shocked expression on her face.


    "Oh, hey, Sofia." The winger.


    "You know her?" Both of the girls said at the same time causing their voices to resonate perfectly.


    ''I had my suspicion and it turns out I was spot on.''

 Chapter 378 I Still Have A Chance

    ?


    "So, you two met during the pre-season tour?" Amber said with her gaze on Sofia.


    "Yeah, he came to my dad''s store with Dave looking for a pair of shin guards, and that day, I was there to um¡­.borrow a pair of boots." Sofia expressed before slowly sitting down beside her. "I know, it''s weird for footballers not toe with spare equipment but I offered to help them find what they were looking for."


    "Oh, I see," Amber said before slowly turning his gaze to Mateo who still had an awkward smile on his face.


    "How did you get to know him on a personal level?" Sofia asked after giving her friend a little nudge.


    "Oh, that was mostly because I work with his sister and our job involves interviewing yers like him," Amber replied with an expressionless look on her face.


    "Oh, so what are you doing here?" Sofia asked before turning her gaze to Mateo. "I wasn''t really expecting to see you apart from watching your game."


    "Um¡­."


    "Their team is spending the night here," Amber said before the winger could say what he wanted to say.


    "Oh, I never would have thought, and to think that we just booked thest room."


    "Yeah, you were pretty lucky," Mateo said.


    "Um¡­.are you going to keep standing there? It''s weird how you''re standing while the both of us are sitting, I don''t think you have anything urgent to attend to, right? So, why don''t you take a seat?" Sofia requested.


    Mateo didn''t reply to that immediately and slowly turned his gaze to the entrance before turning it back to her.


    "Okay, I guess I could sit down for a few minutes." He said before he walked closer to the seat and sat down beside Sofia making her the one in the middle now.


    At that moment, Amber was left in shock but she kept her expression in check to avoid showing it.


    To put it simply, she felt something suddenly pierce through her heart and she did not like the feeling.


    "You said you were going toe here with your uncle," Mateo asked. "You dide with him, right?"


    "Yeah, but then I found Amber here, I told my uncle I was going to be off with her and he didn''t have any objections to that," Sofia exined. "We''ve been friends for a couple of years, my parents know her very well and she''s an adult now, my dad won''tin about it either."


    "Okay, it''s good to know that they won''t be worried about you." The winger said.


    ''So, when Amber said that she had one very good friend, she meant Sofia, that''s a huge coincidence.'' He said subconsciously.


    "You know I was expecting you guys to put on a show just like you did against Lazio but you guys looked underwhelming most of the time, if it wasn''t for that penalty, that would have ended in a boring draw."


    "Hm, you think?"


    "Yeah, you had a couple of good moments but you weren''t able to do anything most of the time which was quite surprising for me considering what you did against Lazio." Sofia expressed.


    "That''s really nothing to worry about, yers have underwhelming games sometimes and in my case, it wasn''t even that bad," Mateo replied.


    "I know but it''s still shocking how you got that man of the match award."


    "Huh?"


    "That award should have gone to the left back, Rnd he was the best yer on the pitch in my opinion and if not him then Dave or any of the starting center backs, they yed way better in their positions than you did as a forward."


    "I see you pay a lot of attention to matches." He smiled before letting out a little huff.


    "Yeah, but that said you still tried and scored that penalty which won the game for you guys so I guess that''s why you got the award undeservedly." She said.


    At that moment, Mateo''s eyes shifted toward Amber who had just been sitting there without saying anything since Sofia started talking.


    ''Is she feeling left out?''


    "Hey, Amber." He called, causing her to slowly turn her gaze to him.


    "Huh?"


    "When you told me about that one friend of yours who your parents were okay with hering over, you meant her, right?" He asked, pointing at Sofia.


    "Oh, yeah, it was her." She replied with a nod.


    He was expecting some kind of response filled with expressions from her, but her response was as blunt as ever.


    "Oh, so you already told him about me," Sofia said before turning her gaze to Amber. "You two seem to be closer than I first thought, by any chance are you um¡­"


    "Huh?" Mateo said.


    "By any chance, are you two in a umm¡­. rtionship?" She asked.


    Mateo didn''t reply to that question immediately as he slowly turned his gaze to Amber, and at that time, the two made eye contact and at the same time said;


    "No."


    Mateo was way more expressive about it and you could tell he almost blushed there but there was nothing from Amber.


    "Oh, I see," Sofia said before folding her lips.


    "So, Amber, what about that thing you were going to give me before Sofia walked in?" The winger asked.


    "Oh, about that, I think I forgot it upstairs, I''d like to go get it but I don''t think I cane down here again tonight, so maybe tomorrow morning or whenever I return to Bilbeth." She expressed as calmly as she could.


    "Oh."


    "You were going to give him something? What is it?" Sofia asked before quickly leaning closer to her. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Um¡­.I can''t tell you when he''s here, it''s a surprise." She said before slowly pushing Sofia off.


    She was bing less and less expressive as time went by.


    Mateo tried to get her to speak in everything they talked about but with every response, it was like she was warning him to leave her alone, in the end, he had to stop trying to force it.


    "So, Sofia, how are your studies and practice going?"


    "My studies are going pretty well and as for practice, well, I didn''t get to do much this week since I was working for that permission to be here today."


    Mateo was about to say something in response to that when Amber let out a pretty loud yawn before getting up from the seat.


    "I think I''ll be heading back to the room now." She said before turning her gaze toward the elevator.


    "Okay, I''ll meet you there then," Sofia said.


    She gave her a nod before she started making her way to the elevator.


    Mateo kept his gaze on her until she got a little closer to the elevator before he quickly turned it back to Sofia.


    "Please wait here for me, I just want to talk to Amber about something."


    "Okay," Sofia replied with a nod.


    As soon as she said that, he took off toward Amber and was able to catch up with her before she pushed the button.


    "Hey, Amber, wait up."


    She let out a sigh before slowly turning her gaze to him.


    "Are you okay?" The winger asked as soon as he got close enough to her.


    "Yeah, why are you asking?"


    "Because you started acting weirdly after Sofia walked in and you found out that I met her back during our pre-season tour." He expressed.


    "Oh, that." She said before letting out a sigh. "It''s nothing."


    "Are you sure? Because now you''re acting like you''re upset with me or something. Are you though?" He inquired.


    "No, I''m not." She said before shaking her head. "It''s just that¡­"


    "Just that what?"


    "When you told me about this other girl that you liked, you were talking about her, right?" She asked.


    "Yeah, it was her," Mateo replied after a couple of seconds.


    "Yeah, it was pretty obvious." She said before pushing the button to open up the elevator.


    "Was that the reason you were acting so cold?"


    "No." She shook her head as she slowly walked into the elevator. "You sat down as soon as she asked you to and it looked like you were reallyfortable chatting with her, you were enjoying yourself so I didn''t want to get in the way but I know¡­."


    ''So, that''s what it was.''


    "What?"


    "I know I still have a chance." She said before the doorpletely closed up.


    With her gone now, he turned around to see Sofia making her way to him.


    "Sorry, I couldn''t wait for you."


    "No, it''s okay, I was about to start heading back myself." The winger said.


    "Okay." She said before pressing the button on the elevator to open it up. "I''ll see you tomorrow then, good night." She added before giving him a little nudge.


    "Good night," Mateo said after watching her enter the elevator.


    She waved at him with a smile before the door closed and he couldn''t help but smile back.


    ________ ________


    Morning came by pretty fast, and now it was time for the yers to start heading back.


    Mateo had time to catch up with both Sofia and Amber before leaving with the team and although Amber seemed to be in a really good mood that morning to the extent that she even hugged him which he was quite surprised about, he sensed that there was still something hidden behind her smile.


    After parking their stuff, the team made their way to the airport and after everyone got on the ne, it took off toward Bilbeth.


    Mateo was sitting beside Dave as always and he had a lot going through his mind.


    ''That was a pretty hectic night, but I guess I should stop thinking about it now that it''s over, I won''t be seeing any of them for a while after all which is good. We have a one-shot match to y on Monday and losing is not an option.''


    "I know it''s a bit of a stretch but winning the treble sure would be nice," Dave said.


    "Um¡­. it''s not really that much of a stretch, winning the Europa Conference League and the league is going to be hard for sure but we are still hot in the race and now all we have to do to advance to the next round of the Bilbeth Super Cup is knock out Frono FC." Mateo expressed.


    "Yeah, you have a point, beating Frono is not going to be easy but one thing''s for sure, we''re going to beat them." The goalkeeper said.

 Chapter 379 Unique FC Vs Frono FC: League Cup First Round

    ?


    After their victory against Virreal in the Europa Conference League group stage match day two, the yers were allowed to take a day off.


    It could have been two days off if their victory had been more convincing.


    Well, some of them used Friday to get ample rest and recover from the exhausting week while others decided to use it for a fun day out.


    The day didn''tst for long though just like every other day and the next day, they had to get back to training.


    Their week this time around to prevent what happenedst week from happening again and that meant that they were going to miss their Bilbeth Premier League match this season.


    The same thing could be said for the other five teams who were currently in Europeanpetitions.


    They had a match against Frono FC on Monday, their first match in the Bilbeth, it was a home match so there was no need to stress about anything and the best part was that the tournament followed a single-phase knockout method.


    That meant that there were no second legs, any team that got defeated in any of the rounds was automatically eliminated from the tournament because there were no second legs for them to try and redeem themselves.


    This worked quite well against them in the quarterfinals of thepetition when they were knocked out by the same Frono FC they were about to face in a couple of days.


    The match was down three goals to three and it looked like everything was about to go into extra time until Darwin Shaw came in clutch in thest minute and made it four goals to three with a clinical strike that broke the spirit of every Unique FC yer and everyone that was supporting them that day.


    This time around, they were down for revenge, they''ve already beaten them at the start of the season to make up for part of what they did to them thisst season but this situation was a bit different.


    They had to strike Frono FC fast and break their morale and Norman was telling them how to do that piece by piece with each training session they had before the match.


    ________ ________


    The match day came by pretty fast, Frono FC traveled to Unique City for the match which was going to kick off by 4:00 PM.


    It didn''t take long for the match to kick off and just three minutes after that, Unique FC showed Frono FC what they were capable of.


    They were the ones that started the game from the kick-off spot and during those moments, they made sure to avoid the middlepletely and y down both wings.


    This worked quite well for them because with time, Mateo got the ball in a very good position and he didn''t hesitate to use it in the best way he could.


    With a snake bite, he quickly got past the yer trying to stop him, and moved a little toward the middle with the ball before lobbing it into the box a little close to the edge.


    Ferran got to the ball ahead of everyone else and with a neat header, he sent the ball flying toward the right side of the goalpost.


    Emerson was glued to the spot as the ball flew past him and into the goalpost.


    That was a beautiful goal from a beautiful header and Ferran didn''t hold back his emotions as he ran toward the sidelines to celebrate.


    That was the start of their ''eliminate Frono FC'' campaign and scoring the first goal meant that they had gotten a good start.


    However, just seven minutes after scoring that opener, Frono FC won a penalty kick.


    The penalty kick came as a result of Seth dribbling his way through the whole defense to get into the box but before he could do anything with the ball, he was brought down by Aima with a tackle which wasn''t exactly dangerous but it was still a foul and now Frono FC had a massive chance to level the ying field.


    "This is a massive chance for Frono FC to get back into the game, will Darwin be able to put it away?" Jimmented.


    Darwin was standing over the ball now as the referee made sure that everyone else was behind him outside the box.


    <Stay focused, Dave>


    ''I know.''


    <I would have advised you to use Focus if you didn''t have all these weird thoughts going through your mind>


    ''Don''t worry, I don''t need it to save this.''


    <I hope so>


    After making sure everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle, and now it was up to Darwin to give his team what they wanted and up to Dave to make sure that didn''t happen.


    ''There''s the whistle, how''s this going to pan out?''


    Darwin let out a sigh before he slowly took three steps backward.


    After that, he paused for a while before he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost, that ball was fired with massive shot power.


    Dave was spot on on the side where he was going to ce the ball but he was way off on the elevation as the ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand corner of the goalpost while he went low.


    All he was able to do now wasy on the floor as the ball flew into the goalpost and hit the.


    "It''s in! He did it, they''re back on level terms!" Jim eximed


    "That was a well-taken penalty kick to put Darwin off like that," Stevemented.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Darwin couldn''t keep quiet after that goal as he screamed as loud as he can before taking off to the side to do a knee slide.


    Minino was sitting on the bench and he couldn''t keep his amusement in check.


    "Come on man, it was just a penalty." He muttered as he slowly shook his head.


    For some reason, he didn''t feel bad after watching Darwin score that goal.


    "Darwin hasn''t scored against Dave since theirst two meetings and he just did it again, he is still the yer with the most goals against Dave which is understandable given the fact that Dave has not been allowing the ball to get past him easily since the start of the season." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, and it looks like he''s really happy to finally score against Dave again, I wonder what will happen if he manages to score an open y goal in this match," Jim said. "But, that out of the way for now, both teams are back on level terms with just twelve minutes on the clock."


    ''There goes my conjoined quest.'' Dave said subconsciously as he slowly got up from the floor.


    [ Conjoined quest failed ]


    <It''s not the end of the world>


    ''Yeah, it''s not, if getting scored against means we win this match then so be it.''


    The match continued with Unique FC killing in terms of possession, gamey, and attack.


    They were running over Frono FC who were having a really hard time creating anything useful.


    The only person who was making a bit of an impact was Seth their right winger but still, there wasn''t much he could do without anybody actively supporting him plus, Rnd was able to stop him during situations that really mattered.


    Of course, things wouldn''t be this bad for them if they had Ahmed in their midfield and not on the bench at that moment but Norman could also argue with the fact that he had arguably the key man in his midfield on the bench.


    Minino was sitting on the bench so that Norman could start Henry who hadn''t gotten much ying time so far this season.


    Despite dominating the match in almost every way possible, Unique FC weren''t finding it that easy to get through Frono FC''s defense, and the chances they managed to get through ended up going to waste.


    The match had just entered the forty-third minute now and Unique FC were lurking around Frono FC''s goal area looking for a way through.


    "The first half is almost over and the score is still leveled can Unique FC take the lead before the halftime break? Frono FC has just beenckluster so far."


    Fred received the ball right at the edge of the box and just before the yer there could get to him, he pushed it back to Ferran who immediately sent it rolling to Mateo.


    Mateo pushed a little closer to the box as carefully as he could and just before two yers could pounce on him he sent the ball rolling to Ferran who immediately sent it back to him as soon as he got inside the box.


    "Oh, this looks promising."


    There was a yer right in front of him so he quickly stretched the ball further to get past him but the ball was now close enough for Emerson to rush out and grab it.


    Emerson quickly rushed out to grab the ball as expected but before he could get his hand on it, Mateo stretched his leg to get the tip of his boot on it and that was all he needed to chip the ball over the goalkeeper before he was brought down inside the box.


    Hey on the floor and watched the ball fly into the goalpost and as soon as it happened, he quickly sprang up from the floor.


    "Oh, my goodness! What a goal! They have the lead back and it''s their Wonder kid Mateo!" Jim screamed.


    Mateo wasn''t allowed to rest after that goal as his teammates got to him and pulled him down to the floor.


    That celebration didn''tst for long as the game had to resume immediately.


    It didn''t take long for the right midfielder to lose the ball to Rnd after the restart, and as soon as the left back got his foot on the ball, he sent it flying over to Henry who immediately sent it rolling to Carlos.


    Carlos raced down the middle with the ball before he quickly turned back and found Mateo near the middle.


    He immediately sent the ball rolling to the winger and without giving much thought to it, Mateo fired the ball toward the goalpost with his first touch.


    The ball flew toward the top right side of the goalpost and despite diving toward it, Emerson was only able to get the tip of his glove on it as it hit the post before falling into the goalpost.


    You could tell by Mateo''s expression that he wasn''t really counting on that ball going in but as soon as it went in, he raised both of his hands.


    "I can''t believe it, they''re two goals up with just three minutes of added time left."


    ****


    Happy new month guys.


    With this month, I''ve decided to set up a favorable mass-release goal.


    For every set of gifts worth 3000 coins, I will do a three chapters mass release.


    Every 100 GT= 4 chapters mass release.

 Chapter 380 What A Player

    ?


    Those two goals were what could be described as hitting them where it hurt.


    Frono FC thought they were going to go in for the halftime break with the draw and then they could try and figure out a way to stop Unique FC from bullying them the way they did in this first half, but Mateo didn''t give them that peace of mind of going in for the break on level terms as he struck twice to give his team a two-goal lead before the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    "That''s one way to retake the lead and it''s not only taking the lead, they''re two goals up now," Jimmented as the yers made their way down the tunnel.


    "Unique FC have already defeated Frono FC once this season, are we going to see Frono FC lose to Unique for the second time in a row?" Stevemented.


    "Well, the possibility of that happening now is pretty high but you know, this is football, anything can happen in the second half. But, I think Unique FC aren''t nning on throwing away this lead, considering how Frono FC beat them in almost all of their meetingsst season, this could be their revenge."


    Unique FC yers were all in the locker room now with Norman standing in front of them just like always.


    He had his arms crossed with an expressionless look on his face.


    He kept his gaze on the yers for a while before he finally decided to say something.


    "Nice job with thosest two goals, at least I can breath a little easy now." He said with his gaze on Mateo who responded with a little nod. "You guys yed really well out there, but."


    ''There''s always going to be a but.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    <Yeah, but there really is a but>


    "They are ying really badly out there and we weren''t even able to take a two-goal lead, we should be at least three or four goals up with theckluster way they''ve been ying." Norman expressed. "We are winning now but who knows what they''re going toe up with in the second half, I just hope they keep ying the way they did I''m the first half."


    "Do you have any suggestions or ideas, coach?" Adolf asked.


    "I always have those, Adolf."


    "Oh¡­, yeah."


    "Now to start, Mateo, I''m giving you a free role."


    "A free role?" Mateo said before slowly raising his head.


    "Yes, your main position is the left wing but if you see an opportunity to explore any position and do something from there then just go for it, I know you have what it takes." He exined.


    "I''ll try my best, coach." The winger replied with a nod.


    <He should have done that a long time ago>


    ''Yeah, I agree.''


    "Now for the other part, it''s going to depend entirely on how much they improve in this second half, if there is no major improvement from them then we canunch this tactic with full effect as soon as possible."


    Norman took the time to properly exin everything to them and now it was time for them to start making their way to the pitch.


    "Alright, everyone, go out there and win this match, we''re already winning it and we''re going to see it through to the end!"


    "Wee back everyone, the second half is about to kick off as we can see the yers making their way to the pitch now," Jim said. "The first half was pretty entertaining despite being almost entirely one-sided."


    "Yeah, that early goal from Unique FC, then the equalizer from Frono FC, and then the equalizer from Frono FC. After that we got the struggles in between to see who would take the lead, it was mostly Unique FC struggling though, and then in thest minutes Mateo struck twice in two minutes to give his team a two-goal lead." Steve expressed.


    "Well said, Steve. Now it''s time to see who''s going toe out on top in this round and move to the next round, looking at the scoreboard and in terms of gamey, it''s most likely Unique FC but this is football and anything can happen so we''ll just have to wait and see." Jim expressed.


    The yers were all on the pitch now as Darwin was standing over the ball in the kick-off spot waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    It didn''t take long for him to hear it as the referee blew his whistle as soon as he was sure that everything was ready.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    As soon as Darwin heard the whistle, he pushed the ball to the yer with the name Cloud written above the number twenty-seven on the back of his jersey.


    As soon as Cloud got hold of the ball, he pushed it to the yer behind him with a backheel pass.


    The yer tried to shake both Martinez and Ferran who had quickly gone after him but he knew he would lose the ball if he kept up what he wanted to do so he passed the ball to. Seth.


    "Seth."


    Seth got hold of the ball and immediately sent it flying over to the other side with a lob. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Sends it over to Torres."


    Torres brought the ball down with a neat trap and just as soon as Henry was about to attempt to take the ball from him from behind.


    He pulled the ball back and evaded the midfielder with a neat roulette spin.


    "Oh, that was smooth."


    After avoiding Henry, the winger quickly sent the ball rolling to Cloud who sent it rolling to Seth with the first touch.


    Seth moved down the right wing with the ball, and just before he could run into Rnd, he sent the ball flying into the box through the middle.


    Darwin was heading into the box at that moment and getting the ball to the striker was his goal, but that didn''t work out quite well for him as Dave quickly stepped up to grab the ball with both of his gloves.


    "Dave intervenes and that ends there, Frono FC should have gone for a slower approach, to score against Dave like, you have to be tricky or get him in a one-on-one situation," Jimmented.


    "Yeah, I''ve figured that long-range shots don''t work against him anymore they used to work with almost a hundred percent effectiveness, but with the way he''s improved, they just don''t work anymore." Steve expressed.


    The match continued with Unique FC being mostly on the passive side.


    They weren''t really doing anything impactful and just kept losing it to Frono FC with horrible mistakes.


    At this point, it looked like they were doing it on purpose but why on earth would they be doing something like that in a match that they wanted to win by all means possible?


    Despite constantly getting the ball from Unique FC''s mistakes, Frono FC had not been able to do anything useful with it and ended up getting folded by the defense, the long-range shots were also stopped by Dave.


    Right now, Unique FC were the ones with the ball and after receiving the ball back from Mateo, Ferran tried to move a little to the middle with it when it was quickly swept off his feet by Cloud who quickly got up with it and took off.


    "Another clumsy mistake from Unique FC and Frono FC are back with the ball again."


    Cloud raced down the middle with the ball before stretching it to Seth on the right.


    Seth got hold of the ball and continued the race, but just before he could run into Rnd he pushed the ball to Darwin who didn''t hesitate in sending it to Torres.


    Torres tried to get past Norman and when that didn''t work out quite well for him, he sent the ball back to Darwin.


    "They''re trying toe up with something here."


    Darwin stalled the ball in front of Adolf for a while before he found Seth attempting to get past Rnd and quickly sent the ball flying over to him with a neat lob.


    Things didn''t go quite as nned as Rnd ended up being the one to get his head on the ball.


    He nodded the ball up toward Dave who did hesitate to step up and grab.


    "Another danger averted but wait a minute¡­"


    As soon as Dave caught the ball, he threw it up and sent it flying into the pitch toward Mateo.


    "It''s a counterattack, they''re starting a counterattack."


    Mateo brought the ball down with his chest a little close to the middle and all he needed to do was get past the yer behind him.


    That he did and got past the yer with a neat backheel nutmeg.


    "Oh, he''s through here!"


    There was another yer trying to close up on him through the right, but the winger didn''t care as he raced toward the goalkeeper and by the time he got close enough to the goalkeeper, the yer had gotten quite close to him, but that didn''t mean anything as the winger ended up lobbing the ball over the goalkeeper and into the goalpost before he could do anything about it.


    "Goaallllll! They''re three goals up now! It''s Dave assisting Mateo again!"


    For this one, Mateo had to go wild a little as he raced toward the sidelines screaming at the top of his voice and because of how fast he was running, he almost ran into the stands.


    Of course, the ones who were in that part were happy to touch him and get him up close in their shots.


    "Hattrick against Frono FC what a yer."

 Chapter 381 Instant Strike Back

    ?


    Frono FC were now down four goals to one with sixty-five minutes being disyed on the match time.


    You could say it was pretty much over at this moment and nobody would look at you strangely.


    To equalize that scoreline, Frono FC needed three more goals and it was pretty obvious that goals weren''ting their way in this match, their only goal so far came from a penalty kick after all.


    But that wasn''t really the main reason why anybody would believe that the match was pretty much over, the main reason was the fact that Unique were still dominating the match.


    After the whole carelessly losing ball phase that led to them scoring that four goals with that counterattack, they went straight back to dominating the game, and that gave the fans more reason to believe that they did all that on purpose.


    There weren''t dominating Frono FC as much as they did in the first half as the guests were retrieving the ball quite fine with whatever opportunity they got but prating Unique FC''s defense felt like it got harder for them in this half.


    Out of frustration, Darwin tried a couple of long-range shots hoping that the old Dave would juste back and fumble that ball into the goalpost, but he was just daydreaming as Dave was able to easily stop all the shots.


    With a decent midfield, solid defense, deadly attack mostly because of Mateo and a goalkeeper like Dave, Unique FC were now a formidable team that Frono FC just couldn''t figure out a way to beat.


    Mostly, whenever they encounter a team stronger than them, they stick to ying by their wits and end up using the mistakes of those teams to beat them.


    They''ve encountered a couple of roadblocks on the road a couple of times just like they''ve done with Unique FC now.


    Teams that hardly made any serious mistakes and will do anything to prevent themselves from getting outsmarted.


    The only team that has been a major roadblock to them among all the teams in the league was Supreme United who they had failed to beat in theirst five meetings, that was until Unique FC showed them what they could do today.


    They were on the verge of getting knocked out of the Bilbeth Super Cup and they didn''t like that.


    "Frono FC knocked Unique FC out of thepetitionst season with a scoreline of five goals to three, Unique FC fought hard in that match but Frono FC were the better team and they ended uping out on top. This season, we''re seeing a Unique FC revenge story and they''re not taking it easy." Jim expressed.


    "Well, I don''t me them, Frono FC really punched them hard a lot of timesst season and it''s nice to see that they can punch back, if they win this match which is most likely going to happen, it will be their second return blow this season." Steve expressed.


    After that goal from Mateo, it was obvious that Unique came up with more goal-scoring opportunities than Frono FC but those chances went to waste.


    Well, none of them were really that close to going in apart from a well-ced shot from Carlos which was really close to going in from the bottom left side but Emerson was able to get to it right on time with both of his gloves.


    That was a really close call for them because they would have been four goals now.


    With the match entering the seventy-second minute now and the ball going out for a throw-in against Frono FC, both managers decided to make some changes.


    This was going to be Norman''s first change of the game and for Frono FC''s coach, it was going to be his third or more as he had reced one of his center backs and his right back who was having a hard time stopping Mateo from causing a lot of trouble from that area.


    Norman brought on Minino to rece Henry who had been quite phenomenal today and then Frankie came on to rece Martinez who requested to be substituted after a challenge from Cloud.


    He didn''t act like it was anything serious at first until he started limping.


    It wasn''t anything that serious though, given the fact that he was able to get off the pitch on his own.


    The only change Frono FC''s coach made was bringing on Ahmed to rece Cloud.


    "I was wondering when he was going to bring him on, Cloud hasn''t really been that bad but it was pretty obvious that they were missing Ahmed in midfield, their midfield just hasn''t felt the same without him and I''m sure the yers can testify." Jim expressed.


    It was quite interesting how both teams were bringing on their midfield Dynamos now.


    Well, all three midfielders that Unique FC had on the pitch now were pretty decent but when it came to the question of who was the team''s midfield Dynamo, that was only between Ferran and Minino.


    Frankie was someone you would call a jack of all trades in midfield but you dare not say thest part because he had really good defensive abilities and his ability to intercept opponent passes was second to none on the team.


    The match continued with Frono FC stealing the ball as soon as it was thrown to Ferran by Frankie.


    The stealing was done by the newly brought-in Ahmed who sent the ball rolling to Seth as soon as he got hold of it.


    "Ahmed already doing something just a few minutes aftering in," Jimmented.


    "It''s like he was brought in to help the team equalize this huge goal scoreline but that''s going to be pretty difficult against Unique FC, if they wanted a chance, he should havee on earlier." Jim expressed. "That said, I''m not writing off theireback ability or anything, this is football after all and the unexpected happens a lot of times."


    Frono FC were still with the ball here looking for a way to get past Unique FC''s defense.


    Torres tried to get past Norman like always but to avoid getting pocketed by the right back just like the other times he''s tried to get past him, he decided to pass the ball to Darwin.


    Darwin feigned shooting toward the goalpost to shake Adolf but something like that wasn''t going to work on Adolf who pushed forward and ended up getting the ball off his feet.


    The ball was sent rolling toward Ahmed who immediately sent it flying over to Seth with a lob before Frankie could get to him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The ball wasn''t able to get to Seth though as Rnd ended up heading it out for a corner kick to prevent that from happening.


    "Nice defending from Rnd but now they have a corner kick to deal with."


    Seth quickly caught the ball thrown to him and took it to the spot for the corner kick.


    There were yers from both teams running around inside the box as the referee made sure that everything was ready.


    "A corner kick, that''s great," Dave muttered as he pulled down his gloves a little.


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle and now it was up to Seth to send the ball in.


    He slowly took three steps backward and took in a deep breath before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    The ball came curving in on the right side where Rnd was marking Ahmed and when the two jumped up together to get their head on the ball, Ahmed ended up winning the aerial contest.


    The ball was sent flying toward the right side of the goalpost as Dave dived toward it, but before he could get to it, something quite unfortunate happened.


    Aima stretched his leg out of instinct to block the ball and although that did work, the rebound was sent rolling toward the goalpost from the middle.


    There was nothing anybody could do as the ball rolled into the goalpost.


    "Oh, it''s an own goal, they''ve pulled another one back!"


    Ahmed quickly picked the ball up from the goalpost and began to run back to the other side while screaming to his teammates that they could do it.


    "That''s quite unfortunate but they''re still two goals up, they just have to keep their head up and see this through, a Frono FC equalizer would be nice to spice up the match though," Stevemented.


    ''Well, it doesn''t really matter, there''s no quest for me to prevent a second goal and we''re still two goals up.''


    <But you guys can''t afford to concede another goal>


    The match continued with Unique FC moving the ball around with great caution, it was like they were trying to stall the game so Frono FC began to press them hard.


    This forced Unique FC to switch to a faster style of y.


    Carlos received the ball down the right wing and was about to either move forward with it or pass it to someone when he was taken down under a careless challenge from a Frono FC yer.


    The yer got a yellow card as expected and now Unique FC had a free kick.


    It wasn''t close enough to be taken directly by someone like Mateo but since he was good with long passes, he was still going to take it.


    There was really no need for a wall as the foul happened a little close to the kick-off spot.


    The yers from both teams were all around the box now and as soon as the referee was sure that everything was ready, he blew his whistle.


    Mateo sent the ball flying in as soon as he could and he was going for the middle.


    The ball was sent flying directly toward Ferran who nodded it back a little to the right exactly where Frankie could be seen with a Frono FC defender.


    The midfielder was in a good position to put the ball away and the yer behind him was aware of that so he decided to pull his shirt sneakily.


    Frankie wasn''t going to give in easily though as just as he was about to fall backward, he raised his left leg and sent the ball volley flying toward the top right-hand corner.


    Emerson was glued to the spot as he watched the ball hit the crossbar before falling into the goalpost.


    "Oh, my goodness, that''s their fifth goal, they''re back to being three goals up."


    That goal left every Frono FC yer in shock and Unique FC yers were quite ted as they stormed on Frankie.


    "I think it''s fair to say that this match is over at this point, what an instant strike back," Stevemented.


    ****


    Mass release goals


    For every set of gifts worth 3000 coins, I will do a three chapters mass release.


    Every 100 GT= 4 chapters mass release.

 Chapter 382 Keeping The Treble Dream Alive

    ?


    They thought they had something going when they closed it down to just two goals and now and a few minutester they were back to being three goals down.


    They had just three minutes left for the normal match time to hit ny and at this moment, it was pretty much clear that the match was over.


    Frono FC yers were aware of that now as their gamey began to slow down minute after minute.


    After the match hit the nieth minute, the official with the board raised his board to show that there was going to be eight minutes of added time.


    Unique FC yers and fans would have surelyined if they were just one goal up but they were ahead of Frono FC with three goals so there was nothing to worry about, and besides, it didn''t look like Frono FC could cause any trouble for them with the way they were currently ying.


    Unique FC dominated the game for six minutes of that eight minutes of added time until Mateo won a free-kick about thirty yards away from the goalpost and close to the sideline on the right.


    He could definitely have a go from there but it was best not to and try a cross instead.


    "Probably thest spot kick of the game, will Unique FC be able to do anything with this one? And if they don''t, it doesn''t really matter." Jimmented.


    Mateo was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle while the referee made sure that everything was ready.


    He had a three man wall in front of him but that wasn''t bothering him, taking the free kick wasn''t even bothering him at all, whatever happened, they were going to move to the next round.


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle and now it was up to Mateo to y a carefree free kick.


    The winger slowly took three steps backward before he slowly closed up on the ball and sent it flying over the wall and toward the box.


    That ball had quite the elevation to it and that was the reason why all the yers near the edge of the box failed to get their head on it.


    The ball flew toward the left side of the goalpost where Minino was standing and was surprisingly unmarked.


    The midfielder brought the ball down with his chest and just before the yers around him could get to him, he sent the ball rolling toward the goalpost.


    The ball was sent rolling toward Emerson but he wasn''t able to stop it as the ball went through his legs to enter the goalpost.


    "Wow, that''s a sixth goal," Stevemented.


    "It''s six-two, Unique FC got a six-goal and it''s Minino at the end of it!" Jim eximed.


    Minino went crazy after that goal as he rushed to the ball picked it up and kicked it back at the as hard as he could before screaming something.


    <Looks like you guys have this one in the bag, to the next round it is>


    ''Yeah, in the next round, I can''t believe we actually scored six against them.''


    <Well, they scored five against you, so this is a well-struck revenge>


    After that goal, the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end.


    "There''s the whistle we''ve all been waiting for," Jimmented. "It''s all smiles on the faces of Unique FC yers as they advance to round two of the tournament with flying colors."


    "I know I was more on the side of them beating Frono FC but I never expected them to blow them away like this," Steve said.


    "Well, they knocked out Unique FC from thepetitionst season in a match where they scored five goals against them but the scoreline difference was only two goals, it wasn''t as brutal as this, Unique FC struck back with no mercy." Jim expressed.


    The fans felt at the top of the world to finally see their team get back at Frono FC for what they did to themst season.


    You could tell how exhrated they were by how intensely they were chanting now.


    "Frono FC never took the lead for once and it was clear that Unique FC were the superior team from the start but still, this is one of the best matches I''ve watched so far this season, the unexpected goals got me every time." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, I''m sure this was more interesting than watching Supreme United trash division two side Blueville United seven goals to nothing," Steve said.


    "Yeah, that is an intense scoreline, they totally dominated Blueville in that match and now they''re in round two alongside Unique FC." Jim articted. "Unique FC weren''t able to meetst season although it was pretty obvious what was going to happen if they did but it sure is going to be pretty interesting if they meet this season in the quarterfinals, semi-finals, or even better, the finals."


    "That sure will be interesting, if both of them take different routes and seed in making it to the finals," Steve remarked.


    After that, the two brought their broadcast to an end.


    The man of the match award was obviously given to Mateo, a hat trick and two assists was not something anybody could achieve in a match.


    This was a phenomenal match for him and giving him a 9.9 rating was no exaggeration.


    A lot of Frono FC yers including Darwin of course, stormed down the tunnel as soon as the referee blew his whistle to bring the match to an end but every Unique FC yer stayed to greet the fans who gave them their voice throughout the game and after getting that over with, it was time to head down the tunnel.


    Mateo was walking alongside Dave when they ran into Emma as expected.


    "Hey, you two." She said as soon as she spotted them.


    "Oh, hey, Emma and¡­."


    The goalkeeper paused in between his words to look around.


    "Are you looking for Amber?" Emma asked.


    "Yeah, where is she?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "She''s on a break and won''t be back until Sunday, remember"


    "Oh, I forgot about that, even after we ran into Sofia and her at the hotel we were staying," Dave said before pping his palm into his face.


    "Wait, Sofia, isn''t that the Spanish girl who made that painting for Mateo?" She asked.


    "Yeah, that''s her."


    "And the both of you ran into her and Amber at the hotel you were staying in?"


    "Well, it turns out they are both really good friends, like they''ve been friends for quite a long time," Dave exined.


    "They''re friends?" She was quite shocked as she slowly turned her gaze to Mateo. "That must have been really tough."


    "Huh? What are you talking about?" Mateo asked as soon as he noticed her gaze shift to him.


    "Oh, never mind." She said before shaking her head. "I have to go find someone to interview from your team."


    "Huh? You aren''t going to pick any of us?"


    "No, the both of you while interesting on the pitch are pretty boring during interviews and I heard Minino says pretty interesting things on camera." She expressed before walking away from the two to find someone.


    ''But she''s the one that told me not to say controversial things during interviews.''


    <It doesn''t take saying controversial things to say something interesting and even when trying to say something controversial, you''re still boring>


    ''Wow, thanks for thepliment, Catherine.''


    <You''re wee>


    After taking care of the things some of them had to take care of outside, all the yers were back in the locker room now.


    The room was fairly quiet until Minino came in and lit the fire like he always does whenever they win an important match.


    It was like the only times he was serious was whenever he was on the pitch or after losing a match, important or not.


    ''Oh, just show me my post-match rewards, Catherine.''


    <Roger that>


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Six crucial saves: +60 exp ]


    [ Assisted a goal: +100 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.6 ]


    ''A hundred and sixty exp, that''s something at least.''


    [ 370/2015 exp ]


    ''That''s a lot of experience points required, but it''s not like it matters unless I''m going to unlock a new skill in the next level, am I?''


    <No>


    ''Oh, okay.'' He replied subconsciously. ''But why did I stop getting skill points from quests and just from leveling up only.''


    <That''s because the skill points you will umte once you get to the level to unlock yourst skill will be enough to unlock the skill and then you won''t have any more skill points>


    ''Oh, okay, that makes sense.''


    [ Skill upgrade points: 141 ]


    <Don''t you think it''s about time to level some of your skills up?>


    ''Yeah, but I think I''ll hold off on doing that for now.''


    <If you think that''s what''s good for you then, okay>


    With this victory against Frono FC, Unique FC kept their treble dream alive and now they just had to beat West Ham United on Thursday to increase their chance of making it to the knockout stage of the Europa Conference League.


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    For every set of gifts worth 3000 coins, I will do a three chapter mass release.


    Every 100 GT= 4 chapters mass release.

 Chapter 383 Shocking Scoreline

    ?


    After knocking out Frono FC in style and getting that revenge they''ve always wanted, Unique FC yers got another day off.


    Their next match was on Thursday after all so it was best to rest on Tuesday and then return to training on Wednesday.


    Dave got up that morning and quickly kicked it off with his daily workout.


    It started with a short run of course and after that, he returned to his gym.


    After spending some time there working on his legs especially, he walked out to thewn with a ball.


    ''So, how''s your morning going, Catherine?'' He asked


    <My morning is always great, thanks for asking>


    ''Yeah, it''s always like that. So, Catherine.''


    <Huh?>


    ''What will happen if I suddenly stop training?''


    <Really? What happens when a football yer, any football yer stops training?>


    ''Well, naturally, they''ll decline in performance.''


    <There''s your answer>


    ''That makes sense but none of the things that have happened to me so far is natural so I wanted to know.''


    <You won''t really understand now, Dave, but everything that has happened to you apart from the rate of your growth has been natural>


    ''Huh?''


    <You''re not going to understand even if I exin it to you now, so I won''t, you''ll find out about it toward the end of your journey>


    ''Now you''re just confusing me.''


    <Don''t worry about it, it''s really not that important>


    ''Okay, so how will my decline happen, are my stats going to drop, my skills drop in level?''


    <Your stats are going to drop but if you get back to training again, they''ll start going up>


    ''And my skills?''


    <Nothing will happen to them, they can''t go down in level>


    ''Oh, so the moral of this conversation is never stop training.''


    <Yeah, basically but your stats are still going to drop>


    ''Huh? Why''s that?''


    <Once you get to a certain age, your stats will suddenly start dropping not rapidly but slowly>


    ''Oh, and what age is that?''


    <You''ll have to find that out for yourself>


    ''I''m guessingte thirties because that''s when most yers start dropping form.''


    <A reasonable guess>


    ''So?''


    <No, I''m not telling you>


    "Fine," Dave muttered.


    After that, he brought the ball down and gave it a little kick, it rolled toward the hedge of flowers and hid between them as soon as it got there.


    After that, the goalkeeper turned toward the door and made his way into the house.


    He entered the house to find Emma sitting on the couch in the living room.


    She had already gotten dressed for work and was applying a little makeup on her face now.


    "I was wondering when you were going to walk in here." She said with her gaze on her mirror.


    "You were watching me from upstairs, weren''t you?" Dave said as he made his way to her.


    "Not really, I just took a little gaze outside and found you there, I didn''t look for long though." She replied.


    "I doubt that." He said before slowly sitting down beside her.


    "Of course you do."


    "So, how''s my little baby girl doing?" He asked before cing his hand on her stomach.


    "It''s your little baby boy and ording to the doctor yesterday, he''s doing fine." She replied.


    "That''s great news, too bad she hasn''t shown her form as a girl yet, I wonder what she will think in the future when I tell her that her mother wanted her to be a boy."


    "Hmph, in your dreams." She said before turning her gaze to him.


    Dave wanted to say something but stopped as soon as he made eye contact with her.


    "So, how long are you going to be working today?" He asked.


    "Not for long, I''ll be back by five." She said before getting up from the couch.


    "Okay," Dave said before getting up from the couch too. "Then, I''ll just." He added before leaning closer to kiss her.


    It was just a short kiss.


    "What are you going to be doing, today? Are you nning on going anywhere?" She asked.


    "Not really." He replied before shaking his head.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "So, you''re just going to stay at home and do nothing?"


    "No, Mateo''sing overter, we have ns that involve ying games for now, we may decide to go out who knows." He expressed with a shrug.


    "Right, Mateo, the only friend you have in your team."


    "He''s not my only friend in my team but he is the only one that I really trust and feel super rxed around, I was about to say it was a family thing until I realized that your dad existed."


    "I get your point." She sighed. "Speaking about Mateo, did anything happen back at Virreal?"


    "You mean with Sofia and Amber?"


    "Yeah, how on earth did he get caught up between two friends? These kinds of things never end well for anybody."


    "Fate," Dave muttered with a shrug. "Don''t worry about it though, I''m sure he knows what to do."


    "I hope so, maybe I should have kept Amber away from him."


    "Huh?"


    "Nothing." She said before shaking her head. " I''ll get going now."


    Dave kept his gaze on her until she was gone and after that, he crashed down on the couch.


    _______ _______


    Mateo arrived at the goalkeeper''s ce by 11:00 AM and after chatting for a while, they got straight into their video games.


    It was Fifa of course, where Dave kept on getting bullied despite using arguably the best team in the game.


    After losing for the seventh time in a row, he gave up and got up from the couch.


    "This isn''t fun if I keep losing all the time." He said as he made his way to the kitchen.


    <It''s not his fault that you keep losing all the time, what do you want him to do, let you win?>


    ''Not really but he doesn''t have to destroy me like that all the time.'' He replied subconsciously as he opened the freezer and took out a bottle of water.


    He returned to the living room with a bottle of water and two cups.


    There was a little moment of silence in the room after the both of them poured some water down their system.


    It didn''t take long for Dave to find something to talk about though.


    "Hey, I got a news report this morning about something pretty interesting." He said.


    "About what?" Mateo asked before turning his gaze to him.


    "Well, four yers from our team were nominated for team of the month."


    "And who are those?" The winger asked.


    He was already sure that his name was going to be there and he had a rough idea of who the other three could be but he was still going to ask.


    "We have Rnd, Minino, me, and you." The goalkeeper said.


    "Oh, that''s interesting, Rnd and Minino didn''t make itst month so it''s nice to see him there this month."


    "Yeah, and you''re finally going to win that yer of the Month award you were supposed to winst month.


    Mateo only replied with a nod to that before picking up his controller.


    "If you want to y that, you''ll have to do it alone, I''m tired of getting beaten over and over again."


    "How about we try something else then?"


    "No, how about we pause video games for now?"


    "Okay, what do you want to do then?" Mateo asked.


    "Hm¡­.we could go watch an illegal underground boxing match."


    "You know where we can go watch an illegal underground boxing match?" Mateo said with a startled look on his face.


    Dave stared at him with an expressionless face for a while before saying.


    "No, I was just kidding."


    As soon Mateo heard that, he let out a sigh of relief.


    "I didn''t know you were this scared of doing illegal stuff." The goalkeeper said with a little chuckle. "Anyway, Dynamo FC''s match should be near its end now, how about we check that out?"


    "Okay."


    After disconnecting the screen from the yStation, Dave used the remote to tune into the exact sports channel where Dynamo FC versus Rojo Sturm United was being streamed.


    It didn''t take him long to get to the channel but the reaction from both yers was one of immense shot.


    The score line was eight goals to zero when he tuned in to the channel but right now, it has just gone to nine goals to zero after Frank sent a volley right into the goalpost from outside the box.


    "That''s his third goal from outside the box, what a hat trick!" Jim eximed. "Rojo Sturm are surely wishing they never came here today."


    "Nine goals?" Dave said with a shocked expression on his face.


    "The closest we came to seeing this kind of scoreline was Supreme United''s seven-one victory against Unique FCst season, Dynamo FC are showing no mercy here today." Steve expressed.


    <Well, they''re getting relegated that''s for sure>


    ****


    Mass release goals.


    For every set of gifts worth 3000 coins, I will do a three chapters mass release.


    Every 100 GT= 4 chapters mass release.

 Chapter 384 Keep Hoping

    ?


    The day Unique FC were going to battle it against West Ham United in the Wondanimo stadium was just a few hours away, and because of that, the yers had gone back to training.


    They had a training session on Wednesday morning and they were still at it.


    On one side, there were a couple of yers busy ying rondo, and on the other side, there was Dave who had Fredinho trying out his shots on him.


    The striker had the ball ced twenty-five yards away from the goalpost while Dave was jumping up and down on his line.


    "I''m pretty sure you won''t be able to stop this one!" Fredinho yelled as he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying toward the top left-hand side of the goalpost with great force, but that was no problem for Dave.


    [ Thrust activated ]


    He sprang up toward the ball as soon as that skill was activated, and with his left glove, he punched the ball over the bar.


    "Dude, why are you so fast?" Fredinho asked with both of his hands on his waist.


    The expression on his face was one of immense shock.


    "Well, I''ve been training my reflexes and speed."


    ''Courtesy of, Catherine.''


    "Yeah, I get that, but you moved way faster nowpared to the other times, almost like you instantly got a boost." The striker expressed.


    "Got a boost? Maybe that''s because I decided to put everything into stopping that ball from going in." The goalkeeper said.


    "Oh, wait does that mean you have not been giving it your all?"


    "No, not really, I just don''t really like to overexert myself for the sake of making one save, I tried really hard to stop those ones that went in."


    "Oh."


    <Look at you, trying so hard to not make him feel bad>


    "I think it''s about time we took a break," Dave said before turning his gaze to the sidelines where most of his teammates were already resting now while pouring some water down their system.


    After that, the yers returned back to training, and this time, Norman supervised it by himself to check a couple of things and see what he was going to do for the match against West Ham United.


    It didn''t take long for the training session toe to an end, and now that it was over, the yers were heading back to the locker room where Norman was going to brief them on the tactics and the starting eleven.


    [ Training sessionpleted ]


    [ +10 exp received ]


    Dave didn''t even bother to look at that message as he walked into the locker room with his teammates.


    After getting to the locker room, they sat down and chatted for a while before Norman walked in to tell them everything they needed to hear.


    "Alright, boys, we all know West Ham United have lost theirst two matches in thepetition so far which means they are in a tight situation right, that is the one and only reason why we are not allowed to underestimate them." Norman expressed.


    <It''s a good thing he''s not trying to underestimate them>


    "Now, let us move on to the starting eleven, three yers from the standard starting eleven will not be starting the match and will most likelye in on the second half."


    "And who are those, coach?" Adolf asked.


    ''I hope this isn''t what I think it is.''


    "Rnd, Ferran, and Mateo."


    ''Oh, dear.''


    "No offense, but I don''t really think this is a good idea," Minino said.


    <Me too><novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "And why''s that?" Norman asked.


    "Because removing those three is going to affect our gamey in a bad way, at least let Rnd stand for the sake of not conceding any meaningless goal, we may be able to work up something up front without Mateo," Minino exined.


    As soon as the midfielder said that, Jonas shot him a gaze and it wasn''t just an ordinary gaze but Minino was too focused on what Norman was saying to even notice him.


    "You make a good point, Minino, but I know what I''m doing, if things get too dire," Norman replied.


    <Wow, after saying not to underestimate West Ham United, he goes on to exin his n to use the match for experimentation, this isn''t going to end well>


    "But you said we aren''t going to underestimate them, coach," Dave said.


    "Yeah, and we aren''t going to underestimate them."


    "Really? Isn''t benching Mateo, Ferran, and Rnd underestimating them? I know there''s no way you would bench them in a match against Supreme United or Dynamo FC." The goalkeeper expressed. "I know you''ll want to do it anyway and maybe it won''t be that bad depending on how they y, but for safety reasons please let Rnd start."


    Norman kept his gaze on the goalkeeper for a while before letting out a deep sigh.


    "Okay, since you all want him to start so much, he''ll start, but I wonder what will happen to the team if he gets injured somewhere down the season, I''m not praying for it but we all know the possibility is clearly there."


    <That''s the reason why you should have a proper backup for each position>


    Norman went on to name the full starting eleven for the match but he did say that it could be changed at any moment from now till the match starts tomorrow.


    After that, he went on to exin the tactics for the match, and as soon as he was done.


    Devon drove straight home after chatting with a couple of his teammates.


    He parked his car in the usual spot and stepped down from it before he came down from it and made his way to the door.


    He opened the door to find a piece of paper on the ground.


    "What''s that?" He muttered before picking up the piece of paper.


    It wasid out straight, and when he turned it around, he could see that there was something written on it.


    ''Hello, Dave, I love you so much, you are the best goalkeeper I have ever seen and I hope to see you one day. Your number one fan.'' The goalkeeper read subconsciously. ''Something like this inside my house, this is um¡­a little creepy.''


    <And cringe, looks like you have a stalker>


    ''I used to move around this area freely even before bing a footballer so it''s not really a big deal if someone knows that I live here, but still, sliding a message written on paper into someone''s house isn''t really what people should go around doing.'' He said subconsciously as he made his way to the couch. ''I just hope this is a one-time thing.''


    <Keep hoping>


    It didn''t take long for him to forget all about that after throwing the piece of paper away.


    He went upstairs and took a shower and after that, he came downstairs to enjoy the rest of the afternoon on the couch.


    He watched a couple of shows and when he got bored, he yed a couple of games on the yStation.


    He ended up falling asleep while still on his phone and slept till the evening.


    He woke up to the sound of someone opening the door by 4:30 PM, and when he turned toward the door, he could see that it was Emma.


    She was about to say something to him when her eyes suddenly caught a bunch of things lying on the floor.


    She looked down to see that it was a bunch of envelopes.


    "Letters?" She muttered before picking some of them up. "Hey, baby, Do you have any idea how these got here?"


    As soon as Dave saw the envelopes, the memory of what happened when he walked in that afternoon suddenly came back to him.


    ''You have got to be kidding me.''


    <I told you to keep hoping>

 Chapter 385 Unique FC Vs West Ham United: Match Day Three

    ?


    There were eight envelopes in total and after bringing them over to him on the couch, Emma began to open them.


    She was cautious to open them at first until she saw that they all had the same thing written on them.


    "From your biggest fan." She read out loud before opening one of the letters.


    She found everything written in all the letters and evenughed out loud when she read ''marry me'' in one of them.


    "Who is even sending these?" She asked before crashing down on his body.


    "How am I supposed to know?"


    "Slipping this number of letters through someone''s door is quite creepy but he seems like he''s a sweet fan who just wants to meet you." She said,


    <No, these types of fans are the most toxic>


    ''I agree.''


    "That may be true I don''t know, but I don''t really like the way he or she is going about it," Dave said before shaking his head.


    "Yeah, it''s weird." She said before getting up from his body. "But meeting him is going to make him stop, right?"


    "Yeah, because I''m going to ask whoever that is to stop."


    "Oh, cool, then." She said before picking up one of the envelopes. "So, how was training today?"


    "Nice and fun I guess." He replied.


    "Nice and fun, that''s great."


    "What about you? How was work today?"


    "Good, but I miss Amber, she makes things a whole lot easier, never knew how much I loved having her around at work until this week."


    "Don''t you mean you love having her around because she handles all of your workload for you?" Dave said.


    "Hey, don''t say that." She said before quickly turning her gaze to him. "I have a lot of things to do in a day and she doesn''t get to do much besides assisting me so it makes sense for her to handle some of my work, don''t you think so?"


    She sounded pretty angry now as Dave was forced to move away from her a little bit.


    "Hey, I was just joking, you don''t have to get mad over it."


    After hearing him say that, she didn''t say anything before getting up from the couch.


    "I''m going to take a shower." She said before she began to make her way toward the staircase.


    Dave kept his gaze on her as she made her way upstairs until she was out of sight.


    "I''m hoping that shower washes away that anger." He muttered before letting out a sigh.


    _______ ______


    The next day came by pretty quickly, the day Unique FC were going to face off against West Ham United at home.


    Dave expected to find piles ofter in front of his door that morning but surprisingly, there was none. And while he was moving around outside his house going about his daily activities, he expected to see someone rushing toward him from nowhere, but nobody showed up.


    "Maybe he gave up." He muttered before he continued the push-up he was doing on thewn.


    The match was set to kick off by 4:00 PM and the time now being 3:07 PM, the yers from both teams were all on the pitch warming up for the match.


    The leaders of the group versus the ones at the bottom of the table, everything was pointing toward Unique FCing out on top but bottom-table teams beat top-table teams in the league sometimes so something unusual happening today wasn''t out of the question, and wouldn''t really be surprising to those who were expecting it.


    The yers from both teams warmed up on the pitch for a while before they were given the signal to make their way down the tunnel and go get ready for the match.


    Unique FC were going to be putting on their custom-made home kit for the Europa Conference League and this was going to be the first time they were going to be putting it on.


    Unlike the main one which was just orange with ck polka dots, this one way just in orange but there was still some touches of ck there.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Every outline that was made on the kit was made using ck.


    The neck and the sleeves were also ck.


    The goalkeeper''s kit also had its own style, it was ck with a single orange stripe running down the left side, the stripe didn''t stretch that down and stopped right at the middle.


    The webnovel logo on the main kit was made with a shade of white and ck but the one on Dave''s kit was made with a touch of gold.


    After putting on what most of them described as arguably their best kit so far this season, they made their way to the hallway where they met up with their opponents.


    The West Ham United yers were putting on one of their away kits which was the in ck one while their goalkeeper was putting on a sky blue kit.


    The yers stayed there for a while before they were given the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    As expected, the fans went wild as soon as they stepped out of the tunnel.


    Jim and Steve quickly said their introductions and wee message before diving right into thementary.


    "Before we start saying anything, Steve, I have to say, that kit from Unique FC is fire, I mean their main home kit already has a nice design but they just took it to the next level with this one, I wouldn''t be surprised if they keep this as their main kit next season." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, it''s a very beautiful kit, the designers did a good job with this one," Stevemented.


    "Now, that out of the way, we have a match that I have a feeling is going to surprise a lot of people."


    "Surprise a lot of people in what way? Do you think West Ham United is going to win it?" Steve asked.


    "Um¡­no, not really, Unique FC are clearly the favorites for this match but I don''t think it''s going to be as easy as people think it''s going to be." Jim expressed.


    After stepping on the pitch and shaking hands with each other, the captains from both teams made their way to the match officials for the coin toss.


    West Ham United ended up winning the coin toss which meant that they were going to be the ones starting the match from the kick-off spot.


    "West Ham United are starting with the four-four-two formation and it looks like no one important is missing from their starting line up but Unique FC on the other hand are missing their best yer Mateo Smith and one of their best midfielders Ferran Phil." Jim articted.


    "Looks like Norman is underestimating West Ham United to an extent to leave those two on the bench," Steve said.


    "Or maybe he''s just resting them to make sure they''re ready for the deciding matches next month."


    Dave was making his way to his goalpost now expecting a quest to pop up at any moment, but he didn''t see anything until he got to his goalpost.


    [ Conjoined quest received ]


    [ Keep a clean sheet ]


    [ Provide an assist ]


    [ Make five crucial saves ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +250 exp ]


    [ +1 attribute point ]


    [ +2 stat points ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points ]


    ***


    Mass release goals


    For every set of gifts worth 3000 coins, I will do a three chapters mass release.


    Every 100 GT= 4 chapters mass release.

 Chapter 386 The Second Time In A Row

    ?


    The West Ham United yer with the name Filipe written below the number nine on the back of his jersey was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he passed the ball to his closest teammate.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    Unique FC yers started to chase the ball aggressively as soon as they heard that whistle but West Ham United weren''t nning on losing the ball that early so they had to slowly move it back with their passes.


    Unique FC were ying with their standard four-three-three formation just like Jim said earlier and because there was no Mateo or Ferran on the pitch, we had Fredinho in the left-wing position and then Henry recing Ferran.


    Henry was pretty good as an attacking midfielder and Fredinho had shown in a couple of matches that he has what it takes to be a good left winger, so there was really nothing for the home team to get worried about.


    West Ham United were still with the ball and we''re doing everything possible to keep it away from Unique FC yers who were doing everything they could to try and get the ball back.


    It didn''t take long before they started to make West Ham United look wary in their own half.


    That pressure caused one of the yers to make a careless pass which was immediately stolen from Minino but instead of trying to create something with it, he went directly for the goalpost because he was close enough to and why not?


    Unfortunately, that wasn''t the wisest choice as he along with everyone else watched as his shot flew over the bar for a goal kick.


    "First strike from Unique FC," Jimmented. "He could have done so much with that, but that''s all in the past now."


    "Yeah, a pass to Merino on the right could have turned out better and maybe they would be celebrating a goal by now." Steve expressed.


    The match continued as the goalkeeper yed a short pass to the right back who immediately sent it flying over to the left midfielder.


    The midfielder brought the ball down with his foot, and just before Minino could get to him, he pushed the ball to his teammate who was pretty close to him now.


    The yer had the name Sunde written above the number seven on the back of his jersey.


    As soon as Sunde got his foot on the ball, Minino quickly rushed toward him to try and take it off his feet with a tackle.


    All Sunde did in that situation was shift the ball a little to the right with his left foot before getting it past Minino with a chip.


    "Nicely done by Sunde."


    He pushed a little further with the ball before passing it to Felipe who sent it back to his fellow striker as soon as he got hold of it to avoid losing it to Adolf.


    The other striker had the name Ray written above the number twenty on the back of his jersey.


    As soon as Ray got his foot on the ball, he sent it rolling to the midfielder a little to the right with a backheel pass.


    As soon as the midfielder got his foot on the ball he took off with it down the wing, and just before he could run into Rnd, he sent it flying in toward the edge of the box.


    Felipe ended up getting his head on the ball ahead of Adolf and that was such a good header that it looked like it was going to sink into the goalpost from above.


    Dave kept his gaze on the ball and waited for it to get close enough before he stretched both of his hands and caught the ball.


    "That looked quite tricky, but it''s going to take more than that to be able to trick Dave Richards, he puts all his focus on the ball as soon as it startsing toward his goalpost," Jimmented.


    ''Does that count as a crucial save?'' Dave asked subconsciously before throwing the ball to Rnd.


    [ Crucial saves: 0 ]


    ''Eh, I guess that makes sense since it didn''t feel crucial for me.''


    The match continued with Unique FC dominating West Ham United in terms of possession, they also got a couple of good chances which all ended up going to waste.


    West Ham United also got a couple of chances, they had the best chance out of both teams so far.


    A one on one situation in which Adolf ended up saving with a header after Sunde got past Dave, if he had been a little more clinical then maybe they would have been one goal up now.


    West Ham United were the ones with the ball now after Henry lost it under a tackle that seemed like it was a foul, but the referee allowed y to continue.


    The defender moved forward with the ball before passing it to Sunde who immediately sent it rolling to Felipe with the first touch.


    Felipe had both Martinez and Henrying at him so he had to send the ball back to Sunde who yed it short to the midfielder beside him.


    The yer moved a little to the right with the ball beforeying it off to the midfielder on the right.


    Rnd quickly closed up on him at that time and in other to avoid losing the ball, he sent the ball rolling back to Sunde who quickly pushed past Minino with the ball before passing it to Felipe near the edge of the box.


    "West Ham United are linking up nicely here."


    Felipe got his foot on the ball and just before Adolf could do anything to take it from him, he sent the ball rolling into the box with a backheel pass.


    The ball went through Aima''s legs to get to Ray who was now through on goal with Dave being the only one in front of him. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "He''s through! This could be the moment!"


    Unfortunately for the striker, Aima wasn''t going to make things that easy for him as he quickly stretched his legs toward him and brought him down under a terrible challenge before he could take the shot.


    "Uh, oh, that''s not good."


    The referee blew his whistle before quickly rushing to the area to show Aima a yellow card.


    "He stopped Ray from potentially putting it away and got a booking out of it, but now they have a penalty kick to deal with, was it really worth it?" Stevemented.


    Ray was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle while he made sure nothing was out of ce.


    ''If this goes in then the whole quest copses.''


    <Then don''t let it go in>


    ''I don''t think that''s how it works, but I''ll try my best.''


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle, and now it was over to Ray to see if he has what it takes to give his team the lead.


    He was already standing a little distance away from the ball and all he needed to do now was close up on it and send it toward the goalpost.


    Dave was jumping on his goal line as he slowly closed up on the ball and as soon as he got close enough, he fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    Dave was glued to the spot as the ball flew toward the top right-hand side and smashed into the.


    "He left Dave unable to make a choice as he smashed it into the!" Jim eximed.


    Ray let out a scream as he raced to the sideline and no doubt, their fans were going wild now.


    "West Ham United have just taken the lead against the group leaders, it''s too early to say anything now but there''s no doubt that they came to this match with the determination to win." Steve expressed.


    [ Quest failed ]


    "That''s the second time in a row," Dave muttered before letting out a deep sigh.


    The match continued with Unique FC immediately entering bully mode.


    They were no longer giving West Ham United the spaces they gave them earlier as they bossed the game around, especially in midfield but they were still having trouble scoring.


    The match had just entered the forty-fifth minute with four minutes of added time and ackluster-looking West Ham United still had the lead.


    Minino was racing down the right wing with the ball now, and just before Sunde along with another yer could attempt to take it from him, he sent the ball rolling to Merino.


    "Minino to Merino."


    Merino raced down the wing with the ball but he wasn''t free as he had the left back hot on his trail, but before he could push the ball over the line for a goal kick he sent rolling into the box.


    One of the yers who was rushing into the area at that time mistakenly hit the ball with his backheel and sent it flying toward Fredinho who immediately brought it down with his chest.


    He was near the goalkeeper now with all the other yers behind him.


    "This is their chance!"


    The goalkeeper stretched his hand to take the ball from the striker''s feet but he wasn''t nning to make things that easy for him.


    He quickly moved to the right with the ball to avoid the goalkeeper and just before a defender could get to him, he sent the ball rolling into the goalpost.


    "Easy goal for Fredinho, they''re back on level terms again."


    For some reason, Jim didn''t scream after witnessing that goal.


    Fredinho was going to do though as he let out a scream before he picked up the ball and shot it right back into the goalpost.


    ***


    .Mass release goals


    For every set of gifts worth 3000 coins, I will do a three chapters mass release.


    Every 100 GT= 4 chapters mass release.

 Chapter 387 Back Into It

    ?


    After that equalizer from Fredinho, the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    "That was quite the first half, don''t you think, Steve?"


    "Yeah, for a second there I thought West Ham were going to end the first half but then Unique just came up with that unexpected goal, sure that goal fell to Fredinho by luck, but he did really well to put it away." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, I hope we can see more of this in the second half, no that doesn''t sound right, I hope West Ham United puts up more of a fight in the second half." Jim expressed. "Unique FC looked superior throughout this half, but at least, looking on the bright side, they''re still on level terms with Unique FC after the first half, their matches with Virreal and Lazio FC didn''t go so well for them in both halves."


    Unique FC yers were all in the locker room now with Norman standing in front of them as expected.


    He had his hands crossed and the expression on his face was a testament to how disappointed he was with the team''s first-half performance, but did he really have anyone to me but himself?


    If he wanted a first half with a couple of goals to keep them ahead then he should have put the person who makes his attack work better.


    They did quite well defensively given the fact that the goal they conceded came from a penalty kick but that chance might have turned into a goal anyway.


    "And again, you guys still have that problem of putting away good chances, what was that out there, Fred?"


    "I hit it a little too hard." The striker muttered.


    "Of course, you did," Norman said. "So, what you all are saying is that if Mateo decides to leave the club next season, you''ll start struggling to score the necessary goals needed to win a match."


    "Well, to be fair, coach, we did beat Lesica United to qualify for thispetition plus, we don''t even have a proper backup left winger toe in for Mateo in times like this, we have lots of midfielders but hardly any proper wingers." Minino expressed.


    "You make a good point, but still, Fredinho does quite well as a left winger, the main problem is the finishing from you guys, you y well but your finishing is horrendous."


    "Well, there you have your problem, coach, a midfielder''s primary role isn''t to finish nor is a winger''s even though they get involved in it a lot of times," Minino said.


    After hearing Minino say that, Norman let out a sigh before moving on to tell the team his idea to help them improve their finishing because he wasn''t nning on bringing on Mateo early in the second half.


    He understood what Minino just said quite well, the main problem was the strikers and he seemed to have forgotten about that for a while because of the way Mateo covered up for them during most of their matches.


    Norman ran the yers through his n as quickly as possible before leaving them to rest for a bit before the match resumed.


    The match was about to resume as the yers from both teams were heading toward the tunnel''s exit now.


    <Yeah, winning the Conference League means you''ll get an automatic qualification to the Europa League if you don''t finish in the top four in the League>


    ''Cool, but I doubt we''ll be unable to finish in the top four, we''re fighting for the league this season this season, not the top four, it''s a really big stretch but winning all thispetition will be super nice and then we''ll be the first Bilbeth Premier League team to win the treble.''


    <It''s nice to see that you seriously have your sights set on something but just like you said, it''s a stretch but that doesn''t mean it''s impossible, because while you''re still in the requiredpetitions, there is a chance>


    ''Yeah, I''m pretty sure we can at least win one of them but missing out on all of them aftering this far is going to be really excruciating.''


    <Well, then, you''ll have to start with this one, winning this match will put you in a good spot for qualifying for the next rounds depending on the oue of the other match>


    ''Well, it''s not really up to me to decide if we can win this match, if we were leading, that would be a different case, but sure, I''ll try my best to give them a boost from back here whenever I get the chance.'' The goalkeeper replied subconsciously as he made his way into the pitch.


    "Wee back everyone, the second half of the match is about to kick off, as we can see the yers are all on the pitch now." Jim expressed.


    Since West Ham United started the match from the kick-off spot in the first half, Unique FC were going to be the ones doing it in this half.


    Fred was standing over the now waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as the official made sure that everything was ready and everyone was in position, he blew his whistle.


    "There''s the whistle and we are back into the game."


    Fred quickly pushed the ball to Minino who immediately sent it rolling back to Martinez before Sunde could get to him.


    "Unique FC will want to take the lead as fast as possible and so will West Ham United, time to see what they both have in store for us." <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Unique FC weren''t making any attempt to attack so far and were just passing the ball around while looking for a way to take their opponents by surprise.


    It didn''t take long before West Ham United began to get aggressive with the way they were chasing the ball.


    Unique FC didn''t want to lose the ball, so they cooperated with getting pushed back until the ball got to Rnd who sent it rolling back to Dave before Ray could get to him.


    "Back to Dave."


    Dave quickly moved a little to the right with the ball and just before Felipe could get to him, he sent the ball flying over to Minino.


    Minino quickly took off down the right with the ball and just before he could run into the midfielder in his path, he sent the ball rolling to Henry who sent it rolling to Fred with a single touch.


    Fred was in a tough spot at that moment so he had to send it back to Henry who went for Fredinho this time.


    Fredinho got his foot on the ball and quickly tried to run past the right back before he changed his mind and pushed the ball down the middle a little before firing it toward the goalpost.


    "Fredinho!"


    The goalkeeper dived toward the right side to keep the ball out, but there was no need as the ball ended up making slight contact with the woodwork before rolling out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that was so close, if only that had a little more uracy to it."


    The match had just entered the fifty-fifth minute now and so far Unique FC were still dominating the game but they were still having problems scoring.


    West Ham United were seeing less and less of the ball as time went by.


    Minino got hold of the ball from Merino after the winger nearly lost it at the edge of the box, and without hesitation, the midfielder fired it toward the goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying directly toward the goalkeeper who didn''t have any choice but to punch it out. At least he didn''t have to dive.


    "He should have added a little precision to that but I guess West Ham United yers are d he didn''t," Jim said.


    "Yeah, but now they have a corner kick to deal with."


    Henry was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he slowly took two steps backward before he closed up on the ball and sent it flying in.


    The ball flew toward the middle and was nodded back by a West Ham United defender but it wasn''t all over as the ball flew toward Minino who pulled his leg back and sent the volley flying toward the goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying toward the right side of the goalpost as the goalkeeper dived toward it and even got his hand on it, but it was just too much for him as the ball ended up smashing past his hands before falling into the goalpost.


    As soon as that ball went in, Minino raced to the sidelines and did a full-body slide.


    "What a deadly strike! He has been looking for it since the start of the match and he just got it!" Jim eximed.


    "Yeah, the goalkeeper just couldn''t keep hold of it and now they''re behind," Stevemented.


    Dave couldn''t contain his joy back at his goalpost as he raised both of his hands before screaming,


    "Yes!"


    ***


    Mass release goals


    For every set of gifts worth 3000 coins, I will do a three chapters mass release.


    Every 100 GT= 4 chapters mass release.

 Chapter 388 On Easy Mode

    ?


    The signs had been there since the start of the first half and now Unique FC were leading the game for the first time since the start of the match.


    That goal was something West Ham United yers would do anything to prevent, they would be happy with a draw but it looked like even that was starting to move away from them today.


    They were the ones with the ball after the match resumed, but so far, they had been unable to do anything and it seemed like they were stalling y which wasn''t something they were supposed to be doing with the current scoreline.


    Sunde got hold of the ball and just before Minino could get to him, he sent it rolling to one of the central midfielders who sent it flying over to Ray.


    Ray brought the ball down with his chest and just before Rnd could get to him, he sent the ball rolling to Felipe.


    The striker knew there was no way he would be able to get past both Aima and Adolf so he sent the ball rolling back to Sunde who pushed it to the midfielder beside him before Martinez could get to him.


    "West Ham United are holding onto the ball longer than they could do during the start of this half but Unique FC aren''t giving them any space to do anything," Jimmented.


    The midfielder was forced to move back a little because of Henry but he didn''t want to take it back so he sent it rolling to Sunde with a backheel pass as soon as he found the opportunity.


    "Back to Sunde."


    Sunde pushed a little forward with the ball before passing it to Felipe who had to send it back to him with his first touch.


    As soon as Sunde got his foot on the ball, he found Ray making a run down the right wing and immediately sent the ball flying over to him.


    Because of their clear height difference, Rnd was not able to stop Ray from getting his head on the ball as the striker sent the ball flying into the box with a header, it was a headed cross.


    Felipe got past Aima and Adolf to get his head on the ball but he wasn''t able to get a clean hit on it due to a little tug on his shirt from Aima.


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand corner of the goalpost but that was no problem for Dave who was right there to catch it with both of his gloves.


    "Easy save for Dave," Jimmented.


    "I feel like he should have added a little more power to that header at least, there''s no way you can beat Dave with an effort like that." Steve expressed.


    ''I guess now that we''re leading, I now have a role to y in making sure wee out victorious.''


    <Don''t mess it up>


    ''I won''t, because, I''m not doing it alone.'' He said subconsciously before throwing out the ball toward Minino.


    The match continued till the sixty-fifth minute with none of the sides being able to get a goal.


    West Ham United were the ones that desperately needed the goal but Unique FC also wanted another goal to solidify their victory.


    Right now, Unique FC were the ones with the ball and they were passing it around near the center of the pitch while trying to find an opening to tear West Ham United apart from.


    West Ham United had gotten a few more chances after that one from Felipe but two of them got blocked and then there was another easy save for Dave.


    Ray, who had decided to shift a little to the right to see if he could do things from there was finding it quite difficult to get past Rnd and do anything from there.


    Henry got hold of the ball from Martinez, and just before Sunde along with two other defenders could get to him, he passed the ball to Minino who immediately sent it rolling toward Merino who got hold of the ball and moved a little toward the middle with it before passing it to Fred.


    Fred wanted to try something solo from there but he was suddenly ganged up on by two defenders.


    He tried his best to keep hold of the ball because there was no space for him to pass it, and in the end, he ended up going down under the challenge of one of the yers.


    The referee blew his whistle just like he wanted and now they had a free kick in a really good position.


    West Ham United yers had someints about that decision but they weren''t going to change the referee''s mind.


    "A free kick with both of their free-kick takers on the bench, I wonder who''s going to take this," Stevemented.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Probably Minino or they could throw Dave in there to take it, he scores bangers from the goalpost so there''s no way a close-up free kick will be any problem for him, right?"


    "Yeah, now that you mention it, his free-kick ability should be okay, he doesn''t only have shot power, his uracy is also really good," Steve said.


    While thementators were giving their thoughts on why Dave should take the free kick, the goalkeeper wasn''t even thinking about it and so were his teammates as Minino could be seen standing over the ball now.


    He had a four-man wall in front of him and was just waiting for the referee''s whistle. It didn''t take long before he heard it and now it was time to see what the midfielder could do with a free kick.


    He took in a deep breath before he slowly took three steps backward.


    He paused for a while before he quickly fired it toward the goalpost with a power shot knuckleball style.


    The goalkeeper was glued to the center of his goalpost as the ball flew toward the top right side of the goalpost and hit the crossbar before going out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that was so close and the goalkeeper was even glued to a spot there," Jimmented.


    "Yeah, that was a well-executed free kick, especially with a shot of that magnitude but his uracy was just off by a small margin." Steve expressed.


    Despite missing that free kick, Unique FC were still seeing the match throughfortably and because of that, Norman didn''t bother bringing in Ferran and Mateo until the eightieth minute.


    Mateo came on to rece Fred as Fredinho moved to the center forward, Ferran came on to rece Henry as expected and finally, Frankie came on to rece Martinez.


    Unique FC were already driving through the game on easy mode and now that Mateo and Ferran came in, things just became easier.


    Even Frankie contributed a lot in making the match easier by stealing the ball from West Ham United yers with every opportunity he got, he was the yer with the best interception ability in the team after all.


    The match had just entered the nieth minute now as Frankie raced down the middle with the ball before passing it to Ferran who pushed forward a little with before passing it to Fredinho who sent it rolling back to Merino with a single touch.


    Minino trapped the ball under his feet and just before Sunde could attempt to take it from him, he pushed it to Ferran who immediately sent it rolling to Mateo.


    Mateo swept past the right back with some neat skill but before he could do anything else with it, it was quickly swept off his feet by a defender.


    Fortunately, Rnd was there to pick you the ball before the yer could get to him and now that Mateo was back on his feet, he sent the ball rolling back to him.


    The winger feigned shooting at the yer right in front of him before sending it back to Ferran.


    Ferran passed the ball to Rnd as soon as he got hold of it and since the left back didn''t have anyone else to pass it to so he sent it back to Ferran.


    Ferran feigned shooting at the yer who had closed up on him at that moment before passing the ball to Mateo inside the box.


    Mateo had a few problems to deal with right in front of him so what he did was redirect the ball with his backheel.


    The ball shifted toward Fredinho who was all alone in the middle now and the striker didn''t have any problem putting it away while the goalkeeper was still glued to a spot.


    "What was that pass? I know they were linking well before he came in but he just takes the fluidity of the game to a whole different level." Jimmented.


    "I couldn''t agree more, West Ham United may have taken the lead first but they had this match in the bag right from the start." Steve expressed.


    ***


    Mass release goals.


    A magic castle= one extra chapter.


    Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

 Chapter 389 Surprise At Home

    ?


    After that goal from Fredinho to give his team a two-goal lead, the match continued, but it didn''t take long before the referee blew his whistle to bring the match to an end as the six minutes of added time had already been exhausted.


    "There''s the whistle it is all over, Unique FC have done it again, three points secured from the first three matches of the group stages, they have turned out to be underdogs of this group considering how everyonebeled them as the less likely to make it out of the group." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, it''s crazy how they dominated the first phase of the group stage, Virreal and Lazio couldn''t even get two wins as their match today ended with a draw, Lazio is only in second ce with goal difference and West Ham United is still at the bottom of the table with their chance of getting to the top two being very slim." Steve articted.


    This was a nice victory for Unique FC and the yers were all smiles now as they greeted the fans who were even more hyped up than they were.


    "Even in this position, Unique FC can still get overthrown by both Lazio and Virreal if they lose all of their next matches but I can''t really see that happening, Lazio and Virreal will be the ones fighting for a qualification spot, and depending on how things turn out, West Ham United may even have a chance so it''s not all over yet."


    The Man of the Match award was given to Fredinho as expected.


    He did quite well in that left-wing position with all the chances he created and was the one who got the equalizer and the closing goal for his team so it was well deserved.


    Dave and Mateo weren''t able to meet up with Emma because she was already doing her job by the time they started heading down the tunnel.


    "So, we''ll be going to Ennd in the next two weeks to face them again. Cool, it will be my first time in West Ham." Dave said as he made his way down the tunnel alongside Mateo.


    "We''ve been there once," Mateo said.


    "Huh? When was that?"


    "We went for a vacation there once, they said July and August was the best time to be there and then went ahead to take us there in December."


    "Oh, so a family vacation, how long ago was that?" Dave asked.


    "I was only twelve and my sister, thirteen."


    "Oh, that''s quite a long time ago."


    "Yeah, well, West Ham is cool but I didn''t really enjoy the vacation there."


    "Why?"


    "Compared to Unique City, the weather there is freezing cold during this uing season but I guess the Christmas there was way more enjoyablepared to the ones we had here at home." The winger expressed.


    Usually after a match, he wouldn''t be able to talk this much but because he didn''t get to y that much, he was in the mood for a chat.


    "Yeah, that''s because Unique City is directly in the heart of the ind, if you go to any of the cities near the coast like  Frono City, there''s a chance that you can freeze to death if you''re not careful." Dave expressed.


    "Freeze to death?"


    "Yeah, you can ask rk for a detailed exnation if you want one."


    "No, I don''t think I need an exnation." He said before shaking his head.


    As the two got closer to the locker room, they could hear the loud noiseing from it and by the time they walked into the room, they could see what was causing all the noise not that they wouldn''t have guessed it.


    Minino was running around the room like a maniac and just like always, he had some other yers to join him for his wild locker room celebration ritual.


    If Norman had not taken the drink he brought into the locker room before the game, the whole floor would be covered with alcohol now.


    Normally, Adolf would have just ignored them but this time they were just too loud.


    "Hey, Minino, you know we haven''t even qualified for the knockout stage yet!" The captain yelled to get through to him.


    "Yeah, but we just need to win one more match or draw two or all of them for that to happen so in my eyes, we''re already there!" Minino yelled back.


    "Hmph, Minino running around making noise, what''s new?" Dave muttered as he made his way to his locker and sat down on the bench there.


    Minino had to calm down after Norman came in to speak to them and after that, they spent some more time there before they all decided to start heading back.


    "Alright everyone, see you all on Monday!" Minino yelled before opening his car.


    "Um¡­we have a training session on Saturday, Friday''s our only day off," Rnd said.


    "I know that, what do you take me for? A fool?" Minino said before shooting him a soul-piercing stare.


    "Um¡­no, I was just making sure you haven''t forgotten," Rnd said with a little stutter.


    "Well, I haven''t." The midfielder said before he entered his car and mmed the door shut.


    Dave''s house was the closest to the stadium so he was going to be the first person to get home but he had no idea of what was waiting for him at home.


    Nothing seemed strange as he got closer to his house, that was until he got to the front of his garage where he usually parked his car to see there were about seven people there.


    "What the heck is going on?" He muttered as he drove into the area. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He had to drive slowly to give the people time to clear out and they did clear out for him to park his car properly.


    Catherine said as soon as he ced his hand on the door.


    ''I wasn''t about to open it.''


    Dave didn''t want to leave because he wanted to understand what was going on first and while he was contemting on whether to roll down the ss a bit and ask some questions, the seven people he saw earlier suddenly turned to about twelve and some of them were pressing themselves against the window now.


    Some of them had jerseys with markers while some of them were screaming something from outside that he couldn''t hear.


    <I told you this was bound to happen sooner orter>


    ''Hey, you never said that.''


    <I kept giving you hints, for a yer of your level, living in a house without a proper fence is no longer safe>


    ''Yeah, they''ll get tired and leave once it gets dark, right?''


    <Yeah, that would make sense but I doubt it>


    ''Huh?''


    <Hey, Emma just entered the area>


    Emma had just walked into the area at that moment and was surprised to see all those people there around Dave''s car.


    "What is going on here?" She asked as she walked closer to the area.


    "And who are you?" One of the boys asked.


    "Hey, don''t you know her? That''s Dave''s wife, the reporter." One of the girls said.


    "Are you for real?"


    "Yeah."


    That was enough to pique the interest of some of them as they slowly began to make their way toward her.


    "Hey, calm down, you all don''t have toe toward me like that," Emma said as she slowly moved back.


    Before they could get close to her, Dave quickly rushed out of his car, locked it, and made his way to her.


    He pushed through the people to get to his wife and as soon as he got to her he grabbed her by her arm and dashed through the hedge of flowers to get to the door.


    None of them were able to keep up with him and by the time they got to the door, he was already inside and the door was back to being locked.


    Emma''s breathing had be a bit paced now but Dave didn''t look like that took anything out of him.


    <I wasn''t expecting you to act that fast>


    ''She''s pregnant, so, of course, I had to act fast.''


    "Are you okay?"


    "Yeah, thanks to you." She said before letting out a deep sigh. "I thought it couldn''t get worst from the letters from yesterday but I guess I was wrong."


    Dave didn''t say anything and just turned away from her before bringing out his phone from his pocket.


    "Where''re you going?"


    "I just want to give rk a call."


    "Oh."


    After rk picked up the call, he exined everything to him as calmly as he could and rk didn''t even sound surprised listening to all of it.


    "You know I''m quite surprised this didn''t happen earlier."


    "Huh?"


    "I knew as you grew in fame, that house would be a headache to live in but don''t worry, I''ve got you covered."


    "You do?"


    "Yeah, when have I not got you covered?"

 Chapter 390 A Long Day

    ?


    Dave hoped that the crazy fans outside would leave on their own as time went by and everyone and that was true for a few of them but the majority of them stayed and continued making noise outside.


    In the end, a policeman showed up to clear them all up, and finally, Dave and Emma could breathe a sigh of relief.


    After hearing the noise die down outside, Dave made his way upstairs to find Emma on the bed half asleep.


    He made his way to the bed and sat down beside her before cing his hand on her stomach.


    "They''re gone now." He muttered to her.


    "Really?" She said before blinking a few times. "They''re not really noisy from up here but it''s a good thing they''re gone."


    "Yeah," Dave said with a nod.


    "Do you think they''lle back tomorrow?"


    "I don''t know but they most likely will." The goalkeeper said.


    After hearing him say that, Emma let out a sigh before turning away from him.


    "How did rk say he was going to help?" She asked.


    "Well, he says he knows a nice house that is up for sell not too far away from here."


    "And you''re sure someone hasn''t bought it yet?"


    "No, he said he spoke to the seller a couple of months ago, he told him to keep the ce for him, the seller refused because someone wanted to buy it then but then he made an offer to buy it for a slightly higher price than the original price." He expressed.


    "And he did all that for you?"


    "Yeah."


    "Wow, he''s so thoughtfulpared to you." She said.


    "Yeah," Dave said before cing his hand on the back of his head.


    <Spot on>


    "And I guess me too, I should have thought about this too." She muttered.


    "Hey, don''t worry, it''s really nobody''s fault and besides no one got hurt plus we will most likely be moving out of here soon, I already sent rk the funds to take care of everything so he''ll be here tomorrow." He expressed.


    "That sounds reassuring." She smiled before closing her eyes. "I think I need to get some sleep now."


    "Okay," Dave said before he leaned closer and gave a kiss on her cheek. "I''ll just head downstairs and um¡­grab a ss of water, I''ll be back up in a few minutes."


    "Okay." She muttered.


    ________ _________


    Morning came by quickly with Dave''s prayer that morning being that no crazy group of people show up to disturb him.


    He got pretty early for his morning run to avoid running into anyone or getting into a situation he didn''t like and that was the best thing for him.


    But still, after that and even till the point when he had to drop Emma off at work nobody showed up at their door.


    He dropped her off and returned home to find nobody which was a big relief.


    <I guess their meeting time is in the evening>


    ''Yeah, maybe.'' Dave replied before closing the door to his car.


    He made his way inside the house and decided to stay there for a while to see if they were going to show up but they never did until he got a call from rk by 11:00 AM.


    He told him to meet him somewhere and after ending the call, the goalkeeper got ready to leave.


    He got ready as fast as he could and after that, he made his way to his car.


    He zoomed off toward the right and after getting to the junction, he took the right turn until he got to the front of arge building with very tall fences surrounding it. Of course, rk was waiting for him in front of the building.


    "Hey, bro, how''re you doing?" rk said before bringing out his hands for an informal handshake.


    "I''m doing great, you?"


    "I''m doing great too," rk said with a smile.


    "So, I''m guessing this is the ce." The goalkeeper said before looking up at the ce.


    "Yeah, you got that right, the seller just finished giving me a tour around the area so it''s now my turn to give you a tour around the house." He said before raising the key he was holding.


    "Wait, you already took care of everything?" Dave said with a shocked expression on his face.


    "Yeah, I''ve been here in Unique City since 7:30 AM."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Really?"


    "Yeah, but let''s forget about that and go check this ce out." He said before opening the gate.


    <You know it''s quite funny how you bought a ce without even getting a vague picture of how the ce looks>


    ''Well, that would have been a problem if it was someone else handling this for me. I trust rk''s judgment, I don''t know if you can tell but we have very simr tastes when ites to a lot of things.''


    <Yeah, when you put it that way, it makes a lot of sense>


    After entering the gate, Dave could see that thepound was wayrger than he thought and the building seemed to be farther away from the gate than he initially thought.


    The floor was a nicelyyered marble floor and the building had somewhat of a spherical shape with most of its parts being made of ss.


    rk took him to the right side where they had therge swimming pool which happened to be empty at that moment.


    And to the left of that swimming pool was what was supposed to be his workout ce as there were a couple of workout equipments inside the room.


    Dave seemed to be impressed with what he had seen so far and even after taking a look at the other parts outside the house, that impression didn''t leave him.


    They were done looking around outside now and it was time to see how the inside looked.


    "Judging by your expression, you like what you''ve seen so far, then I''m sure you''ll like what''s inside more," rk said with a smile.


    "Yeah, I can tell, you''re really excited to show me." The goalkeeper said.


    ________ ________


    Although the house had already been cleaned, there were still a lot of things that needed to be arranged plus he had to move a couple of things from the old house over to this one.


    rk already had a van ready to do that and after that, they two went to buy a couple of new pieces of furniture to go with the house.


    It was a pretty long day for both Dave and rk, it was supposed to be the goalkeeper''s day off but he spent it making sure that the house looked nice enough before Emma gets back from work.


    After all the hard work was finally happy with the way the house looked and it was right on cue as Emma texted him right at that moment.


    "Alright, rk, I have to go pick her up now," Dave said as he made his way out of the door.


    "Okay," rk said before following him from behind. "I guess I''ll get going now."


    "So, are you leaving tomorrow?"


    "No, I''ve decided to spend the whole of next week, will definitely pay a visit to Supreme City tomorrow."


    "Oh, I see I''m d you''ll be staying for a week but I want to get something right, first. You''re not nning to spend most of your days in Supreme City, are you?" The goalkeeper inquired.


    "Hey, what''s up with that question? It''s not like I have anything important to do here in Unique, but still, if you need anything, I''ll be here in a heartbeat. Well, not technically a heartbeat but I''ll be as fast as I can." rk expressed.


    "Thanks, rk, you''re the best."


    "Don''t mention it."


    After that, the two parted ways as Dave drove to his wife''s workce to pick her up.


    He picked up fast and now that the two were heading back together, they seemed to be talking about something.


    Just as they got to the junction, she expected to take the right turn because that was where their home was supposed to be but he kept driving straight.


    "Hey, where are you heading to, our home''s on the right you just passed it." She said sounding a bit confused.


    "No, our home''s this way."


    "Huh?"


    "I mean our new home."


    "New home?"


    "Yeah," Dave said as he began to slow down.


    He had gotten close to the house now as the gate slowly began to open for him to drive in.


    Emma was speechless as the lights around the area lit up as soon as he drove into the area.


    "When you said we were going to move in soon you never told me it was going to be today." She said as she slowly looked around the area from inside the car.


    "Well, you can thank rk for that, he helped me make sure everything was ready for us to move in today and we''ve already done the moving in part." He exined.


    "This ce looks beautiful and the building looks nice."


    "You think so? Well, then wait till you see the interior of the building."

 Chapter 391 A Small House Party

    ?


    When Dave told her that she was going to be blown away by the interior of the building, she thought he might have been exaggerating a bit, but now that she had just walked into the house, she knew he wasn''t exaggerating.


    Compared to their old house, the living room was quiterge and they still managed to bring out that spherical look of the building there.


    The roof was way highpared to their old house and the floor was neatly tiled with white tiles.


    On the left was the kitchen and right in front of it was the dining area although the two areas were divided by a wall.


    "Is that the kitchen?" Emma said as she quickly made her way to the area.


    The kitchen was quiterge and looked really nice with everything intact for her.


    "You bought a new gas cooker?" She said before cing her hand on the gas cooker there.


    "Yeah, but the microwave and the freezer are the old ones though." He said.


    "Well, there was really no reason for you to buy a new gas cooker but thank you." She smiled.


    Dave responded with a smile before grabbing her by her arm.


    "Well, let''s go upstairs then."


    The stairs were quite high because the distance between the first floor and second floor was pretty high but it was nothing anybody couldn''t climb.


    The first ce he showed her was the bathroom then he skipped all the other rooms because they were empty and went straight to their bedroom.


    They were a total of six rooms including the bathroom upstairs, four of them were going to be empty for a while but he was going to figure out what to do with them in the future.


    Entering the room now with his wife, she could see that it was wayrger than she initially expected and could also see that he bought a new mattress which was really big.


    There was a small couch by the side and although they were used to sharing a wardrobe back at their old house, Dave made sure to get two wardrobes this time.


    There was also a bathroom by the corner. No doubt, the room was quite impressive and Emma liked it.


    "Wow, this mattress is so soft." She said as she slowly sat down on it with her hand moving on its surface.


    "I know, that''s why I bought it," Dave said.


    "This ce is really nice, I never thought there was a house like this for sale in this area." She said as she kept looking around the room.


    "Well, there wouldn''t have been one if it wasn''t for rk, and then we might have had to move far away from this area." He said.


    "I''m not sure I would mind."


    "Really?"


    "Yeah, if you buy me a car."


    "Oh."


    "Ha, I''m just kidding." She said with a little chuckle. "But still, getting to work would be hard if we move far away from this area so you''ll have to take me there every day."


    <Don''t you think it''s about time you bought her a car and make her life easier?>


    ''Hey, keep quiet I''m waiting for something, don''t you think it has been on my mind for a long time now.''


    "So, what''s going to happen to the old house now?"


    "I''ve locked it up for now, the most likely to happen is selling it but I haven''t decided on that for now." He expressed.


    "Okay." She said before she crashed down on the bed and quickly pulled herself up. "So how much did you spend?"


    "You mean how much did I spend on the house?"


    "Yeah, but not just that, everything else." She said.


    "Um¡­ the house itself cost one point six million euros and thenbined with every other thing we bought, it''s close to one point eight million euros."


    "Wow, you sure spent a lot of money today." She said before crashing down on the bed again.


    "Yeah, but it was very necessary," Dave said as he walked to the mattress and sat beside her. "Now, we don''t have to worry about those crazy fans again and even if they do find here, they won''t be able to disturb us with this fence."


    "Yeah." She muttered.


    "So, how was work today?" He asked before leaning closer to her.


    "Less stressful than usual, it was fine." She replied.


    "And how''s my little girl doing?" He asked before cing his hand on her stomach.


    "He feels way happier now that his mother is in afortable home where she won''t be disturbed."


    "Hmmm, what if they''re two of them in there?"


    "You mean like a pair of twins?" She inquired.


    "Yeah, a boy and a girl."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "No, if I''m going to give birth to twins they''re both going to be boys." She said,


    "Hey, you don''t even want to give me a chance, and besides you don''t even have the power to determine the gender."


    "We''ll see about that when I go for that ultrasound scan next month." She said before getting up from the bed. "But enough about that, I''m going to take a shower."


    Dave kept his gaze on her as she got up from the bed removed her clothes and wrapped a towel around her body ready to head to the bathroom whichever one it was.


    "Are youing?" She turned to him after she got to the door leading to the bathroom in the bedroom.


    "Um¡­.sure." He said with a nod before getting up on his feet.


    ______ _______


    Dave was thinking of inviting some of his teammates over to his house on Saturday but because they had a training session that day and not on Sunday, he pushed it over to Sunday.


    He invited only teammates that he was really close to and that included Merino, Frankie, Adolf, Minino, Rnd, and of course his best bud Mateo.


    Although he had patched things up with Ferran, he asked his wife before inviting him and her answer was an obvious no.


    Apart from that, both Adolf and Rnd said they weren''t going to be able to make it and that left him with only Merino, Minino, Frankie, and Mateo.


    Martha surprised her daughter with a visit that Sunday morning and she was really d she decided toe visit her that morning because she wasn''t really feeling well and Dave was busy running around to set things up for his teammates who wereing over.


    Apart from his teammates, there was one more person Dave invited and he didn''t even tell Emma about it.


    She was sitting on the couch with her gaze on Dave who was setting up a couple of tumblers on the table when the doorbell from the gate suddenly rang.


    "I wonder who that could be." He muttered before quickly making his way out of the house to open the gate.


    He could have opened it from inside but he wanted to see who it was.


    <You know you could install a camera there to make your life easier>


    ''I was talking about that with rk yesterday have you forgotten?''


    <I was only making sure you haven''t forgotten>


    ''Hmph.''


    The goalkeeper had gotten close enough to the gate now as he pushed one of the buttons in the remote controller to open the smaller part of the gate.


    Now that it was open, rk walked into the area, but he wasn''t alone, he had Emilia with him and she had her arms wrapped around his left arm.


    rk was dressed casually in white shorts and a ck shirt while Emilia was putting on a ck dress with a blue jacket, she also had her hair tied back in a ponytail.


    "You didn''t tell me you were bringing her," Dave said with a surprised expression on his face.


    "Well, I wasn''t nning to until this morning."


    "Hey, Emilia, it''s been a while." The goalkeeper said after turning her gaze to her.


    "Yeah, it''s been a while, how are you all doing?"


    Emma was quite d that Emilia decided to join rk now she was sure that she wasn''t going to feel left out.


    Martha was also d to see her other daughter.


    It didn''t take long before Dave''s teammates began to arrive until there was only one person left for everyone to be there


    Everyone was busy speaking to each other and of course, Minino was asking Dave when he was going to open the wine.


    Emilia was speaking with Emma and Mateo was busy having a chat with his mother in front of the kitchen.


    Dave wasughing at a joke made by Frankie when he suddenly heard a ding.


    "That must be Merino."


    "Don''t worry, I''ll get it," Emilia said before picking up the remote key from the table.


    "Okay," Dave said and just watched her as she walked out of the house.


    She didn''t walk far from the door before pushing the button to open the smaller part of the gate.


    After the gate opened, a blonde-haired woman walked into the area and the person happened to be Amber.


    "Mrs. Emma, when did you dye your hair red?" She asked with a confused expression on her face before Emilia could say anything.


    "Hey, Emilia¡­"


    Emma wasn''t able to finish what she was saying as she walked out of the door as she was surprised to see Amber there.


    Amber was now looking back and forth between the two with a shocked expression on her face.


    "You have a twin?"

 Chapter 392 Back To Work

    ?


    "Wait, so you''re not twins?" Amber said with that confused expression still on her face.


    "Yeah, I told you about Emilia, have you forgotten?" Emma said.


    "Yeah, I remember but you two just look the same apart from the hair and eyes, are you sure there wasn''t a mistake somewhere?"


    "Huh?"


    "It''s nothing," Amber said with a feigned smile before shaking her head.


    "How did you know we moved here?" Emma asked.


    "Um¡­ there was news about it online and since you told me toe see you as soon as I came back, I decided to see if it was true for myself." She exined. "And I guess it was." She added as she slowly looked around the area.


    "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about that, well thene inside."


    Before following Emma who had already made her way inside, Amber turned her gaze to Emilia who was still standing there.


    "I just wanted to say, it''s nice to meet you, Miss Emilia, you''re not married, right?"


    "No, I''m not married but you can just call me Emilia."


    "Oh, okay." She said with a nod.


    Amber walked in together with Emilia and while everyone else saw them walk in, Mateo was still too busy talking with his mother.


    Emma had gone upstairs to get herptop and wasing down with it now.


    "Hey, Amber this way." She said as she walked past Mateo to get to the dining area.


    There was no way the winger wasn''t going to hear that and just as he turned his gaze to the right, he saw Amber making her way to him.


    ''I forgot she wasing back today.''


    "Hey." She muttered with a little wave as soon as they made eye contact before turning to the left to get to the dining area where Emma was waiting for her.


    "Who''s she?"


    Mateo was quite startled by the voice of his mother as he turned his gaze to her.


    "Um¡­. she''s just a friend." He replied.


    "Just a friend? Isn''t that the girl Amber that your sister told me¡­."


    In the middle of her speech, Martha realized that she wasn''t supposed to disclose that to anyone especially Mateo, so she quickly closed her mouth.


    "What? What did Emma say?"


    "Oh, it''s nothing important, she was just telling me about her work with her, it''s something that will bore you." She replied.


    "Really?"


    "Yeah."


    He knew that wasn''t what she wanted to say but either way, he knew he wouldn''t be able to get it out of her no matter how hard he tried, if it was his dad then it would be a different situation.


    "Okay." He said before letting out a sigh.


    Things started up as soon as Merino got there.


    Minino made sure to crank things up a bit with the drinks and music and after a while, they went to the swimming pool area to hang out.


    Well, all of them except Mateo who wanted to shake out the fuzzy feeling he was getting on his head before heading out.


    While he was still sitting there quietly Amber who was on her way out popped up in front of him and decided to sit down beside him.


    She had been with Emma and Emilia all this time and had not gotten the time to meet him until now.


    "Hey, how was your break?" Mateo asked as soon as she sat down beside him.


    Emma and Emilia who were sitting in the dining area talking about something now had their gaze on them.


    "It was okay, I got the rest I wanted."


    "And your parents?"


    "They''re doing fine."


    "Okay, that''s cool." He said with a nod.


    After saying that, she slowly leaned closer to him with a questioning look on her face.


    "What?" He asked before moving back from her a little.


    "You''re not going to ask about your girlfriend?"


    "Who''s my girlfriend? Are you talking about, Sofia?" <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Who else would I be talking about?" Amber said with a straight face before slowly returning to her normal position.


    "Well, she''s not my girlfriend and I know she''s okay because we¡­."


    "Spoke this morning."


    He didn''t want to finish that but she helped him finish it either way.


    "How did you¡­.?"


    "We were together duh."


    "Oh, that makes sense."


    She let out a sigh before opening her bag to get something.


    "Anyway, she said I should give you this." She said before giving him a ck bracelet with little strokes of orange.


    "Oh, a bracelet." The winger said after taking the bracelet from her. "It looks um¡­.nice."


    "Yeah, and I guess I should get going now, but before that." She said before suddenly leaning closer to him.


    "Huh?"


    "I don''t want to but let''s say I wanted to give you a peck on the cheek now, what''s your thought on that?" She asked.


    "My thoughts on that? That''s a strange question but I guess a peck never hurts anyone." He replied.


    "Oh, so that''s your answer." She said before pecking him on the cheek.


    After that, she quickly moved away from him and got up from the couch.


    "I thought you said you didn''t want to."


    "I changed my mind." She said before turning to the door. "I''ll see you tomorrow then."


    Mateo kept her gaze on her until she was out of the house and after that, he turned his gaze to the dining area as both Emma and Emilia turned away pretending that they weren''t looking.


    "I know you two were looking."


    ______ _______


    After that day, the yers went back to work, they didn''t have any Europa Conference League matches this week but they had two League matches to make up for the ones they missedst week.


    They were back in third ce now because they were two games behind Dynamo FC who were now in second ce just one point behind Supreme United because they were also two games behind.


    Unique FC had to win both of their uing games to make sure they would get back in second ce or even take the lead depending on how Supreme United''s matches turn out.


    Sure, a win and a draw would still put them ahead of Dynamo FC because they had a higher goal difference despite being two games down, but they needed to win these two games against two mid-table teams.


    Their first match was going to be away from home against Losoeno FC away from home and the second one was going to be against Zetoro United also away from home.


    They were obviously the favorites to win both matches but as everyone who watches football knows, anything can happen in a match, and that was the reason why Norman didn''t n on underestimating any of them.


    Tuesday came by pretty fast, the day Unique FC traveled to Lospeno to face off against Lospeno FC.


    The match started in quite an unexpected way with Lospeno FC almost shocking Unique FC with an early opener.


    Luckily for the Uniques, Dave was able to guess where he was going to put the ball but he could only slow the ball down for Rnd to get to it and send it as far away from the goalpost as possible.


    Lospeno FC surprisingly dominated that match for a while as Unique FC were struggling to get a solid foot on the ground.


    It was only until the twelfth minute did the guest side decide to show what they could do.


    Right from that minute, Lospeno FC''s ball possession began to drop until they were only down to neen percent, and after that, it didn''t take long before Unique FC started sending in the goals.


    Lospeno FC just lost grip of the game in the first half but their fans expected them toe back in the second half.


    Well, that didn''t happen as Unique FC kept on dominating the game leaving them with as little as twenty-two percent ball possession.


    The match started off with Dave making a close save but so far, the goalkeeper was just chilling at his goalpost. He was helping out with the attack a bit but he was mostly chilling back there.


    It didn''t take long before Lospeno FC conceded more and more goals and just as the referee blew his whistle, Dave looked up at the scoreboard to see four on their side and zero on their opponent''s side.


    It was an easy victory for Unique FC and as expected Mateo was given the man of the match award despite not scoring a single goal in the match.


    He didn''t score but he was the key to Unique FC''s victory, he assisted Rnd, Ferran, Minino, and Fred to give his team this four-goal victory and was the main key for prating their defense so it was well deserved.


    Dave almost scored from the goalpost with a chance he got but the goalkeeper was fast enough to send it over the bar.


    He was happy though, because they won the match and he finally got it done after failing two times in a row.


    [ Conjoined questpleted ]

 Chapter 393 Zetoro United Vs Unique FC: Match Day Fourteen

    ?


    After that victory against Lospeno FC, Unique FC were now one point behind Dynamo and needed a draw or win to return to second ce.


    A draw would but they would mean that they will have to be five points behind Supreme United and that was something they didn''t want so to them, this was a must-win match.


    They traveled to Zetoro that afternoon for the match that was going to kick off by 5:00 PM.


    The yers warmed up on the pitch for a while before they were given the signal to start making their way down the tunnel to get ready for the match.


    Unique FC yers were now in the locker room getting dressed up in their third away kit, this was going to be the second time that they were going to be putting on the kit this season.


    There was nothing really special about the kit, it was mostly ck both the shirt and shorts with an orange line running horizontally down the chest area.


    The line didn''t really run down the areapletely and was divided in the middle with the Webnovel logo which was designed with a shade of white and orange above.


    The sleeves were outlined with orange and so was the neck.


    Dave''s kit was the opposite of what the yers were wearing, the base of his kit was orange and the little designs made on theirs with orange were made on his with ck.


    After dressing up for the match, Norman walked into the room to talk to them for a while and after that, they were told to start heading down the hallway.


    They met up with Zetoro United yers at the tunnel''s exit and their kit seemed to be pretty nice.


    The shirts were white with three blue stripes and the shorts were just in white


    Their goalkeeper''s kit was just in red.


    They stayed there for a while before they were given the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    As soon as the yers stepped into the light, the fans on both sides began to go wild.


    "Wee everyone from all around the world, it''s your favoritementator Jim Waterson and joining me in the studio today as you all would have already guessed it''s Mr. Steve Jefferson."


    "Oh, thank you, Jim, it''s always an honor to be here with you," Steve said. "Wee everyone and thank you all for joining us to witness this match today."


    "Yeah, this is going to be quite an interesting match, Unique FC defeated Zetoro Unitedst season both home and away but they secured those victories by the skin of their teeth." Jim expressed. "Zetoro almost beat them at home after securing a two-goal lead in the first half but Unique FC struck back fast in the second half to equalize and right at the nieth minute, Mateo scored the winning goal with a neat strike. The second match was way tougher but winning a penalty kick was all Unique FC needed to seal the game after both teams scored early in the first half."


    "Yes, those were some matches. Let''s see if this one will be any different." Steve said.


    After lining up and shaking hands with each other, both of the captains made their way to the officials for the coin toss.


    Unique FC ended up winning the coin toss which meant that they were going to be the ones starting the match from the kick-off spot.


    ''When''s it going to pop up now?'' Dave said subconsciously as he made his way to his goalpost.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Keep a clean sheet ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +100 exp ]


    [ +2 stat points ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points ]


    ''This is the lowest quest I''ve received in a while.''


    <Well, most of the quests you get are based on the quality of the team you''re facing, so this is what you get for this one>


    ''Well, it is better than nothing, I just hope I don''t mess it up.''


    <Yeah, I hope you don''t>


    "Unique FC are using the four-three-three C formation just like always and Zetoro United are using the standard four-three-three formation." Steve expressed.


    Since they weren''t going to be facing West Ham United in the Europa Conference League until Thursday next week, Norman was going all out with his starting eleven which really wasn''t a good thing for Zetoro United.


    They had turned out to be a force to be reckoned with so far this season and their opponents were well aware of that.


    Norman had removed Fred from his starting eleven for obvious reasons and reced him with Fredinho who happened to be the better striker.


    Fredinho was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly pushed the ball to Minino who sent it rolling back to Martinez before the yer close to him could get to him and try to take the ball from him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    Unique FC were passing the ball around mostly in their half while trying toe up with something.


    They were doing pretty well in keeping the ball away from Zetoro United yers who weren''t even bothered to chase the ball aggressively.


    Rnd received the ball from Martinez and just before the right winger could get to him.


    Dave got hold of the ball and just as the striker closed up on him, he moved the ball to the right topletely evade the striker before he sent the ball flying over to Minino.


    "They''re doing everything to keep hold of the ball here," Jimmented.


    The midfielder moved down the wing with the ball before pushing it to Carlos.


    "Carlos."


    Carlos caught hold of the ball and easily evaded the midfielder who rushed him from behind before pushing the ball to Fredinho.


    The striker pushed the ball a little to the right to create space for himself before firing toward the goalpost.


    "Fredinho!"


    That space wasn''t really enough for him as one of the yers stretched out his leg to block the shot right on time.


    The ball hit the yer''s leg before rolling out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that was a nice block," Jimmented.


    Nothing came out of that corner kick as the ball was sent flying over the bar by Minino.


    That was the first time Zetoro United got hold of the ball and they kept hold of it for a while, but the moment they tried to attack, they lost the ball to Rnd who immediately started a counterattack.


    The winger moved down the middle with the ball before pushing it to Ferran who sent it rolling to Mateo.


    "Mateo."


    Mateo pushed down the left wing a little with the ball before dropping it back to Fredinho.


    Fredinho sent the ball rolling back to Ferran with a backheel pass and with his first touch, the midfielder sent the ball flying over to Mateo inside the box.


    Mateo had the right back right on his track but he had to think of something and that was exactly what he did.


    He waited for the ball to get close enough before he headed it over to Carlos on the right.


    Carlos struggled to get in front of the yer in front of him and after that, he brought the ball down with his chest before he fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying toward the right side of the goalpost and that could have been a really good goal but the goalkeeper stretched out his hand right in time to block the ball and send it over the line for a corner kick.


    "Oh, that was so close!" Jim eximed.


    "That''s their third chance today and the first shot on target, they''re not taking it easy on Zetoro United," Stevemented.


    Ferran quickly made his way to the spot and caught the ball thrown to him before dropping it there.


    He was now standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle and after making sure that everything was ready, the official blew his whistle.


    Ferran slowly took three steps backward before he closed up on the ball and sent it flying in.


    The ball evaded everybody before falling to Fredinho who didn''t have any trouble putting the ball into the goalpost with the heel of his boot.


    "Oh, it''s in! They''ve finally gotten that goal!"


    Fredinho quickly got up from the floor before racing to the side but the referee didn''t blow his whistle because the linesman had his g up.


    The chanting from the fans slowly calmed down as Unique FC yers gathered around the goalkeeper trying to convince him to change his mind or at least go check VAR.


    "The linesman has his g up but the referee hasn''t made a decision yet," Jimmented. "I think the best decision is to go check VAR."


    "Yeah, that is the best decision but since the linesman has his g up, he can decide not to do that," Stevemented.


    "And Unique FC yers won''t be happy with that."

 Chapter 394 There Is A Chance

    ?


    After having Unique FC yers gather around him to plead their case, the referee finally decided to go check VAR.


    "Looks like he''s decided to go check VAR," Steve said.


    "Yeah, while he''s going to do that, how about we take a look at that footage again, Steve?"


    "It''s a good thing he decided to go check VAR," Dave muttered from his goalpost.


    <You know this could work for or against you>


    ''And what do you have to say? You should be able to know if Fredinho was offside or not.''


    <Let the refereee back I want to see what decision VAR made first>


    The yers from both teams and fans waited anxiously for the referee to return and it didn''t take long for that to happen as the referee could be seen making his way to the pitch now.


    "The referee''sing back, what''s going to be his decision?"


    As soon as the official entered the pitch, he blew his whistle before pointing to the kick-off spot.


    And after that, the review screen above the stadium changed to a screen with the words, ''No offside'' being disyed there now.


    "They''re giving the goal, Unique FC are one goal up!" Jim eximed.


    As soon as that decision was made, Minino jumped on Fredinho and pulled him down.


    The guest team went back to their celebration as the home yers bit their lower lips in frustration.


    "That was the right decision to make, it looked like Fredinho was offside but Green here kept him on side right until the ball got to him, I guess the linesman didn''t see him but it''s a good thing justice has been served."


    <I guess it was a goal after all>


    ''Huh? What do you mean you guess, did you think it was not going to be awarded?''


    <I never said that, you guys are leading now, don''t get distracted by me>


    ''You''re trying to change the topic.''


    <There is no topic, just stay focused>


    ''Fine.''


    The match continued with Dave mostly chilling at the back because Zetoro United just couldn''t figure out a way to get past their defense.


    It didn''t take long before they went back to terrorizing the home team but scoring goals didn''t seem to be working out fine for them because Zetoro United''s defense was unsurprisingly good.


    They knew how good their defense was from the couple of times they''ve yed against them but that was then, they didn''t have a team as good as this then so they believed they coulde up with something.


    Another good thing was that they now had a good defense with a good goalkeeper which meant that the chance of this ending like one of their previous battles was minimal.


    The match had just entered the fortieth minute now when Zetoro United won a counterattack opportunity after stopping a chance from Unique.


    Unfortunately, the yer who received the ball at the center of the pitch seemed to have overhit it unaware that Dave had already closed up on him.


    The goalkeeper got to the ball and without even thinking twice about it he sent the ball flying back where it came from.


    Nobody really expected anything from that ball including Zetoro United''s goalkeeper who was glued to a spot as the ball hit the crossbar before flying over for a goal kick.


    "What the heck was that?!" Jim eximed.


    "I had no idea that was going toe that close," Jim said.


    That chance caused quite a stir-up among the fans, even some Zetoro United fans seemed impressed.


    "That was quite a risky move by Dave moving far away from his goalpost like that but I guess it''s not really the first for him and boy that ball was so close to going in," Jim eximed.


    <You really had no intention of sending that toward the goalpost, did you?><novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''How do you expect me to think clearly when that guy was almost on the ball? But I wish that went in.'' He said subconsciously as he quickly made his way back to his goalpost.''


    "It''s surprising how a goalkeeper can be that urate without even trying, I would have said it was by chance but this isn''t exactly the first time." Steve expressed.


    The match continued till the forty-fifth minute with none of the sides being able toe up with anything.


    Right in the second minute of extra time, Unique FC won a free kick right at the edge of the box.


    Obviously, Mateo was going to be the one to take the free kick and he was standing over the ball now.


    "The first half is almost over, will Mateo be able to put this one away and give his team a two-goal lead?"


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle and now it was up to the winger to try and put it away.


    The winger had already weighed all the options right before the referee blew his whistle and now it was time to do what he did best.


    He slowly took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball.


    Almost everyone was expecting him to go from above, but he decided to go from below.


    The goalkeeper seemed to be the only one who was somewhat expecting him to go from below as he dived toward the ball right in time to send it rolling out with the tip of his glove.


    "Oh, he came so close."


    As soon as that ball went over the line, the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    "Guess that was thest kick of the first half," Stevemented.


    "Unique FC totally dominated this half and if not for the extra effort Zetoro United put at the back, the guests would be at least two or three goals up by now," Jim said.


    "Ending the first half only one goal down means that Zetoro United still has a chance to get back into the game, it seems unlikely with the way they''ve yed so far but there''s a chance, this is football after all."


    Norman didn''t really have much to tell the yers during the half time break, this was one of those matches where he was surprisingly calm because he knew there was nothing for him to worry about.


    The yers rested for a while before it was time for them to start heading back to the pitch to continue the match.


    "Wee back everyone, the second half is about to kick off as we can see the yers making their way to the pitch now," Jim said as the yers made their way to the pitch.


    Unique FC started the match from the kick-off spot in the first half which meant that Zetoro United were going to be the ones to do it in this half.


    "I know I said Zetoro United still have a chance to get back into the game but for that to happen, they''ll have to step up their game big time or Unique FC stops being serious and thetter is very unlikely to happen." Steve expressed.


    The match had just kicked off at the signal off the referee''s whistle as Zetoro United suddenly began to move the ball around with Unique FC yers chasing after it.


    They were doing quite well in keeping hold of the ballpared to the first half, they would have already lost the ball now with the pressure Unique FC was putting on them.


    The central midfielder with the name Freyan written above the number sixteen on the back of his jersey got hold of the ball and just before Ferran could get to him, he sent the ball rolling to the right winger who had the name Dust written above the number ten on the back of his jersey.


    Dust got hold of the ball and moved a little down the wing with it, but just before Rnd could get to him, he sent the ball flying into the box.


    The striker really got close to getting his head to it, but Adolf was right on cue to send it flying over the bar with a header.


    "Good defending by Adolf but now they have a corner kick to deal with, Zetoro United''s first corner kick of the game," Jimmented.


    Freyan picked up the ball and went to the spot waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    The ball flew toward the left side and hit Norman before the wing-back before he sent it flying out of the box.


    Something seemed to have happened there as the Zetoro United yers there raised their hand and the referee who saw it didn''t need to be told as he blew his whistle before pointing to the penalty spot.


    "What''s going on? The referee''s giving a penalty kick."


    "A penalty?" Dave muttered with a confused expression on his face.


    Unique FC yers weren''t happy with that decision as they gathered around the referee demanding an exnation.

 Chapter 395 Back To Dominating

    ?


    After slowly reviewing the footage, Jim and Steve could see that the ball hit Norman''s arm before he sent it flying out of the area.


    It didn''t really look like it was intentional but the referee believed it was and was standing firm on his decision to award Zetoro United a penalty kick.


    Every attempt from Unique FC yers failed to sway even the suggestions to go check VAR fell to deaf ears and it didn''t look like VAR was going to intervene.


    "You see, Steve, that''s why you always put your hands behind you when inside the box, now Zetoro United have a penalty kick that could bring them back on level terms with Unique FC unless Dave makes a miracle." Jim expressed.


    The Zetoro United striker with the name Edward written above the number seven on the back of his jersey was standing over the ball in the penalty spot now with Dave in front of him and everyone else behind him outside of the box.


    The referee carefully made sure that nothing was out of ce and after that, he blew his whistle.


    Dave slowly took in a deep breath before stumping his left foot on the floor.


    Edward slowly took three steps backward before he slowly began to close up on the ball.


    He ran between left and right in an attempt to confuse Dave, but in the end, he ended up sting the ball over the bar.


    "Oh, no, he missed it, that was their chance to level the scoreline and he sent it flying over the bar," Jimmented.


    Edward had a mixed expression of shock and frustration on his face and Minino couldn''t help but walk past him with an offensive face gesture.


    Well, he was the one that started it when he was talking to the referee so the midfielder took his opportunity to get back at him.


    "You can hear Unique FC fans getting their voices up again after that miss, they''re d their team is still leading, and to be honest who wouldn''t be? And now who knows if Zetoro United will get another scoring opportunity like that again in this match." Steve expressed.


    ''I''m d he spared me the pain of having to guess where he was going to ce the ball.'' Devon said subconsciously as he dropped the ball on the line inside the eighteen-yard box.


    After that, he slowly took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying in.


    He kept his shot in check because he didn''t want to send the ball flying all the way to the other goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying toward Minino who brought the ball down with his chest and quickly pushed it to Martinez before the midfielder close to him could get to him.


    "They''ll want to get a second goal to prevent Zetoro United from leveling the game," Jimmented.


    "Well, they''ve got things checked out in efficiency, it''s just their effectiveness that needs a little bit of work," Steve said.


    Unique FC were passing the ball around now looking for a way through and they seemed to have found one as Ferran sent the ball rolling to Fredinho who got hold of it and quickly pushed it to Carlos before making his way into the box.


    Carlos quickly moved back with the ball to evade the yer quickly heading toward him from behind


    After that, he passed the ball to Minino who sent it flying over to Mateo with his first touch.


    "Over to Mateo."


    Mateo brought the ball down with his chest before he cut back to get past the right back there and send the ball flying into the box right where Fredinho wanted it.


    The striker got his head on the ball before anyone else could and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    The goalkeeper was glued to a spot, but unfortunately, his effort ended up hitting the crossbar before going out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that should have gone in, and it would have looked easy," Jimmented.


    "Just as I said, the efficiency is there big time, but the effectiveness still needs a lot of work."


    The match dragged on till the nieth minute with none of the sides being able toe up with anything.


    Unique FC were still dominating the game as expected but not exactly as they were doing in the first half.


    That is to say that Dave wasn''t really having things easy at the back as Zetoro United were able to get close enough to force out saves from him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His teammates were quite wary of how they were attacking now but Dave was somewhat d because now he could get to do some work in the match.


    The closest Zetoro United came to scoring against them was a sliding kick from Dust inside the box which he was able to stop with his body.


    If he had added some elevation to that ball then that would have ended differently.


    The other chances came from outside the box and they were quite good as they were both fired toward the top right-hand corner by Edward but with ball ma, Dave was able to catch both of them instead of sending them over the bar for a corner kick which he had no interest in dealing with.


    Zetoro United''s manager had already made some changes to his squad, and by the time they entered the seventy-fifth minute, Norman decided to make a few changes to his squad.


    As expected, Frankie came on to rece Martinez, Merino came on to rece Carlos who asked to be substituted, and then, Pirlo came on to rece Aima.


    The match took quite an interesting turn with those substitutions as Unique FC''s midfield went back to bossing the game just like they have been doing in the first half.


    They seemed to have slowed down a bit because Norman told Martinez to avoid venturing too far away from his post to avoid any mistakes and that made him to be less involved in the y, but Frankie was a box-to-box midfielder who had good defensive abilities while also being pretty good in attack plus he was a pretty fast yer.


    It turned out Mateo wasn''t the one Zetoro United had to dread as they had someone man-marking the winger throughout the game, it was Frankie.


    He was everywhere, intercepting, retrieving, defending, and passing.


    "I don''t know how this team has so many good midfielders but it''s a good thing they do because that is where the core of their gameyes from," Jimmented.


    "He should have gotten more ying timest season, I''m d Norman discovered his potential and is putting him to good use this season," Stevemented.


    Frankie had already been on the pitch for a little while but Zetoro United had already gone back to their ball drought condition.


    The midfielder was with the ball now and just before Freyan could get to him, he passed the ball to Ferran before pushing forward a little to receive the ball back from Ferran.


    He raced down the middle with the ball before he found Merino free on the right and sent the ball rolling to him.


    The winger got hold of the ball, and just before the wingback there could get to him, he sent the ball rolling back to Frankie who immediately sent it flying over to Mateo.


    "Over to Mateo, he''s been unusually quiet for most of this second half," Jimmented.


    The winger brought the ball down with his chest and feigned shooting toward the goalpost to startle the wing back marking him but that didn''t work so he sent the ball rolling back to Ferran.


    "Looks like he''s not nning to go out of his way to do anything extraordinary today."


    As soon as Jim said that, Mateo quickly moved down the middle near the edge of the box to collect the ball from Ferran.


    He got past the yer in front of him with a clumsy dribble and without even thinking twice about it, he fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    "Oh, forget what I just said."


    The goalkeeper was fast enough to dive toward the right and get his hand on the ball, but he didn''t apply enough force to push it out as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar.


    It was now in the air and up for grabs and Merino wasn''t going to let an opportunity like this pass him by.


    He quickly pushed past the yer right in front of him to get his head on the ball and even though the goalkeeper had rushed toward the area at that time, he wasn''t able to stop it as the ball smashed past his left hand before falling into the goalpost.


    "It''s in! And that''s Merino at the end of it!" Jim eximed.


    "I didn''t think he would be able to get to that because his path was blocked but I guess he''s stronger than I think," Stevemented.


    Merino screamed as loud as he could as soon as he got up from the and raced to the sidelines to do a full body slide.


    "Well, at this point, you could either say things just got tougher for Zetoro United or it''s all over," Jim said.


    "I''ll take thetter," Steve remarked.

 Chapter 396 Sweet Aroma

    ?


    That goal was enough to seal the game for Unique FC as the referee blew his whistle thrice a little while after the restart to finally bring the match to an end.


    "There''s the whistle and it is all over," Jim said. "Unique FC fought hard, they knew they had to win this match and in the end, they seeded ining out on top."


    "Yeah, and now they''re back in second ce, they could have gone to first ce but Supreme United managed to force out a goal victories in both of their matches, they''re not in their best form at that moment."


    "Yeah, they drew three of their UCL group stage matches and lost one, they''re currently sitting at the bottom of the table, I''m pretty sure Unique FC or Dynamo FC would beat them if they were to face each other now."


    "Yeah, that''s highly likely."


    Zetoro United yers didn''t really look that sad for people who just lost a match.


    Dust made his way to Mateo and after chatting with him for a while, he asked for a shirt swap which the winger didn''t have any reason to reject.


    Dave was standing near the sidelines chatting with Freyan, the midfielder didn''t want a shirt swap though, he just wanted to talk to him about something.


    Fredinho was announced as the man of the match which was understandable.


    The striker was pretty exceptional in the match today, scoring the first goal anding up with a lot of chances.


    "The uing week will be another week without a league match for Unique FC as they will be facing Sunglow United in the second round of the Bilbeth Super Cup and then they''ll be traveling to West Ham United on Thursday." Jim articted.


    "They''re doing quite well so far this season, I wonder how long they can keep it up," Steve said.


    "Well, they''ve proven to be quite consistent so far this season fourteen matches and still second ce and Dave is on the right track to breaking the record for the most clean sheets in a single season, ten clean sheets in fourteen and that''s counting in the fact that he didn''t y the match against Dynamo FC." Jim expressed.


    "Remind me again, Jim, what is the most clean sheets kept in a season and who has it?" Steve asked.


    "Oh, that record was set quite a long time ago by Devon Richards so it was a record set by a Unique FC yer, he kept thirty clean sheets, they won the league that season," Jim exined.


    "Thirty-two clean sheets, that is insane, that also has to be the most clean sheets kept in a season in all of Europe, right?"


    "Yeah, it actually is."


    "That''s even more insane and will be way more insane if Dave seeds in breaking it this season, I guess the goalkeeping gene does run in their bloodline."


    After that, thementators ended their broadcast.


    There were yers being interviewed outside and as soon as Mateo made his way down the tunnel to catch up with Dave, his path was blocked by a female journalist who just wanted to ask him some questions just like she had done with a few other yers who had gone by.


    The winger had no choice but to go along with it.


    "So, Mateo, you guys just beat Zetoro United to return to second ce in the league just three points behind Supreme United, how do you feel about your current position in the league table?" She asked.


    "Um¡­we were in this same positionst two weeks ago so I feel the same way I felt then." The winger replied with a straight face.


    "And that is?"


    After she asked that question, the winger let out a deep breath.


    "We struggled a lotst season to finish in eighth ce and this season we''re in the title race just three points behind Supreme United who have a great team by the way, so that''s obviously something to be happy about." He expressed.


    "Okay." The reporter said. She sounded like she wanted to hear more. "You are also the frontrunner for the golden boot and ymaker award this season with fourteen goals and twelve assists in fourteen matches.


    "You missed out on both awardsst season finishing fourth in the golden boot race and second in the run for the ymaker award. How do you feel about this and do you think you can pull both of them off withst season''s winners Rnd and Seth behind you?"


    "Um¡­I really can''t say given the fact that the season hasn''t even gone halfway yet, I''m only two goals ahead of Rnd, he''s a great striker who can double up and overtake at any moment so it''s going to be pretty hard to win the golden boot."


    "And what about the ymaker award?"


    "Well, I am already five assists ahead of Seth and that''s quite funny because I was just one ahead of him the other day." The winger said this time smiling a little. "Just like the golden boot race this one isn''t going to be easy because Seth is an extraordinary ymaker but in terms of difficulty I''ll say this one is going to be easier than fighting for the golden boot."


    "Alright, I think that''s all, thank you for staying."


    "You''re wee." The winger said before quickly leaving the scene.


    He made his way to the locker room where he found his teammates and was quite surprised to see Minino sitting quietly on his side.


    He made his way to Dave, and after sitting beside him, he leaned closer to whisper something to him.


    "What is wrong with Minino?" He asked.


    "I don''t know, he just came in and sat down, maybe he must be tired from the match." The goalkeeper replied.


    "I think he''s just trying to confuse us but if he''s really tired then that''s a first."


    "I guess we''re on the same boat then, I''m also expecting him to jump up at any moment and start his routine."


    [ +100 exp received ]<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    [ +2 stat points received ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points received ]


    Dave had already picked up his match quest rewards before Mateo walked in, and now it was time to see what he got from his post-match rewards.


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Four crucial saves: +40 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded (0): +150 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.3 ]


    ''Now, I''m beginning to question how this match rating works, it was good at first, but now it''s just confusing.''


    <This is a fair rating ording to your contributions in the match, where''s the problem?>


    ''I was rated 7.7 by the official match ratings.''


    <Which is the wrong evaluation, they''re clearly starting to overrate you now>


    ''So, you''re saying I''m overrated?''


    <Not exactly, but still most good yers are overrated to an extent for the really good yers you won''t really notice but for some, you will just see how blown out of proportion it is>


    ''I guess I can''t argue with you there.''


    <You won''t be able toe up with anything even if you tried>


    ''Hey, chill, you''re not usually this aggressive, are you on your period or something?''


    <You know that''s not possible>


    ''Yeah, it was a joke to put you in a lighter mood.''


    <Well, it didn''t work>


    After hearing her say that, he let out an inward sigh.


    ''You know for someone who ims not to be human which is understandable because you don''t have a physical form, you sure change moods a lot and seem to have all the moods humans have.''


    After saying all that, there was no response from Catherine and even after calling her several times, she refused to respond.


    ''I''m confused because I don''t even know what I did this time.''


    Norman soon came in to talk to the yers about a couple of times and after that, they were all allowed to leave.


    In the end, it turned out that Minino really was tired or maybe he just wasn''t in the mood for running around today.


    Mateo made his way home as soon as possible because the sky was already dark and after parking his vehicle inside the parkingwn, he made his way up to his apartment.


    "What''s that sweet smell?" He muttered as he put in the codes to open the door.


    After opening the door, he made his way inside to discover that the sweet smell wasing from inside his home and the thought of someone breaking into his house just sent shivers down his spine.


    "Who''s there?" He asked as he slowly approached the kitchen area.


    He was half expecting something bad to happen until¡­


    "Oh, hey there." He heard a familiar voice.


    After that, she popped out her head so that she could see him.


    "Amber?" He said with a shocked expression on his face. "What are you doing here?"


    "Well, you told me you don''t always have the strength to cook something after your matches so I decided to pop by and help you with that today." She exined.


    "Okay, but how did you get in?"


    "Huh? You told me your password, remember?"


    "Huh?"


    "You said it was your birthday plus three question marks and an M." She expressed. "It was that one time you wanted me to drop something off for you."


    "Oh, I forgot about that." The winger said before pping his palm into his face.

 Chapter 397 Setup Complete

    ?


    The room had gotten a bit awkward now as Mateo sat opposite Amber slowly eating his avoid while avoiding eye contact with her.


    Amber on the other hand didn''t mind as she slowly ate her food with her gaze on him. In the end, the winger had to break the awkward silence because he needed to ask her a question.


    "Hey, it''s thirty minutes to nine." He said after turning his gaze to the wall clock to check the time.


    "Yeah, I''m aware of that." She replied.


    "You are? Then don''t you think you should start heading home, it''s already toote?"


    "Why does that sound like you trying to get rid of me?"


    "I''m not trying to get rid of you, Amber, I''m just saying heading home alone when it''s already thiste can be dangerous." Mateo expressed.


    "Heading home alone?" She said, sounding a bit annoyed. "Who said I was going home?"


    "Huh?"


    "We''re friends, right?" She asked.


    "Yeah."


    "Cool, then what''s wrong with having a friend sleep over at your ce?"


    ''I should have seen thising.''


    "You want to sleep over here?"


    "Yeah." She replied with a nod.


    After hearing her say that, Mateo let out a deep sigh before turning his gaze to the door to his room.


    "Well, in that case, I hope you brought your own clothes."


    "No, I didn''t." She said before shaking her head.


    "You didn''t bring any clothes?" He said with a perplexed expression on his face.


    "Hey, what''s with that expression? You think I nned to spend the night here?" She asked before pushing closer to him causing him to flinch back a little.


    "Well, everything you do seems to be nned but I guess you messed up on this one." The winger said.


    As soon as he said that, Amber let out a little chuckle before falling back to her seat.


    "What''s funny?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.


    "Is that supposed to be apliment?"


    "Um¡­I didn''t really haveplimenting you in mind when I said that, but if you want you can take it as one."


    After hearing him say that, the smile on her face suddenly turned to a frown.


    "What?"


    "You could have just said yes or no, you don''t need to make a whole sentence just to say the same thing in an attempt to make me angry."


    "I guess it worked then." He muttered before taking a sip from his drink.


    Amber let out a deep sigh before turning her gaze back to her food.


    "I see you''re now in the mood to joke with me, that''s cool." She said, "But that out of the way for now, how do you like my cooking?"


    "It''s good, I guess." He said before putting a piece of shrimp in his mouth.


    "You guess?"


    "Yeah, I mean my mom and sister''s cooking tastes way better but yours isn''t bad or anything so it''s okay." He replied as calmly as he could with a straight face.


    Amber slowly bit her lower lip as she thought of something to say.


    "Well, I am still very young, all it will take is a little more practice and I will be better than them." She said,


    "Um¡­I don''t think it works that way."


    "Huh?"


    "I mean the food my sister used to make when she was just fifteen years old tastes better than this."


    "You can''t be serious."


    "I''m dead serious," Mateo said before raising his gaze to look at her.


    She let out a sigh before cing her hand on her chin.


    "How cute." She muttered.


    "Huh?"


    "Oh, it''s nothing, I was just thinking about something." She said before shaking her head.


    After finishing his meal, Mateo made his way into his room and crashed down on his bed with his face now buried in it.


    He would have gone to take a shower but because he already did that at the stadium, he was just going to go straight to bed.


    He still had his face buried in the bed when he heard the door open and someone walk in, but he didn''t bother to look because he already knew who it was, and he wasn''t going to look until he heard his wardrobe open.


    He quickly raised his gaze to see that she was standing in front of the open wardrobe now.


    "So, how many pajamas do you have?" She asked with her gaze still on the clothes in the wardrobe.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Three." He replied.


    "Cool, can I have one?"


    "Sure, you can have the blue one on the far right."


    "Thanks." She said before quickly stretching her hands to find it.


    "You''re wee." The winger said before crashing back on his bed.


    After taking the pajamas, she went to the bathroom to take a shower and by the time she was back, Mateo was already fast asleep.


    "I guess I shouldn''t have expected much since he just came back from a match." She said, sounding a bit disappointed.


    She slid into the pajamas which seemed to be a bit oversized on her although Mateo''s body wasn''t that much bigger than hers before slowly lying down on the bed beside him.


    She kept her gaze on him and watched him breathe peacefully as he slept.


    "Cute." She muttered before closing her eyes.


    ______ ______


    Morning came by pretty soon as Amber slowly opened her eyes expecting to see Mateo beside her but was disappointed when she couldn''t find him.


    She let out a sigh before slowly sitting up on the bed.


    She was still processing a couple of thoughts in her mind when she heard a ringtone that she knew quite well.


    She quickly turned her gaze to the small cupboard beside the bed to find Mateo''s phone sitting there.


    ''He left without his phone.'' She said subconsciously before reaching for the phone to see who was calling him.


    "Sofia?" She muttered.


    Her face suddenly went from drowsy to amused.


    "Does she usually call him this early?" She muttered. "Well, I''m not really surprised."


    ''I wonder what she will think if I pick up the call?''


    ______ ______


    It was a bright new morning for Dave in his new home, he always started his day with his running back when they were in the old ce and he wasn''t nning on stopping that.


    This new home made his morning runs quite easier now as he would just run around the building a couple of times until he was satisfied.


    It got boring pretty soon for him but going outside for a run was no longer an option for him so he had to stick with it.


    Another way that this new homemade his daily workout way better was that now he had a mini-sized football pitch at the back of his house.


    The space was there when rk was showing him around and at the moment he saw it, he decided to turn it into his private training ground.


    The ce had some grass on it already but it wasn''tpletely covered so the goalkeeper had to use fake grass to cover those parts.


    After that, he fixed the goalpost with the help of rk, rk told him it wasn''t necessary to mark out the ce like a normal football pitch but he insisted he was going to do itter.


    The goalkeeper had just finished his morning and was now heading to the pitch with two spray cans in his hands.


    <You know you have to be careful with this or else you''re going to mess it up>


    ''I know, that''s why I measured and marked all focus points beforehand, and even if I mess it up, I''ll just clean it up and start all over.''


    <Of course, it''ll be quite enjoyable to watch you spend the rest of your free day marking a small football pitch>


    Dave ignored him as he got straight into work, he started from the middle and drew out the middle line to get to the sidelines.


    He slowly dragged both sidelines to get to both goalposts and after that, he connected them with the goalposts toplete the whole pitch box.


    There were some parts where the pitch looked a bit rough but that was expected, it still looked decent so he was going to leave it like that.


    <You did pretty well>


    ''Thanks.'' He replied subconsciously. ''Now, it''s time for the eighteen-yard boxes.''


    He got straight to work, drawing the eighteen-yard boxes as carefully as he could.


    It took him longer than the other parts because he wanted it to look perfect and it was working quite well for him so far.


    After about twenty minutes of hard work, the goalkeeper finished mapping out his pitch and as soon as he was done, he crashed down on the pitch.


    "That took a long while." He said before letting out a deep sigh.


    <Yeah, it looks pretty nice>


    ''So, you like it?''


    <Well, you put a lot of work into it so I can''t really say no>


    ''That''s the first nice thing you''ve said to me today.''


    <I could say more>


    [ Standard training ground setupplete ]


    [ +200 exp ]


    ''Huh?''

 Chapter 398 Dramatic Opening

    ?


    ''So, I can get rewards by just setting up things that help me improve?'' Dave said subconsciously as he made his way into the house.


    <Yeah, that''s just about it>


    ''And you were trying to stop me from doing it?''


    <I was just trying to see how much you really wanted to do it>


    ''And what if I had decided to stop?''


    <Then you would stop and get no reward>


    ''You wouldn''t even try to get me to do it?''


    <I don''t have any reason to so no, but it''s a good thing you decided to see it through>


    ''You''re just unbelievable, Catherine.'' The goalkeeper replied before sighing inwardly.


    He opened the door to find Emmaing down the stairs already dressed for work.


    "Oh, so you''re already done outside." She said as she made her way to him.


    "Hey, baby, you''re looking really fine today." He said before putting his right arm around her waist.


    "You''ve already seen me this morning." She said looking quite amused.


    "Yeah, but I was still a bit drowsy, plus that dress looks really nice on you." He said.


    "Thanks." She smiled.


    After seeing her smile, he leaned closer toward her neck with his lips.


    Emilia closed her eyes to hold in the sound that was about to escape from her mouth because she really needed to say something to him.


    "Hey, you know I have to get to work fast, right?" She managed to say in between her breathing which had gotten a bit heavy now.


    "Yeah, I''m aware of that." He said with a nod before slowly moving his face away from her. "I didn''t want to do anything."


    "Really?" She said with her hand on her neck.


    "Um¡­not really but you have to get to work."


    "Okay. Well, in that case, can you drop me off at work?"


    "Sure, let me just grab my key from over there." He said before making his way to the table in the living room to grab his key.


    ______ ______


    Amber had to leave Mateo''s ce early to go get changed for work and right now, the winger was seeing her off at the door.


    "It was really fun spending the night with you."


    "Fun? I don''t recall us doing anything fun together, I slept off before you coulde back from your shower." Mateo said.


    "Yeah, I was a bit disappointed, but it''s not your fault, ying ny minutes can be really tiring and it can be almost impossible to try and y another match right after that." She expressed with a straight face.


    "Huh?"


    "Anyway, I''ll be heading off now."


    She changed the topic so fast that Mateo had no choice but to just forget about it.


    "Are you sure you don''t want me to drop you off? Things will be easier for you that way and you''ll get to work faster." He suggested.


    "No, it''s fine, I can manage on my own, and besides, I''ll bete for work if youe with me."


    "Huh? And why''s that?" The winger asked.


    "Um¡­because you''re a little too distracting." She said with a smile.


    He didn''t say anything after hearing her say that, maybe because he was trying too hard not to react in an embarrassing way.


    "Hey, are you blushing?" She said, trying to hold in her chuckle.


    "No, I''m not."


    "I could swear I saw your cheeks turn red just now but it''s okay if you don''t want to admit it, I understand."


    "Hey."


    "Hmph, cute, I''ll get going now see youter wonder kid." She said before she turned and began to make her way down.


    She suddenly stopped in between her steps to turn her gaze back to him.


    "That''s what they call you, right?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Yeah, I guess."


    "Okay, bye."


    Mateo kept his gaze on her until she was out of sight before he moved back inside and closed the door.


    Now that the door was locked, he turned his gaze to the couch to find his phone lying there.


    "When did that get there?"


    _______ ________


    Just like thementators said after their match against Zetoro United, Unique FC had no league matches this current week which was the first week of December.


    They were going to be facing Sunglow United at home for the second round of the Bilbeth Super Cup and on Thursday, they were going to travel to West Ham to face off against West Ham United.


    Sunglow United was a Division Two team which meant that Unique FC were obviously the favorites to win the match.


    They knocked out Frono FC from thepetition so there was no way Sunglow United was going to be a big deal.


    Then again, Sunglow United just knocked out seventh-ced Spree United in a hard-fought match that ended with a penalty shootout, there were also the runner-ups in thepetitionst season as they were beaten by Dynamo FC who took home the prize while Unique were knocked out in the quarterfinals.


    The match was set to kick off today and everyone was ready to see how things were going to turn out.


    Norman didn''t really see this match as much of a threat as he once again had most of his elite yers on the bench just like he did against Frono FC.


    Maybe he just didn''t consider the Bilbeth Super Cup to be that much of an importantpetition for him to risk getting any of his valuable yers injured.


    Mateo was being reced by Fredinho on the left wing because he was the only person who could rece him at the moment, Fred was in the striking position and Carlos was on the right.


    In midfielder, he also decided to rest two of his midfield Dynamos.


    Henry could have easily started since he was benching Ferran but he decided to start Edward there and Harry in Minino''s position.


    Those two were quite good as central midfielders but outside of that position, they weren''t really that good, that was the reason why Norman wasn''t using them that much anymore.


    Well, at least, he had Frankie in the defensive midfield position so their midfield had the chance of holding up.


    This time, Norman didn''t listen to any plea from anyone as he dropped Rnd on the bench and started Jonas in the left back.


    Luis Roberto was in the right-back position and the center was being upied by both Aima and Pirlo.


    Yeah, he had almost all of his starting yers on the bench and most of the fans seemed really pissed off about that.


    "I don''t know if Norman just likes to experiment with these league cup matches, but one thing is clear, he doesn''t take these matches seriously." Jim expressed.


    The match kicked off with Sunglow being the first to touch the ball from the kick-off spot.


    Sunglow weren''t that good when it came to attack and that made sense given the fact that they were currently in fourth ce in division two struggling to get into third ce and secure a promotion spot.


    They weren''t good in attack in defense but they were quite good in one thing, and that was parking the bus.


    Unique FC had to make sure to not let them score against them first, because if that happens, getting back into the game is going to be really tough, especially with the yers they had on the field at the moment.


    Sunglow currently had most of the possession so far in the match because Unique FC were still trying to organize themselves.


    Still, they were doing fine in dealing with whatever they were throwing at him and Frankie was being quite efficient in stopping their fast striker whenever he tried to cause any problems.


    This time the striker got hold of the ball as Frankie quickly closed up on him.


    He knew it was going to be hard to get past the midfielder so he tried to pass it to the right winger but Frankie quickly took the ball off his feet with a neat tackle before pushing the ball to Edward who immediately sent it rolling to Harry.


    "Frankie giving Mundo trouble once again."


    Harry wasn''t able to keep hold of the ball for long though as he was quickly ganged up by three yers who took the ball from him and immediately sent it flying over to the right winger.


    Frankie closed up on the area right on time to nod the ball back to Aima who immediately sent the ball rolling back to him.


    "Wow, Frankie is really carrying this defense."


    Frankie got hold of the ball and was about to take off with it when he felt an immense on his left leg causing him to crash to the floor.


    That was a very careless challenge from one of Sunglow''s midfielders.


    "Oh, dear, that doesn''t look good."


    The midfielder was on the floor now screaming in pain with his hands on his leg and the referee had no option but to blow his whistle.


    He saw everything clearly and his only verdict was showing the yer a straight red card.


    "That''s a straight red card, a well-deserved one, but it doesn''t look like Frankie will be getting up?" Jim expressed.


    "Now, that''s what I call a dramatic opening."

 Chapter 399 Whos Going To Take It?

    ?


    The Sunglow United yer was sent off immediately as expected but Frankie was still on the floor with the medical team attending to him now.


    They tried all the basic methods but it didn''t look like the midfielder was going to be getting up anytime soon.


    In the end, he had to be carried off with a stretcher, their fans weren''t happy about that and so were the yers.


    If Minino was on the pitch then something might have happened as the midfielder could be seen yelling from the sidelines.


    Adolf had to go drag him back to the bench to prevent him from getting booked by the referee.


    "Looks like Frankie is down with a serious injury and won''t be able to continue, looks like Javier seeded in taking him out with him." Jim expressed.


    "He was the star of the match so far and I can see where the frustration came from for Javier but he didn''t have to do it like that, now who knows how long the midfielder will be out at best just a few weeks or at worse a couple of months." Steve expressed.


    "I don''t know but thest time he got injured he was out for a whole month and it wasn''t even this serious, I see him being out for a couple of months which is quite unfortunate for Unique FC."


    After Frankie was taken off the pitch, Martinez came on to rece him.


    Martinez being the starting defensive midfielder for the team wasn''t as vibrant as Frankie but he knew how to do his job well and that was all he was on the pitch to do.


    "Well, at least they''ve still got Martinez, but there''s no one to back him up, I guess Norman will just have to switch formation whenever he ns on not fielding him." Steve expressed.


    "That is a likely option."


    <I hope he gets punished enough for that atrocious challenge>


    ''You mean a three-match ban?''


    <You''re not serious, I''m talking about five or six>


    ''Now, that''s just too extreme.''


    <He was too extreme>


    The match continued after everything calmed down and Unique FC were the ones moving the ball around.


    "Well, I don''t think the value of the current squad on the pitch fell with Frankie leaving because Martinez is fairly on the same threat level as him if not better." Jim expressed. "If they really wanted to hit Unique FC where it hurt, then they should have gone for Dave instead of Frankie."


    "Well, Frankie didn''t allow them to get close to the goalpost so even if they wanted to, which is a bad thing for any team to think about, they wouldn''t have the chance to." Steve expressed.


    Unique FC were doing quite well in moving the ball around and keeping it away from Sunglow United yers.


    Their only problem was that they weren''t finding it that easy to move it forward without running into any trouble.


    Harry received the ball from Martinez down the right and just the midfielder there could get to him, he pushed the ball back to Martinez who sent it rolling to Jonas.


    They weren''t finding things easy at the moment but Sunglow United were one man down now so there had to be a leakage somewhere.


    The right winger quickly rushed toward Jonas to try and sweep the ball off his feet, but just before he could get to him, the wingback sent the ball rolling to Pirlo who immediately sent it flying over to Fred near the center of the pitch.


    Fred brought the ball down with his chest and two yers immediately ganged up on him, but before any of them could take the ball from him, he sent it rolling forward with a backheel pass for Edward who just moved past him to get to it.


    "Nicely done by Fred."


    Edward quickly moved forward with the ball before pushing it to Carlos who attempted to get past the left back before he turned and sent it rolling back to Harry.


    "Back to Harry, they''re finally breaking in."


    One of the yers from behind quickly rushed toward Henry to take the ball from him, but the midfielder did quite well in evading him before pushing the ball to Martinez who had joined the attack now.


    Martinez got a touch on the ball before he sent it rolling it to Fredinho.


    Fredinho used the speed of the ball to get past the right back before he sent the ball rolling into the box directly toward Fred.


    Fred got his foot on the ball fast enough and he didn''t hesitate to fire the ball toward the right side of the goalpost.


    The ball had no elevation to it, but the goalkeeper was fast enough to get to it right in time to get his hand on it and send the ball rolling over the line for a corner kick.


    "Oh, that was so close."


    "Yeah, but now they have a corner kick to deal with."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Nothing came out of that corner kick as Harry sent it flying in too close to the goalkeeper who rose up to catch it.


    Sunglow got the ball back from that and pushed as fast as they could but that resulted in them losing the ball to the defense.


    Aima pushed the ball to Luis Roberto who immediately sent it rolling to Harry.


    Harry quickly took off with the ball as two Sunglow United yers chased him down from behind and just before the oneing from the front could get to him, he sent the ball rolling to Edward.


    Edward got hold of the ball and moved further a little before he sent the ball rolling to Fred.


    Fred trapped the ball with his feet before he sent it rolling to Carlos before making his way into the box.


    Carlos got hold of the ball and raced down the wing with it before he sent it flying into the box.


    The ball was headed back by one of the midfielders and was sent flying toward Martinez who brought it down with his chest and was about to fire it toward the goalpost when he was tackled by one of the defenders.


    The referee had no choice but to blow his whistle but the defender escaped getting booked.


    "That''s a foul, Unique FC now have a scoring opportunity from the edge of the box," Jimmented.


    "Yeah, but the question now is, who''s going to take it? No Mateo, Ferran, or even Minino."


    The other yers wanted Martinez to take it because from the assessments in their training sessions, he had the better free-kick ability among all the on-field yers but he didn''t think he was the best person to take it among all the yers on the pitch.


    The midfielder quickly turned toward their goalpost where Dave was currently standing and began to yell his name.


    "Is he calling me?" Dave muttered as he slowly stepped out of the box.


    <Yeah, maybe he wants you to take the free kick, get going>


    ''Okay, okay, I''m going.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he began to make his way to the area.


    "Wow, looks like they''re calling Dave forward to take the free kick."


    "Well, that''s something I expected them to do against Frono FC when Mateo and Ferran weren''t on the pitch," Stevemented.


    "Why haven''t I ever thought of this before, Dave could be a really good free-kick taker, I mean he scores from his goalpost." One of the fans in the stands said and the other fans around him couldn''t help but agree more.


    "Are you sure you want me to take this?" Dave asked with his gaze on Martinez.


    "Yeah, I know you can do it, buddy." The midfielder said and gave him a tap on the shoulder before moving to the side a little.


    Dave was the one standing over the ball with his gaze directly on the goalpost, he wasn''t even thinking about the four-man wall inside the box.


    ''When I started my career as a goalkeeper, I never thought I would get the opportunity to take a free kick.''


    <I think you should save that for when you score the free kick>


    ''Yeah, you''re right, it''s not guaranteed but I''ll try my best.''


    At that moment, the referee blew his whistle and now it was up to the goalkeeper to show everyone watching what he could do with a free kick.


    "Now, let''s see what Dave can do, I mean we''ve already seen what he can do from the goalpost, but how well can he handle a free kick?"


    The goalkeeper slowly took three steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost right over the wall.


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost and although the goalkeeper dived toward it, he wasn''t able to get his hand on it as the ball hit the angle between the post and crossbar before falling into the goalpost.


    "Oh, my goodness! What was that?!"


    "He just smashed it right into the goalpost," Stevemented.


    Dave had no idea exactly how to celebrate as his teammates swarmed up on him and dragged him down.


    Mateo along with the other yers on the bench quickly got up as soon as that ball went in and Minino didn''t even care as he rushed into the pitch to celebrate with his teammates.


    "I guess that confirms our thoughts on how good Dave is with free kicks."

 Chapter 400 Super Aggressive

    ?


    That goal from Dave hyped up the fans as they were all chanting his name now, even some of the opposing fans were quite impressed by that goal and couldn''t help but apud him.


    "That was a well-taken free kick from Dave to put his team ahead, Martinez sure knew what he was doing calling him over to take the free kick." Jim expressed.


    "I think he was just like us who knew there was a chance that Dave could be good with free kicks and just wanted to see him do it."


    "Yeah, and I think he is one of the yers in their squad who understands Dave''s ability quite well. I mean there were times when he could have started something from the center but he just sends the ball back to Dave for him to either send it flying in or aim for the goalpost." Jim articted.


    The match continued with Unique FC fans more hyper than they were during the start of the match, that goal from Dave was just all they needed to bring their voice up and change the atmosphere of the stadium.


    Sunglow United were doing everything they could to try and get a goal but Unique FC weren''t making that easy for them, even Jonas was doing well in his position or maybe that was because Sunglow United''s right winger didn''t know where he stood when it came to running.


    After watching the winger fail countless times in his attempt to get past Rnd plus the other mistakes he made, their manager decided to bring him.


    Right at the thirty-eight minute when the ball was sent flying out for a throw-in by Martinez, the official with the board raised his board to show the number twenty-seven in red and the number twenty-two in green.


    "Looks like Sunglow United''s manager has decided to make his first change of the match in the first half pulling off Zinoski and recing him with Mika." Jim expressed. "Zino doesn''t really look happy getting taken off this early but he really can''t do anything about it."


    The winger didn''t even bother to shake the hand of his recement as he walked past him with a straight.


    Mika just shrugged as he made his way to the pitch jogging toward his position.


    "Well, I mean he was making a lot of mistakes, I wouldn''t say taking him off was exactly the right thing to do since there was a chance that he could have picked himself up but you can''t really me the manager." Steve expressed.


    The match continued with Sunglow United still holding onto the ball.


    They passed the ball around in midfield to try and draw out Unique FC yers.


    That was working well for them until one of the midfielders sent the ball flying over to Mika who was free on his side but Jonas was heading toward him now.


    He waited to get close enough before he pushed the ball with his side foot to put in between his legs and get past him.


    "Oh¡­."


    Now all he needed to do was close down on the box before Pirlo could and he would have a clear sight on goal.


    Jonas wasn''t nning on giving up that easily though as he stretched his hand and grabbed Mika by his shorts.


    He didn''t want him anywhere near the box so he ended up dragging the winger down.


    The linesman immediately raised his g and the referee blew his whistle as he got closer to the area.


    Pirlo along with Martinez closed up on the referee as they already had an idea of what was about to happen.


    There were also Sunglow United yers who weren''t happy with what Jonas did and wanted to confront him fiercely but Luis Roberto and Harry were there to block them and try to calm them down.


    "There''s a lot ofmotion on the pitch now," Jimmented.


    "Yeah, and that''s quite ironic given how Unique FC yers weren''t even this rowdy when Frankie was taken down under that terrible challenge." Steve expressed.


    Roberto and Harry were able to push the Sunglow United yers off but Pirlo and Martinez weren''t able to shake the referee''s mind as he raised a yellow card above Jonas.


    "Looks like Jonas just got booked for that pull on Mika."


    "Well, that wasn''t unexpected."


    Sunglow United now had a free kick about twenty-five yards away from the goalpost and it looked like Mika was going to be the one to take it because he was the one standing over the ball now.


    "Let''s see what Sunglow United can do with this one."


    Unique FC had a four-man wall just at the edge of the box, and the other yers were just running around in the area.


    The referee made sure that everything was ready, and after that, he blew his whistle.


    "Will Mika be able to put this away and give his team the equalizer? Well, we''re about to find out."


    As soon as Mika heard the whistle, he slowly took three steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Dave didn''t need to worry about that as he just watched as the ball flew over the bar not evening close to being a threat.


    "Oh, that''s not troubling anyone."


    ''I wasn''t expecting some level of threat, but I guess this works too.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    The match continued with none of the sides being able toe up with anything.


    Unique FC were obviously the ones dominating the match but that was only slightly because Sunglow United were also causing some trouble for them.


    If Norman had started his starting eleven, then this match would have been over a long time ago.


    Carlos received the ball down the right wing and managed to get past the left back with a quick run before he sent the ball flying into the box.


    Fred jumped higher than everyone else in the box at that moment to get his head on the ball but his effort went to waste as the ball as the ball hit the crossbar before going out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, no, that was so close."


    As soon as that ball went over the bar, the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    "And there''s the whistle for the first half break," Stevemented. "I would say it has been an even fight between both sides so far, at least it would have looked that way."


    "Yeah, Sunglow United have done pretty well so far to hold their ground and keep Unique FC from starting a goal fest against them." Jim expressed. "But then again, this isn''t Unique FC''s main starting eleven, I''m sure things would have ended a bit differently in this first half if Norman had decided to start everyone in his starting eleven."


    Back in the locker room, Norman didn''t really have anything much to tell his yers and seemed to be surprisingly impressed with the way his yers have yed so far.


    Putting all these yers on the pitch, he wasn''t really expecting much from them, especially in midfield but they seem to have surprised him and were currently leading the game.


    That said, he had a couple of areas where he wanted to give them pointers and a couple of mistakes that he wanted to correct.


    After that, he made it clear that if they get better in the second half and get a stronger grip on the game, then he wasn''t going to bring on some yers to rest them for the match against West Ham United on Thursday.


    After that, he left the yers to rest for a while in the locker room before they were finally given the signal to start making their way to the pitch to kick off the second half.


    "Wee back everyone, the second half is about to kick off as we can see the yers making their way to the pitch now," Jim said. "The first half was quite interesting and I''m expecting way more in this second half."


    "Don''t get your hopes that up, Jim, this might as well be a downgrade of the first half, it happens a lot in football." Steve expressed.


    Since Sunglow started the match from the kick-off spot in the first half, Unique FC were going to be the ones to do it in this half.


    Fred stood over the ball, waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he sent the ball rolling to Harry who immediately pushed it to Martinez.


    The yers moved the ball around smoothly here, way better than they did in the first half.


    Harry received the ball from Martinez and quickly dribbled past the yer in front of him before pushing the ball to Fredinho on the left wing.


    "Fredinho."


    Fredinho closed up on the right back and managed to get past him with a neat dribble.


    He was entering the box now when a yer from outside the box quickly rushed toward him and brought him down with a fierce tackle.


    "Oh, dear, that doesn''t look good."


    Fredinho was now on the floor with his hands on his legs as his teammates along with Sunglow United yers gathered around the area.


    Martinez wasn''t taking things lightly as he was trying to get to the yer responsible for the foul but his teammates weren''t making it easy for him.


    "That''s the second super aggressive tackle from them in this game, I wonder if the verdict will be the same."


    The referee made his way to the area after blowing his whistle and without hesitation, he raised a red card above the yer.


    "That''s the second straight red card of the game, Sunglow United are two men down now."

 Chapter 401 Another One Broken

    ?


    Sunglow United had just lost another yer but just likest time, they wanted to take a Unique FC yer with them.


    Fredinho was receiving medical attention on the pitch now, and because it was taking too long, he had to be carried off the pitch for now so that the game could resume.


    "Two straight red cards for Sunglow United yers and if Fredinho is unable to continue, that would be two injuries handed to Unique FC while doing that," Jimmented.


    "I think Fredinho getting injured will hit them more than Frankie did, I mean he is a very versatile yer up front and him getting injured will disrupt Norman''s team rotation more than Frankie would." Steve expressed.


    Unique FC now had another free kick right at the edge of the box and just as expected, Dave was called over to take the free kick.


    "Well, we don''t know yet if Fredinho will be able to continue, but Unique have another close-up free-kick and it''s Dave standing over the ball once again."


    <You know if you score this, you''ll create the record for the goalkeeper to convert two corner kicks in a match>


    ''I''m aware of that, it''s not a record I''m particrly interested in creating but it would be cool if I do.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.


    "Will Dave be able to convert this one just like he did with the first one?"


    Sunglow United had their four-man wall right inside the box with a yer below and all the other yers from both teams running around inside the box.


    The referee observed carefully to make sure that nothing was out of ce and after that, he blew his whistle.


    "There''s the whistle, it''s time to see what the goalkeeper can do with this one," Jimmented.


    Dave slowly took three steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball, and just before kicking the ball, he raised his left hand.


    Everyone was expecting him to just go for the goalpost with his enormous shot power and that would have been a great option, but the goalkeeper wanted to try something else.


    He sent the ball flying in toward the right and it looked like it was going to go out until Fred broke free from the clutches of the yer who was marking him to get his head on the ball with a diving header.


    "He''s gone for it!"


    The goalkeeper stretched his hands toward the area, but there was nothing he could do to stop that as the ball smashed right into the goalpost.


    "Goalllllll!"


    As soon as that went in, the fans went wild and Fred took off to the sidelines.


    He wasn''t able to do whatever celebration he wanted to do though as Harry caught up to him in no time and dragged him down.


    "They''ve gotten that second goal and Dave is the mastermind behind it, a goal and an assist from a goalkeeper in a match. Oh, he''s done it again." Steve expressed.


    "I guess that''s what Sunglow United gets for trying to injure another one of their, and speaking of which, it looks like Fredinho is able to continue and will be rejoining the match soon," Jimmented.


    "That''s another good news for Unique FC, they''re two goals up now with Sunglow United having only nine yers on the pitch, I don''t know but I don''t really see Sunglow United getting back up with just nine yers."


    "Yeah, this second half is going to be a pretty tough one for them."


    The match resumed as soon as Fredinho got back on the pitch and now Sunglow United were starting to find it pretty hard to keep hold of the ball because the home team had yers in every corner and they just didn''t have enough yers to deal with them.


    Harry pushed the ball forward after intercepting a pass and just before he could run into the yer right in front of him, he sent the ball rolling to Carlos who immediately sent it flying over to Fredinho.


    Fredinho brought the ball down with his chest and without hesitation, he sent it flying into the box with a lob.


    That was supposed to be a cross for Fred or any other person inside the box, but the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying out for a goal kick.


    "Goodness me, what was that? It really didn''t look like it was his intention to go for goal there, but that was so close and the goalkeeper didn''t even move."


    Despite Unique FC having the upper hand in almost every department, Sunglow United were still getting a few chances here and there.


    However, those chances were small fries to Dave who found them to be pretty easy to save, and things stayed like that until one fateful moment.


    Mika received the ball down the right wing as Jonas quickly rushed toward him to take the ball from him, but that was a mistake as the young winger neatly put the ball past him with a neat nutmeg.


    Pirlo quickly rushed toward him with a sliding tackle but that also didn''t work as the winger tipped the ball right over to get it inside the box.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He seemed to have overhit the ball a little at that moment, and that was all Dave needed to be able to get to the ball fast enough and grab it.


    "Woah, that was a close one."


    Mika looked quite frustrated having missed that wonderful opportunity, but there was nothing he could do about it now.


    The match continued with none of the sides being able to find the back of the.


    Unique FC were obviously to dominate especially because Sunglow United were two men down, but they weren''t having that much sess when it came to scoring.


    Fredinho raced down the wing with the ball and once he got closer to the box, he stopped to find someone to give the ball.


    He wasn''t given enough time to scan the area though as the ball was immediately swept off his feet with a neat tackle.


    That didn''t look like a foul as the winger immediately got up from the floor and the referee didn''t blow his whistle.


    However, he seemed to be limping now, and after just taking a few steps forward, he slowly sat down on the floor and raised his hand to do the substitution sign.


    "Looks like Fredinho is asking to be substituted here," Jimmented.


    "I think Norman saw thising, Mateo has been warming up on the side for a while now."


    On Fredinho''s request, he was taken off the pitch and who else to rece him than Mateo.


    The youngster received one of the loudest standing ovations in the Wondanimo stadium ever as he made his way to the pitch and that put quite the smile on his face as he waved at the fans.


    "You can tell the fans love their Wonder Kid."


    "Well, he has been an exceptional yer for them so far this season so, it''s very well deserved."


    Now that Mateo was on the pitch, it was time for the game to resume.


    The time being disyed on the board was seventy-eight minutes as Edward threw the ball to Mateo who immediately sent it rolling to Jonas with a backheel pass.


    Jonas was immediately surrounded by two yers so he had to push the ball back to Martinez who immediately sent it flying back to Dave in the box.


    The goalkeeper brought the ball down with his chest before trapping it under his feet.


    Sunglow United''s goalkeeper knew best to quickly return to his goal line at that moment.


    Mika quickly rushed to the goalkeeper to try his luck, but before he could get to him, he pushed the ball forward a little and sent it flying into the pitch.


    His target was of course, Mateo.


    The winger kept his gaze on the ball until it got close enough to him.


    He brought the ball down with his chest and just before the yer beside him could attempt to take it from him, he sent it past him with an overhead kick.


    As soon as he got the ball past the yer, he picked it up and continued toward the goalpost.


    He dribbled his way past the right back and squeezed himself past the center back there to get into the box and fire the ball toward the left side of the goalpost with a little bit of elevation.


    The goalkeeper managed to get his hand on it, but it wasn''t enough to stop it as the ball hit the post before falling into the goalpost.


    "And that''s how you do it!" Jim screamed.


    The winger quickly got up and ced the badge on the kit on his lips as he raced to the sidelines.


    "He just got on the pitch now and he already has a goal, that''s just how good of a yer he is, they''re three goals up now." Steve expressed. "That said, that assist from Dave now means that he is now the only goalkeeper in history to ever directly contribute to three goals in a match, the former record holder scored twice in a match to set the record but I guess he still has the record for the most goals scored in a match by a goalkeeper."


    [ Congrattions ]


    [ You have just broken a record ]

 Chapter 402 To The Next Round

    ?


    After giving his team the third goal, the match continued with Sunglow United knowing that trying to get into the game now was going to be a huge hassle.


    They still didn''t want to concede a fourth goal so they did their best to make sure that wasn''t going to happen.


    I guess that worked out well for them because they didn''t concede another goal until the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end.


    "There''s the whistle, it is all over," Jim said. "Unique FC were obviously the favorites and they did not disappoint."


    "I wasn''t expecting them to disappoint but if Sunglow United had yed it cool and calm instead of rushing at Frankie and Fredinho to get two red cards, this game would have been way tougher for Unique FC, of course, that wouldn''t have meant anything if Norman had decided to start with his starting eleven." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, you make a good point," Jim replied. "Now, Unique FC moves to the third round where they will have to face Spree City, this is the round before the quarterfinals so I''m almost sure both teams are going to give it that all."


    "Almost? Why not fully sure?" Steve asked.


    "Because I''m half expecting Norman to bench his star yers."


    "Well, he benched some of them against Frono FC who seem to be a bit better than Spree City so far this season so why can''t he do it against, that said, it won''t be easy to win against Spree City without his starting midfield at least because they have quite a good midfield that could make things difficult for him." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, my thoughts exactly but I think he already knows that more than we do."


    After that, thementators talked about a few other things before bringing the broadcast to an end.


    Dave was announced as the man of the match which was very well expected.


    The yers greeted the fans who cheered them on till the end, and after that, they decided to start making their way off the pitch.


    Mateo was walking alongside Dave as always and they seemed to be discussing something when they ran into Emma.


    She seemed to be putting on a ck coat because the weather was a bit chilly and she had both of her hands in her pocket.


    "Hey, boys, nice work out there." She said with a smile.


    "Thanks," Dave said.


    Emma nodded before turning her gaze toward Mateo who was wondering why she was looking at him like that now.


    "Why¡­."


    "If you''re looking for Amber, she''s over there." She said before pointing toward the interview area.


    "Hey, I didn''t even ask you anything about her."


    "It looked like you were about to." She replied.


    "It looked like I was about to ask. Why would you even make that assumption?"


    "And why are you getting mad over nothing, I just told you she was over there if you were looking for her, it was an assumption but it''s not like I said anything bad."


    After hearing her say that, Mateo let out a deep sigh.


    "Well, I wasn''t looking for her." He said with a calm voice this time. "I''ll be heading down now, Dave."


    "It''s quite interesting whenever you two are at each other''s throat," Dave said.


    "So, you''re saying that you enjoy watching us fight?" She asked before shooting him a re.


    "Oh, dear."


    After dealing with what he had to deal with outside, Dave made his way down the locker room.


    As he got closer to the locker room, he could hear the noiseing from there and just as he got close enough, his thoughts were confirmed.


    Minino, the midfielder who didn''t get a single minute of ytime in the match that had just been concluded, was busy making a lot of noise in the locker room.


    I guess he had a lot of energy from not taking part in the match and of course, there were other yers who joined him in his post-match show.


    Mateo was busy going through his phone by the side and since their lockers were close to each other, he made his way to him and sat down beside him.


    "Hey, Emma told me to tell you that she''s sorry¡­."


    "I know she didn''t say that," Mateo said before he could finish saying what he was.


    "Oh, I guess you know your sister way too much, which isn''t a surprise."


    "Even if she did say that, there''s no need for it, it''s not like she said anything bad, and it''s also not like I''m mad or anything." The winger expressed.


    "Are you sure? Because you sound a little upset and your face doesn''t look that bright."


    "Don''t worry, it''s nothing." He said before shaking his head.


    "Nothing?"


    "Yeah."


    "Okay," Dave said before slowly turning his gaze away.


    <He''s mad at someone, but it''s not his sister><novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''If it''s not Emma then who is it?''


    <I''m sorry, I don''t think I can tell you that>


    ''Why not?''


    <Because he doesn''t want you to know>


    After receiving that response from Catherine, the goalkeeper let out a sigh.


    ''Let''s see here, he was actually in a good mood until Emma mentioned Amber, so it has to be Amber, right? Of course, it has to be her, but why is he mad at her?''


    <Wow, you''ve be such a fast thinker>


    ''Not the time, Catherine.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before turning his gaze to Mateo who still had his gaze on his phone. ''I wonder what happened, but anyway, can I see my post-match rewards now?''


    <Sure, you gained a lot of experience points today with that fine performance>


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Four crucial saves: +40 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded (0): +150 exp ]


    [ Scored a goal: +150 exp ]


    [ Two assists: +100 exp¡Á2 ]


    ''That is a lot of experience points.''


    <Well, you earned it>


    ''Yeah, and I also got two hundred more and give stat points from that super easy match quest.''


    <Well, this was a very easy team to beat and even though Norman didn''t unleash the full force it was still somewhat a walk in the park for you guys>


    ''Yeah, but our next match is against West Ham United in the Europa Conference League.''


    <Well, they don''t seem to be much of a threat either but depending on how well they prepare and how you guys go into the match, they could be>


    ''You''re right, I just hope coach doesn''t n to underestimate or take things easy against them and start everyone who is supposed to start.''


    Norman soon came in to see the yers and also talk to them about a few other things.


    After that, the yers began to make their way home.


    Dave made his way to his car after meeting up with Mateo outside to see that his face looked brighter than it was before, maybe that was because he was with Minino just a few minutes ago.


    Dave drove straight home and after driving in through the gate, he parked his car carelessly in the open space before making his way inside the house.


    As soon as he entered the house, he made his way straight to the couch and crashed down on it.


    He stayed there for a while without saying anything, not even replying to whatever Catherine was saying in his head until he heard the door open.


    He slowly dragged himself up to sit up on the couch.


    It was obviously Emma who had just entered the house and she was heading toward him now with a bright smile on her face, she also had something in her hand.


    "What''s that?"


    "Oh, this?" She said before she dropped it on the table and removed the cover to reveal that it was a small cake. "It''s a cake to celebrate your newly broken record."


    "Another one? You know you don''t have to get a cake anytime I break a record but still, this is so sweet of you."


    "I just wish you would tell me whenever you''re going to break a record in a match so that I can make the cake myself." She said,


    "Trust me, even I didn''t know I was going to break a record like that today." The goalkeeper said.


    "I know, things like this are unpredictable but don''t worry about it." She said before turning her gaze to the kitchen. "Let me go get a knife."


    She returned with the knife soon and cut the cake, they enjoyed their pieces in silence until Dave decided to ask something.


    "Do you have any idea what Amber did to upset Mateo?"


    "Upset Mateo? How do you know she did something to upset him? Did he tell you that?" She asked.


    "No, I kind of figured that out from the way he acted when you mentioned her name."


    "Oh, now I''m wondering what happened, they were acting kind of cozy the other day when your teammates were here."


    "So, you have no idea."


    "No." She said before taking a bite from her piece of cake.

 Chapter 403 The Match Had Only Just Begun

    ?


    Mateo woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and better than he did when he went to bedst night.


    He stretched himself for a while before changing into something that would make it easier for him to run.


    After that, he grabbed a ss of warm water before leaving the house to go on his morning run.


    It took about twenty minutes for him to get that over with and return to the house.


    His runs were always super early in the morning and he would either wear a hood or a scarf to cover his face and prevent anyone from spotting him, and that worked quite well for him.


    Now that he was back in the house, he went straight to the bathroom to brush his teeth and after he was done with that, he decided to do some cleaning.


    It took him about fifteen minutes to finish cleaning the whole area.


    Now that the cleaning was done, he decided to make something for breakfast.


    He was still in the middle of cutting the vegetables when someone suddenly knocked on the door.


    At first, he didn''t hear it clearly so he ignored it, that was until the person knocked again and this time it was considerably louder.


    "Who could that be now?" He said with a hiss before dropping the knife.


    He wiped off the little particles of water on his hand with a clean cloth before he made his way to the door to open it.


    He opened the door to find the only person he didn''t want to see that morning standing there.


    "Hey," Amber said with a little wave as soon as she saw him.


    "What do you want?"


    "Hey, that''s not the way you say hi to a friend."


    "Just tell me what you want, I''m busy right now," Mateo said not even giving a thought to what she just said now.


    "Fine, if you insist." She said before raising what she was holding closer to his face.


    It seemed to be some kind of pack covered with ck nylon.


    "What is that?" He asked with a confused expression on his face.


    "Can''t you smell it?" She asked, to which Mateo replied with a shake of his head. "Oh, well, these are freshly baked cookies, I made them for you this morning."


    "You made them for me?"


    "Yeah." She replied with. "Can Ie inside?"


    Usually, after asking that question, he would shift to make way for her to enter the house, but this time, he didn''t even bother moving.


    It was at that moment that Amber realized that everything wasn''t exactly okay because that cold expression on his face wasn''t really something she was used to seeing until today.


    "Hey, what''s with that look on your face, did I do anything wrong?" She asked.


    Mateo didn''t say anything for a while which made her even more worried.


    "So, now you''ve decided to ask the important question."


    "Important question? What did I do, did Sofia tell you ... .oh."


    Realizing what he was talking about, she folded her lips before shifting her gaze away from him a little.


    "I''m sorry about that, but I didn''t think you would get angry over it."


    "You picked up my call without my permission, why wouldn''t I get angry?"


    "Are you sure it''s not because Sofia was the one calling?"


    "So, that''s what you think? You know I dislike people who don''t respect other people''s privacy, I dislike people like that a lot." The winger said.


    "So, you dislike me now?"


    "For picking up my call while I was out, yes but I expected a reasonable apology from someone like you not just stupid assumptions regarding why I was really angry, this conversation is over, I have to go finish what I''m doing, you know none of this would be happening if you just told me about it when I returned but you kept quiet and acted like nothing happened."


    "Hey, don''t you think you''re making a big deal out of this? I already said I was sorry, and I am really sorry."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Maybe I am but it doesn''t matter, I have to go finish what I''m doing now."


    "Hey, at least take¡­"


    She wasn''t able to finish that statement as he quickly closed the door.


    "The cookies." She muttered with a sigh before biting her lower lip. "You should have handled that properly, Amber."


    ''People who don''t get angry easily are quite the character when they do.''


    ______ ______


    The match between West Ham United and Unique FC had already kicked off here and so far, none of the sides had been able to make an impact.


    It wasn''t snowing at all when the yers arrived at West Ham but just before the match kicked off, it began to snow, it wasn''t a heavy snowfall though so it was okay.


    The temperature was chilly though so all the yers on the pitch were putting on long sleeves with Mateo pping on a pair of gloves for the first time in a while because he just didn''t like the cold.


    In terms of possession, Unique FC were controlling the game but West Ham United were doing quite well in holding them down and preventing them from taking the lead.


    "Winning this match will guarantee Unique FC a qualification to the knockout stages and for West Ham, it will just mean that they still have a chance to make it to the knockout stages." Jim expressed. "The home team are obviously the ones who need the victory most but what''s it going to be?"


    Unlike theirst meeting where Norman had to bench a few of his star yers, this time he was starting them all because he needed to win this match and get that guarantee to the next stage because the least ce where they could possibly end up after winning this match was second ce.


    Mateo brought the ball down with his chest and moved down the wing with it a little before pushing it back to Ferran who immediately sent it rolling to Minino.


    Minino pushed forward a little with the ball and just before the yer heading toward him could get to him, he turned and sent the ball rolling to Ferran who sent it flying over to Merino with his first touch.


    Merino brought the ball down with his chest before attempting to get it past the left back with an overhead kick, but that failed as the defender sent the ball flying out for a throw-in.


    The winger quickly picked up the ball and threw it to Minino before any of the opponents could react.


    "Unique FC are still lurking around their box here, West Ham United have the careful here or something might happen," Jimmented.


    Minino sent the ball rolling to Martinez who had closed down the middle now.


    Martinez got his foot on the ball and feigned firing it toward the goalpost to startle the yer right in front of him, and that worked quite well for him as he got past the yer before pushing the ball to Mateo.


    Mateo got his foot on the ball, but before he could do anything with it, it was swept off his feet by the right back who sent it rolling out for a throw-in.


    That looked like a foul right there and Mateo raised his hand to alert the referee but it didn''t look like he was going to give it.


    The ball was thrown in by Ferran who threw it toward Mateo, but the winger had to immediately send it rolling to Rnd because he wasn''t in a very good position.


    "Rnd''s with the ball now, what''s he going to do?"


    The left-back moved a little closer to the box before raising his hand.


    That was the signal for Mateo and anyone else in the area to get inside the box.


    The winger quickly made his way inside the box as the left back immediately sent the ball flying in directly toward him.


    Mateo was going for a slight dive to be able to get his head on the ball right on time but that didn''t exactly work out for him as one of the defenders inside the box was going for the ball right at that time but he was using his foot.


    Mateo ended up making contact with his foot before he could make contact with the ball and it wasn''t his head, it was his face.


    As soon as his face made contact with his boot, the winger let out a scream before crashing down to the floor right inside the box with his hands on his face.


    The referee had to get involved immediately as he blew his whistle before making his way to the area.


    "Oh, dear, that doesn''t look good."


    "He smashed his boot right into his face."


    The referee had to immediately show the defender a yellow card even though Unique FC yers were arguing that he deserved a red card, and of course, Minino wasn''t taking things lightly with the person responsible for the foul.


    Before the medical team could arrive, Ferran checked on Mateo along with his teammates to see that the lower part of his face was covered with blood and it was alling from his nose.


    "Unique FC have a penalty kick now which is something good for them but it looks like they don''t even care about that at the moment they''re all just so worried about Mateo." Jim expressed.


    "Well, with his face like that, being able to continue the game may be unlikely for him and the match had all just begun.

 Chapter 404 Back In The Game

    ?


    Mateo had to be taken off the pitch for now because the game had to continue with or without him.


    The winger was receiving treatment outside the pitch now as Unique FC got ready to take their penalty kick.


    Merino was the one standing over the ball in the penalty spot with everyone else right behind him as the referee observed carefully to make sure that nothing was out of ce.


    "A massive goal-scoring chance for Unique FC just ten minutes into the game. Will Merino be able to sessfully send it home and give his team the lead?" Jimmented.


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle and now it was over to Merino.


    The winger let out a sigh before slowly taking three steps backward.


    After that, he paused for a while before he slowly began to approach the ball, and just as he was about to get close enough to it, he did a little leap with his left foot before firing it toward the goalpost with his right foot.


    The ball was fired toward the right side of the goalpost with just a little bit of elevation and even though the goalkeeper managed to get the tip of his gloves on it, that wasn''t enough to stop the force as the ball kept pushing forward until it smashed into the goalpost.


    "It''s in! Calm and collective and he''s smashed it right into the goalpost." Jim expressed.


    "A well-taken strike and now they have the lead."


    The atmosphere in the London stadium changed immediately as Unique FC fans started breathing some liveliness into the game with their chants.


    ''That''s what you get for injuring Mateo.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    Mateo was sitting on the floor as one of the medical staff cleaned his nose with a cotton wool and he got excited as soon as Merino sent that ball home.


    He wanted to get up but she held him down before he could even try it.


    "Hey, don''t do that."


    "How did you know I was trying to get up?" The winger asked before turning his gaze to her.


    "This is not the first time you''re trying something like this, remember that time against Spree City and the other time against Lace City." She said as she threw the pieces of cotton wool covered in blood into the small trash can she had with her.


    After that, she opened up the first aid kit to bring out a bottle of what looked like methted spirits.


    "Oh, yeah, what was that your name again?"


    "You forgot my name?"


    "No, it''s just that my memory is a little fuzzy right now but if you could help me remember."


    "Ah, I guess I can''t really me you." She said before letting out a sigh. "It''s Natasha."


    "Oh, Natasha, nice name."


    She didn''t say anything as she used the scissors to dip a piece of cotton wool into the methted spirits.


    "Are you going to put that inside my nose?"


    "No, it''s for the bruise outside your nose hole, I take it that you already know how this feels."


    "Yeah." The winger replied with a nod.


    After applying the spirit there, she brought out a little piece of bandage and used it to cover the bruise.


    "Your nose sustained a little fracture but it''s not that serious, still, it could be serious if you get hit there again so I would advise you to¡­."


    "Don''t worry, I''ve got this." The winger said before she could finish what he was saying.


    He ced his hand on her shoulder and helped himself up. She kept her gaze on him as he stretched his hands before turning his gaze to her.


    "Thanks, Natasha, I feel much better now."


    "I''m just doing my job." She replied.


    "Well, you still deserve a thank you." The winger said before he began to make his way to Norman.


    Norman gave him the green light because he wanted him back in the game as soon as possible but the winger had to wait for a pause in the game before he could rejoin the game.


    It didn''t take long for that to happen as a West Ham United yer was brought down about twenty-five yards away from Unique FC''s goalpost.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The home team now had a free kick in a pretty good position but that was also Mateo''s cue to rejoin the game.


    The away fans let out screams and apuse as the winger made his way back to the pitch.


    "Obviously, the fans are happy to see Mateo back into the game, it''s a good thing that didn''t put him out." Jim expressed.


    Felipe was standing over the ball now with his gaze on the wall as Mateo quickly made his way to his position.


    "Dave has not conceded a goal from a free kick since the start of this season, he''s saved all of them that havee close to going into his goalpost but can Felipe break that streak tonight?" Jim expressed.


    "Unlikely, but let''s see what happens," Steve said.


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle and now it was time to see what Felipe could do.


    The striker slowly took three steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand corner and that looked like a deadly strike right there, but Dave was able to get to it right on time and punch it out with both of his gloves.


    "I said it, unlikely but my that was a well-taken strike, if that was just any other goalkeeper, that would have gone in," Stevemented.


    "Yeah, that was a well-ced strike, unfortunately, he was up against Dave."


    "That said, they now have a corner kick, Dave has conceded a few goals from corner kicks this season, maybe they could add to that number," Steve said.


    Sunde was standing over the ball in the spot now while the yers from both teams ran around inside the box.


    The referee observed to make sure everything was in ce and as soon as he was sure of it, he blew his whistle.


    As soon Sunde heard that whistle, he slowly took two steps backward before he closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    Unfortunately, he seemed to have ced it way too close to the goalpost as Dave quickly sprung up and caught it before anyone could get his head on it.


    "Dave gets up to grab it and now he''s sending it out to start a counterattack!"


    As soon as Dave got hold of that ball, he threw it toward Ferran who had his path blocked by one of the defenders but he had Mateo on his left and immediately sent the ball flying to him with a lob.


    Mateo also had a yer right in front of him but he didn''t have any trouble dealing with him as he sent the ball over the yer with his backheel.


    "He''s through and now it''s just him and the goalkeeper!"


    The winger raced toward the goalpost as everyone else chased him from behind but he wasn''t going to give the ones closest to him the privilege of catching him.


    The goalkeeper knew this was a tricky situation but he still attempted to sweep it off the winger''s feet as soon as he got to the edge of the box, but that was a mistake because as soon as he left his goal line, Mateo sent the ball flying into the goalpost from above.


    There was nothing he could do at this moment besides watch as the ball fell into the goalpost.


    "He has done it!" Jim eximed as the winger raced to the sidelines with both of his arms stretched out. "It''s Unique FC''s Wonder Kid getting on the score sheet just a few minutes after returning to the pitch!"


    "Yes!" Dave yelled as he raised both of his arms.


    The fans were going wild now and so were some of the yers who were screaming in front of them now.


    "With the way things are looking now, it looks like Unique FC are getting that qualification to the next round in this match," Stevemented.


    The match continued after Unique FC''s wild celebration but West Ham United weren''t able to strike back in any way and all of Unique FC''s attempts to get a third goal went to waste.


    West Ham United held their ground against Unique FC''s suffocating force until the forty-fifth minute when the referee finally blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    "There''s the whistle, West Ham United yers will be delighted to hear that because Unique sure have been on their throat for quite a while now. They''ll have to patch themselves up in the second half otherwise Unique FC are easily running away with this one." Steve expressed.


    "Well said, Steve. The first halfes to an end in quite an interesting way but it was expected, it''s West Ham United nil, Unique FC two."


    *****


    Hope you enjoyed thest chapter of this month.


    Happy new month in advance and thanks for all your support this month.

 Chapter 405 Double Strike

    ?


    Norman didn''t really have anything to tell his boys during the halftime break, they yed quite well in the first half and were two goals up so he didn''t really have anything toin about.


    Still, he had to inform them of his countermeasures if West Ham United should start taking things seriously in the second half.


    It didn''t take long for him to finish breaking down everything for the yers and after that, he left them to rest for a while.


    Dave was sitting beside Mateo as always and he could help but notice that he seemed to be poking his nose a bit too much. He was doing it when Norman was talking and he was still doing it now.


    Judging from the look on his face after poking his nose a little, Dave could tell that he was feeling some kind of pain after touching it.


    "Hey, if it''s painful then don''t touch it." He said.


    "I want to, but I just can''t help myself."


    "Huh?" Dave said with a confused expression on his face.


    "I mean I have this weird quirk of enjoying the little pain I get from the fractured bone on any part of my body." He exined.


    "Oh," Dave muttered. "But, is it really that enjoyable? I don''t even dare touch any part of my body that has a fractured bone unless it''s necessary."


    "The pain is still there but I sort of love the feeling thates after that." The winger said before cing his finger on his nose, this time pushing it a little.


    "Oh, well, then just make sure you don''t make it worse."


    "Don''t worry, I''m not stupid enough to cause myself more unwarranted pain."


    The yers stayed in the locker room until they were finally given the signal to start making their way to the pitch to continue the match.


    "Wee back everyone, the second half is about to kick off here as we can see the yers making their way to the pitch now," Jimmented as the yers from both teams made their way to the pitch.


    Unique FC were the ones who started the match from the kick-off spot in the first half and that meant that West Ham United were going to be the ones to do it in this half.


    "The first half wasn''t exactly one-sided despite Unique FC managing to grab a two-goal lead, West Ham looked quite good in holding them off, but there was nothing they could do about that penalty kick and that strike from Mateo." Jim expressed. "To put it simply, Unique FC put the two good chances they got to good use and that is the main reason why they are leading now."


    "Yeah, and depending on how well West Ham United improves in this half, they could run away with it and secure their spot in the next round," Stevemented.


    Filipe was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Sunde who immediately sent it rolling back to one of the defenders before Minino could get to him.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    West Ham United kept hold of the ball for as long as five minutes but Unique FC yers didn''t really seem that bothered which was obvious from the way they were chasing the ball, as long as they couldn''t get deep into their half they were fine.


    If they were up against a super team like say Supreme United and got a two-goal advantage like this in the first half, they would probably be doing something simr to parking the bus now.


    The moment West Ham United finally lost the ball was when one of the midfielders sent the ball flying over to Ray on the right wing.


    He seemed to have overhit it a little as the ball got to Rnd who immediately sent it rolling to Martinez without hesitation.


    "Unique FC are with the ball now," Jim said.


    Martinez had Filipe quickly heading toward him so he had to send the ball rolling to Minino who got hold of it and immediately sent it flying over to Mateo.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Over to Mateo."


    Mateo brought the ball down with his chest and suddenly paused because he had two yers right in front of him and another one on his right.


    Dribbling past them was possible for someone like him but with the way the yers were distributed on the pitch now, he decided that it just wasn''t worth it and sent the ball rolling to Ferran who pushed forward with it a little before he sent it rolling to Merino.


    "Merino."


    Merino tried to cut in through the middle and feed Ferran but his path was immediately blocked and out of instinct he trapped the ball back to Ferran who was right behind him at that moment with his backheel.


    Ferran had his sight set on one thing and one thing alone at that moment.


    As soon as he got close enough to the ball, he pulled his right foot back and sent it flying toward the goalpost with an enormous shot power.


    The ball was sent flying toward the right side of the goalpost but luckily for West Ham United, their goalkeeper was able to get to the ball right on time to punch it over the bar with both of his gloves.


    "Oh, my goodness! That was so close!"


    "Yeah, that was a close call from Arnold," Steve said. "They have a corner kick to deal with now though, what wille from it?"


    Ferran had to quickly head to the spot to take the corner kick, and as soon as he got there, the ball was thrown to him.


    He caught the ball and dropped, now all he was waiting for was the referee''s whistle.


    The yers from both teams were running around inside the box now and as soon as the referee made sure that everything was ready, he blew his whistle.


    Ferran slowly took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    The ball was sent directly into the middle as the yers there jumped up to get their heads.


    Fortunately for Unique FC, the only yer to get his head on the ball was Fred.


    He sent the ball flying toward the top right-hand side as the goalkeeper was glued to a spot but unfortunately, his effort ended up hitting the post before falling off toward the right.


    "Oh, no, it hit the post."


    Merino was right there to get his left foot on the rebound and even though the goalkeeper reacted this time, the winger''s effort ended up hitting the post before rolling out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, it''s the woodwork again!"


    Merino was really pissed off from missing that chance as he kicked the air before biting his lower lip.


    "They could have gone three goals up but the woodwork came in clutch to save West Ham United," Stevemented.


    ****


    Happy New Month everyone.


    My apologies for not being able to update yesterday. I just had to give myself a free day to cool off, but rest assured that updates will remain consistent.

 Chapter 406 Intense Moment

    ?


    The match continued with both Fred and Minino putting those horrible misses behind them.


    West Ham United were the ones pushing the ball forward here as Sunde sent the ball rolling to Filipe who immediately sent it flying over to Ray.


    Ray brought the ball down with his chest and tried to get past Rnd.


    He quickly discovered that wasn''t going to be easy for him as he immediately tried to escape him down the middle before firing the ball directly toward the goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying directly toward Dave in the middle but it had quite the elevation to it.


    The goalkeeper hit the ball up with both of his gloves and allowed it toe down calmly for him to catch it.


    "Of course, that''s not going to be a problem for Dave."


    The match continued with Unique FC dominating the match in almost every aspect of it but West Ham United were still getting their chances in.


    It was pretty hard for them to easily get past Unique FC''s defense but they were still finding some way.


    However, whenever they got through, the defense either got rid of the ball or their efforts ended up being saved by Dave.


    Unique FC on the other hand, were equally not having it that easy but they were doing better than their opponents in getting through, their only problem was finishing and in some of the chances, West Ham United''s defense came through to save the game.


    The closest Unique FC came to getting that third goal was a pass that was quickly intercepted by Mateo but he seemed to have been to hit it lightly as the goalkeeper quickly dived to the right to grab the ball with both of his gloves.


    The reaction from the fans was one of immense shock after seeing the winger miss that chance, he wasn''t really used to missing those kind of close chances but West Ham United were sure d that he decided to do something different today.


    The match continued till the sixty-seventh minute with none of the sides really being able to get the ball into the back of the.


    Unique FC were obviously fine with it because they were still two goals up but still, if it was really up to them, they would have a third or fourth goal now.


    West Ham United on the other hand were quite desperate to equalize the scoreline because not losing this match would at least give them a boost of confidence for the next two matches.


    Winning looked like hoping for too much but at least they could try to get a draw, that looked more doable.


    Right in the seventieth minute, West Ham United won the ball as Sunde skillfully dispossessed Minino right at the edge of the box.


    "Nicely done by Sunde."


    The midfielder quickly pushed forward with the ball before pushing it forward to Filipe.


    Filipe slowly moved toward the middle to give Ray that chance to find an opening to get past Rnd and as soon as he saw him get into some space, he quickly sent the ball flying over to him.


    Ray was able to get past Rnd to bring the ball down with his chest, but he still had the left back right behind him with Pirlo quickly heading toward him.


    He could only think of one thing at that moment and that was exactly what he did.


    He fired the ball toward the goalpost hoping that Dave would mess up and allow it to go in, but that was all wishful thinking as all it took the goalkeeper to send the ball flying over the bar for a corner kick.


    All he did was raise his hand to block the ball and send it out.


    "Looks like Dave wasn''t really counting on him taking the shot from there, but still, he got the job done."


    "Yeah, and now West Ham United have a corner kick."


    [ 5/5 crucial saves ]


    ''Looks like I''ve already ticked the box on this one.''


    <Yeah, you just have to make sure you don''t concede any goal>


    ''Yeah, I know.''


    Sunde was the one standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he slowly took three steps backward before he closed up on the ball and sent it flying in.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Martinez was right on cue to get above everyone else and get his head on the ball but there seemed to have been an error in that process as West Ham United yers were now raising their hands calling for a handball.


    The referee didn''t allow y to continue because he saw that the lineman had his g up but he had to calm things down as the yers from both teams were now gathered around him.


    "Looks like there''s a handball against Unique FC but the referee hasn''t made up his mind yet," Jimmented.


    In the end, the referee decided to go check VAR which was the only reasonable thing he could do at this moment.


    "I mean, the footage does actually show Martinez''s hand making contact with the ball as he nods it out but let''s see what VAR thinks." Steve expressed.


    The screen above the stadium was disying the message ''reviewing handball'' now that the referee was checking it but as soon as he was done with that, the final message appeared on the screen.


    ''Decision; handball, penalty.'' Dave read subconsciously.


    <I told you they were going to give it>


    ''Keep quiet, Catherine.''


    "Oh, Unique FC yers and fans sure won''t be happy with that decision but it was the right one," Jimmented.


    After the penalty was confirmed, Filipe picked up the ball and dropped it in the penalty spot.


    "In the first half of the group stage, West Ham United were the only team Unique FC weren''t able to score against and now they have an opportunity to do it again."


    "They still have conceded only one goal in the group stage which meant that they were going to be tied as one of the only teams to finish the group stage conceding only a goal but this right here is an opportunity to shatter that record." Steve expressed. "Or the hope of it."


    Filipe was standing over the ball with everyone else behind him, all he was waiting for now was the referee''s whistle.


    <You know you will fail your quest if he scores this, right?>


    ''Not only that, but we also won''t be able to tie the record for one of the teams to concede only one goal in a Europa Conference League group stage.''


    <So, what are you going to do? Are you going to gamble it just like you did with those other ones? You know focus is avable>


    ''I want to, but I said I wanted to make my mark before leaving and I want this to be part of that. You know what, screw that pain.''


    [ Focus activated ]


    As soon as he activated the skill, everywhere turned dark and the noiseing from the fans slowly turned to whisperings that surprisingly sounded calm.


    It was at that moment that the referee blew his whistle.


    Filipe slowly took three steps backward, and with each step, Dave could clearly hear the sound of his foot.


    He quickly closed up on the ball and just before he could kick it, Dave said something.


    "Right." The goalkeeper muttered as he quickly dived toward the right, and with both of his gloves, he was able to catch the ball.


    As soon as he caught it, the fans burst into cheers of jubtion as the dark barrier suddenly disappeared.


    "Did he just catch a penalty like that?" Jim said in shock at what just happened.


    He quickly got up with the ball to quickly start a counterattack but before he could kick it, he felt that stinging pain in his head.


    Still, he didn''t let the pain get to him immediately as dropping the ball without kicking it would look suspicious so he sent it flying out as soon as possible before crashing down inside his goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying toward Mateo who hadpetition in the person of Sunde.


    Sunde ended up winning the aerial duel, but just as he brought the ball down, the winger crashed down to the floor with his hand on his face.


    "Oh, dear, Mateo''s on the floor here."

 Chapter 407 The Last Piece

    ?


    It didn''t take long before the area where Mateo fell became crowded by yers from both teams and just as expected, Minino was making a big deal out of it.


    Mateo on the other hand was slowly being helped up and after that, he was asked if he wanted toe off and his answer was a clear no.


    The medical team had to be stopped froming onto the pitch because now, it didn''t look like Mateo needed their attention.


    "Well, it''s a good thing that Mateo can still hold his ground on the pitch, his team will need him to hold on much longer.


    The referee had to give a foul for that challenge against Mateo and that meant that the away side had the ball back in their possession now.


    "It''s still just fifty-nine minutes on the clock so there''s still a lot of time left for a lot to happen," Jimmented.


    Unique FC moved the ball around the pitch swiftly to keep it away from West Ham United yers who were chasing them aggressively.


    "I feel like that penalty kick is still haunting Filipe, if he had scored that, then they would just need one more goal to equalize but I guess that wasn''t meant to be." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, I was shocked by how Dave was able to catch the ball like that, I have never seen a goalkeeper catch a ball like that without it slipping off the hands for a brief moment." Jim expressed. "It was like he was sure of where he was going to ce it before he took the shot."


    "Yeah, he went straight for the ball but that''s something he''s been doing for a while with saving normal shots, I guess he''s slowly learning how to do that with penalty kicks," Steve said.


    Unique FC were still moving the ball around here and they were doing quite a good job of keeping it away from West Ham United.


    "Well, it looks like Unique FC are just looking to drag out the match here."


    Minino got his foot on the ball and just before Sunde could get to him, he pushed the ball back to Martinez who immediately sent it flying over to Mateo with his first touch.


    Mateo neatly brought the ball down neatly with his feet and just before both of the yers closing down on him could get close enough to him, he sent the ball rolling back to Rnd.


    "Rnd."


    Rnd got his foot on the ball and quickly took off down the middle with it, he wasn''t able to get far with it though, and had to send it rolling to Minino to avoid losing it.


    "Minino."


    Minino got his foot on the ball and just before the yer close to him could attempt to take it from him, he immediately sent the ball rolling to Merino.


    "Oh, it looks like they''re finally pushing forward."


    Well, that n was scrapped immediately as Merino sent the ball flying back to Adolf after he almost lost it near the edge of the box.


    "Oh, never mind."


    What Unique were doing here was a direct attempt to frustrate West Ham United and it seemed to be working quite well because with each passing moment, the home team became more aggressive with the way they were chasing the ball.


    Adolf sent the ball rolling to Ferran after moving a little forward with it.


    "It''s still quite surprising to me how a team that the majority of people thought were going to struggle in this group has gone on to dominate the group, they just need this win to solidify their qualification to the next stage and they are on the right track of doing that." Jim expressed.


    "Well, to be honest, I believed that this group was going to be tough but still, I didn''t count them out, I knew they had what it took to survive this group stage." Steve articted.


    "Well, you thinking that the group would be hard for them was wrong."


    "Yeah, you can say that again."


    Merino brought the ball down with his chest before quickly taking off down the wing with it.


    "Looks like they''ve finally made up their mind to attack."


    He was about to push the ball out for a goal kick when he quickly sent it flying into the box.


    The ball was sent flying close to the goalpost and the goalkeeper didn''t hesitate to take his chance in punching it out.


    The ball was sent flying toward Ferran who was dragged down by Sunde before he could do anything with it.


    "That''s a foul."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The referee blew his whistle before quickly making his way to the midfielder to show him a yellow card.


    "That''s the second booking of the game and also West Ham United''s second booking of the game."


    Sundeughed at that as he helped Ferran get back up on his feet.


    "Well, Unique FC now have a free kick from a pretty good position," Jimmented. "They added another free kick taker in their rolesst week in the person of Dave, now they have Mateo, Ferran, and Dave so who''s going to take it?"


    "Don''t bother, we all know Mateo''s going to take it, he''s clearly better than Ferran, and whether he''s better than Dave is debatable since the goalkeeper has only taken one free kick which now that I think about it gives a hundred percent conversion." Steve expressed.


    Just like Steve said, it looked like Mateo was going to be the one taking the spot kick because he was the one standing over the ball now.


    West Ham had already formed their wall with everyone else running around outside and inside the box.


    "Well, Mateo''s free-kick ability is superb, let''s see what he can do with this one."


    The referee made sure that everything was ready before blowing his whistle and now it was up to the winger, it was time to see what he could do with this one.


    After hearing the whistle, he took in a deep breath and slowly let it out before taking three steps backward.


    After that, he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost with his right foot.


    "Mateo!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost and it looked really close, but the goalkeeper was able to get the tip of his glove on it right in time to send the ball over the bar and out for a corner kick.


    "Oh, that was so close," Jimmented. "Well-ced free kick from Mateo, but the goalkeeper was equal to it."


    "Yeah, and now West Ham United have a corner kick to deal with."


    Ferran was standing over the ball in the corner spot while waiting for the referee to blow his whistle.


    The referee made sure that everything was ready before he blew his whistle.


    As soon as Ferran heard that, he quickly closed up on the ball from where he was standing and sent it flying in.


    The ball was nodded back by one of the defenders towards Sunde who didn''t hesitate to send it flying toward Filipe to start a counterattack.


    Unfortunately, Martinez was right beside Filipe and he did well to get possession of the ball and send it rolling toward Dave who was quite a distance away from his box now.


    The goalkeeper quickly pushed the ball forward, and just before Filipe could get to him, he fired the ball toward the goalpost with as much shot power as possible.


    "He''s gone for the shot!"


    Arnold had to quickly return to his goalpost and he had his gaze on the ball which was heading toward the right side now.


    He dived toward the ball to push it out, but that was a mistake as the ball ended up hitting one of the defenders in the area before rolling off toward the middle until it rolled into the goalpost.


    "Oh, my goodness! He has done it again!" Jim eximed as Minino quickly rushed to the goalkeeper and dragged him down.


    "Looks like he just scored his first goal of the tournament," Stevemented. "For a goalkeeper, he''s scored quite a good number of goals this season."


    "You can say that again, this is his fourth goal this season, and scoring more isn''t out of the question."


    The fans were going wild now and most of them were even chanting the name of the goalkeeper.


    "At this moment, I think it''s fair to say that Unique FC are definitely going through to the next round of the tournament," Jim said.


    That goal was thest piece that was needed to shatter West Ham United''s spirits as they were no longer able to do anything to make up for the deficit, even with the eleven minutes of added time.


    With that eleven minutes now gone, the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end.


    "There''s the whistle!" Jim eximed. "West Ham United bow their head in disappointment as Unique FC jump in jubtion. The fans can''t contain their happiness because the Bilbeth Premier League side are now through to the next round of the Europa Conference League."

 Chapter 408 Last Five Games Of The First Half

    ?


    With the match now concluded, most of West Ham United yers quickly made their way down the tunnel while all of Unique FC yers stayed on the pitch to greet the fans who cheered them on till the end.


    "What a surprise, the underdogs of the group are the first ones to make it out of the group stage, I wonder if they''ll go on to be the underdogs of thepetition." Jim expressed.


    "Well, we''ll have to wait and see," Stevemented. "Another team that''s on the right track to qualifying to the next stage is S.S. Lazio who just beat Virreal C.F two goals to one."


    "They now have seven points which means Unique FC will have to beat them in the next match to guarantee that they finish in first ce, and for Lazio, they''ll have to beat the Bilbeth Premier League side to keep themselves above but the chance of Virreal zooming past them is still there."


    Thementators talked about a few other things regarding the future games and how they were expecting everything to turn out before they finally decided to bring the broadcast to an end.


    Mateo was announced as the man of the match and that was sort of expected given his level of contribution in the match but honestly, it could have gone to someone else and nobody including the winger himself wouldin about it.


    The yers had just finished greeting the fans and were making their way down the tunnel.


    Minino started his post-match show right from the hallway and there was no doubt that it was going to be crazier today.


    They just qualified for the knockout of thepetition so why not be a little extra today?


    [ +250 exp received ]


    [ +2 stat points received ]


    The goalkeeper had his gaze on his system screen as he made his way down the tunnel alongside his teammates.


    This new trend of getting small match quests with small rewards continued even with West Ham United, but he was hoping that they would be some kind of switch up against Lazio but he wasn''t really expecting that much from thest five teams they were going to face to end the first half of the season.


    None of them seemed like that much of a threat but then again, he couldn''t forget that any team can be a threat under the right conditions.


    He was expecting Catherine to say something about all the thoughts that were going through his mind but she remained quiet but he wasn''t surprised in any way, this wasn''t the first time.


    Mateo had to break away from the group before they got to the locker room because he needed to use the restroom.


    After getting his business done in there, he got up to take a look at his nose with the help of the mirror.


    Looking at it, it didn''t look like anything was wrong with it but just as he ced his finger on it to try and push it a little, he let out a little squeal.


    "Ah, that hurts way more than I expected."


    Now he knew he had to refrain from touching it, for now at least.


    ''cing some ice on it will make it feel better, right?'' He said subconsciously as he made his way out of the area.


    Right at that moment he saw someone walking down the hallway.


    He didn''t recognize her at first because she now had her ck hair down now and was putting on a ck long-sleeved dress instead of the white coat he saw her withst time.


    "Oh, hey, Natasha." The winger said as soon as she made eye contact with him.


    "Oh, it''s you." She said sounding a little uninterested.


    "I''ve never seen you with your hair down before."


    "Well, that''s not a surprise given how you couldn''t even remember my name." She said.


    "Oh, that." The winger said with his hand on the back of his head.


    "Don''t worry, I''m notining, it''s not like you have any reason to remember." She said before shaking her head.


    "You weren''tining?"


    "Yeah." She replied. "Do you have anything else to say, if not I''ll be taking my leave now."


    "Okay." The winger said.


    "Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you, try putting some ice on your nose when you get home, it''ll make it feel better." She turned back to him to say.


    "I will, thanks."


    "Alright, see youter then." She said before continuing her walk out of the area.


    As soon as she was out of sight, Mateo made his way to the locker room to find Minino running around with his followers just as expected.


    He even had more of the yers joining him today and that wasn''t exactly unexpected given what they achieved today.


    The winger was sadly unable to join them because if he dared try to do so then his nose would surely pay for it, but it''s not like he cared.


    He made his way to Dave who was busy going through his phone and sat down beside him. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Oh, you''re back," Dave said with his gaze still on his phone as soon as the winger sat down beside him.


    "Yeah, what are you looking at?" Mateo said before leaning closer to him.


    "The Balon d''Or ceremony is on the eighteenth." The goalkeeper said.


    "Oh, but none of us got nominated."


    "You were nominated for the golden boy award," Dave said.


    "Yeah, but my chance of winning that is low, there were way better young yersst season, especially in the English Premier League."


    "Yeah, you''re right, but I think you have what it takes to win the next one."


    "I hope so," Mateo said. "So, who do you think is going to win it this season?"


    "Probably Ciro, I mean he won the Champions League plus he won the Copa America the season beforest season he was the best yer in the tournament and had a pretty impressive run in the Champions League," Dave exined.


    "Yeah, he''s definitely winning it."


    [Post-match rewards ]


    [ Five crucial saves: +50 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded (0): +100 exp ]


    [ Scored a goal: +150 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 8.2 ]


    Dave was about to react to that when another message suddenly popped up on his screen.


    [ Market value has increased by ¡ê500,000 ]


    [ New market value: ¡ê1.5M ]


    ''Wow, looks like I got more expensive.''


    <Good job>


    ''Thank you.'' The goalkeeper replied subconsciously. ''I wonder how much further my market value is going to rise after winning or trophy and how much further winning a treble is going to make it rise.''


    <The treble dream is something you should get your hopes up for, you guys are up against really tough opponents, but there''s a good chance that you guys will win at least a trophy this season. Obviously, the European trophy has more value looking at it from a general point of view but any one of them you guys win will give your market value a good boost>


    ''Okay, and what are the numbers.''


    <I really can''t say but if you want to find out, then you''ll have to help your team secure a trophy this season>


    ¡¤?¦Èm ''Of course, you can''t.''


    ______ ______


    With the match against West Ham United now done and their guarantee to the next round now aplished, the Bilbeth Premier League side went back to league football.


    They were back in third ce because they were behind in the number of matches.


    There were only five matches left before the first half of the season came to an end and they had only this week and the beginning of next week toplete it.


    Their match against Lazio was supposed to be that week but it was moved to the next week to avoid match congestion for both teams.


    A mistake from Unique FC during these five matches could see them drop to third ce because Dynamo FC seemed to have found their form which was missing for a couple of matches now.


    On the other hand, if Unique FC fails to make any mistake and Supreme United ends up being the ones making the mistakes then the Uniques will have the chance to move to first ce and they were looking forward to that.


    For thest five teams Unique FC were going to be facing, they were; Spree United, Litno FC, Ballena United, Razid FC, and Tereville City.


    Thest match between Unique FC and Spree United was quite a tough one and despite seeing the spot where the Uniques were now, Spree United believed that they still had what it took to take them on.


    They paid a visit to Wondanimo stadium for their first meeting of the season which many fans were looking forward to seeing but the results of the match was quite shocking to a lot of them.


    Spree United''s coach seemed to have underestimated Unique FC trying to go all-out attack on them without giving any proper thought to his defense.


    Well, Norman made sure his team punished them properly with every opportunity they got as the home team ended up trashing them six goals to nothing, their biggest victory so far this season.

 Chapter 409 Unique FC Vs Litno FC: Matchday Sixteen

    ?


    After beating Spree United to a pulp, they went over to their next matches and their only goal in those matches was to win no matter what falling behind Dynamo FC and allowing Supreme United to get further away from them was not something they wanted, and they were going to do everything in their power to make sure that doesn''t happen.


    Litno FC weren''t as easy as Norman expected them to be going into the match against them, they controlled the game for most of the first half and even managed to get a couple of good chances which Dave did quite well to save.


    There was a moment when the ball came close to going in after a shot deflected on his arm and kept rolling toward the goalpost.


    However, he was able to get to the ball right in time to stop it with both of his gloves.


    Unique FC on the other hand were able to get a couple of good chances but that was just about it.


    There was nothing spectacr from them and they looked quiteckluster even Mateo was losing the ball every now and then.


    The only yers who did their job quite well in this half were Dave with his close saves and Rnd who shot down his wingpletely forcing Litno FC''s right winger to switch to the middle or send it flying over to the left winger anytime he got close to him.


    Their midfield was surprisingly getting dominated by Litno FC''s midfield and the attack including Mateo couldn''t make any breakthrough.


    They had more ball possession than the Uniques but it wasn''t really that much of a big difference. Still, they were praying for the first half toe to an end soon.


    Thest thing they wanted was for Litno FC to beat them on their home ground and to them it was a good thing that the match was still on level terms with none of the sides being able to find the back of the.


    Fortunately, Unique FC''s defense seeded in holding out Litno FC until the referee blew his whistle to finally bring the first half to an end.


    "There''s the whistle, Unique FC yers sure will be d to hear it," Jim said.


    "Well, that''s a surprise, I don''t think they looked this under pressure against Supreme United or Dynamo FC, Litno FC are really giving them a run for their money here," Stevemented.


    "I don''t know if it''s from their tactics or Litno FC just came in more prepared than they thought, whatever it is, Unique FC seriously need to patch themselves up in the second half if they want to walk away with something today."


    Back in the locker room, the yers were receiving some serious scolding as expected.


    It didn''t take long for Norman to list all the areas where their problem wasing from and after that, he went back to scolding them before he decided to present a solution to them.


    After exining everything to them, he left the locker room to allow the yers to rest and organize their thoughts before they would be called back to the pitch for the second half.


    It didn''t take long for the yers to be called back to the pitch and now it was time to see what they could do, it was also time to see how Litno FC were going to approach this second half.


    Since the away team were the ones who started the match from the kick-off spot in the first half, Unique FC were going to be the ones to do it in this half.


    Fred was standing over the ball now, and as soon as he heard the whistle, he immediately sent the ball rolling to Minino.


    "There''s the whistle and we are back into it," Jimmented.


    Unlike the first half where they were losing the ball in almost every turn, Unique FC were doing quite well in keeping hold of the ball and dragging Litno FC yers around.


    It looked like they were starting to find their form in this second half because it didn''t take long before they began to close up on Litno FC''s goalpost.


    Martinez sent the ball rolling to Fred and just before the defender there could get to the striker, he sent the ball rolling to Carlos who sent it rolling to Ferran with his first touch.


    "Looks like Unique FC have finally decided to wake up."


    Ferran got hold of the ball and quickly turned with it before he sent it flying over to Mateo who was surprisingly free on the left wing.


    Perhaps, Litno FC didn''t see him as that much of a threat anymore.


    The winger quickly brought the ball down with his chest, and just before the right-back could get to him, he pulled his right leg back and fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    "Mateo!"


    The ball was sent flying directly toward the middle while the goalkeeper was on the left side, but he was able to get his hand on it right in time to send it over the bar for a corner kick.


    "Close save, but now they have a corner kick to deal with,"  Stevemented.


    There was no time to waste as Ferran caught the ball thrown toward him by the ball boy and dropped it on the spot.


    Everyone else was running around inside the box now, and after making sure that nothing was off, the referee blew his whistle.


    "Time to see if Unique FC can make anything out of this one."


    Ferran slowly took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying in.


    The ball was sent flying in toward the far right-hand side where Carlos had to contest for it with the center back there.


    The right winger wasn''t able to get his head on the ball but things ended up going his way either way as the defender''s header ended up going the opposite direction.


    The goalkeeper wasn''t able to do anything as the ball hit the foot of the post before rolling past the line.


    "Oh, dear, it''s an own goal."


    Own goal or not, a goal was a goal and Unique FC were going to celebrate that.


    Minino quickly raced toward Carlos and dragged him down before the rest of their teammates could get to the area.


    "Looks like they''re the first ones to put in the back of the and now they''re one goal up," Jimmented. "Let''s see how the away team is going to react to this."


    Well, Litno FC tried their best to give Unique FC a response but things just working out for them as well as it was in the first half, it was like Unique FC yers knew every single move they were going to make and were taking the ball away from them with every little chance they got.


    They were still able to get a couple of chances but those shots were just too weak to bother Dave.


    Unique FC now keeping up with Litno FC didn''t mean they were having it easy.


    They were dominating the match in almost every aspect now, but they just didn''t know any particr way to outsmart their defense after that own goal.


    It was strange seeing Mateo almost powerless in a match but it wasn''t exactly the first time.


    The match dragged on till the eighty-seventh minute when a certain youngster decided to try something.


    ¡¤?¦Èm An attempted cross from Litno FC was headed away by Adolf and fell to the feet of Rnd who immediately took off with it down the middle.


    "It''s Rnd here, he''s racing down."


    He spotted two opponents trying to double-cross him from both sides so he had to send the ball to Minino who immediately sent it flying over to Mateo.


    "Over to Mateo."


    Mateo brought the ball down with his feet before taking off down the wing with it.


    He was about to take off the line when he immediately flicked it back to put it through the right back''s legs.


    He had a lot of options avable now and he was going to go for a cross until he found Rnd racing into the boxpletely unmarked.


    Without hesitation, he sent the ball rolling to the left back who smashed it right into the bottom right corner with his left foot.


    "What a strike! It started with him and ended with him!" Jim eximed. "There was nothing the goalkeeper could do to stop that."


    As soon as he put that ball into the back of the, he quickly raced toward Mateo and jumped on him before their teammates could reach the area.


    The chants from the fans were louder now and Litno FC yers had mixed feelings of shock, frustration, and disappointment.


    It was easier when it was one goal but now, it seemed to have gotten further away from them.

 Chapter 410 Thats How You Do It!

    ?


    That goal from Rnd was all that was needed to seal the game as Litno FC were unable to get back into the game.


    They tried really hard to at least pull one back, but all their effort failed to pay off until the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end.


    "There''s the whistle, it is all over," Jim said as the chants from Unique FC fans got louder. "They started out quiteckluster but they''re running away now with a two-goal victory."


    "They''re really giving it their all for this title season, it''s nice seeing the title race having some spice this season, unlikest season." Steve expressed.


    "Last season it was just between Supreme United and Dynamo FC and somewhere along the season, Dynamo FC just fell offpletely but this season we have three teams battling teams battling, never expected to see Unique FC doing things this season."


    Rnd was announced as the man of the match at the end of the match and there was no exaggeration there because he was the best person in his position other than Dave and getting thatst goal for his team made his rating go further up.


    Now that they had zoomed past Litno FC, they were going to be facing Ballena United next.


    Ballena United was one of the teams that just got promoted to the Bilbeth Premier League but unlike the others that were struggling near the bottom of the table, they are currently in sixth ce on the table, so, they were doing quite well this season.


    ______ ______


    When the day came for that match, Ballena United traveled to Unique City to take on the most in-form team in the league at the moment.


    They had the same wins in theirst couple of games but what made them the most in-form team ahead of their neighbors was the scoreline with which they won those matches and their overall performance.


    Supreme United were stillcking a bit in form, winning theirst couple of matches with two goals being the highest they coulde up with.


    Unique FC''s match with Ballena United didn''t start out that well not for Ballena United but for them.


    It took only five minutes for the Uniques to concede a penalty that looked quite questionable but the referee gave it still.


    Their striker did well in sending Dave the wrong way and putting the ball away into the back of the.


    That goal was all that was needed to shatter Dave''s quest.


    [ Quest failed ]


    ''Hmm, it was only offering a hundred and fifty experience points. But then again, how weak can these guys be for me to get a quest only offering me these little experience points?''


    <You''re making the mistake of underestimating just because of what the system offered you, teams that appear weak can be destructive, especially against big teams>


    ''I was only asking a logical question and there''s no way they''re a weak team if we look at the table, they''re in sixth ce and a win against us will take them to fifth.''


    That goal from the penalty spot was all Ballena United needed to give themselves an early boost of confidence but that really was all it was.


    Unique FC were bossing the game now, the match had just entered the eleventh minute which meant that they still had a lot of time left and didn''t have to worry about the current situation. All they needed was to work things out slowly and steadily and that was exactly what they were doing here.


    "It''s been a while since I''ve seen Unique FC concede first in a league match," Jimmented.


    "Well, the only times that has happened apart from a few exceptions it was through penalties, and this one gets added to the list," Steve said.


    Unique FC were showing Ballena United what they could do here and were stopping them right in their tracks whenever they got close to causing some trouble for them.


    Their right winger got hold of the ball and attempted to dribble past Rnd but that was a mistake as Rnd took the ball off him under a neat challenge before he quickly sent it rolling to Martinez.


    "Nicely done by Rnd."


    Martinez quickly took off down the middle with the ball and just before he could run into any of the opposing yers, he sent the ball rolling to Minino who got hold of it and immediately pushed it toward Ferran.


    "Ferran."


    Ferran wasn''t in a good spot so he had to send the ball rolling to Merino down the right wing.


    "They''re pushing forward here, are we going to see something this time?"


    Merino pushed down the wing because the left-back was blocking his way into the box, and just before he could move past the line with the ball, he quickly turned with it and sent it flying into the box.


    Fredinho was able to get his head on the ball and he did pretty well in cing it toward the top right-hand side of the goalkeeper.


    However, the goalkeeper was able to get to it right on time, and with his left glove, he sent it over the bar and out for a corner kick.


    "So close! That was a fantastic save!"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Yeah, very wonderful save but now they have a corner kick to deal with," Stevemented.


    Ferran was standing over the ball in the spot waiting for the referee''s whistle as everyone else ran around inside and around the box area.


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle and now it was time to see if they could turn this one into something.


    Ferran was already standing a distance away from the ball so all he did was let out a deep breath before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying in.


    As soon as the ball got to the middle, Fredinho jumped up to get his head on it, but he wasn''t withoutpetition.


    He still won the header and that was where things got interesting.


    With the way his head was ced, the goalkeeper expected him to send the ball toward the right side of the goalpost and even though that was the striker''s intention, his head sloped back a little when the ball hit it causing it to take the opposite route.


    The goalkeeper went toward the right as the ball flew into the goalpost from the left side.


    "Goallllllllll!"


    Fredinho quickly picked himself up as soon as he saw the ball go in, and without hesitation, he raced to the sidelines and did a knee slide before his teammates could get to him.


    "They''ve finally gotten that equalizer!"


    "It didn''t even take that long but I guess it was expected given the way Unique FC were putting pressure on them," Stevemented. "That was a beautiful goal from Fredinho, the game is back on level terms."


    ''Well, that was faster than I expected.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    <Yeah>


    The chants from the fans got louder with that goal and it didn''t sound like they were going to stop anytime.


    That goal just breathed a whole new and more lively atmosphere into the Wondanimo stadium.


    The match had to continue after that wild celebration as Ballena United''s striker who had the name Brad written above the number seven on the back of his jersey was standing over the ball in the kick-off spot now.


    All he was waiting for was the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he sent the ball rolling to the midfielder on his right.


    The yer had Ferran heading toward him as soon as he got hold of the ball and decided to send it flying over to his teammate on the other side, but that was a big mistake as Minino quickly jumped in front of him to steal the ball and just before the yer could attempt to take the ball off him while he was a little off bnce, he sent the ball rolling to Merino who immediately took off with it down the wing.


    "Well, that''s one way to get the ball."


    Merino had to slow down as he got closer to the box because he had two yers right in front of him.


    He didn''t like the idea of trying to dribble them so he sent the ball to Ferran who immediately sent it flying over to Mateo.


    "Over to Mateo."


    Mateo brought the ball down with his chest and quickly cut past the right back there.


    He had another yer right in front of him so shooting wasn''t really a good option, he still had other options though.


    Fredinho was making his way into the box right at that time, and as soon as the winger cut sight of him, he sent the ball over to him with a little lob.


    The defender in the box quickly rushed toward the striker to stop him, but Fredinho wasn''t going to give him that chance to get close as he stretched his left leg and fired the ball toward the goalpost before it could hit the floor.


    "Oh, he''s gone for the volley?"


    The goalkeeper dived toward the right side of the goalpost to get his hand on the ball but he failed as the ball hit the post before falling into the goalpost.


    "And he found the back of the!" Jim eximed. "That''s how you do it!"


    As soon as the striker sent that ball in, he quickly raced toward Mateo while pointing at him.


    "The equalizer was only scored just a minute ago, now they''re leading," Steve said in utter astonishment.


    "Yeah, that''s the fastest recovery we''ve seen this season."

 Chapter 411 Assertion Of Dominance

    ?


    Ballena United couldn''t believe what hit them with that second goal.


    Just a few minutes ago, they were leading the game, and then Unique FC equalized and now they were leading.


    The home fans took the opportunity to up the tempo of their singing and chanting.


    The whole atmosphere in the stadium was now mesmerizing which was good but their main goal was to give their team that extra boost of confidence and intimidate their opponents.


    Looking at what was going on on the pitch now, that seemed to be working because Unique had almost total control of the game.


    Ballena United yers just couldn''t hold on to the ball for long anymore.


    "It looks like Ballena United have suddenly forgotten how to work together."


    Rnd neatly swept the ball off the feet of the right winger who attempted to dribble past him and as soon as he got up with the ball, he sent it flying over to Minino.


    "Nicely done by Rnd."


    Minino brought the ball down with his foot, and Just before the yer heading toward him could get to him, he yed the ball short to Martinez who immediately sent it rolling to Ferran who pushed a little forward with it before he found Merino on the right and sent the ball rolling to him.


    Merino quickly spotted Mateo making a run past the right back marking him and quickly sent the ball flying over to him.


    "Oh, this could be something."


    Mateo brought the ball down with the opposing yers right behind him and without hesitation, he fired the ball toward the goalpost before he was pushed down.


    The goalkeeper was glued to a spot as the ball ended up hitting the post before rolling out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that was so close, they''re really trying hard to stamp their authority here."


    Mateo sat up on the floor and raised his hand to call the referee''s attention to him being brought down inside the box, but it didn''t look like the referee was going to listen to him.


    The match continued with Unique FC still bossing the game but Ballena United were starting to pull themselves together bit by bit.


    They were getting closer to Unique FC''s goalpost and were able to get a few shots off, but none of them were able to get to Unique FC''s goalpost because the defense just blew them off before that could happen and then the ones that managed to get to Dave were nowhere near being any threat to him.


    Despite looking very mediocre in attack they were doing pretty well in stopping Unique FC from getting a third goal or perhaps you could call it luck because the home team seems to have hit the crossbar four more times after that one from Mateo.


    "At this point, I think it''s fair to say that Unique FC are doing a crossbar challenge instead of actually trying to score, that''s so many woodworks hits in a short amount of time," Steve said as soon Martinez hit the crossbar with his effort from outside the box.


    "That was the closest one so far," Jim said.


    The match had just entered the forty-fifth minute now as the official with the board raised it to show that there was going to be three minutes of added time.


    "Three minutes before the first halfes to an end."


    Unique FC were the ones with the ball here and they were moving it around quite slowly like they were stalking but there really wasn''t any reason for them to do that.


    Minino received the ball from Ferran, and just before both of the yers heading toward him could get to him, he sent the ball rolling to Martinez who immediately sent it flying over to Mateo with his first touch.


    "Mateo."


    Mateo brought the ball down with his chest but he didn''t move with it immediately and waited for the yer heading toward him to get close enough to him.


    As soon as the yer got as close as he wanted him to be, he feigned passing the ball to Ferran before quickly getting past the yer with the ball.


    "Exhrating."


    He raced down the wing with the ball, and just as he was about to run into the right back there he tipped it right over for him just as he got past the right back.


    Mateo got hold of the ball and raced into the box with it.


    "Oh, Mateo''s cooking something here."


    Just as the winger got into the box, he suddenly paused allowing the right back to zoom right past him, and just as one of the center backs tried to take the ball off his feet with a slide, he quickly shifted to the right with it before firing it right at the goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying toward the right side of the goalpost, and although the goalkeeper managed to get his hand on it, it wasn''t enough to stop it as the ball ended up smashing right past his hand and into the goalpost.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He had everyone at the edge of their seats when he made that run into the box and now he had them off their seats.


    The crowd went wild as the winger raced to the sidelines shaking his head.


    "I knew something was going to happen there, he did really well to put that away," Jimmented.


    "Yeah, that was a magnificent goal, I wonder what''s going to beat that today."


    Unique FC yers were screaming in front of the fans now, you could feel the joy coursing through their veins and of course, the one from Minino was two times more than everyone.


    ''Well, that confirms why I got a quest like that, they are easy.'' Dave said subconsciously.


    <Yeah, that''s confirmed now>


    After that goal, the game continued but just as the first pass was made from the kick-off spot, the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    "Well, that was quite the first half," Jim said. "Ballena United struck first from the penalty spot but it didn''t take long before Unique FC struck back to get an equalizer and after that, they struck two more times to get afortable score."


    "Ballena United are obviously outssed in this match, I thought that they might give Unique FC a run for their money given their total performance so far this season but I guess that really isn''t the case." Steve expressed.


    "You never know, Steve, they maye back in the second half to surprise. As unlikely as that may sound, it''s not impossible."


    "Well, we''ll just have to wait and see."


    The yers were in the locker room now with Norman standing over them.


    He was very happy that his team was leadingfortably, but he still had a couple of things to talk to them about.


    There was no scolding or shouting just normal team talk because there was no need for all that in this situation.


    After talking to the yers, he left them to get some rest before they would be called back to the pitch.


    It didn''t take long for them to be called back to the pitch and now it was time to see how the second half was going to y out.


    Ballena United were the ones that started the match from the kick-off spot in the first half which meant that Unique FC were going to be the ones to do it in this half.


    Fredinho was standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard.


    "There''s the whistle and the second half is on the way," Jimmented.


    "Time to see how this half ys out."


    Unique FC were moving the ball around gracefully here and it was obvious that Ballena United yers were starting to get a little frustrated and the atmosphere wasn''t making things any better for them.


    Rnd received the ball from Martinez and immediately sent it back to him before both of the yers heading toward him.


    The two sent the two opposing yers back and forth until they decided to use their hands.


    That was when Martinez decided that he had enough fun ying and sent the ball flying over to Minino who sent it rolling to Ferran with his first touch.


    Ferran quickly moved the ball to Fredinho who had to send it back to him because he was in a pretty tough spot.


    Ferran sent the ball rolling to Mateo who decided to move back with it instead of immediately going on the offensive with it.


    He quickly scanned the box and found what he was looking for.


    Without hesitation, he sent the ball flying in, Ferran, Merino, and Fredinho were all there but Fredinho was the one who managed to get his head on it despite the challenge from the defenders against him.


    This time, it was another confusing header from the striker. The goalkeeper was glued to a spot as the ball hit the top right-hand corner before falling into the goalpost.


    "Oh, they''ve done it again! That''s their fourth and most importantly, Fredinho just got that hat trick!"


    The striker took off to the side and as soon as he got there he let out a scream as he jumped up.


    "Now, that''s what an assertion of dominance feels like."

 Chapter 412 Pretty Tough

    ?


    With Unique FC now leading four goals to one, Ballena United were getting more and moreckluster.


    They seem to have lost that little bit of spark that they had in the first half, it was negligible with what Unique FC were doing but at least it was something.


    The home team were bossing the game and they just didn''t have any chance.


    The match also seemed to have lost whatever form of spark it had in the first half because it was once again Unique FC bullying another team just like they did against Spree United.


    Right at the seventieth minute, the home team got their fifth goal and that was where everyone who was still hoping that Ballena United would be able to do something at least decided that it was game over.


    The goal came from a corner kick, Ferran sent the ball in neatly and Adolf made no mistake in putting it into the back of the.


    After that, the match dragged on till the nieth minute and the seventh minute of added time when the referee decided to blow his whistle and bring everything to an end.


    "There''s the whistle, it is all over," Jim said. "Unique FC just ced their stamp of superiority on the pitch, Ballena United just stood no chance."


    It was all smiles on the faces of Unique FC yers and Ballena United yers had disappointed looks on their faces, they had a lot of expectationsing into this match but they just weren''t prepared enough for the challenge.


    Fredinho was announced as the man of the match which was very well expected, his performance here today was quite phenomenal, especially with the hat trick.


    "Unique FC are really fighting hard for the title this season and with this win, the title race is still looking as spicy as ever, they still have Supreme United three points ahead of them and Dynamo FC two points behind them, how will the next matches y out?" Jim expressed.


    "We''ll just have to wait and see," Steve said.


    After greeting the fans, the yers had to make their way down the tunnel and while they were heading down there, Dave decided to have a little chat with Catherine.


    ''So, um¡­how are my post-match rewards today?'' He asked subconsciously.


    <You''ll have to see that for yourself>


    [Post-match rewards ]


    [ Nil crucial saves: +0 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.0 ]


    ''Wow, so I walked away from this match with no experience points at all.''


    <It wasn''t my fault>


    ''Well, it''s not my fault either, those guys can''t attack.'' He said subconsciously. ''But, it''s okay, I just hope our next match will be a bit tougher than this.''


    <Be careful what you wish for>


    ''What? I said a bit tougher, not tedious.''


    <Oh, so you''re afraid of tedious matches now>


    ''I never said I was, I know I can handle it, and even if I can, I have thirty-five star points lying around. The only problem is that if the team can''t handle it then things be difficult for me, this is a team sport you know.''


    <That''s a good way to put it>


    ______ ______


    With Ballena United done away with it, at least for this half, Unique FC were going to be facing Razid FC next.


    Razid FC were currently in seventeenth ce and were struggling to make it out of the relegation zone so it was pretty obvious that all odds were pointing toward Unique FC winning or trashing them to be precise.


    Despite being on the home ground of Razid, it didn''t take long before Razid FC drowned out the voices of Razid FC yers with their own voices.


    The atmosphere appeared to be quite lively now thanks to the away fans, to anyone else at least, to the supporters of Razid this was quite intimidating and the same could be said about the yers.


    The match started out quite fine with Razid FC keeping hold of the ball and moving it around mostly on their own half, but the moment they tried to attack, they lost the ball and Unique FC made sure to punish them properly for leaving their back open like that.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Mateo set Fredinho up for a one-on-one after receiving the ball from Rnd and the striker did not disappoint as he put the ball over the goalkeeper and into the goalpost as soon as he got close enough to him.


    The reaction from the fans as soon as that ball went in was a wild one and Fredinho didn''t fail to celebrate in a wild way.


    Unique FC started up things with a bang as expected but that was the only bang anyone heard in the first half as Unique FC were unable to properly get past Razid FC''s defense and get a goal and Razid FC couldn''t even get a shot against them talk more of getting one on target.


    The match continued like that with Unique FC mostly struggling to find the back of the until the referee finally blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    This was quite a first half as the statistics board clearly showed how much dominance Unique FC had over Razid FC.


    They had twelve shots with six being on target while Razid FC had zero shots toward their goalpost.


    They had sixty-nine percent ball possession while Razid FC had whatever was left of that.


    It looked like the home team were packing the bus which really isn''t something they should be doing as they were one goal down, but that wasn''t really what they were doing.


    Yes, they were being a bit too defensive but they weren''t putting everyone there to do the job and were still trying their best to move the ball forward and get a goal but that never worked out well for them till the first half came to an end.


    Norman didn''t really didn''t anticipate them doing this so he had to try and figure out something in the locker room before the yers would be called.


    He managed toe up with something ?t were called back for the second half but there was no particr way to tell if it was going to work or not.


    The second half kicked off with Unique FC mostly stalling with the ball and trying to see if anything had changed with Razid FC.


    It looked like something did because the defenders were starting to leave their line a bit and that was the opportunity Ferran used to set Mateo up.


    That could have been a very nice goal for the winger but unfortunately, he was caught offside, and before he could do anything with the ball, the referee blew his whistle.


    Razid FC seemed to have loosened up on their defense a bit, but that force was transferred to their attack immediately.


    They were starting to get shots off now and were so close to scoring with a tricky shot.


    The ball was sent flying toward the left side of the goalpost but before it could get there, it hit Norman and immediately deflected toward the right.


    Fortunately, Dave didn''t react too fast when he saw the balling so he was fast enough to get to the ball on the right and stop it.


    That was a close call there because there was a chance that Dave wasn''t going to save that and nobody was going to me him, most of the me would be on Norman instead.


    ''It''s a good thing you got me to do that deflection training.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before he sent the ball flying out.


    <Yeah, but you know you still haven''tpleted thest level, you''ve been avoiding it for a while now>


    ''Hey, don''t bring that up now.''


    The match continued with both teams still finding it hard to find the back of the until the eightieth minute when Mateo just got tired and decided to take everyone on.


    He did pretty well until he got into the box where he was brought down by two yers.


    That was a penalty for the away team and the winger did quite well to send the goalkeeper the wrong way and put it away giving his team that two-goal lead.


    That was all they''d been looking for and now they could see the match to its end.


    They slowed down with their attacks to avoid making any mistakes and conceding against their opponents.


    That worked out quite well for them as they were able to see the match through to the nieth minute.


    Razid FC knew it was over as soon as the official with the board raised it to show that there was going to be only three minutes of added time.


    Unique FC were the ones with the ball at that moment and all they did was just stall the game with their passes until the three minutes waspleted and the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end.

 Chapter 413 A Goal With A Cost

    Chapter 413 A Goal With A Cost


    [ +250 exp received ]


    [ +3 stat points added to energy ]


    Those were the messages that popped up on Dave''s screen as he made his way down the tunnel with his teammates.


    ''It''s pretty nice seeing numbers in front of me today.'' He said subconsciously. ''What about my post-match rewards?''


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ One crucial save: +10 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded (0): +100 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.2 ]


    ''Oh, that doesn''t look shy.''


    <Well, three really wasn''t much for you to do in this match just like the previous one>


    ''Yeah, I hope Tereville City will put up more of a fight.''


    <I''m pretty sure they won''t, but we''ll have to wait and see, at this point I know it''s pointless to judge teams based on their current form>


    Mateo was handed the man of the match award, I guess assisting the first goal and scoring the second was what sold it for him but it''s not like anybody had any problems with it.


    Securing this victory against Ballena United made sure that they stayed right where they were in the title race, right in between Supreme United and Dynamo FC as both teams also won their matches that day to hold on to their spots.


    With Ballena United now taken care of sessfully, Unique FC were now approaching theirst for the first half of the season and they had to win the match to make sure they ended the first half of the season in second ce assuming that Dynamo FC would also win their match that day.


    _______ _______


    Two dayster and the day for the match came, Tereville City had to travel to Unique City to take on Unique FC in the Wondanimo stadium.


    The atmosphere was quite lively in the stadium and that was because the Wondanimo stadium and Tereville Hogar had the wildest atmospheres in the whole of the Bilbeth Premier League so this was pretty much expected whenever they met for a match.


    At some point, it just sounded like they were just trying to drown each other''s voices and that was making the atmosphere even wilder.


    Tereville City were currently sitting in mid-table, eleventh ce to be precise, and winning this match wouldn''t really do anything for them at the moment, but they had to win it to at least give themselves a start in recovery.


    Theirst three matches had all ended in draws so they were hoping that wouldn''t also be the case here today, but then again, they were up against the most in-form team in the league at the moment so grabbing a win was going be pretty tough.


    Tereville City were going to be the ones starting the game from the kick-off spot, and as soon as the referee blew his whistle, the game kicked off.


    Tereville City did quite well in keeping hold of the ball and they sessfully managed to keep it away from Unique FC until they won a free kick right at the edge of the box.


    "Oh, now, that''s a chance to do something, their first goal in theirst match came from a free kick in the eighth minute, are we going to see a repeat here?" Jim broadcasted.


    "Um¡­we have Dave in the goalpost so I''m leaning toward unlikely but let''s see how things turn out," Steve replied.


    The person standing over the ball now was a yer with the number ten written below the name Nick on the back of his jersey.


    Nick was Tereville City''s standard right winger but because they were ying four-four-two in this match, he had to switch to Right midfielder (RMF).


    He was one of the best free-kick takers so far this season, converting four out of sixteen set pieces.


    "He scored a free kick in theirst match, can he get a consecutive one here?"


    He had his gaze on Unique FC''s four-man wall inside the box as the referee made sure that everything was ready.


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle and now it was time to see what the winger could do.


    He didn''t move immediately and took his time before slowly taking two steps backward.


    After that, he paused for a while before he let out a deep breath and came rushing toward the ball, as soon as he got close enough to the ball, he pulled his right leg back and fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    "Nick!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost and it looked quite close, but Devon was able to get to it right on time to send it over the bar with both of his hands.


    "Oh, that was so close," Jimmented.


    "I said it was unlikely, Dave hasn''t conceded a single goal from free kicks this season and he keeps that going," Steve said. "That said, they have a corner kick to deal with now."


    The yers from both teams were running around inside the box now.


    As soon as the yer standing in the spot heard the whistle he immediately sent it flying into the box, but he made the mistake of cing it too close to the goalpost as Dave was able to easily spring up and grab it before things got confusing for him.


    "Well, that''s all of Tereville''s chance in the mud, could have done better with that but it''s all in the past now," Jimmented.


    The match continued with Unique FC finally in possession of the ball but Tereville City weren''t making things easy for them when it came to attacking.


    It was like they knew every single one of their moves and had them blocked.


    This would force the home team to slowly retreat with the ball whenever they got close to their box. Mateo attempted to force his way through but he almost lost the ball in the process so that was out of his options for now.


    Unique FC were just moving the ball around now, mostly I''m their own half while looking for a way through.


    "Looks like they''re out of options here, they''ll have toe up with something quick."


    Minino received the ball from Martinez, and just before the yer heading toward him could get to him, he sent the ball rolling back to Martinez who immediately sent it rolling to Rnd up front.


    Rnd moved down the wing a little with the ball before he found Ferran and sent the ball over to him.


    "Ferran tried."


    Ferran feigned moving toward the right with the ball before he suddenly turned and sent it rolling to Mateo who quickly took off down the wing with it as soon as he got his foot on the ball.


    He knew he wouldn''t be able to get far on his own though which was why he sent the ball flying over to Merino as soon as he got the chance.


    Merino brought the ball down with his chest and quickly took off down the wing with an opposing yer right on his trail.


    Just as he got close to the line and was about to attempt sending it in, the ball was quickly swept off his feet and out of y.


    The winger tumbled past the line due to that challenge and raised his hand calling for a foul but it didn''t look like the referee was going to give it.


    "I think that looked like a foul right there but I don''t think the referee has anything to say about it." Jim expressed.


    "Well, they have a corner kick to deal with now," Steve said.


    Ferran was standing over the ball now in the corner spot with everyone else running around near and inside the box and the referee making sure that nothing was out of ce.


    After confirming that everything was fine, the referee blew his whistle and now it was time for Ferran to send the ball flying in.


    Instead of crossing the ball in for his teammates, it seemed like the midfielder went for the goal himself as the ball curved toward the left side of the goalpost and ended up hitting the post.


    "What was that?!"


    Mateo was in a good position to get his hand on the rebound but he wasn''t the only one as one of the defenders quickly raised his leg toward the ball.


    Mateo ended up being the one to get his head to the ball, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop the ball from falling into the goalpost.


    "And Mateo puts it in!" Jim eximed as the winger took off to the sidelines with his teammates right behind him but just as he got there, he crashed down to the floor with his hand on his jaw.


    "Um¡­what''s going on?"


    Ferran quickly checked on the winger to see that he had blood in his mouth and it didn''t look like it wasing from a small bleeding.


    Jim and Steve looked at the rey of that goal to see that the defender who had gone for the ball at the same time as the winger ended up hitting his jaw with his boot.


    "Oh, dear, that doesn''t look good."

 Chapter 414 Close Strike

    Chapter 414 Close Strike


    Mateo had to be taken off the pitch to get medical attention, and while he was receiving treatment, the game had to continue.


    The winger seemed to be doing okay at least as he was sitting on the floor with a cotton wool on his mouth.


    Natasha was right in front of him because she was the one taking care of the situation.


    "I think I''ll take that out now." She said before slowly removing the piece of cotton wool from his mouth. "I think that should stop the bleeding."


    A part of the cotton wool was covered with blood and she had to throw that into the small waste bin beside her.


    Mateo didn''t say anything as he proceeded to ce his hand on his jaw.


    "Are you still feeling pain down there?" She asked.


    "Yeah, and it feels like it got worse as soon as you removed the cotton wool." He replied.


    His words were a bit muffled because of the difort he was feeling in his mouth now.


    "Can I have a piece of that?" He asked before pointing at the pack of cotton wool she had with her.


    "Yeah, sure." She replied before cutting out a piece and giving it to him.


    As soon as Mateo collected the piece of cotton wool, he slid it into his mouth making sure that it was touching the spot below his teeth. Just as he suspected, cing it there sort of worked in calming the pain down, but now he couldn''t even talk anymore.


    "I know you want to go back to the pitch again but please be careful because if you get hit there again, the best case scenario is you just losing a tooth, worst case scenario you may lose more than one tooth and that''s not even all." She exined.


    After listening to what she just said, Mateo replied with a nod before he got up from the floor and made his way to Norman.


    The game was still going on on the pitch with Unique FC trying quite well to put without Mateo on the pitch at the moment and Tereville City trying everything they could to get that equalizer.


    It was pretty obvious that they were making quite the against Unique FC and had managed to get them into pretty tough situations a couple of times but the defense came through most of the time and the one that came really close to bing a goal, Dave was there to grab right on time.


    The away team''s right winger got hold of the ball near the edge of the box and tried to force his way past Rnd but the left back didn''t give him the chance to do that and ended up sending the ball out for a throw-in.


    That was the cue for Mateo to rejoin the game as the referee had to stop Tereville City from taking a free throw in.


    "Look what we have here, Mateo Smith is rejoining the game, and what is that in his mouth?" Jim questioned.


    "That looks like a piece of cotton wool, he''s probably keeping it there because of the bleeding." Steve expressed. "It''s a good thing for his teammates and the fans that he''s able to continue, that hit on his jaw looked quite serious."


    Obviously, the Unique FC fans were all cheers as their wonder kid rejoined the game, he was the one who gave them the lead after all.


    With Mateo now on the pitch, the game could continue.


    The winger was standing outside the sidelines with the ball as he tried to find someone who wasn''t being marked to throw the ball to.


    Unfortunately, all his teammates that were in good positions were being marked so he had to send the ball to the midfielder on his left who quickly sent the ball flying in toward the box with his first touch.


    The ball wasn''t able to get into the box though as Mateo who was right at the edge of the box was able to nod it away toward Minino before that could happen.


    "Already got his first touch since rejoining the game," Jimmented.


    Minino quickly took off down the wing as soon as he got his foot on the ball but he had to trap back soon as his path was quickly blocked by two yers.


    He passed the ball to Martinez who quickly sent it rolling straight to Ferran as soon as he got his foot on it.


    "It''s sad to find out that we won''t be seeing Frankie for a while now, he is the only person besides Martinez who fits in that defensive midfield position, and what makes him better than Martinez, in my opinion, is that he can cover more ground within a short amount of time and can fill many roles at the same time, he makes things easier for Unique FC with his versatility." Jim articted.


    "You said everything, I''m sure the team and the fans miss him, but that said, they still have a pretty good team without him," Stevemented.


    Unique FC had just won a free kick now after Fredinho was brought down right at the edge of the box.


    The yers argued that it was a penalty but the referee insisted that it happened outside the box and gave a free kick instead.


    "So, are you going to take it?" Ferran asked as soon as he got close to Mateo.


    "I want to, but¡­how about we let Dave take this one?" The winger mumbled.


    He wasn''t really mumbling but the piece of cotton wool he had in his mouth made it seem that way.


    "Dave? Are you sure about that?"


    "You saw what he did with both of the free kicks he took against Sunglow United," Mateo said.


    There really was no reason for him to exin things to him.


    "I guess you make a good point." The midfielder said before he turned toward Dave and began to wave both of his hands.


    <Looks like they''re calling you up to take the free kick>


    ''Yeah, I can see that.'' The goalkeeper said before he quickly began to make his way to the area.


    "Oh, looks what''s going on here, they''re calling Dave to take the free kick, it''s time for the goalkeeper to show us what he can do with a set piece once again."


    "Makes sense, he did not disappoint with the two he took against Sunglow United."


    Dave was standing over the ball now after getting to the spot, he had his gaze on the four-man wall inside the box with the only thing he was waiting for being the referee''s whistle.


    The referee made sure that everything was ready and as soon as he was done with that, he blew his whistle.


    "That''s the whistle, let''s see what the goalkeeper can do with this one."


    As soon as Dave heard the whistle, he slowly took three steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost from the right.


    Everyone was expecting the goalkeeper to go from above but he decided to go from below.


    He aimed right for the bottom corner and that could have been a really neat goal, but the goalkeeper was able to get to it right on time to disrupt the direction of the ball with the tip of his glove, and just before Merino could get to the rebound, the defender there got to the ball and sent the ball flying out for a throw-in.


    "Oh, that was so close, neat save from the goalkeeper but Dave''s uracy is so on point."


    "Precisely, I''ve never seen a goalkeeper with so much uracy in his feet, and to make matters worse for his opponents he has just the right amount of shot power to back it all up. If he wasn''t so passionate about being a goalkeeper, he would make a pretty good midfielder or forward." Steve expressed.


    Dave had to quickly return to his goalpost after failing to put that away, it was a good thing that throw-in wasn''t against them or else something interesting might have happened now.


    <I told you to aim upward>


    ''Maybe that could have worked but there was no guarantee that it was going to.'' The goalkeeper replied subconsciously.


    <You see, this is why I don''t really like sharing my thoughts with you in these types of situations>


    ''Hey, calm down, it''s not that deep, it''s not like I missed the goalkeeper was the one that stopped it.''


    <And that''s why you should have aimed upward>


    After that attempt from Dave nothing really shy or noteworthy happened again, it went back to both teams trying to outsmart the other and not shooting carelessly.


    They did miss a couple of chances but most of them were easy shots that the goalkeeper didn''t have any trouble stopping.


    They continued like this until the five minutes of added time got exhausted and the referee blew his whistle to bring the first half to an end.


    "Well, that was quite a first half, Mateo sacrificed his jaw to get that lead for his team and since then it''s been twists and turns between both teams, an interesting one and I can''t wait to see how they''re going to approach the second half."

 Chapter 415 End Of The First Half

    Chapter 415 End Of The First Half


    "Wee back everyone, the second half is about to kick off now as we can see the yers from both teams making their way to the pitch now."


    Just like Jim said, the yers from both teams were making their way to the pitch now with the atmosphere of the stadium returning to its liveliness.


    Tereville City were the ones who started the match from the kick-off spot in the first half and that was the reason why Fredinho was the one standing over the ball now.


    "Unique FC still have that early lead which I''m sure they won''t be letting go of easily but Tereville City yed quite well in the first half, this is the half that decides how everything turns out." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, let''s see if Tereville City has what it takes to stop Unique FC."


    It didn''t take long before the referee blew his whistle after making sure that everything was ready, and as soon as Fredinho heard the whistle, he quickly pushed the ball to Merino who sent it rolling back to Martinez as soon as he got his foot on it.


    "The second half is now in progress," Jimmented.


    The home team weren''t trying to rush anything now that the game just kicked and it would make sense if they decided not to try anything.


    If they were like a team like Lesica United, they would be parking the bus now with that one-goal lead.


    "Mateo," Jim said as soon as Mateo got his foot on the ball near the halfway line.


    The winger feigned moving forward with the ball before pushing it back to Rnd with a backheel pass.


    "Rnd."


    Rnd raced down the middle a little before he sent the ball rolling to Fredinho who yed Merino through down the right wing as soon as he got his foot on the ball.


    Merino got past the left winger blocking his path with a neat nutmeg which looked like it wasn''t really intentional.


    "Oh, he''s through here."


    The winger didn''t waste time in sending the ball in as soon as he saw Fredinho and Minino making their way into the box.


    Minino sprang up as soon as the ball came flying his way and he ended up beating the defender beside him to get his head on the ball.


    The ball was sent flying a little to the right as the goalkeeper dived toward it, but there was no need for that as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that was so close!" Jim yelped.


    "They''ve kicked off the second half with a brilliant chance. That should have been in the back of the if Minino had been a bit more urate." Steve expressed.


    One thing was for sure, Unique FC were taking a different approach in this half.


    In the first half, they didn''t press Tereville City that much and gave them quite a lot of space, that was why the away team were able to do everything they did in the first half, but Norman seem to have figured things out and whenever he finds things out, he gives his team the tactics to counter it.


    Unique FC were pressing them quite seriously here and Tereville City were starting to feel the overwhelming pressure which was starting to mess up their y now.


    A mistimed pass was all it took for Ferran to get his foot on the ball and without hesitation, he fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    Maybe he should have given a little thought to that as his effort was sent flying over the bar, it was close to hitting the crossbar though.


    "Well, that''s a wasted effort," Jimmented.


    That little bit of freedom Tereville City had in midfield in the first half was no more as Minino and Ferran were no longer giving them the space to do anything.


    They were just all over the ce, especially Minino. He was quite quiet in the first half to the extent that the fans started wondering if anything was wrong with him but now, it looked like he was back to his normal hyper self.


    Tereville City''s right midfielder raced down the wing with the ball, and just before he could run into Ferran, he sent the ball flying over to his teammate on the other side, but that was a mistake as Minino zoomed in toward the area to grab the ball before it could get to it''s intended destination.


    "Oh, he should have added a little more elevation to that, they may end up paying dearly for that."


    Minino raced down the wing with the ball and just as he was about to get close to the box, he sent the ball flying over to Mateo.


    Mateo brought the ball down with his foot, and just before he could do anything with it, it was taken off his feet by the right back there and went over the line for a throw-in in the process.


    The winger quickly picked up the ball and sent it flying into the box as soon as possible.


    The ball was sent flying toward Fredinho who happened to be in a tough spot so he had to head it back toward Ferran.


    Fortunately, the midfielder was in a really good spot, and as soon as he brought the ball down with his chest, he fired it toward the goalpost.


    The ball curled toward the right side with a little bit of elevation and the goalkeeper failed to get to it as the ball ended up hitting the post before falling into the goalpost.


    "He''s smashed it right into the goalpost!" Jim eximed as the midfielder raced to the corner spot screaming at the top of his voice, and as soon as he got there he kicked the corner g and ended up breaking it in the process.


    "Well, I got the gist just a few minutes after the restart, it was inevitable." Steve expressed.


    His teammates soon got to him and now they were celebrating in front of the fans.


    After they were done with that and had to return for the game to continue, Ferran was met with a yellow card by the referee for breaking the corner g of course but he wasn''t even bothered by it and kept cheering on as he kept moving toward the halfway line.


    At the start of the match, the fans of both teams were trying to drown out each other''s voice with none of them exactly gaining the upper hand, but right now, it really felt like Unique FC fans were starting to drown the voice of the away fans in theirs and that was also reflecting on the pitch.


    Looking at the pitch, it genuinely looked like Unique FC just went easy on Tereville City in the first half, the away team were finding it pretty hard to find their ce on the pitch now because Unique just had them beat in every department now.


    The away fans had to put most of their manpower into defense to prevent Unique FC from getting any more goals against them.


    That was working somewhat for them because they managed to stop a couple of chances that would have most likely be goals but Unique FC kept pressing aggressively.


    Mateo was racing down the wing with the ball and just as he got closer to the box he cut down the middle before ying Fredinho through.


    That was a swift pass from the winger to get the ball to Fredinho, but before he could do anything with it, it was quickly swept off his feet by the defender there.


    He was brought down in the process and raised his hand calling for a foul but it didn''t look like the referee was going to give it.


    They managed to get a couple of shots but most of them was what could be described as so close yet so far.


    Tereville City also managed to get a couple of chances during the few times they got the possession but the only two that managed to get to Dave weren''t even close to being threats for him.


    With the nieth minute drawing near, it looked like two to nil was going to be the final scoreline but Unique FC wanted a third.


    Rnd took off down the wing after receiving the ball from Dave.


    He didn''t go far before he sent the ball flying toward Minino who pushed it forward a little with the help of Ferran.


    Ferran had to send the ball back to him after losing it near the edge of the box.


    Minino tried to send it in toward Fredinho with a lob as soon as he got hold of it but that didn''t work out quite well for them as the defender there was able to block the ball with his head.


    The ball fell to the feet of one of the midfielders toward the right and without much thinking about it, he sent the ball flying toward Nick to start a counterattack.


    The ball flew in from the top as Adolf and Martinez tried to stop the striker but he was able to get past both of them and was racing toward the ball now.


    "Oh, this could be their moment."


    However, before the striker could get to the ball, Dave who was just outside his box quickly closed up on it and quickly moved away from the striker with it without making contact with him.


    The atmosphere was somewhat quiet as soon as that ball was yed through but just as Dave came through to thwart the n, the fans burst into cheers.


    The would probably still win the match even though the striker had done something with that, but winning with a clean sheet was the best feeling.


    "Wow, that''s some speed from Dave, I think he was further away from the ball," Jim said.


    "Yeah, he was a few centimeters further away."


    "And yet he managed to get there first. I don''t even know if this dude is a goalkeeper or an extra man for Unique FC, he has everything to be that man if you understand what I''m saying." Jim expressed.


    The goalkeeper had to send the ball rolling to Rnd, and as soon as the left-back got his foot on the ball, the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an official end.

 Chapter 416 Mid-Season Break

    Chapter 416 Mid-Season Break


    [ +200 exp received ]


    [ +3 stat points added to energy ]


    Those were the rewards the goalkeeper got forpleting his match quest, he wasn''t even bothered to look at them because he already knew what they were.


    The atmosphere in the stadium didn''t look like it was calming down even after the yers had finished greeting the fans.


    Ferran was announced as the man of the match which was understandable given his performance in the match.


    He was one of the best yers on the pitch here today but was he the best? That was debatable but it''s not like anybody had any problem with that.


    Thest matches of the first half of the league were quite thrilling, Unique FC were now four points ahead of Dynamo FC because they ended up drawing their match, and as for Supreme United, they took quite the heavy loss losing three goals to one against Spree City.


    That was their first loss of the season and that meant that they were just one point ahead of Unique FC.


    Norman and his boy ended the first half of the season in second ce, but with the current standings, it was safe to say that the second half of the season was going to be really spicy.


    Dave was heading toward the tunnel with Mateo when they ran into Emma and of course, Amber was there with her.


    "Hey, guys good job out there," Emma said before making her way to Dave.


    Amber appeared to be way more awkward than she would be in that situation.


    She looked toward Mateo and as soon she made eye contact with him, she quickly put her head down.


    "I knew Supreme United were starting to crumble under pressure from theirst match, but still I wasn''t expecting them to lose against Spree City." Emma expressed.


    "It''s pretty nice how they lost, now we''re only a point behind them, this title race seems to be getting closer."


    "Yeah." She said before turning her gaze to her brother who looked like he was about to leave. "Hey, Mateo, do you mind joining us for the match interview?"


    "Are you going to be the one asking the questions?" The winger asked.


    "Um¡­why does that have to be a problem?"


    "Because if you''re not the one asking the questions then you''re better off taking Dave."


    After hearing him say that, she let out a sigh before grabbing him by his arm.


    "Alright, let''s go."


    Dave watched them make their way to the area before he turned his gaze to Amber.


    "Hey, Amber how''re you doing?"


    "I''m fine." She muttered before she began to make her way to Emma.


    Dave made his way down the tunnel room and straight to the locker room where he found Minino and the other yers running around <She''s not fine>


    ''I know.''


    Dave made his way down the tunnel room and straight to the locker room where he found Minino and the other yers running around making a lot of noise.


    He seemed to be a bit wilder than he was on normal days and that was because they just ended the first half of the league just one point away from being at the top.


    Dave was never in the mood for running around inside the locker room so what he did was sit down on the bench, and before anything else, he decided to check his post-match rewards.


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Four crucial saves: +40 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded (0): +150 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.8 ]


    ''That looks nice, I guess.''


    <You don''t really care about the experience points that much anyway>


    ''Huh? Why are you saying that?''


    <You leveled up a few matches ago and you had absolutely no reaction to that>


    ''Well, that''s because leveling up has been the same rinse and repeat method, I just get stat points and skill points, I''m just waiting for the level up that will unlock thatst skill.''


    <Hmm¡­Well, it makes sense when you put it that way>


    [ 995/2076 exp ]


    ''A few more matches now and I may see myself heading into level fourteen.''


    <Yeah>


    ''Is that the level where I unlock the new skill?''


    <No>


    ''Then I guess there''s no reason to be excited about it.''


    The yers stayed in the locker room for a while before Norman came in to discuss a couple of things with the yers.


    The couple of things he wanted to discuss with them was their uing match against S.S. Lazio in the Europa Conference League.


    He didn''t want to say too much to avoid stressing the yers after all they just came in from beating Tereville City, all he needed to do was make it clear to them that despite qualifying for the next round, they needed to take the match seriously and beat Lazio to make sure they finished at the top of the table.


    After that he went on to talk about other things and those other things were just casual topics, he spoke andughed with his yers before wishing everyone a happy winter break from league football.


    The date was the fourteenth of December, that was the day the league went on winter break to return on the sixth of January.


    While every other team went on their break that day, some teams like Unique FC still had some unfinished business in Europe.


    Dave made his way straight home after spending some time with his teammates.


    It had been quite a long day but now he could finally get some rest.


    They were free from Sunday to Tuesday so that was a couple more days worth of rest.


    He drove into his home as the gate closed behind him, and after parking his car carelessly just as always, he made his way into the building.


    He could smell somethinging from the kitchen so he knew his wife was home.


    "Hey, babe, I''m home." He said as he made his way toward the staircase.


    It didn''t take long for Emma to pop up from the kitchen as soon as she heard his voice.


    "Oh, hey, wee back." She said with a smile on her face.


    Dave turned his gaze to her before quickly turning it back to continue making his way up the stairs.


    "Yeah, I''m going to go up now and maybe take a shower."


    "Okay, but you have to be fast, I''m almost done with dinner."


    "Sure."


    He didn''t really have the strength to go back downstairs after taking his bath but he promised toe down for dinner so he had to go down.


    By the time he got downstairs, Emma had already set up the table and all they needed to do now was sit down and enjoy their meal.


    They ate quietly for a while before Emma decided to ask him something.


    "So, you guys are getting three weeks break this season, you only got two weeksst season." She said.


    "Yeah, that''s because of the matches some of the teams like ours have to cover, if not, it would have been just two weeks."


    "Okay." She said before taking a sip from the drink she had beside her. "So, are we going anywhere for Christmas?"


    That question caught the goalkeeper by surprise as he stopped mid-way in putting the piece of stake he had on a fork inside his mouth.


    "I uh¡­. haven''t really thought about that." He replied.


    "It''s okay, we can talk about it now."


    "Okay, so where do you want to go?" He asked.


    "Um¡­shouldn''t we be deciding this together?"


    "Just make a choice, I''ll go anywhere you want to go." The goalkeeper said.


    "Anywhere?"


    "Um¡­except a few ces but I know you wouldn''t want to be in those ces either."


    "Okay, fair point, how about Germany?" She suggested.


    "Germany? Where in Germany?"


    "Since you let me pick the ce, I''ll let you pick the city." She said with a voice emitting her cheerful mood.


    "Oh, that''s not how it''s supposed to work but fine, I''ll think about it."


    "You''ll think about it?"


    "Well, yeah, I have to find out the best city, I can''t just make a random choice." He exined.


    "Well, okay, that makes sense." She said with a nod.


    ______ ______


    The next morning, Dave got up first as always, and made his way outside to kick off his day by running a couple ofps around the building.


    After doing that, he went into his gym and spent some time on the treadmill before returning to his training pitch.


    It was leg day for him today so everything he was doing was mostly rted to his legs.


    He was joggling the ball on the pitch now, but he wasn''t doing that just for the sake of doing it.


    He had a couple of waste bins set up on the pitch and after getting the ball into the first four from where he was standing, he had to get the ball he was joggling now into thest one which was quite the distance away from him.


    After joggling the ball for a while, he kicked it up and now it was the moment of truth.


    ''Here I go, Catherine.''


    He got his foot on the ball and sent it flying toward the area but he didn''t aim for the bin directly.


    The ball flew past the bin and hit the crossbar before bouncing back and falling into the lid.


    "There you go!" He yelled before suddenly crashing to the floor.


    <That was pretty smart going with that approach>


    ''Yeah, I know.''


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ +150 exp received ]


    [ +1 stat point received ]


    ''Maybe I should try it again.''


    He was about to get up from the floor when his phone which was lying right beside him began to ring, and turning his gaze to it, he could see the name rk there.

 Chapter 417 The Bilbeth Premier League Stars

    Chapter 417 The Bilbeth Premier League Stars


    "So, Frankfurt are pushing to sign me this January transfer break," Dave said with his phone ced against his ear.


    "Yeah, they must have contacted your club by now," rk replied from the other side.


    "Oh, I see. Well, I don''t n on leaving halfway with everything we''ve set up this season, and also, I don''t think my father would allow me to leave even if I wanted to."


    "Yeah, I already told them about that, but they said they won''t give up easily and asked me to check if you had a change of heart, I think they desperately need a good goalkeeper and they''re not holding back with their enticing offer." rk borated.


    "Enticing offer?"


    "They''re offering twenty-seven million euros to get you."


    Dave''s jaws dropped as soon as he heard rk say that.


    "Twenty-seven million? That''s way more than I''m worth." The goalkeeper.


    "Yeah, but it looks like they see more than that and I don''t me them," rk said. "That part is mainly to coerce the club into selling you, the offer they''re making to convince you is offering you a sry of a hundred and two thousand euros per week with a couple of off add-on benefits."


    "They''re offering that much? That''s almost two times what I earn here."


    "Yeah, they really want you, looks like they''ve been watching you for a long time now," rk said. "So, what are you saying?"


    "I want to hear what you think first." The goalkeeper said.


    "I''ll tell you what I think after you tell me your decision."


    "Okay. Well, they are making a pretty juicy offer, I''m pretty sure my dad would say yes to this if he had a decent enough backup goalkeeper to see the team through for the rest of the season, I have to say I''m a bit tempted to go for it, but then again, I did say something to you at the beginning of this season, do you remember?"


    "Um¡­.yeah, you said something about making your mark for the club before leaving, you also said something about making sure the club makes a huge profit from your departure which I''m sure this offer from Frankfurt meets," rk remarked.


    "Yeah, but I feel like it''s not enough, I know a club from the EPL or La Liga would offer more. We''re still in everypetition we''re supposed to be in so far this season and lifting any of those trophies will go a long way in helping me achieve both of the goals I want to achieve this season."


    "So, what you''re saying is that¡­"


    "I''m not leaving till the end of this season, I know everything may not go exactly as I wish, but I strongly believe that I will at least lift one trophy with this team this season, and if I don''t, then finishing top four on the table will be considered as a win." The goalkeeper expressed.


    "Hmm, I see, good choice bro, I think I know what to do now. I''ll speak to youter."


    "Okay,ter."


    The call ended after that and Dave had to drop his phone back on the floor.


    <You know, nobody would me you if you went to Frankfurt because of that offer, they''re a pretty decent team too>


    ''Are you trying to convince me to ept the offer?''


    <No, that''s your choice to make, I''m just stating that you may be missing a good opportunity here>


    ''Then so be it, I know they''ll be back at the end of this season and even if they don''te back, they''re all other teams and even ones better than them that want me on their squad, the only problem is if they want me as a backup goalkeeper or the starting goalkeeper.''


    <That''s why I said you may be missing a good opportunity, it''s very obvious that they want you as their new starting goalkeeper and they''re offering you way more than you''re worth at the moment when they could easily go for another cheap choices, there''s no guarantee that any of the good clubs will want you as their starter next season, it may only be the small clubs and I know you don''t want to go there>


    ''Now, it sounds like you''re really trying to persuade me to say yes.''


    <No, that''s not it, if anything, I want you to be in a top club next season, a club better than Frankfurt, that would be a huge jump for you sometimes those huge jumps don''t just work, most people had to work their way up slowly>


    ''That''s ironicing from a system that helped me defy the odds of slow and steady improvement. However, this is more about what I want to do for Unique FC before leaving, if I had already done what I wanted to do, then I would be leaning toward epting that offer since they are the first ones who have openly made an offer.''


    <Hmm, okay>


    "Okay, let''s get back to training now." He said before he got up from the floor and kicked the ball up.


    _____ _____


    The yers had a couple of days off after that victory against Tereville City, and Mateo was going to use that free time to head over to the shop and get some of the things he wascking at home.


    Shopping was a bit of a chore for him because of all the attention he got and how he would almost get crowded at the entrance until security interrupted.


    Today he was putting on a hoodie and had a pair of sses with him to conceal his identity at least for those who weren''t always looking out to find him.


    "I really wish I had someone to help me with this." He muttered with a sigh before opening the door.


    He was about to take a step out when he spotted something sitting in front of his door.


    It was some kind of mini basket which was properly covered and had some kind of letter on top of it.


    "What''s this?" He muttered before stretching his hand to pick up the letter.


    He already had an idea of who it could be from but he just had to be sure.


    After picking up the letter, he opened it and began to read it.


    The letter read this:


    ''I know you hate me now and won''t even read my text messages so I wrote this with the hope that you would at least read it but it''s okay if you don''t want to.


    I know what I did was stupid and I tried to brush it off but I am deeply sorry for that, I truly am. I may be a bit jealous of how close Sofia is to you but I didn''t really have any bad intentions, you know I didn''t even tell her anything to cause any misunderstanding, I only told her that we somehow meant when running.


    Anyway, I know I''ve already made my feelings clear to you but if we can just go back to being the way we were as friends, I would be d.


    I understand if you don''t want to and if you don''t want to eat the cupcakes, please don''t throw them away and give them to someone else at least.


    I know I disgust you, I''m sorry.''


    After reading all that and the name tag at the end, Mateo let out a sigh before sliding the piece of paper into his pocket.


    He had a couple of thoughts going through his mind now, and after thinking about things for a while, he picked up the basket and took it inside.


    "Maybe I have been a little too harsh."


    After dropping the basket on the table inside, he made his way back outside and straight to his car.


    "I just hope no one recognizes me with this get-up." He mumbled before he entered the car and closed the door.


    _____ _____


    "Wee everyone to this week''s episode of the Bilbeth Premier League stars. Today we have three stars from the same team, Minino Small, Mateo Smith, and Dave Richards." Thedy introduced before pointing toward the teammates who were all sitting beside each other on the seats provided for them.


    The Bilbeth Premier League Stars was a live TV show where ady got to speak with a couple of yers from the league and asked them a couple of questions.


    Sometimes it was silly and funny and sometimes it was just educative, it all came down to the vibes of the yers involved.


    "Unique FC are arguably the best team so far this season with the only ones who can have an argument of being better than them are Supreme United who are one point ahead of them so that makes sense.


    "All these yers have been quite sensational for their teams, Dave has fifteen clean sheets in neen matches, Perez Zoe who is in second ce only has six so far this season so I can say he has that "Most embarrassing moment?" Mateo muttered with a horrid look on his face.


    golden glove in the bag.


    "Mateo has been a force to reckon with so far this season ending the first half of the season as the yer with the most goals and assists, that''s very impressive if you ask me.


    "And then finally we have Minino, one of the best midfielders in the league so far this season, he''s basically Unique FC''s tiger on the pitch." She said with a smile.


    "I think I like that name," Minino said.


    "Then you can take it, he''s the tiger on the pitch from today everyone." She said with a little chuckle before taking her seat.


    "Yep." He emitted.


    Both Mateo and Dave couldn''t properly hold in their chuckles.


    "Alright, to start off today with Unique FC''s stars, we will be asking what their most embarrassing moment on the pitch has been so far this season."


    "Most embarrassing moment?" Mateo muttered with a horrid look on his face.

 Chapter 418 On Par Accuracy

    Chapter 418 On Par uracy


    "My most embarrassing moment on the pitch, I think it was in the match against Ballena United. We won that but there was this moment when the ball was sent in from a corner kick.


    "I brought it down with his chest, and just before I could do anything with it, it was taken away from me by one of their defenders and when I tried to take the ball back from him, he just nutmegged me and kept moving forward with, he did it so effortlessly that I had to slow down for a bit." The winger articted with a little chuckle.


    "I don''t think that was as bad as you made it sound but then again, you do that to a lot of yers so it''s nice to see you getting a taste of your own medicine." Thedy said with a smile before turning her gaze to Minino. "What about you, Minino?"


    "Well, you have the clip just y it." The midfielder said before bending down a little bit to reach the floor with both of his hands.


    "Ooh, I thought you were going to try and convince me to not y it." She said.


    "If nobody saw it, yeah, but a whole lot of people has already seen it so you might as well show it to them again." He said before letting out a sigh as he returned to his normal sitting posture on his seat.


    "Alright, then." She said before clicking the button to y the footage on the screen.


    The footage that was being shown now was one of Unique FC''s first match of the season which was against Frono FC.


    with Minino heading toward him at that time.


    "Wait, it happened against Frono FC?" Dave said sounding quite amused.


    The ball was sent flying toward Seth down the middle in midfield with Minino heading toward him at that time.


    He was nning to overwhelm the winger with his aggressiveness, but that didn''t work out quite well for him.


    He got close to the winger the exact moment he touched the ball with his chest, and before he could even try to take it from him, the winger sent the ball flying over him with an overhead kick.


    "Oooh." Their host gasped as soon as she saw that.


    Seth could have just moved forward with the ball or passed it to any of his teammates after getting past Minino with it but it''s not like Minino gave him much freedom to do that anyway.


    The midfielder stubbornly got up from the floor and quickly made his way to the winger to stop him.


    There was no way he could take this embarrassment without actually getting the ball but things didn''t go quite well for him.


    The winger dragged him around for a while on the field which was just embarrassing before eventually nutmegging him and finding one of his teammates on the right wing.


    That was where the clip ended, and unlike when Mateo exined his most embarrassing moment on the pitch, none of them could contain theirughter.


    Mateo was covering his mouth to contain himself and avoid exploding with uncontrobleughter and Dave was hiding his face behind his seat.


    Their host of course was covering her face with the card she was holding.


    "I can''t believe I didn''t see that in the match," Dave said after pulling his face back up.


    "I think I saw it but I was too worried about what was going on and how they were moving the ball forward to care about it, watching it now just makes it ten times funnier." The winger expressed still trying to hold back hisughter.


    "Yeah, all of youugh at my embarrassment," Minino muttered.


    "Do you mind ying it again, Laura?" Mateo requested.


    "Um¡­sure," Laura said before ying the clip again.


    Minino tried to object to that but she didn''t listen to him.


    They watched the clip again with Minino covering his face with his hand and although Dave wasn''t feeling that much anymore it was still funny and Mateo had to put his face down to hide it from the camera whileughing.


    "The cat in this clip was not a tiger, it was just a normal pet cat." The winger said after bringing his head up. "Oh, I think I just found something to watch every night before going to bed."


    "Oh, dear, that was pretty funny. I wonder how Dave''s willpare to that," Laura said. "So, Dave, what was your most embarrassing moment on the pitch this season?"


    "Um¡­there have been a couple of embarrassing moments on the pitch but I can''t really call anyone my most embarrassing moment because I don''t think any of them were that embarrassing." The goalkeeper disclosed.


    <Are you sure about that?>


    "Uh, so you can''t make a choice," Minino said before turning his gaze to Laura. "Why don''t you help him choose, Laura?"


    The grin on his face as he said that was an indication that he knew something.


    <You could have just said something>


    ''Huh? What are you talking about?''


    <Don''t worry, you''ll see, it won''t hurt you>


    After browsing through the clips for a while, she finally found the one, and without hesitation, she yed it.


    The clip seemed to be one from the match between Unique FC and Spree City.


    A corner kick was sent flying into the box of Unique FC and slid past the head of one of the opposing yers to fall in front of Dave.


    After watching the clip that far, Dave suddenly remembered the match and realized what was about to happen.


    "Oh, dear." He muttered before covering his face with his hand.


    <Don''t worry it won''t hurt you>


    Dave was about to grab the ball in front of him when Aima suddenly pulled up to clear it so the goalkeeper ended up grabbing him by his leg and pulling him down ignoring the ball.


    That could have been a disastrous moment for them but luckily, Rnd was able to get to the ball fast enough to clear it before anything happened.


    This one wasn''t really as funny as Minino''s but it was still really funny to see a goalkeeper drag down his teammate inside the box.


    Minino tried to make it funnier than it seemed with hisughter but all Mateo could do was chuckle as he waved his head.


    "You just went for his leg and grabbed him, I was right there and I didn''t even catch that." The winger muttered before putting his head down.


    "Well, Aima got up quickly just as you turned," Laura said before pointing to the spot.


    "Now you know how I felt, Dave," Minino said before turning his gaze to Dave who had his hand on his cheek.


    "Yeah, that was pretty embarrassing but it''s nothingpared to what Seth did to you."


    "Yeah, you''re right." The midfielder said with a little chuckle.


    After that, Laura went on to ask them a couple more questions some of them were forughs and some of them were serious topics, in the aspect of football of course.


    It was obvious from the smile on the faces of the yers that they really enjoyed being there that day and Laura was quite d that he picked the three of them toe together because their vibe was quite infectious and that made the show really enjoyable.


    ______ ______


    Tuesday came by soon, and that was the day the yers were going to be returning to training because of their match against Lazio on Thursday.


    The training session for that day was set to kick off by 11:00 AM, and before that time, everyone who was supposed to be there was already there.


    Norman started things off by telling them what their training routine was going to be for that day, and after that, they jumped straight into it.


    Everyone looked quite cheerful and energetic, maybe it was because of the few days off, or maybe it was because their condition had changed drastically from what it wasst to what they were doing this seasonpeting for all thesepetitions while being at the top of their game most of the time at least.


    After thirty minutes of non-stop training, the yers had to take a quick break, but while they were all busy resting, Dave was still on the pitch.


    He just wasn''t feeling tired, at least not yet.


    He lined up five balls about twenty-five yards away from the goalpost, and now, it was time to see how much his uracy had improved.


    Everyone had their gaze on him as he sent the first one flying, and it ended up hitting the crossbar right at the angle before falling into the goalpost.


    The second sessfully hit the crossbar right in the middle before falling off, the third one followed the same route and the fourth one managed to scrape the crossbar before falling off but that still counted as a hit.


    The fifth one was so close to hitting the crossbar, it only missed the target by a few inches as it fell into the goalpost.


    At this point, this wasn''t really a surprise to his teammates but there was one person who still couldn''t get over that feeling that something was wrong somewhere.


    "His growth is quite unnatural but if he''s not doping then what is it," Jonas muttered.


    <Well, it looks like your uracy is slightly on par with Mateo''s now>


    ''Hmm, that''s cool, is there anything else.''


    <Yeah, Rnd has more pace than you now, he''s back to being the fastest yer on the pitch without the ball, Mateo is still the fastest with the ball>


    ''He finally got past me, I guess that''s expected but all have to do to surpass him again is just add a bunch of stat points to my dexterity.''


    [ Unused stat points: 35 ]


    <You''re not really going to do that, are you?>

 Chapter 419 Dave Vs Mateo

    Chapter 419 Dave Vs Mateo


    "Alright everyone, Lazio are looking pretty tough, we all saw what they did against Virreal through the highlights so this match isn''t going to be as easy as the first one."


    Norman was standing in front of the yers as he said that as they seemed to be getting ready for a practice match.


    "I think we heard something simr thest time before we faced them," Minino muttered before stretching both of his hands.


    "For this practice match section, I''m just going to check something and see how we can deal with their high pressing and unexpected crosses, that''s what they used to punish Virreal so there''s no doubt they''ll try to use it again." He exined. "Also, we need to work on your counter-prevention methods, if it wasn''t for Dave in thest match, we could have conceded a goal there."


    After exining everything, the practice match looked less like a practice match and more like just a field practice to see how their defense could stop their attack from running riot against them, both teams had goalposts though.


    To see what he wanted to see and not just go for fairness like they used to do in their normal practice matches, Norman was going to put his best attacking options in one team, and his best defensive options in one team.


    He made the requirement for both teams to be just six yers each so Mateo, Minino, and Fredinho were on one team and the other team had Adolf, Aima, Norman, and Rnd.


    That was the standard for both teams and then of course the defensive team had to have Dave as their goalkeeper he was part of the team''s best defensive options after all.


    That was the defensive team''s fifth yer and for their sixth yer, they just called up Minino to fill that role, they will have to attack when they get the chance, so he can help with that alongside Rnd.


    The remaining three yers for the attacking team were Martinez and Ferran to make up a proper midfield and then Alexander in the goalpost.


    For the attacking side, it was all attack, a little bit of defense with Martinez and the midfield and for the defensive side, it was all defense and just a little bit of midfield with the potential of turning into attack there.


    The kick-off was going to be done by the defensive team as Minino was with the ball in the kick-off spot now and the referee was going to be the assistant coach as Norman was going to be observing from the sidelines.


    The referee made sure both sides were ready before he blew the whistle and as soon as Minino heard that, he sent the ball rolling back to Rnd who quickly pushed it to Adolf.


    "Hey, Dave, you feel like trying something?" Adolf said before pushing the ball to him.


    "Umm¡­sure." The goalkeeper said before he gave the ball a little push and fired it toward the goalpost just before Mateo and Fredinho from the other side could get to him.


    They were using makeshift goalposts just like the ones Dave used to have in his old ce and the distance between both of the goalposts wasn''t that much so Dave didn''t have to apply that much power to get the ball through.


    It would be normal to assume that he would be able to convert the ball from such a short distance after all he''s done it a lot of times in matches but there was a small problem.


    The problem was that Dave had not really practiced long-distance shots with this type of goalpost so the chance of his uracy being off was there and his uracy was a bit off as it grazed past the crossbar from the right and fell off escaping Alexander''s gloves.


    "Dave," Norman grumbled from the sidelines causing the goalkeeper to turn his gaze to him. "Please don''t do that, if you keep doing that every time you guys get the ball and I know you can from this short distance, I won''t be able to see what I want to see."


    "Alright, I''m sorry, I''ll just be the goalkeeper and stick to keeping the ball out." He apologized after raising both of his hands.


    "There goes our secret weapon." Minino sighed before turning his gaze to Ferran who was standing right in front of him. "This would have been way easier with him dishing out the ball from the goalpost."


    "But that defeats the whole purpose of the practice," Ferran said.


    "Yeah, you''re right," Minino admitted before putting down his head but then a smirk suddenly appeared on his face as something popped into his head.


    "What''s with that look on your face?"


    "Coach never said anything about him sending out long balls." He intoned with that smug look still on his face.


    "Also, Dave, you''ll have to refrain from sending out long balls," Norman said with his gaze on Dave who responded with a nod.


    That was right after Minino said that to Ferran.


    "Oh,e on!" The midfielder snarled before kicking the floor.


    "I guess that''s also out of the options." Ferran smiled before turning away from him.


    With everything now settled, the practice session with the attacking team now with the ball.


    Martinez was slowly pushing down with the ball, and just before Minino could get to him, he pushed the ball to Merino who had Rnd heading over to him, but just before the left back ran into him and brought him down, he had already yed Fredinho through.


    Well, not exactly through because he had to deal with Adolf and Aima with both Minino and Rnd quickly returning but it''s not like he had to do that alone.


    He feigned firing the ball toward Aima who was quickly heading toward him and when that failed to work against the defender, he pushed the ball back to Fredinho with a backheel pass before avoiding running into the defender.


    That pass to Fredinho was a bit tricky for the striker because Minino was already marking him but he was able to skillfully get away from the midfielder and without hesitation, he sent the ball rolling to Mateo who chipped it over Norman as soon as he got his foot on it but he wasn''t able to do anything with it as Adolf was able to get to the ball before he could get past Norman and get his foot on it, and because the defender didn''t have the time to control the ball properly, he just sent it out for a corner kick.


    "Don''t give him that much space, Norman!" Adolf barked before pointing toward Aima to take the other far end of the goalpost.


    Ferran was standing over the ball now waiting for the whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he sent the ball flying in.


    That was a pretty bad corner kick from Ferran as he failed to get it to any of his teammates and Adolf ended up sending it away with a header.


    However, it didn''t look like the danger lurking around their box was gone yet as the ball fell toward Martinez who quickly sent it flying over to Mateo.


    The winger brought the ball down with his chest and just before Norman could get to him, he sent the ball into the box with a low cross.


    Fredinho closed up on the ball from the edge of the box and managed to get his leg on the ball.


    He sent it rolling toward the right but he should have tried to stretch that a little bit or at least added a little more shot power as Dave had absolutely no problem stopping that.


    As soon as Dave caught that, Martinez began to quickly return before he could get up with it, the coach said no long balls but he didn''t say anything about long throws.


    The goalkeeper quickly sent the ball flying toward Rnd who was pushing forward at the same time as Minino, and as soon as the ball got to the left back, he brought it down with his foot and kept moving forward with it.


    He had Merino right on his trail with Martinez right in front of him.


    Minino was running right down the middle with Fredinho right behind him, everyone else including the defenders were following closely from behind because they believed that they could get a goal from this and it would be a shame to their opponents who were all attack if they scored first.


    As soon as Rnd was about to enter the box, Martinez stopped running and turned to stop him but the left-back was fast enough to send the ball rolling toward Minino before Martinez could try stopping him.


    Martinez neatly avoided Fredinho who didn''t press his breaks on time to get a shot off and that could have been the moment but the ball ended up hitting the post before bouncing off toward Mateo.


    Mateo had both Norman and Adolf marking him but the way he nutmegged the right back evaded the center back left them both dumbfounded.


    He didn''t stop after getting past the both of them, he was heading toward the goalpost with the only challenge left being Dave and everyone else right behind him.


    "Oh, dear," Dave muttered as soon as he saw the winger heading toward him with the ball.


    <Well, look what we have here, it''s Dave versus Mateo>


    *****


    Hey, everyone sorry for not updating for a while, I was down with a fever but I''m starting to feel okay now. I''ll try to update one or two more chapters today to make up for the lost days.


    Hey, everyone sorry for not updating for a while, I was down with a fever but I''m starting to feel okay now. I''ll try to update one or two more chapters today to make up for the lost days.

 Chapter 420 Data Collected

    Chapter 420 Data Collected


    Dave didn''t want to rush it immediately because that would be risky against someone like Mateo, but still, he had to stop the winger.


    If this was a real match, he would have activated sweeper keeper to give him a speed boost, or better still, he would have done another point dump into his dexterity and gotten a reaction from Catherine.


    In situations like this, goalkeepers are the ones who have the odds against them but in some situations, they end uping out on top.


    Mateo didn''t slow down until he was about to enter the box, and that was when Dave decided to shut him down as fast as possible.


    The goalkeeper quickly slid toward him ready to stop the lob because he sensed that was what he was going to do, almost all the one on one goals he''s scored have been lobbed after all.


    However, Mateo seemed to have sensed that his buddy was going to be ready for a lob so he decided to try something different.


    Before Dave could get to him, he suddenly paused before quickly getting past the goalkeeper with a neat roulette spin.


    After getting past him, he moved to the line with the ball before turning to him with a cheeky smile.


    "I tried my best to stop him," Dave said before raising both of his hands.


    Minino who had entered the area now quickly rushed toward Mateo to stop him from getting the ball past the line, but before he could get to him, the winger tapped the ball into the goalpost before running off to the sidelinesughing as loudly as he has ever done before.


    "And I thought you were fast." Minino hissed before turning his gaze to Dave who was getting up from the floor now.


    "Speed had nothing to do with that situation, the ball was glued to his feet the whole time." The goalkeeper argued as he made his way back to his goalpost.


    "Yeah, I know, but try to be faster next time." The midfielder remarked before cing his arm over his shoulder.


    After the defensive team conceded their first goal, Norman took up his role to coach them and try and see if he could get his pretty decent defense to stop his highly pressing attack.


    The longer this practice sessionsted, the better the link-up between Mateo, Ferran, Fredinho, and Minino got, and although the coach was doing pretty well in pointing the other team in the right direction so that they could stop them from scoring, they still managed to get another goal.


    It was a pretty scuffed one in the sense that it came from a lot of bounces inside the box and ended up being a deflection which Dave couldn''t deal with but still, a goal is a goal.


    They also managed to get one from a penalty and another one from a well-ced free kick from Mateo.


    It looked like Dave didn''t really do much to stop that because he got his hand on it but it just slipped off and fell into the goalpost, that''s not something that he will let happen in a real match.


    Those goals didn''te from high pressing or a counter-attack so Norman didn''t make anyments on it, if they went precisely by the rules of the practice session then those goals would be regarded except maybe the penalty because it was a chance that came from their high pressing while the free kick came from a handball which Minino caused on purpose.


    After that free-kick goal from Mateo, things started getting stale for the attacking team, and that was also after the coach had a quick talk with the defensive team.


    What it really looked like now was like Norman had just spotted all their attacking hit points and then prepared the best remedy for stopping them in those points.


    Norman got pretty aggressive with Mateo and was finding it easier to dispossess the winger with his tackles before he could do anything with the ball, and that was without fouling him.


    The link-up between Ferran and Fredinho down the middle seemed to have been cut off by Minino and Rnd was having loads of fun overriding everything Merino was trying to do with his clearly superior speed.


    The through balls were no longer getting through to the front three because Norman had them all figured and even whenever the defensive side happen to slip up a bit, Dave woulde through for them.


    Adolf was just all over the ce while Aima remain situated in the center to stop anything unexpected.


    Perhaps, this strong wall they seemed to have built up was a result of Norman advising them to not go hardcore with their attacks for now and leave themselves open on the back.


    They were still moving the ball forward to try and get a goal but it was nothingpared to what the attacking team were trying to do against them.


    However, they still managed to scuff out a goal, it came from a volley from Minino and the distance from which he did that looked pretty impressive.


    At the end of the day, the scoreline ended four goals to one but that didn''t mean anything, what mattered was how things yed out during the practice session, and Norman seemed to be impressed by the way the defense adapted to hismands now all he had to do was implement this in the match against Lazio.


    After that session, the training session came to an end and that meant that it was time for the yers to start heading back.


    "That was really fun," Dave remarked as he made his way down the locker room alongside Mateo.


    "Yeah, I scored a hat trick against you."


    "Yeah pretty impressive although I wasn''t really being serious."


    "I could tell." The winger said with a nod. "I know what you''re usually like in matches but the same can be said about me and everyone else, we will try way more than we did now in a serious match, that''s just natural instinct."


    "Hmm, fair point."


    <But that''s not what you meant>


    ______ _______


    Dave got home just a few minutes after driving off from the stadium and when he opened the door and entered the house, he found his wife fast asleep on the couch in the living room.


    "She''s back pretty early today." He said before making his way to her.


    He slowly sat down beside her and was about to ce his hand on her hand when she slowly opened her eyes.


    "Oh, you''re back." She quavered before blinking a couple of times.


    "Yeah, but you''re back way too early today."


    "I was feeling weird at work so I had to go see the doctor, my boss said I shouldn''t bothering back to work after that so that''s how I ended up here." She exined.


    "Oh, and what did the doctor say?"


    "He said I was okay, it''s just something normal for the stage I am in now."


    "Oh, and what about my baby girl?" He asked before cing his hand on her stomach.


    "He''s fine." She replied. "Anyway, I''ll be going for the ultrasound next week so you can finally see that he''s a boy."


    "I doubt that but maybe it''s a twin."


    "Identical twins of the male gender, right?"


    "Hey, can''t you just let me have something?" He said before shaking his head.


    "No, you can''t have anything." She said with a little chuckle.


    There was a little moment of silence between the two before she decided to say something.


    "Hey." She called.


    "Yeah."


    "I want ice cream."


    "Okay, do you want me to get it for you or can we go together?"


    "Ummm¡­let''s go together." She said before slowly sitting up on the couch.

 Chapter 421 Unexpected Quest

    ?


    The day for the face-off between Unique FC and S.S Lazio was finally here.


    The pitch was empty for now but the stands were slowly getting filled up with fans, fans from both teams.


    The whole area was starting to get lively as the yers from both teams were getting ready toe on the pitch for the pre-match warm-up.


    Thest time they faced each other, Unique FC yers had to take a trip to Italy to face them, and today, it was the Lazio team that came over to Bilbeth to try and get their revenge.


    Inside Unique FC''s locker room, the yers had already gotten ready to start heading off to the pitch but before they could do that, Norman had something to add to everything he had already told them.


    "You have to remember that we have to win this match to finish in first ce and go straight to the next round, if we finish in second ce, we''ll have to face any one of the dropouts from the Europa League and we know we don''t want that. So, remember everything I told you and make sure we beat them just like we did in the away match." He articted.


    After saying all that, he gave the yers the thumbs up, and without hesitation, they started making their way to the pitch.


    They arrived on the pitch just a few minutes before Lazio yers did and just like when they met during theirst match, someone like Andrea was happy to meet his opponents.


    He didn''t hesitate to make his way to Mateo who seemed to be discussing something with Dave.


    "Hey, Mateo and Dave." He greeted as soon as he got close to them.


    "Oh, hey, Andrea," Mateo said with a little wave.


    "Hey, Andrea," Dave said with both of his hands still in his pockets.


    "I see you guys have been trashing teams in thepetition, can''t say I''m really surprised after what you did to us."


    "We''re just doing our best," Mateo said with a shrug. "You guys are also in a pretty good spot now too."


    "Yeah, but we have to beat you guys to guarantee our qualification to the next round and that''s why we''re here today."


    "Yeah, we''re also here for the same reason," Dave said.


    "Uhu." The Lazio winger said with a smile. "Anyway, I have to run now, see you guys in the moment."


    "Alright."


    Andrea Enzo was one of the Lazio yers who was quite fluent in English so he didn''t really have any troublemunicating with Unique FC yers for the other yers who couldn''t understand or speak English thenguage barrier was there.


    But it''s not like they need to understand each other, they''re not teammates after all.


    "Here goes everything!" Rnd yelled before he raced toward the ball which was sitting on the edge of the box and fired it toward the goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying toward the right side of the goalpost with a little bit of elevation.


    It really looked like it was going to go in, but just before that could happen, Dave got the tip of his glove on it and pushed it further for it to hit the post and roll out.


    "Pretty nice shot, Rnd," Mateo said as he made his way to the left back.


    "Yeah, but he still saved it."


    "That''s okay, Dave''s not someone you can score against easily, just being able to make him stretch himself should be enough approval for you.


    <I feel like you''re bing less and less dependent on your skills, in the past you used to use Ball ma but now you rarely use it>


    ''Maybe that''s because we haven''t really faced any tough teams in a while but then again, I don''t really feel the need to use it like I used to, even in tough matches, I feel like current stats would be enough to take care of things if the baseline isn''t just keeping clean sheets.''


    <Oh, is that so?>


    With the scheduled match time now getting closer, the yers had to make their way down the tunnel to get ready for the match.


    After getting to the locker room, Unique FC yers changed into their custom-made home kit for the Europa Conference League, the orange in kit with ck outlines.


    Dave''s kit was ck but with orange outlines, just the opposite of the kit the rest of the yers were putting on.


    After changing into their kit, they made their way to the hallway where they met up with Lazio yers.


    They were putting on a white kit whose upper part seemed to have a little shade of blue to match their blue shorts, and as for their goalkeeper, he was putting on a lemon green kit.


    The yers stayed there for a while before they were finally given the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    The stands were filled with fans from both teams now, and as soon as the yers stepped into the light, things started getting lively.


    Most of the lively atmosphere wasing from Unique FC fans obviously but Lazio fans also looked pretty decent.


    "Wee everyone, it''s your favoritementator Jim Waterson back here again and with me today, I have Steve Jefferson as always."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Thank you, Jim, and wee everyone, it''s always nice to be here to talk about these matches and share my thoughts with all of you."


    "Yeah, it''s always nice. Anyway, Europa Conference League football is back and today we have the two best teams in this group so far going up against each other." Jim expressed. "Last time, Unique FC proved their dominance by destroying Lazio four goals to nothing and they did that away from home. Today Lazio visits them and I cannot even begin to imagine how this match will turn out."


    "Well, all the odds are pointing toward Unique FCing out on top just like they didst time but then again after that loss against the Bilbeth Premier League side, they''ve done quite well to retain a spot in second ce so there''s a chance that they could take Norman''s side by surprise," Steve reported.


    "Well, both sides would be happy with a draw especially Unique FC but I''m pretty sure neither of them wants that which is the reason why I feel like this match is going to be pretty interesting."


    After shaking hands with each other, the captains of both teams made their way to the officials for the coin toss which Unique FC ended up winning.


    "None of the sides have taken a major injury hit, Frankie may be considered a heavy injury hit if you consider the amount of work that he puts into each match but they still have Martinez so their squad is still in good shape," Jimmented.


    "Yeah, but now they don''t have a good backup for that position."


    Fredinho was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle, and while the referee was making sure that everything was ready, thementators decided to go over the formations for both teams.


    Surprisingly, Norman decided to go with the four-four-two formation for this match and his decision was to roll with three attacking midfielders instead of two just like he did in theirst match.


    Another weird thing was that he wasn''t starting Mateo as a forward like he would normally do.


    The two forwards he was using in the match were Fredinho and Merino.


    He had Mateo in the left attacking midfielder position, Ferran in the center, and Minino on the right.


    In defense, he had his starting defense because he couldn''t afford to mess up there.


    Lazio were rolling with the same formation but they were staying on the safer side with two defensive midfielders and two attacking midfielders.


    "Well, it looks like Norman''s n is to strike Lazio fast with his offense, but then again, if he wanted to do that why not put Mateo up front?"


    "Yeah, I''ve never seen Mateo start in midfield it''s weird but then again, he has the making of a great midfielder, let''s see how this turns out for both teams."


    The referee was about to start the match and so far Dave had not received anything for his match quest.


    ''What''s going on, Catherine?''


    <Umm¡­I don''t know, maybe it''s just a little dy>


    ''A little dy? The match is about to start.''


    <Don''t worry, it wille>


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Quest type: Conjoined ]


    [ Keep a clean sheet without the system''s aid ]


    [ Get a seven-plus rating without the system ]


    ''What''s with these without the system quests?''


    [ System shutdown ]


    As soon as that message appeared the system screen slowly disappeared like a television turning off due to a sudden power outage.


    ''What just happened?''


    <The system just shut down temporarily, didn''t you see thest message?>


    ''But how are you still talking?''


    <I''ve already told you numerous times, I''m not exactly part of the system, just a guide>


    ''Oh, so now that the system has shut down, I won''t be able to ess my unused stat points?''


    ''Oh, dear.''


    The referee had already blown the whistle to start the match but he didn''t even hear it because he was deep in his thoughts now.

 Chapter 422 Aiming Too High

    ?


    It had been three minutes since the match kicked off and so far Unique FC were still with the ball.


    They weren''t trying to rush things to avoid making any mistakes but still, it didn''t look like their attempts to get past their opponents were working so they stuck to moving the ball around while trying to drag them out for now.


    Dave had to snap out of his head after a while but he was still sort of pissed off that the system had to shut down like that.


    This wasn''t the first time the system was shutting down on him in the middle of a match but still, this felt like the first time to him, perhaps that was because of the quest he received which was tied down to the system shutting down.


    <I thought you said the relevance of the system was starting to fall out for you>


    ''If you''re going to say something I said at least quote me right, I never said the relevance fell off, just said I''m not that dependent on it anymore, and isn''t that a good thing?''


    <Yeah, it is and this quest will help you be even less dependent on it>


    ''Yeah, but if only I could ess my stat points¡­''


    <Well, that''s on you, I told you to put them into your stats, didn''t I? Dumping them all into your energy would have been great. Anyway, your stats are good enough to handle any match including this one>


    ''I''m aware of that, but this is a match mistakes cane from the defense and that''s where I have to make a¡­..Oh, never mind.''


    <Hmph>


    Rnd received the ball from Mateo who was forced to move back with it.


    The left-back had a yer quickly heading toward him so he had to send the ball back to Aima who quickly sent it rolling back to Dave.


    Dave got his foot on the ball with Carrigher quickly heading toward him, but before the striker could get to him, he sent the ball flying out to Minino.


    "Over to Minino."


    Minino brought the ball down with his chest and just before the midfielder close to him could do anything, he sent the ball rolling to Martinez who quickly pushed it forward to Ferran.


    "They''re pushing forward here."


    Ferran tried to dribble past the yer right in front of him but that was a mistake as the midfielder was able to neatly take the ball off his feet before he could do anything with it, Minino was there to take it off his feet with a neat tackle and get the ball back to the feet of Ferran.


    "Oh, that was nicely done by Minino."


    With the ball now back to his feet, Ferran quickly pushed forward with it before finding Merino a little to the right.


    Merino got his foot on the ball before quickly getting past the yer in his way with a neat roulette spin.


    He still didn''t have that space to make a full run into the box without taking any major risks of losing the ball so he found Ferran who was closing in on the edge of the box from the middle.


    Ferran got his foot on the ball before making contact with the defender right in front of him.


    He didn''t try to do anything selfish and just sent the ball back to Martinez with a backheel pass.


    The defensive midfielder got his foot on the ball and quickly sent it rolling to Mateo who was closing in on the box from the left.


    "Looking for Mateo."


    Mateo was immediately clustered by three yers as soon as he got his foot on the ball but he was able to dribble his way past two of the yers before nutmegging thest one with a pass to Fredinho.


    "He just fought his way around three yers."


    Fredinho received the ball inside the box but his path was immediately blocked by two yers to stop him from taking a shot so he had to send the ball back to Mateo.


    Mateo sent the ball flying in toward the box with his first touch.


    That was supposed to be set up for Merino but he wasn''t able to get to it on time so the ball ended up bouncing on the floor before rolling out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, there was no one there."


    "They should have done much more with that, they really put the pressure on Lazio there."


    With the ball now out of y, Lazio could finally get proper possession of the ball, Unique FC had been hoarding it until it went out just now.


    Lazio were trying to tread cautiously with the ball here, they knew what Unique FC were like from theirst match so there was no way they were going to underestimate them and try to be stupidly offensive as they did at home.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Andrea received the ball on the right from midfield but he had Mateo and Rnd quickly closing up on him, he sent the ball rolling back to the midfielder closest to him.


    Zahid got hold of the ball and without hesitation sent it rolling toward Carrigher who thought he found an opening to get past both Aima and Adolf but that didn''t work out quite well for him as Aima ended up bringing him down right at the edge of the box, maybe it was all part of his n as the referee ended up blowing his whistle before pointing to the spot for a foul.


    "Oh, looks like Lazio just won a free kick in a pretty good spot."


    Unique FC yers had some problems with that decision but it didn''t look like the referee was going to do anything about it.


    Andrea was standing over the ball now as Unique FC formed their four-man wall inside the box.


    "Andrea converted a pretty neat free kick against Virreal. Can he add another one to his free kick tally today?"


    "Maybe, but then you have to realize that he is up against Dave who hasn''t conceded a single free kick since the start of the season." Steve expressed.


    All Andrea was waiting for now was the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he slowly took three steps backward.


    "There''s the whistle, looks like it''s time to get that first shot of the game, off-target or on-target, it all depends on Andrea," Jimmented.


    Jim quickly closed up on the ball and curled it toward the top right-hand corner of the goalpost.


    "Andrea!"


    Just before diving toward the ball, Dave saw a sh of the ball falling into the goalpost and that would have been the case here, but he was able to get his left glove on it and that was all he needed to send the ball over the bar.


    "Oh, Dave pulls through for Unique FC once again, that was a pretty close save."


    "Yeah, good save as expected but now they have a corner kick to deal with."


    Zahid was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle with everyone else running around inside the box.


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle, and without hesitation, the midfielder sent the ball flying into the box.


    There was a sh between Adolf and Carrigher which caused the ball to fall off toward the left but before anybody could get to it, Dave dived toward it and grabbed it.


    "Looks like that threat has been thwarted and Unique FC are trying to start a counterattack here."


    The counterattack attempt came from Dave throwing the ball to Mateo who quickly sent the ball flying over to Merino up front.


    However, he wasn''t able to capitalize well with that chance and was double-crossed by two Lazio yers so the counterattack was thwarted but that didn''t mean that goal-scoring chance still wasn''t there.


    He quickly moved the ball to Ferran who immediately sent it rolling to Mateo who got past the yer right in front of him with a neat stepover.


    After that, he increased his speed as he was now looking to take on everyone to get into the box and that worked quite well for him as he managed to get past the two yers around him with neat ball control but just as he got inside the box, he was taken down from behind under a terrible challenge.


    "Oh, that doesn''t look great."


    The referee didn''t need any confirmation as he blew his whistle before making his way to the area to show the defender a yellow card.


    "Penalty for Unique FC, this could be the first goal of the match."


    It didn''t look like Mateo was suffering from any difort after that tackle as he was able to get up by himself.


    The penalty kick was left for him to take with everyone else behind him, all he was waiting for was the referee''s whistle.


    "Can Mateo Smith give his team the lead from this spot kick?"


    After making sure that nothing was out of ce, the referee blew his whistle, and now it was time to see what Mateo could do with this one.


    He slowly took two steps backward before he closed up on the ball and fired it toward the right.


    Jorge was glued to a spot, but unfortunately, Mateo seemed to have ced his shot too high as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before falling out for a goal kick.


    Lazio fans burst out in cheers as soon as they saw him miss the penalty and the same could be said about the yers who were jumping up now.


    Mateo had his hand on his forehead as Ferran walked up to him and ced his hand on his shoulder.


    "That was a horrible miss."

 Chapter 423 The Effects

    ?


    Mateo missing that penalty was a big relief for S.S. Lazio, there would have certainly been a drop in morale to a certain level if that ball had gone in.


    Their coach was screaming from the sidelines now, urging them to take things seriously.


    "That penalty miss may be something that mighte back to haunt themter, that''s his first penalty miss of the season having only taken five," Jimmented.


    "It maye back to haunt them, but Lazio will have to be sleek to make that happen and so far, they haven''t really done anything crazy to upset the home team, they may still have a few more cards up their sleeves so let''s wait and see." Steve articted.


    The match continued with Lazio moving the ball around trying to outsmart Unique FC and then hit them where it hurts.


    By this time in theirst match, they had already tried a lot of shots which ended up failing.


    This time, they were being conservative and putting what they learned from their first match against the Bilbeth Premier League side.


    It was obvious now that scoring with those long-range shots was something they could not really count on, especially with Dave in the goalpost so they had to try and be tactical this one to try and see if they could get revenge for the trashing they receivedst time.


    Zahid got hold of the ball on the right, and just before Mateo could close up on him, he sent the ball rolling to the other attacking midfielder who was moving down the middle now.


    He had the name Alfred written above the number twenty-one on the back of his jersey, and as soon as he got his foot on the ball, he sent it flying over to Andrea to avoid having to deal with Martinez.


    "Over to Andrea."


    Andrea slowly moved toward Rnd to try and see if he could disorient him with his rapid leg movements over the ball, but it didn''t look like it was going to work on the left back so he had to push the ball back to Zahid.


    He knew from thest match that carelessly trying to body his way through would most likely result in him losing the ball so, better safe than sorry.


    As soon as Zahid got his foot on the ball, he tried to move down the middle with it, but his path was immediately blocked by Adolf and Martinez was alsoing from the side.


    He could have lost the ball there, but he was fast enough to send it rolling to the left for the defensive midfielder there to get his foot on it.


    The yer pushed the ball forward a little before he sent it flying into the box toward the right.


    "Looks like he''s going for the kill here."


    Andrea quickly dragged his way past Rnd to get his head on the ball, but due to the pressure from Rnd being right on him, he ended up sending the ball over the bar for a goal kick.


    "And that has flown right over the bar," Stevemented.


    "Rnd did pretty well in preventing him from getting a good header on that, that could have been way more than a ball just flying over the bar."


    The match continued with both sides trying to get that opener, but so far that wasn''t really working out well for them.


    Unique FC had more ball possession but it wasn''t like they were dominating the game because they had only five more ball possession percentage than Lazio.


    However, one thing was pretty clear, their chances were better than the ones from Lazio but their finishing was still a bit shaky.


    They were the ones with the ball but they were in their own half of the pitch after a failed attempt to take Lazio by surprise.


    The match had just entered the thirty-eight minute now as Mateo evaded Zahid with a neat body feint before pushing the ball to Ferran who quickly pushed forward a little with it beforeying it off to Minino.


    "Minino."


    The midfielder had a yer quickly heading toward him from behind and instead of trying to move forward to prevent the yer from getting close to him, he paused and quickly moved out of the way.


    The defensive midfielder didn''t turn on his brakes on time, and while he was still trying to stop, Minino quickly dashed past him before sending the ball to Merino who had to send it back to him because he wasn''t in a really good position.


    Minino had to send the ball back to Martinez who quickly sent it flying over to Mateo.


    Mateo brought down the ball with his chest and because he had nobody on him at the moment, he was able to race down the middle until one of the midfielders dashed in from the side to try and stop him but Mateo was fast enough to chip the ball over him before jumping over him himself.


    After getting past the yer, he yed a quick one-two with Ferran at the edge of the box before getting into the box to receive the ball from the midfielder.


    Ferran had a yer sliding toward him right at that time and Mateo had a defender trying to reach him, but Ferran was able to chip the ball over to him right inside the box.


    The winger brought the ball down neatly and without hesitation fired it right through the legs of the yer in front of him to get it to the goalpost.


    The ball was sent flying toward the right side with a little bit of elevation but it didn''t have that much shot power to it so Jorge was able to get to it right on time to get both of his gloves on it, it was a pretty neat catch.


    "Nice save from Jorge."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "He should have added a little bit more shot power to that."


    The goalkeeper wanted to start a counterattack but it didn''t look like that was going to work because the defenders and also Martinez had already covered the spaces left on their side so there was no space for a counterattack.


    He threw the ball toward Zahid who got hold of it and quickly pushed forward down the wing with it.


    He was about to run into Mateo when he caught sight of Alfred on the right and quickly sent the ball rolling to him.


    "Alfred."


    The away team passed the ball around for a while until Zahid decided to make a move.


    He ran through the middle to receive the ball from the defensive midfielder on the left and just before Martinez could get to him, he sent the ball in toward Carrigher with a backheel pass.


    Carrigher had Adolf to deal with but he would rather not and just sent the ball rolling toward Andrea.


    Andrea raced toward the edge of the box and got to it before Rnd could.


    Everyone including Dave thought he was going to shoot but the winger shocked them all by sending the ball in toward the box with a low pass.


    Alfred beat everyone to get his leg on the ball, and even before Dave could react, the ball had been sent off toward his goalpost.


    He wasn''t able to make a full dive on time, but that wasn''t a problem as the ball ended up hitting the post before rolling out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that was so close, that could have been a great goal for Lazio to open the scoreline but it looks like it was not meant to be." Jim dictated.


    ''I wouldn''t have been able to save that if it had been on the right path.'' Dave said subconsciously as he slowly got up from the floor.


    <Yeah, that''s part of football, a goalkeeper can''t save everything, and sometimes the postes through for them>


    ''Yeah, that''s right, but why am I only getting this feeling in this match?''


    <Hey, just stay calm nothing''s going to go wrong if your team sticks together>


    ''I wasn''t overreacting.''


    <You sure about that?>


    The match had just hit the forty-fifth minute and right at that time, Lazio FC won a free kick twenty-five yards away from Unique FC''s goalpost.


    Andrea was standing over the ball now as the official with the board raised it to show that there was going to be just three minutes of added time.


    "A free kick from a pretty good spot, Andrea''s second attempt tonight, will he be able to see this one through?"


    Unique FC had their four-man wall right at the edge of the box with everyone else running around inside and around the box.


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle and now it was over to Andrea.


    He took in a deep breath before slowly taking two steps backward.


    After that, he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost with a neat curl.


    The ball was sent flying toward the right as Dave dived toward it.


    He thought he timed it correctly, but his mind ended up missing it by a few inches, the goalkeeper couldn''t believe his eyes.


    That could have been the moment, but the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over the bar.


    There was arge gasp from the fans after witnessing that free kick, that could have been such a good goal.


    "He came closer this time, should have kept it in a bit more."


    While the fans and his teammates were d that the ball didn''t go in, Dave was still on the floor with a certain thought going through his mind.


    ''How did I miss that?''

 Chapter 424 Once Again

    ?


    After that close call from Andrea, the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    "Well, it looks like the first half has finallye to an end. I was expecting some goals in this half but both sides have done pretty well to keep it goalless so far.


    "There were a couple of good chances that were sted to waste, a good example being Mateo''s missed penalty."


    "I think this half was pretty interesting, unlike the first half where Unique FC were just putting in goals despite not having that much dominance over the match, this time we''re getting a taste of what Lazio can really do." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, I like how they''re being creative with their chances instead of sting the ball pointlessly like they were doing in the first match. We''ll just have to wait till the second half to see who holds out longer." Jim articted.


    Unique FC yers were all in the locker room, and this time, it took Norman quite a well to get to the locker room because he had a couple of things to take care of first.


    "You guys have done pretty well so far." He said as he stepped into the locker room. "However¡­."


    "I was waiting for that," Merino said.


    "There have been a few leaks in our defense." He said before cing his hand on the board. "We''re just lucky they didn''t find a way to take full advantage of it.


    "I have a feeling he''s not done." Henry leaned closer to Minino to whisper.


    "You''re not wrong," Minino whispered back to him.


    "And then there''s the problem of screwing chances up, I didn''t use to worry about your horrible finishes because I knew Mateo would always finish most of the chances he got but then he missed a penalty and went on to miss a pretty good chance."


    "Looks like today is the day we thought would nevere," Rnd muttered to Mateo who was sitting right beside him.


    "Anything the matter Mat? I realize you don''t really look that cheerful today."


    "There''s nothing wrong with me, coach," Mateo said before shaking his head.


    "Really?"


    "Yeah."


    "Well, I''m not convinced, you better do well in the second half to convince me. Now, on to the matter at hand, it seems Lazio are ying better than we anticipated, and if we don''t pick up in the second we may take our first loss of this tournament."


    Obviously, Norman had no intention of letting his team lose so he had to pass on what he had learned to them, and he also had to find a way to minimize some of the mistakes he spotted in the first half.


    After walking the yers through everything, the coach made his way out of the room to give the yers the space they needed to clear their minds and get ready for the second half.


    ''Now that I can no longer see numbers and words in front of me, it feels weird.''


    <You think? Well, I guess that makes sense>


    ''I wonder, will I permanently lose this system one day?''


    <Even if you do, it doesn''t matter because you would already be in a pretty good spot if you keep going at this pace at least>


    ''So, you''re saying that I will lose it one day?''


    <I never said that>


    ''Of course, it''s another secret.''


    The yers rested up well in the locker room until they were informed to start making their way to the pitch to kick off the second half.


    "Wee back everyone, the second of the match is about to kick off as we can see the yers from both teams making their way to the pitch now," Jimmented. "The first half was pretty stale in terms of goals but both they have given us a pretty entertaining game so far."


    The voices of Unique FC fans were starting to go again now that the yers were back on the pitch and it just seemed like Lazio fans were no longer trying."


    Unique FC started the match from the kick-off spot in the first half which meant that Lazio were going to be the ones to do it in this half.


    Carrigher was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    The referee was making sure that everything was ready, and after that, he blew his whistle.


    "There''s the whistle, and we''re back into it."


    As soon as he heard the whistle, Carrigher pushed the ball to Alfred who immediately sent it rolling back to one of the defensive midfielders.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    It looked like the Italian side were just trying to y it cool for now because they didn''t seem to be trying to get through and were just moving back once any Unique FC yer got close to them.


    Unique FC kept pushing them back until they got to the edge of their box.


    That was when the defender who got hold of the ball decided to send it flying over to Zahid.


    Zahid had Mateo quickly heading toward him, but before the winger could get to him, he brought the ball down with his chest and sent it rolling to Alfred.


    "Alfred."


    Alfred was able to force his way past Minino before passing the ball to Carrigher because he knew that he couldn''t outrun the midfielder.


    "They''re pushing forward here."


    Carrigher pushed forward a little with the ball before passing it to Andrea.


    That was to avoid having to deal with Martinez.


    Andrea had to push the ball back to Zahid, and as soon as the midfielder got his foot on the ball, he sent it flying over to Carrigher.


    That wasn''t the best decision because the striker wasn''t in a really good position at that time, but he was able toe up with something.


    In order to avoid losing the ball, he headed it back to Alfred who got his foot on it and quickly yed the ball through for Andrea before Martinez could get to him.


    Andrea wasn''t able topletely get past Rnd, but all he needed to do was stick his leg through and get it to the ball and that was what he did.


    He got the heel of his boot on the ball and pushed it toward the farthest left.


    That was quite the tricky ball for Dave, but he was able to get the tip of his glove on it and redirect it toward Norman who immediately sent it flying out for a throw-in.


    "Well, that was surprisingly a close one, I didn''t expect Andrea to get his foot on that."


    "Yeah, it looks like he''s no longer intimidated by Rnd.


    The match continued with Lazio bossing the game because Unique FC seemed to have forgotten about their ball retention training, and their passes just weren''t clicking that well anymore.


    However, on the plus side, the defenders were doing pretty well in keeping the ball out.


    The Bilbeth Premier League side didn''t touch the ball for four good minutes and were only able to do so after a shot from Carrigher was sent flying over the bar.


    The time on the clock just hit the sixtieth minute as Rnd moved down the wing with the ball, and just before Andrea could get to him, he sent the ball rolling toward Ferran who pushed it to Minino immediately.


    Minino raced down the wing with the ball but he wasn''t able to get far with it, as Alfred ambushed him from behind to get his leg on the ball.


    Alfred was able to push the ball a little further, but before he could properly pick it up, Minino fought back with a slide that sent the ball rolling to Ferran who immediately sent it flying over to Mateo.


    "Well, he''s called the tiger on the pitch for a reason," Jimmented.


    Mateo had to send the ball back to Ferran, and after getting his foot on the ball, Ferran pushed a little forward with it before he suddenly turned and passed the ball to Martinez who quickly sent it flying over to Merino with his first touch.


    "Over to Mateo, looks like they''re starting to get back their touch."


    Merino slowly moved the ball toward the left back to give him the impression of trying to get into the box, and after imprinting that, he quickly took off down the wing and sent the ball flying into the box.


    The ball was headed back by one of the defenders but luckily it fell toward Ferran who quickly nodded it toward Mateo who was entering the box right at that time.


    He had the ball well ced for him as he pulled his leg back and fired the volley toward the bottom right-hand side of the goalpost.


    Jorge dived toward the ball and managed to get the tip of his gloves on it but it wasn''t enough as the ball ended up hitting the post before falling into the goalpost.


    "Mateo strikes! And he puts it into the!" Jim eximed.


    As soon as Norman saw that ball go in, a smile appeared on his face as he raised his hands.


    "They needed that goal and he came through with a wonderful strike,dies and gentlemen, it''s the wonder kid once again."

 Chapter 425 Last Minute Rush

    ?


    Having Unique FC score first against them was something Lazio had been fighting hard to prevent since the start of the match, and right now, Mateo just made sure that they wouldn''t be seeing that n through.


    He just came in like the wind and sted the ball into the goalpost to give his team the lead.


    The chanting from the fans just got way louder as the winger rushed to the sidelines pulling his shirt off before he could get there.


    "That was a wonderful strike from Mateo, a morale-shattering strike." Stevemented.


    His teammates caught up to him pretty soon and now their voices were going up in front of the fans.


    "There''s still a lot of time left for Lazio to strike back but it''s only a matter of if Unique FC will let them strike back, making aeback didn''t go so well for them in thest match."


    Now that the celebration was over, the yers had to return to the pitch for the match to continue and that was when Mateo was met with a yellow card for removing his shirt.


    He was really bothered about that, as he slowly walked past the referee while putting on his shirt over his blue vest.


    "All they need to do now is to see this through and they will be guaranteed to finish at the top of the table." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, and most importantly, it''s time to see how well Lazio has improved with their response sincest time, we all know Unique FC aren''t going to make this easy for them now that they have the lead." Steve articted.


    "You got that right, it''s a good thing Unique FC aren''t known for tantly passing the ball after securing a goal like this so we can still expect good football from them, I hope."


    All that was needed to put the game back into motion was the referee''s whistle, and at the sound of it, the game immediately resumed.


    Since the start of the match, Unique FC had not been that aggressive in chasing the ball and stuck mostly to winning the ball through tactical methods, but now it looked like they just switched up.


    Minino rushed toward Alfred as fast as he could, but before he could get to the midfielder, he sent the ball rolling to Carrigher who had the ball swept off his feet by Martinez as soon as he trapped it.


    The striker crashed down to the floor in the process and raised his hand to call for a foul but it didn''t look like the referee was going to give it.


    "Unique FC aggressively getting the ball back, looks that goal just fueled the hunger to get a second one."


    They knew best not to transfer their aggressive defense to attack because that would just mess things up for them.


    Ferran received the ball from Martinez down the middle, and just before Zahid could get to him, he sent the ball rolling to Mateo.


    "Mateo."


    The winger slowly moved down the wing a little with the ball before he sent it flying over to Minino on the other side.


    "Over to Minino on the other side."


    Minino brought the ball down with a neat trap as he was quickly surrounded by Alfred and the defensive midfielder in front of him.


    He knew trying to brute force his way through this one wasn''t going to work, so he sent the ball rolling back to Norman who quickly sent it rolling to Ferran as soon as he got his foot on it.


    Ferran quickly took off down the middle with the ball until he found Merino down the right and sent the ball rolling to him with a quick pass.


    The winger feigned taking the route down the wing to confuse the left back before he quickly turned and pushed the ball to Fredinho.


    There was still no clear opening to go through, so Fredinho had to pass the ball back to Ferran who immediately sent it rolling to Mateo.


    "They''re trying to find a way through here, really putting that pressure on Lazio."


    Mateo slowly moved toward the right back with the ball before he quickly pushed it to the right for Rnd who was just entering the area to get his foot on it.


    Rnd quickly got his foot on the ball and was about to make a quick run into the box when he was brought down by the defender there right at the edge of the box.


    The referee blew his whistle because that was obviously a foul but the defender wasn''t happy with that decision as he picked the ball up and fired it far away to the other side.


    "Looks like Unique FC have finally won their first close-up free kick of the game, they might actually get that second goal from this." Jim expressed.


    "I''m just wondering if they will call up Dave to take this one," Stevemented.


    Lazio were setting up their four-man wall inside the box now as both Ferran and Mateo stood over the ball with their hands covering their mouths as they seemed to be talking about something.


    "I don''t think they''re calling Dave for this one," Jim said after observing things for a while. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Yeah, I can see that, looks like it''s going to be either Mateo or Ferran, it''s probably going to be Mateo," Stevemented.


    Everything was set now, and after making sure there was nothing out of ce, the referee blew his whistle.


    "Looks like it''s time to find out who it''s going to be."


    As soon as the two heard the whistle, they turned their gaze to each other and nodded.


    Ferran quickly raced toward the ball and feigned firing it toward the goalpost before quickly moving out of the way for Mateo who was right behind him to get his foot on the ball and fire it toward the goalpost.


    Jorge was glued to the spot as the ball flew toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost and ended up hitting the crossbar before flying out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, my goodness! That was so close!" Jim eximed.


    After watching the ball go out like that, Mateo bit his lower lip before stomping his foot on the floor.


    "Jorge was literally glued to a spot, that could have been a nice second goal," Stevemented.


    "Yeah, but it looks like he aimed just a bit too high which is okay because he was always going to assume that Jorge will be able to go after it." Jim articted.


    <That''s one horrible miss>


    ''Yeah, he shouldn''t have gone that high.''


    Mateo had to get over that miss because there was nothing he could do about it now, the only thing he could hope for was to pray for another chance to make up for it and also pray that Lazio wouldn''t be able to get an equalizer against them.


    The match continued until the seventy-fifth minute when both managers decided to make a couple of changes to their teams.


    Ferran was reced by Harry, Pirlo came on to rece Aima and Fred came to rece Fredinho who had been oddly quiet since the start of the match.


    Lazio also made a couple of changes but the most noticeable one was removing Carrigher for their backup striker Leonardo Pedro.


    After those changes, the away team slowly began to get back into their stride, but still Unique FC were doing well in keeping them contained.


    Recing Carrigher with Leonardo was a pretty good move by Lazio''s manager because the striker was just more fierce and was linking up pretty well with Andrea, Zahid, and Alfred.


    Their attacks carried more weight to it now, forcing Unique FC to get a little too defensive.


    In the space of ten minutes, the away side had already made four shot attempts and none of those shots went over the bar or out from the side.


    The first shot which came from Leonardo from the edge of the box was nicely blocked by Adolf before it could get to Dave.


    The next two came from Andrea, he got past Rnd to fire the ball toward the goalpost but it went directly for Dave so he didn''t have any trouble stopping that.


    The second one was fired from way outside the box toward the right-hand side, but Dave dived toward it at the right time to grab it with both of his gloves.


    The smile on his face after catching that ball was quite wholesome and that was because he was beginning to pick himself up after the things that almost happened in the first half.


    Thest shot was the most fearsome one, a powerful strike from outside the box by Alfred.


    It was aimed toward the top left-hand side of the goalpost but Dave was able to get to it right on time and m it down for Roman to send it flying out.


    After those intense moments, Unique FC were d they were still leading but it was obvious that Lazio were starting to suppress them now, so when they got the ball, they decided to stall the game.


    There was only five minutes of added time left on the clock anyway.


    They passed the ball around mainly on their own side while Lazio yers chased the ball around desperately.


    Unique FC were good when it came to moving the ball around and despite the aggressiveness from Lazio, they were able to hold on to the ball until the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end.


    As soon as the yers heard that whistle they raised their hands in jubtion as the fans got louder.


    "There''s the whistle, Lazio FC just suffered their second consecutive defeat in the hands of the Bilbeth Premier League side. They will go on to face West Ham United and hope that Unique FC beat Virreal.


    "Unique FC on the other hand are through to the round of sixteen with flying colors."

 Chapter 426 Glow Up

    ?


    [ System online ]


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ +200 exp received ]


    [ +1 attribute point received ]


    [ +2 stat points received ]


    ''Yeah, I didn''t even get to see the quest rewards before the system shut down.''


    <Well, you''re seeing it now, thoughts?>


    ''Well, I mean I got an attribute point after not getting one for a while now so that''s a win, to be honest, I don''t really care that much for the other stats.''


    <Even the experience points?>


    ''I guess I need the experience points to get to the level where I unlock that new skill so I guess it''s still pretty important. You know what, I take that back, they''re all important, I''m getting the feeling I''ll stop getting stat points from quests if I don''t.''


    <If you think they''re no longer important then why are you worried about not receiving them anymore?>


    ''Because I still need them, they''re not that important anymore but I still need them to get my energy level as high as possible and be able to use my attributes in matches where they are really needed without running out of energy.''


    <Hmm, good answer>


    ''d you like it.''


    <Hey, stop acting like that, if I had human feelings you would be creeping me out now>


    ''You''re the one who creeps me out.''


    It was all jubtion on the pitch for the Uniques as they just flew past the group stage as the leaders.


    No one expected this from them, everyone thought they were going to crash out hard, and even if they managed to make it out of the group stage, it would be by barely clinging on to second ce.


    But right now, they just proved everyone wrong by dominating the group with five straight wins, they could pretty much do anything against Virreal now because that wouldn''t change anything.


    There were a lot of bigger teams in the other groups that thought they weren''t that strong of a team, but after seeing what they just did in a group with Lazio, Virreal, and West Ham United, they were surely going to be wary of them if they encountered them in the knockout phases.


    Lazio yers had to leave the pitch in disappointment, everything wasn''t over for them though, they just had to beat West Ham and hope that Virreal would lose or draw against Unique FC to make things easier for them because both teams were tied at seven points now with Lazio having a slightly higher goal difference.


    "We did it, bro, we''re through to the next stage at the top of the table," Mateo said in excitement before giving Dave a light punch on the shoulder.


    "Yeah, and you did quite a lot to make that happen." Dave smiled.


    "Yeah, that''s true, but ultimately, it was all team effort." The winger replied with a bright smile on his face.


    ''I haven''t really seen him this happy after a match since we started ying together.''


    <Well, this is a big moment for most of you including him, moving to your first knockout round of a Europeanpetition, I can''t really wait to see how far you guys can go>


    ''Well, then you''re in for quite a ride because we''re going all the way.''


    <Well, that possibility is there considering your group stage performance>


    To think that a team that struggled to make the qualifiers for thepetitionst season had already gone five matches without conceding a single goal against Lazio, Virreal, and West Ham United was quite mind blowing and that was the main reason why all the teams still in thepetition that had just witnessed their brilliance were starting to get a little worried.


    If it was all attack with a shaky defense or vice versa then they would have something to leverage on but this team was quite well packed at least from what had been seen so far.


    Their attack was a bit on the shaky side because of all the big chances they''ve missed right from day one but you could not deny the brilliance of their defense and midfield.


    Right at this moment, it seemed like Unique FC were right up there in the list of the favorites to win thepetition.


    After staying on the pitch to greet the fans and all that, it was finally time for the yers to start making their way down the tunnel.


    Some of them had already gone down but Dave and Mateo were part of the yers who decided to stay a little longer on the pitch.


    "Oh, there''s the both of you."


    The two were already getting close to the tunnel when they heard that voice from the side.


    They knew who it belonged to, and when they turned to their left they caught sight of Emma who was heading toward them now, and of course Amber was with her.


    "Oh, hey, sis," Mateo said before waving toward her but he didn''t say anything to Amber.


    She was pretty bent on not making any eye contact with him.


    "Hey, honey," Dave said with a smile.


    "Congrattions on topping the table, the Bilbeth Premier League is really proud of you."


    "I think the congrattions can hold off until we actually get that trophy." The goalkeeper exacted.


    "Being optimistic, I see," Emma remarked with a smile.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Yeah, so what do you guys want? I know you''re already done with the match interviews."


    "Yeah, but we want to ask my little brother over there some questions." She replied before pointing the microphone she was holding at Mateo.


    "Okay no problem, you can give the microphone to Amber."


    "Huh?"


    "Huh?"


    "Huh?"


    Amber was equally as shocked as the other two as she slowly raised her head to make sure she was still in the right ce.


    "You want her to be the one to ask you the questions?" Emma expressed just to make sure she heard him right.


    "Yeah, that''s what I said."


    "Okay, here you go Amber, you know what to do." She said before handing the microphone over to her.


    After taking the microphone from her senior, Amber took in a deep breath before turning her gaze to Mateo.


    "Can we move a little over here?"


    "Sure." The winger said before he began to move toward her.


    After watching the two move a little distance away from them, Emma slowly turned her gaze to her husband.


    "Did you do this?"


    "I would love to take the credit but no." He replied before shaking his head.


    "Who said I was going to give you credit?"


    "You weren''t?"


    "No, but still, it''s nice seeing that he''s not mad at her anymore. Anyway, I have to go now, see you at home, don''t bete."


    "Yeah, see you at home."


    After saying that, the goalkeeper turned and began to make his way down the tunnel.


    ''Can I see my post-match rewards now?''


    <Sure>


    [Post-match rewards ]


    [ Five crucial saves: +50 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded(0): +200 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 8.0 ]


    ''Looks like I did pretty well in contributing to this clean sheet.''


    <Well, you made pretty good saves without the system so yeah, worth it>


    The interview didn''tst for long as expected, and now that the camera was no longer pointing at them, Amber''s energetic voice slowly died down.


    Emma was just observing things from a distance with her arms crossed.


    "Alright then, I guess I''ll get going now," Amber said with an awkward expression on her face as she flung the microphone.


    "Wait a second."


    "Huh?" She replied before turning her gaze back to him.


    "I''m basically free tomorrow and since you will be working during the day, how about we grab dinner together?"


    "You want to grab dinner with me tomorrow?" She had to repeat those because she was never really expecting him to say something like that.


    "Yeah, I have a few things I have to say but I can''t say them here right now." He specified. "So?"


    "Sure, I''ll grab dinner with you."


    She really tried to control it but those words came out way too fast.


    "Alright then, I''ll speak to youter." The winger said before slowly walking past her.


    And while he walked away, Amber tried to act normal but something entirely different was happening inside her head now.

 Chapter 427 System Check

    ?


    [ Attributes ]


    [ Ball ying keeper ]


    [ Status: locked ]


    [ Attribute points required: 15 ]


    [ Attribute points: 07 ]


    ''Judging by how slowly I''m getting each attribute point, it''s going to take ages before I''ll be able to unlock that attribute.''


    <Yeah, I can see that happening>


    ''Hey, that''s not helping.''


    <What? I was just contributing to your pessimism>


    ''Yeah, right.''


    It was a free day for all the yers, and even though Dave nned to sleep in that morning, he got up early and couldn''t find any reason to go back to his bed, so he decided to run a fewps around the house, and after that, he picked up a ball and went into his practice pitch.


    Right now, he was sitting on the floor going through a couple of things in his system. It had been a while since he had seriously looked at anything there.


    ''I know shot-stopper will focus only on my strength as I level it and sweeper keeper on dexterity, what''s ball ying going to do?''


    <You''ll have to unlock it to find out>


    ''I know, I wasn''t asking you, I was just pondering in my mind. It doesn''t sound like it has anything to do with endurance so it''s definitely not that, I think it''s more dexterity-inclined more than anything but still, I have a feeling that isn''t right either, I have this feeling that it''s going to be somethingpletely unexpected. Maybe that''s why I really want to unlock it despite the fact that I don''t really need it with everything I already have, whatever it may be.''


    <Well, your mind sure wonders a lot>


    ''What do you expect me to do when you refuse to give me answers to questions like this? Anyway, I''m just going to take a look at this other stuff.''


    [ yer Profile ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ yer Level: 13 ]


    [ 100/100 HP ]


    [ 1255/2076 EXP ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Goalkeeping Skills ]


    [ Thrust: level(05) ]


    [ Ball ma: level(03) ]


    [ Focus: level (04) ]


    [ Double stamina: level (02) ]


    [ Goalkeeping attributes ]


    [ Shot stopper: level(02) ]


    [ 157/157 Energy ]


    [ Unused stat points: 37 ]


    [ Skill points: 18 ]


    [ Skill upgrade points: 151 ]


    [ Attribute points: 7 ]


    [ Physical Status ]


    [ Strength: 40 ]


    [ Dexterity: 70 ]


    [ Endurance: 46 ]


    [ Career info ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ Age: 21 ]


    [ Height: 187 cm ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Strong foot: right ]


    [ Developed qualities: Shot stopper ]


    [ Developing qualities: Sweeper Keeper, ball ying keeper. ]


    [ Current Team: Unique FC ]


    [ Status: Starter ]


    [ Market value: €1.5M ]


    [ Matches yed: 104 ]


    [ Goals: 5 ]


    [ Assists: 9 ]


    [ Shots faced: 335 ]


    [ Goals conceded: 93 ]


    [ Saves made: 247 ]


    [ Penalties faced: 31 ]


    [ Penalties saved: 07 ]


    [ Clean sheets: 23 ]<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    [ Career average rating: 7.6 ]


    [ Awards ]


    [ Man of the Match awards: 10 ]


    [ Trophies ]


    [ Minor trophies: ¡Á1 Bilbeth Charity cup ]


    [ Major trophies: 0 ]


    [ Records set/broken ]


    [ Bilbeth Premier League record: First goalkeeper to score from 42 yards ]


    [ Only goalkeeper to score twice and assist in a season ]


    [ Goalkeeper with the most consecutive clean sheets (06) ]


    [ First goalkeeper to ever score and assist in the same match ]


    [ First goalkeeper to directly contribute to three goals in a match ]


    ''I should really make use of all those skill upgrade points.''


    <Yes you should>


    ''I wonder how much pain focus will spare me if I level it up further.''


    <Level it up further and find out>


    [ Focus: level 04 ]


    [ 5/50 SUP ]


    [ -45 Skill upgrade points ]


    [ Level up ]


    [ Focus is now at level 05 ]


    [ Skill upgrade points: 106 ]


    ''This skill upgrade points always look plenty until you start to use them, let me just get it to six.''


    [ -60 skill upgrade points ]


    [ 60/60 ]


    [ Level up ]


    [ Focus is now at level six ]


    ''I guess it''s time to find out what changed.'' He said subconsciously.


    After going through the process of leveling his most painful skill to use, he got up from the floor and began to make his way to the gym to drag out his ball ster which he hardly ever uses these days because there was no longer any challenge in doing so.


    After dragging out the ball ster to the pitch with the balls that fitted into it, he filled it up with all sixteen balls and set it up in front of the goalpost.


    "Alright, let''s see how this works." He muttered as he slid his hands into his gloves.


    After that, he pushed the start button on the ster and quickly made his way to his goal line.


    [ Focus activated ]


    His surrounding suddenly went dark as the ster began to fire the balls toward him.


    Keeping out the balls from one to fifteen was super easy for him, and right at the sixteenth one when he expected the dark surrounding to clear, it remained there until he saved the sixteenth shot, and it was after that did the dark surrounding clear.


    ''Okay, time for the pain.''


    That thought was all it took to trigger the pain, but this time, he put quite an effort into trying to endure it as he ced his right hand on his forehead before cing his left hand on the post.


    It took three minutes for the pain topletely disappear so there wasn''t really any improvement there.


    ''Oh, the pain is still just as intense and the pain duration didn''t even get any improvements, what did leveling this skill up really do?''


    <Are you sure there wasn''t any improvement at all?>


    ''If you''re talking about the focus duration getting extended a bit, I don''t really see that as an improvement, all I wanted was for the pain to get less intense or at least reduce the duration, three minutes is way too long for someone to keep his mind void especially in the heat of a match.''


    <I don''t know, five seconds of focus extension seems pretty big to me>


    ''That was five seconds? It would have been better to deduct five seconds from the drawback time instead, it will be pretty negligible but it''s something.'' He ranted subconsciously. ''I love this skill but the drawback mechanics is just something else.''


    <Maybe you''ll get what you''re looking for if you keep leveling it>


    ''If you say that with certainty then maybe I''ll believe you, that maybe at the start is a big turn-off.'' He replied before crashing down to the floor.


    <You''re quite the character, Dave, but I''m sure you should know by now that there are some things you should just learn to live with it, some things don''t have fixes, so you just adapt to them>


    ''Yeah, I know, that''s the whole idea behind this skill I know, I''m starting to get used to the pain a little I guess, but I still don''t like it.''


    There was a little moment of silence both inside and outside of his mind as he slowly looked around the area.


    ''Thrust would have been such a neat skill to spam but then it has fifteen minutes of cool down between each usage which is sort of sad.''


    <You really can''t me me, I didn''t design the system, I''m only your guide>


    ''Alright, then, can you give me a straightforward answer for once as my guide?''


    <As long as I can, I will>


    ''Hmmm. Will leveling up thrust reduce its cooldown?''


    <Yes, by how much, I can''t really tell you>


    ''Hmm, I see.''


    *****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone that has been supporting the book so far, every bit of coin, power stones, GT etc, means a lot to me and I''m really grateful and hope you all keep on supporting me.

 Chapter 428 Minute Accuracy

    ?


    It was already noon in Unique City yet the streets appeared to be almost void of anyone, but that was normal for the city during this time of the season.


    While some of the countries surrounding them had already started getting snowfalls, all Bilbeth had seen was a few snowkes and that was just for the cities near the coast.


    The only way the citizens of Unique City could tell that they were in winter other than the calendar was that the weather was way colder than usual.


    While the weather required people to wear thick clothing lest they catch a code, what they were experiencing was nothingpared to those living near the coast.


    While the streets didn''t have many people moving around in them, the buildings were surely bustling with a lot of people.


    Cafes and restaurants where people brought their families to spend quality time during the holiday.


    While the cheaper restaurants were filled with lots of civilians and visitors who came to spend their holidays in the city, the expensive ones had fewer people in them, and wherever they were fewer people, famous people got less attention, and because of that reason, the ce was mostly filled with famous rich people.


    Being a country that had football as their most important sport, footballers were the most popr bunch of people in all the cities of Bilbeth, and then when you''re a superstar on the pitch, you dare not even take a walk on the street alone talk more of going to a space filled with lots of people.


    As the sun slowly began to set, the streets slowly began to be filled with people, and by the time the sky was dark, the streets had gotten pretty lively.


    Mateo agreed to grab dinner with Amber that evening and obviously, he had to take her to one of the expensive restaurants because dealing with a crowd was just not something he ever had the energy to handle.


    The restaurant was on the twenty-second floor of a pretty tall skyscraper, and the interior was pretty nice and the reception was really good.


    After getting there, the two got a seat and stood opposite each other.


    There was this awkward silence between them as they waited for their order to arrive, and Amber kept turning her head to look sideways, it was obvious she wasn''t feeling reallyfortable.


    Mateo on the other hand wasn''t really feeling the awkwardness even after their order arrived.


    It was after they began to eat that he noticed that she wasn''t really being herself.


    She had herself down the whole time so it was obvious she was avoiding his gaze.


    "Hey, so, how was work today?"


    He had to start a conversation to lighten up the mood.


    "Everything went well, nothing out of the ordinary happened, it just went well." She replied.


    "Oh, I see but can you please look at me when we''re talking? You''re the one who used to enjoy teasing me, what''s with all the timidity now?"


    After hearing him say that, Amber let out a sigh before slowly raising his gaze to look at him.


    "Yeah, I miss those days, sorry I had to mess things up." She sighed.


    "Yeah, you messed things up, but I think I may have overreacted a little, I''m sorry for that."


    "You''re apologizing?"


    "Yeah, for overreacting a little." The winger replied with a poker face.


    After keeping her gaze on his face for a while to see if anything would change, she let out a little chuckle before covering her mouth with her hand.


    "I really can''t take you seriously."


    "Huh? What''s funny?"


    "Uh¡­it''s nothing." She said before shaking her head. "I''m just d you''re talking to me again."


    "Me too." The winger replied. "So, do you have any ns for the holiday?"


    "I don''t really know, I may head over to Spain to spend a week or two with my parents."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Oh, I see." He uttered. "Maybe going to Spain would be nice." He muttered.


    "Huh?"


    "Nothing." He replied before shaking his head.


    "Okay."


    There was a little moment of silence between them before Mateo suddenly leaned a little closer to her.


    "Hey, by any chance did you tell Sofia about the past few weeks?"


    "No, I didn''t tell her anything about it." She replied, staring directly into his eyes.


    "Okay, that''s good." He said before getting back in his seat.


    When he got close to her like that, she was sort of expecting something else, but it turned out she was just way over her head, and now that he had backed away from her, she felt a sudden numbness in her heart.


    ______ _____


    The yers were given three days off after their victory against Lazio and that was Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.


    With the new week now here with the new day of Monday, it was time for the yers to put their pleasures to the side and return to training.


    Their match against Virreal was by no means an important match for them at least, but that didn''t mean they had to ck off, Norman wanted them to finish the group stage the way they started it, and he was keen on making sure that happened.


    Losing against Virreal just because they were already through to the next stage at the top of the table wasn''t really going to make anybody angry apart from Norman, but it would show just how rxed they could be in letting their guard down when they see things going their way, and that was something Norman didn''t want his team to be that.


    Before the start of the training, he told them that they were going to be doing something pretty special today, but it was mainly for the forwards.


    However, that didn''t mean everybody wasn''t going to take part in it.


    They started by running a couple ofps around the pitch, then they did some stretches and quick rondos.


    After all that, it was time for the special training session Norman told them about.


    They could already tell what it was going to be about because they could see one of the assistant coaches attaching a target right at the left-hand corner of the goalpost but it looked really small, and some of them doubted that a ball would be able to go through there.


    Now that the target was fixed, Norman turned his gaze to the yers to exin it.


    "I believe you guys already know the drill, just get the ball through the hole, from twenty-five yards out."


    "Okay, but isn''t that hole a little too small?" Harry inquired.


    "Yeah, it looks small but I think it''s just size meant for the ball to go through, that means we''ll have to be extra careful if we want to get the ball through," Mateo exined before Norman could say anything.


    "Nice observation, Mateo, perhaps you should go first."


    "Okay."


    The winger picked up one of the balls and dropped it on the spot just twenty-five yards away from the goalpost and after that, he slowly took three steps backward.


    A few millisecondster, he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the target.


    The ball flew straight toward the target and ended up smashing right through the hole to the surprise of everyone including Mateo himself.


    "That was nicely done."

 Chapter 429 A Bet

    ?


    Looks like Norman knew what he was doing when he chose Mateo to go first because now that the winger just sent the ball right through the stuffy hole, his teammates were now pressured to do the same.


    <That sure was some hit>


    ''Yeah, I''m not even sure I''ll be able to get that ball in there.''


    <Well, your uracy is slightly better than his, but at the end of the day, it alles down to your technique and the amount of shot you apply, he has you beat in those departments>


    ''Of course, he has me beat in those areas, he''s a winger, and I''m a goalkeeper.''


    <A very strange goalkeeper>


    So far, Mateo had been the only one to get the ball through the ball-shaped hole and that was because he has been the only person to attempt it.


    Right after him was now Merino who was standing over the ball twenty-five yards away from the goalpost.


    "If Mateo did it, then I''m sure I can do it." The winger said as he slowly took three steps backward.


    "Yeah, right we''ll see about that." Minino mocked from where he was standing.


    Merino ignored him as he slowly closed up on the ball elerating his pace the moment he got close enough to strike it with his foot.


    He struck the ball with his right foot and sent it flying toward the target, but the ball ended up hitting the post just right beside the hole, it was really close to going in.


    "Oh, that was so close." The winger cried before crashing down to the floor.


    "Hah, what happened to being able to do it if Mateo could do it?" Mininoughed.


    "Alright, Minino, it''s your turn," Norman said before giving him a little poke on the back of his head.


    "Oh." The midfielder muttered before making his way to the spot.


    There was a heap of balls lying there so he just picked one and dropped it on the spot.


    "Alright, wish me luck, boys." He said as he slowly stepped backward.


    "I wish you bad luck." Merino scoffed from where he was sitting on the floor.


    "Thanks, Merino, your bad luck is just all I need."


    After saying that, he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the target.


    He got really close to getting it through the hole, but it wasn''t meant to be as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying up.


    "At least I came closer than him." The midfielder said before turning his gaze to Merino who was still sitting on the floor.


    "Yeah, you came close but I don''t recalling close to scoring in a match counting for anything," Norman said.


    "If the goalpost was made to be that small, then I''m sure it would," Minino muttered before returning to where he was standing beside Mateo.


    "You''re up, Fredinho." The coach said after shaking his head.


    The striker made his way to the spot as soon as he heard his name, and after dropping the ball on the spot, he slowly took three steps backward.


    "Here goes nothing." He let out a deep breath before he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the target fixed on the top left corner of the goalpost.


    He got really close, but the ball ended up missing by a few inches as it hit the lower part of the target before falling into the goalpost.


    "Hmm, pretty impressive, if you had gone a bit higher you would have gotten it for sure." Norman expressed.


    "Thanks, coach, I''ll try to do better next time." The striker said before returning to where he was standing.


    "You''re up, Fred."


    "Sure thing." The striker said as he quickly picked up one of the balls and made his way to the area.


    After getting to the spot, he dropped the ball right there and slowly took three steps backward.


    He paused for a while and took in a deep breath before he quickly closed up on the ball.


    He struck it with his right foot with his aim being the target, but his uracy seemed to have gone off a bit as the ball ended up moving away from the target a little too much and hitting the crossbar right at the middle.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    After watching his uracy fail him like that, the striker slowly bent his head.


    "Ouch."


    Norman didn''t really have anything to say to that as he proceeded to call the next person.


    "You''re up next, Ferran."


    The midfielder didn''t say a word as he slowly made his way to the spot and dropped the ball there.


    After that, he slowly took three steps backward before quickly closing up on the ball.


    He struck it with his right foot and sent it flying toward the target, but just like Minino, he ended up missing it by a few inches as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar.


    "That was close." He mumbled before slowly returning to his position.


    "Rnd."


    "Coming." The youngster said as he quickly made his way to the area.


    He dropped the ball on the spot before taking just a step away from it.


    He wasn''t in much of a haste to kick it as he observed the target from where he was standing for a while before turning his gaze back to the ball.


    ''This is really tough, how did Mateo even get the ball through there, you have to make sure the whole ball is in the track to enter the hole to make the short, if just a side of it is outside then it won''t go in. He obviously had a little bit of luck on his side.''


    After going through all those thoughts in his mind, the left-back pulled his leg back and fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    Unlike the others before him, he didn''t go for a normal strike, instead, he went for a lobbed shot.


    The ball flew toward the target from the top, it was heading right toward the target, and ultimately, it ended up going through the hole.


    "Yes!" The wing-back shouted before raising both his hands with a bright smile on his face.


    "Wow, you did it, buddy," Minino said with a nod of approval.


    "Good job," Mateomented.


    "Nice kick, Rnd."


    "Thanks, coach."


    Everyone else who came after the left-back failed to put the ball in the hole, until it was finally time to take the shot and see if he could put it in.


    He had been expecting a quest since he had been watching his teammates take their own, but that didn''te, and now that he was standing over the ball, he knew it wasn''t going toe.


    "I''m just a goalkeeper so nobody should me me if I fail to put it in." The goalkeeper said as he slowly took three steps backward.


    "A goalkeeper who can score from the goalpost, yeah right, your goal expectation is just as high as some of us here, so you''re in the same boat here." Minino expressed.


    <He is sort of right>


    Dave didn''t reply to her as he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the target.


    Straight up the ball was sent flying toward it, but because some parts of the ball weren''t in the right path, the ball ended up hitting the right part of the target before falling into the goalpost.


    "Well, I tried my best." He said with a shrug.


    "You did better than most people, that''s for sure," Mininomented.


    "Hmm, almost all of you did pretty well, but let''s move it up a notch," Norman said.


    "And how do we do that?" Dave asked.


    "Whoever puts the ball in there from the center of the pitch gets two hundred pounds from me."


    That was all he needed to get them hyped up because everyone had their gaze on him now because they believe they didn''t hear him right.


    The money was obviously nothing to them, but whenever there was a bet involved in a training session, things got a bit serious.

 Chapter 430 Confirmed

    ?


    Betting two hundred pounds was enough to get the yers hyped up, and Norman liked that, but even after giving everyone three tries each, none of them were able to put the ball into the hole.


    "Uhh, damn it." Dave damned after watching his third effort hit the crossbar before flying over the bar.


    "Well, it looks like none of you will be getting that two hundred pounds, but you all did pretty well, good job," Norman remarked before slowly turning away from them.


    "I really needed that money," Minino muttered with a sigh before getting up from the floor.


    "Seriously, you really needed two hundred pounds?" Merino expressed with his gaze on the midfielder.


    "I think want was the right word to use there," Gregory said.


    "Shut up, you two, I know what I''m saying."


    "Whatever you say," Merino muttered before slowly walking away from him.


    Before bringing the training session to an end, Norman talked to his yers about some of the tactical decisions he was nning for the match against Virreal and see what they thought about it.


    After some minutes of speaking with his yers, the yers were allowed to head home and rest up.


    They still had two days before the match, and they were going to be using those days to train.


    [ +10 exp received ]


    That was the confirmation reward forpleting another training session, and the goalkeeper received it just as he made his way down the tunnel.


    It didn''t take long for the yers to change out of their training outfits, and before long, they were all in their cars heading straight home.


    ''Today''s training session was pretty enjoyable even if I failed to get the ball in the hole even once.''


    <You weren''t really trying hard enough>


    ''Yeah, but it doesn''t really matter, a lot of times, these kinds of target practices require luck, I just wanted to see how well mine could work for me.''


    <Yeah, you''re right external factors, and just like you said luck y quite the roles in football, just like Rnd who isn''t even among the top five yers with the best uracy in the team was able to put the ball through>


    ''Exactly, he put in the work required and got a touch of luck, you can''t get lucky without trying.''


    It took him just a few minutes to get home, and after parking his car in the usual spot which was just randomly, he got down from it and made his way to the building.


    It was already 4:55 in the evening so he assumed that his wife would be home, and he was right because just a few seconds after he closed the door, she popped up from the staircase.


    "Oh, hey, you''re back, wee back!" She said in excitement before taking a step down.


    "Uh, am I missing something?"


    "No, I was just wondering¡­."


    She wasn''t able to finish that statement as she suddenly missed one of the steps, stretching her right too far away from the other one and causing her to fall right on the stairs.


    She held onto the rails right on time to prevent herself from tumbling but she wasn''t looking okay now.


    "Emma." Dave gasped with a horrid look on his face before quickly making his way to her.


    "Ugh¡­." She groaned before slowly shifting toward the wall to rx her back on it.


    "Hey, are you okay?" He asked with his hand on her back as soon as he got close enough to her.


    "I think so." She responded with a weak so.


    "What do you mean you think so, are you feeling pain anywhere, is there blood?"


    "Blood? I think I feel a little wet down there." She said before dipping her hand into her cloth.


    When she pulled it out, there was just a tiny bit of blood stain on her finger.


    ''No, no, no, this is how it always happens in those movies.''


    <I think you''re a little way over your head>


    "Emma, we have to visit the hospital now."


    "Okay, that''s a good idea."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He didn''t hesitate in picking up, but he knew he had to be gentle especially when heading down the stairs.


    After getting off the stairs, he quickly made his way downstairs and to his car, he started the engine as fast as he could and zoomed off toward the hospital.


    ______ ______


    He drove as fast as he could to get to the hospital before it was toote, and right now, he was busy pacing up and down in the waiting hall.


    <You really have to calm down man>


    ''You know this is really one of those times that I wish I could just turn you off, just let me be.''


    <Well, an option for that does exist, you just have to find it by yourself>


    The goalkeeper just ignored her and continued his pacing, but he eventually had to sit down well, because he had been standing for a while and so far, no one hade out to give him any response.


    A few minutes after sitting down, the doctor opened the door and stepped out of the room.


    "Hey, doctor, is she okay?" He sprang up from his seat as soon as he saw the doctor.


    "Calm down, Dave, your wife''s okay, but it''s a good thing you decided to bring her here."


    "She''s really okay?"


    "Yeah."


    "Oh, thank goodness." He said before letting out a sigh of relief. "Can I see her?"


    "Sure, go ahead."


    As soon as he got the go-ahead order, he proceeded to make his way to the room where he found Emma lying on the bed.


    "Hey." She smiled as soon as she spotted him.


    "I am so d you''re okay." He muttered under his breath as he made his way to her and sat down beside her.


    "Me too, I don''t like seeing you worried."


    "Don''t worry, I''m not worried now that you''re okay." He stated before grabbing her hand.


    "He said I''ll be okay if I just don''t move around too much."


    "Okay, that means you''re not going to work tomorrow."


    "Yeah, I guess."


    "I''m d you and my little girl are okay."


    After hearing him say that, Emma didn''t say anything for a while before suddenly bursting into a feat ofughter.


    Each time she tried to say something, her words ended up getting drowned in herughter.


    "Hey, what''s so funny?" He asked with a confused expression on his face.


    "Why don''t you ask the doctor behind  you?"


    ''I see where this is going.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously before turning his gaze to the doctor.


    "Oh, yeah, Dave, I forgot to tell you, I did the ultrasound scan, and it turns out your wife is carrying a male child."


    "Oh, I see." He said before turning his gaze back to his wife who had a smug look on her face now.


    "See, I told you so, I knew what I was carrying."


    "I guess you were right, we''re going to have a son, that is so awesome." He chuckled before leaning closer to hug his wife who seemed a bit confused.


    In the end, she shook it off before cing her hand on his back.


    "Yeah, so awesome."

 Chapter 431 Attempt A Shot

    ?


    The day for thest group-stage matches of the Europa Conference League was finally here.


    The day Virreal had really been looking forward to, to them it was like thatst exam you knew you prepared for but were afraid you were going to fail mainly because of how difficult it could be.


    On the other hand, the match didn''t really mean anything to Unique FC because whatever the oue may be, nothing would change for them.


    However, they still wanted to win and that was mostly because of Norman.


    The Bilbeth Premier League side had to travel to Spain the first time they faced Virreal which meant that the yellow submarines were the ones who traveled over to Bilbeth this time to try their shot in qualifying for the next round of thepetition.


    They arrived at Unique City yesterday evening, and even some of them got to meet some of the Unique FC yers.


    The match was set to kick off in the next forty minutes, and in the meantime, the yers from both teams were all on the pitch warming up.


    "I know this is weird, but right now, this really feels like one of those pre-season matches to me," Dave said before passing the ball to Mateo who was just opposite him.


    Mateo didn''t trap the ball and just sent it rolling toward Ferran who was on his right with his first touch.


    "Yeah, I''m getting that feeling too, and I guess it sort of makes sense." The midfieldermented before he sent the ball rolling to Minino on the other side just before Rnd could get to him.


    "Well, there''s absolutely nothing on the line," Merino remarked before he sent the ball rolling to Mateo. "For us at least."


    "Yeah, you guys are right," Mateo said before lobbing the ball over to Dave. "But you all heard coach, we have to win, and if he says we have to win, we have to win."


    "Who said we''re not going to try our best to win?" Dave replied as soon as he trapped the ball under his foot.


    Rnd quickly rushed toward him at that time, and before he could try to evade him with the ball, the defender got the ball off his feet and sent it rolling to Ferran.


    "I mean it''s not like we didn''t take the pre-season matches seriously." The goalkeeper said as he got in the middle. "I can''t really speak for the others but I know I took it seriously."


    They continued their conversation that way for a while and only broke up just a few minutes before they had to go down the tunnel to get ready for the match.


    Unique FC yers quickly made their way to the locker and slid into their custom orange kit before making their way to the tunnel''s exit where they met up with Virreal yers.


    They were putting on ck kits with yellow outlines and single yellow stripes on both sides of the shorts while their goalkeeper was putting on a green kit.


    There was this myth that Virreal didn''t y with any other than their yellow home kit but finally today, the Unique FC fans who believed that could finally see that it was just a myth.


    The yers waited there for a while before they were finally given the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    The fans were all cheering as the yers matched their way to the pitch alongside each other.


    "Wee everyone! It''s your regrmentator Jim Waterson, and as always, I have your favorite comentator Mr. Steve Jefferson with me here in the studio."


    "Hey, everyone, and wee to another Europa Conference League match, this time, one team has everything on the line while the other team has absolutely nothing to lose."


    "That''s the best way to put it, Unique FC could walk away with a seven-goal loss here and not feel anything the only person that would affect would be Lazio who are also about to start their match against West Ham United. However, I don''t think Virreal can score seven against Unique FC at least not now, I know the Bilbeth Premier League side are nning to not make things easy for them."


    The captains from both teams made their way to the officials now for the coin toss, and in the end, Virreal ended up winning.


    "Just before the match kicks off, let''s take a quick look at the lineups," Jimmented.


    Unlikest time, Virreal were sticking with the four-four-two formation with this match and they had Conrad up front alongside Fraser.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    It also looked like they were going to be more attack-focused for this match because they had three attacking midfielders up front and just one defensive midfielder, this could backfire against them if not well executed.


    Unique FC on the other hand were ying with their standard four-three-three formation, maybe Norman discovered that his team wasn''t given maximum output with the formation he used against Lazio.


    He had Mateo, Fredinho, and Carlos up front, in midfield he had Harry and Merino as the attacking midfielders and Martinez in the defensive midfield position.


    The back line from the right was Norman, Aima, Pirlo, and Rnd, yes the captain was on the bench for this one which meant that Carlos was the one with the captain''s badge.


    [ Conjoined quest received ]


    [ Keep a clean sheet ]


    [ Make at least four crucial saves ]


    [ Attempt a shot ]


    ''That''s a new one.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he made his way to the goalpost.


    Conrad was standing over the ball in the kick-off spot waiting for the referee''s whistle, and after making sure that everyone was ready and in position, the referee blew his whistle.


    "There''s the whistle and we are rolling."


    Conrad quickly pushed the ball to Antonio who quickly sent it rolling to Fraser.


    "They have everything on the line, they have to beat Unique FC and hope that Lazio loses or draws against West Ham United, that or they beat the Uniques with a high scoreline which is highly unlikely." Jim articted.


    So far, Lazio had not made any attacking attempts and were still passing the ball around mainly in their own half as they were trying to draw out Unique FC''s defense.


    That was until the ninth minute when Antonio got his foot on the ball and quickly sent it flying to Fraser down the right.


    The ball flew straight to the winger who brought it down with his chest.


    He quickly cut past Harry with neat ball control but before he could go any further, Rnd took the ball off his feet and quickly sent it rolling way back to Dave.


    "Dispossess Fraser and sends it rolling back to Dave."


    As soon as the ball got to the goalkeeper, he trapped it under his foot before pushing it forward a little with Conrad quickly.


    ''Hmm, how about we do thatst part of the quest now?''


    Just before Conrad could get to him, he pulled his right foot back and fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    "Dave''s going for the kill!"


    Jeremy quickly returned to his goal line as soon as he saw the balling, and he was fast enough to dive toward the right and get his hand on the ball, as the ball ended up hitting his hand before hitting the crossbar and flying over the bar for a corner kick.


    "Oh, my goodness! That was so close!"


    "What the heck was that?" Jeremy muttered under his breath with his face still on the floor.

 Chapter 432 Chill First Half

    432 Chill First Half


    That strike from Dave forced out quite a loud gasp from the fans, especially the away fans who had never seen the goalkeeper attempt something like this before.


    "That was a pretty close call from Jeremy, Dave just forgot about everything and decided to try his luck from the goalpost, what a goal that would have been?" Jimmented.


    "Yeah, what a goal that would have been. Jeremy did well to keep that out, but now they have a corner kick to deal with."


    Rnd was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle as the yers from both teams ran around inside the box.


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle, and as soon as Rnd heard it, he slowly took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying in.


    There were a lot of yers in the area getting ready to either send the ball away or attempt to send it into the goalpost.


    One of the defenders in the area ended up nodding the ball back, but the ball ended up falling toward Pirlo who brought it down with his chest, and without hesitation, fired it toward the goalpost.


    "Pirlo!"


    Jeremy was glued to a spot as the ball flew directly toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost and ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that was so close!"


    After watching his effort go to waste like that, Pirlo shook his head with both of his hands on his waist before quickly running back to his position.


    "That''s two missed chances from Unique FC."


    Virreal CF were on edge right from the time Dave fired that shot from his goalpost, and now they could finally catch their breath a little.


    "Let''s see how the Spanish side are going to react."


    Virreal knew they had to be really careful to beat Unique FC because any little mistake and they would be doomed.


    This was a very important match for them so getting doomed was not an option.


    Antonio received the ball right down the middle of the midfield, and just before Minino could get to him, he pushed it to the other midfielder on his left who immediately sent it rolling back toward one of the defenders, the left back to be precise.


    "They''re doing pretty well in keeping the ball away from Unique FC."


    All it took to ruin that was one sloppy pass to the right attacking midfielder.


    Mateo quickly cut in from the side to steal the ball while it was still in motion and just before anyone could do anything to stop him, he sent the ball rolling to Fredinho.


    "Over to Fredinho, this could be their moment!"


    Fredinho put the ball right through the center-back''s legs before quickly running past him to get into the box, and just before the goalkeeper could get to him, he chipped the ball right over him and into the goalpost.


    "And he makes no mistake!"


    The fans immediately burst into cheers of jubtion as the striker quickly raised toward the sideline with Mateo right on his trail.


    "They have proven time without number that they are the best this group has to offer, a terrible mistake from Virreal and they got properly punished for it." Jim expressed.


    The voices of the yers were now going up in front of the fans and Minino was gesturing to the fans to keep cheering.


    "They have now started the journey to their sixth Europa Conference League group stage win, and if they manage to pull this off, they''ll join West Ham United as the only teams to pull this off." Jim articted.


    "It''s quite ironic that that same West Ham United are on the verge of losing their sixth group stage game, they really didn''te prepared this season." Steve expressed.


    The match continued with West Ham United trying to find an opportunity to take advantage of their opponents, but so far nothing was working for them.


    Unique FC were doing pretty well in keeping them contained.


    Antonio got the ball back from Fraser after he almost lost it to Rnd.


    Martinez quickly closed up on the midfielder as soon as he got his foot on the ball, but before he could get close enough to him, he pushed the ball to Conrad who immediately sent it rolling to Fraser before making a quick run into the box.


    Fraser got his foot on the ball and quickly cut down through the middle to avoid Rnd.


    As soon as he got away from Rnd just for a few seconds, he sent the ball flying into the box toward Conrad.


    Conrad got away from Conrad to get his head on the ball, but unfortunately, his effort was sent flying over the bar.


    "Oh, that could have been something!"


    The striker didn''t think much of that as he slowly shook his head before he began to jog back toward his size.


    The match continued till the fortieth minute with neither side being able to find the back of the, but Virreal were slowly starting to pick themselves up.


    For the first thirty minutes of the match, they struggled to get off any good shots, but from that point onward, they started to make some impact against the home side.


    Fraser started to cooperate pretty well with Fabinho, the attacking midfielder on the right to get past Rnd and they managed to create some pretty good chances from their exploits down that right wing, but most of them weren''t that much trouble for Dave.


    The only one that came really close to going in was a strike from Antonio just from the edge of the box.


    That was quite the slippery shot because the midfielder fired it toward the bottom left side of the goalpost with no elevation at all.


    Dave was just able to get to it in the nick of time with the tip of his gloves.


    The ball ended up hitting the post, and just before it could move any further, he covered it with his whole body.


    It was quite ironic how the Spanish side ended up attempting more shots than their opponents in just a short while.


    Well, that was because Unique FC just as always were being really conservative.


    After that goal from Fredinho, they only attempted four more shots, but none of those really came close to going so they''re really not worth mentioning.


    Virreal tried their best to get that equalizer before the halftime break but they failed to achieve that as the referee blew his whistle twice to finally bring the first half to an end.


    "There''s the whistle, the first half is done and dusted with Unique FC still with the lead," Stevemented


    "Well, that was a pretty bnced first half, I expected Unique FC to be a bit more aggressive but I guess it makes sense that they want to take things easy. I just wonder how the second half will y out."


    With the yers matching out of the pitch, the statistics board showed the summary of how the first half yed out.


    Unique FC had sixty-one percent ball possession while Virreal had thirty-nine, and as for shots, the home side had seven with just three being on target while the away side had twelve shots with just three being on target.


    There were no cards which meant that both teams have kept it clean so far, but there was a chance that the second half was going to be a whole different case.

 Chapter 433 About To Get Interesting

    433 About To Get Interesting


    Back in the locker room, Norman didn''t have much to tell the yers apart from the fact that they had to be more aggressive in the second half.


    They were doing pretty well in the first few minutes of the first half until Virreal began to get more aggressive, if it wasn''t for their defense, their opponents would have gotten an equalizer by now.


    Norman had some things to correct but unlike the other matches where they had a lot on the line, he wasn''t raising his voice or trying to call out anyone specifically.


    All he was telling them was to either go hard and get a second or third goal or put everything they had into their defense and make sure the scoreline stayed the same.


    After talking to the yers for a while, Norman finally left the room to give them some alone time before they would have to head back to the pitch for the second half.


    The yers stayed in the locker room for a while before they were finally told to start making their way to the pitch to kick off the second half.


    "Wee back everyone, the yers are making their way back to the pitch now as the second half is just about to kick off," Jim announced.


    "Virreal really have to step up their game in this half, they have everything on the line whilst for Unique this feels just like a friendly match but they''re still not cking off because of that." Steve articted.


    Virreal were the ones to start the match from the kick-off spot in the first half which meant that Unique FC were going to be the ones to do it in this half.


    Fredinho was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Minino.


    "There''s the whistle and we are back into the game."


    "I don''t even know what to say at this point, in the other matches, I expected the teams to put up some sort of effort against Unique FC but in the end, the Bilbeth Premier League side ended up outssing them. Although this situation is a bit different, Virreal should be hungrier for the win but I have a feeling the home team are just as hungry for the win as they are." Steve articted.


    Unique FC passed the ball around on their side for a while before straight up going for an attack.


    It all started as soon as Martinez received the ball from Minino and sent it flying over to Carlos down the right wing.


    The winger had yersing toward him from the front and back so after bringing the ball down, he quickly sent it rolling to Harry.


    "Harry."


    Harry feigned firing the ball toward the goalpost before he quickly pushed the ball back to Martinez with a backheel pass.


    As soon as Martinez got his foot on the ball, he quickly sent it rolling to Rnd on the left side.


    Rnd quickly pushed down a little with the ball before pushing it forward to Harry who had Mateo quickly heading toward him at that time.


    "They''re going all out here."


    All Harry did was give the ball a little push for Mateo to take it.


    The winger quickly dragged down the edge of the box with the ball, and just before he could attempt to cut into the box with the ball, he was brought down under a terrible challenge before another yer came andnded on top of him.


    "Oh, dear, that doesn''t look good," Jimmented.


    The referee blew his whistle as he slowly made his way to the area.


    It didn''t look like the defender was going to be let off lightly as the referee seemed to be reaching deep into his pocket, and just like everyone guessed, he brought out a yellow card to show the defender.


    "Looks like we just got the first booking of the game."


    "Yeah, and now Unique FC now have a free kick in a pretty good spot, this could be their chance to double it," Stevemented.


    It was obvious that Mateo was going to be the one taking the free kick as he was standing over the ball now while Virreal set up their four-man wall inside the box.


    "Mateo''s stepping up to take the free kick, can he give his team that second goal?"


    The referee made sure that there was nothing out of ce before he blew his whistle, and now it was time to see what the winger could do with this one.


    their advances.


    17:00


    It seemed like Norman was quitefortable with his team and believed that he had the match in the As soon as he heard the whistle, he slowly took three steps backward and paused for a while before he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost.


    "Mateo!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top left-hand side of the goalpost as Jeremy quickly took off toward it.


    He managed to get the tip of his glove on it, but that wasn''t enough to stop it as the ball ended up hitting the post before smashing right into the.


    "And he puts it in!"


    As soon as the winger saw the ball fall into the, he raised his hands as his teammates quickly rushed toward him.


    "That was mesmerizing! The wonder kid striking from a spot kick once again!"


    The fans were left aghast after witnessing that spectacr free kick from the winger, even some of the opposing fans couldn''t help but apud him.


    Virreal yers on the other hand were in shambles at this point.


    They came to this match with the hope of winning with at least a goal but right now it felt like everything was crumbling right in front of them, it was devastating.


    "That goal takes them two goals up and leaves Virreal in a devastated state, it''s going to be pretty hard for them toe back from this one."


    "Let''s go!" Dave yelled from his goalpost before raising both of his hands.


    "Unique FC are quite determined toe out of this group with just victories and with that goal I can see that happening more clearly now."


    After that goal, Virreal became quite aggressive especially when chasing the ball but still things weren''t working out quite well for them because the home team were doing quite well in blocking their advances.


    It seemed like Norman was quitefortable with his team and believed that he had the match in the bag because that was the only exnation that could be given for the kind of substitutions he made in the sixty-second minute.


    He made four substitutions at that time and some of them were pretty questionable.


    The first one was pulling out Mateo and recing him with Henry, then he reced Minino with Edward.


    Rnd was reced by Jonas and then finally Fredinho was reced by Gregory.


    "Looks like Norman is pulling out the yers he wants to rest for the next part of the tournament or maybe he''s being cautious and trying to avoid injuries."


    <I have a feeling things are about to get interesting>


    ''Yeah, I''m getting that feeling too, and it''s not in a good way.''

 Chapter 434 Wasnt That Much

    ?


    When Catherine said that things were about to get interesting, well she was onto something.


    Now that Rnd was no longer on the pitch, Fraser was beginning to run riot on the right side of the pitch.


    He received the ball from Antonio just as Jonas was heading toward him, but just before the left-back could do anything to stop him, he trapped the ball with his chest and sent it flying over the left-back with a neat flick.


    "Wooah!"


    That could have ended badly for Unique FC if Pirlo had not been fast enough to brush the ball off the winger''s feet and send it out for a corner kick.


    "Nice defending from Pirlo, but now they have a corner kick to deal with," Stevemented.


    ''If things continue like this we may end up conceding a goal?''


    <Yeah, I can see that happening>


    ''Coach should have at least kept Rnd, I don''t really feel that confident about keeping a clean sheet with Jonas on the pitch.''


    Antonio was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle while the rest of the yers ran around near and inside the box.


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle, and without hesitation, Antonio sent the ball flying in.


    The ball was sent flying in right toward the center of the box where Pirlo managed to get his head on it and nod it away from the box.


    Unfortunately, the ball fell toward Conrad who didn''t waste any time in firing it toward the goalpost while Dave was still a bit disoriented.


    "Conrad!"


    The striker fired the ball toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost while Dave was still glued to a spot but luckily the ball ended up hitting the post before flying right out into the box.


    "Woodworkes to the rescue!"


    Dave dived toward the ball while it was still in the air, but Fabinho was already on it before he could get to it, and without hesitation, he headed the ball toward the goalpost.


    However, the ball ended up bouncing on the floor before hitting the crossbar once again.


    "Oh, no it''s the woodwork again!"


    The ball was rolling toward the right side now as Dave quickly rushed toward the goalpost.


    Jonas quickly rushed toward Fraser who was heading toward the ball at this time, but the winger was able to get his foot on the ball first, and without hesitation, he fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    It seemed like it was a curse at this point as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, another woodwork hit."


    "Three woodwork hits in three consecutive shots, that''s really insane, one of those should have at least gone in." Steve articted.


    "Yeah seems like Virreal were pretty unlucky and Unique FC got really lucky."


    ''That was insane.'' Dave said subconsciously as he slowly walked up to the edge of the line inside the box to drop the ball.


    <You had no idea what you were doing>


    ''Well how was I supposed to, everything was moving way too fast.'' He replied. ''I''m just d the woodwork came through for us when we needed it the most.''


    He slowly took three steps backward before he closed up on the ball and sent it flying in toward Edward.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Edward neatly brought the ball down with his feet, and just before Antonio could get to him from behind, he sent the ball rolling to Martinez who quickly pushed it a little further toward Harry.


    "Harry."


    Harry slowly took off down the right with the ball, and just before one of the defenders could close him down from the left, he sent the ball rolling to Carlos who immediately took off down the wing with it.


    The winger had the left back hot on his trail, but just before he could move past the line with the ball, he quickly turned with it, and the defender who was unable to stop himself on time kept running until he got to the barricade which he used to stop himself.


    With the defender now out of the way, Carlos quickly entered the box with the ball but he had two yers right on his path so he quickly pushed the ball to Gregory who was right at the edge of the box.


    "Gregory."


    As soon as the young striker got his foot on the ball, he quickly evaded the defender right in front of him with a body feint to create shooting space for himself down the middle, and without hesitation, he fired the ball toward the goalpost.


    "Gregory fires!"


    The young striker did pretty well in stretching Jeremy but he should have stretched him a little further because the goalkeeper was able to get just the tip of his glove on it and send it rolling out for a corner kick.


    "Oh, nice save from Jeremy, pretty good strike from Gregory."


    "And now they have a corner kick to deal with."


    Looks like Edward was going to be the one taking this one as he could be seen standing over the ball waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    "They''re alreadyfortable being two goals up, but can they add a third one?"


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle, and now it was time to see how well Edward could set someone up from a corner kick.


    He sent the ball flying in toward the center of the pitch, but the elevation was too much for those there to get their head on it but it ended up sloping just as it got toward Gregory who quickly got his head on it before anyone could stop him.


    "Gregory!"


    It was a low header but his uracy was a bit off as the ball ended up bouncing off from the side for a goal kick.


    "Oh, another close call from Gregory."


    After seeing another effort of his go to waste, the young striker shook his head and let out a sigh before slowly moving back to his side.


    The match continued with both teams being at each other''s necks most of the time, but none of them had been able to get anything out of it.


    Fraser was finding it easy to get past Jonas at first, but slowly the left back started to adapt until Fraser wasn''t getting past him that easily again, still, what he was doing was nothingpared to how Rnd held the left back down.


    The match continued till the nieth minute with Virreal still unable to pull one back, and now that they were in the third minute of five minutes of added time, they won a free kick in a pretty good spot.


    Fraser was standing over the ball now with his gaze on Unique FC''s four-man wall.


    "It''s pretty much over, there''s no way this can save them, but perhaps they can salvage a goal from it."


    The referee made sure that everything was ready before he blew his whistle, and now it was over to Fraser.


    The winger let out a sigh before he slowly took three steps backward, and after that, he quickly closed up and fired it toward the goalpost.


    He over-hit that by quite a lot as the ball ended up flying over the bar from the right side.


    As soon as the ball went over, the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end. As soon as Fraser heard the whistle he slowly sat down on the floor with his hands on his face.

 Chapter 435 The Tweet

    ?


    "It''s all over! Unique FC moves on to the next round with full marks, they have conquered this group as the underdogs, how amazing is that?!"


    They had already done their celebration for making it to the next round in the match against Lazio, but still, the feeling of making it out of the group by beating all their opponents twice was pretty great.


    Virreal thought they had a chanceing into thispetition because of the group they found themselves in but it turned out that wasn''t the case.


    A lot of them were on the floor now with devastated looks on their faces and then there were a few Unique FC yers who were trying to console them.


    Fraser who crashed down right in front of Unique FC''s box had Dave sitting right beside him now and Conrad seemed to be talking about something with Fredinho and Gregory, he seemed to be the least sad among all his teammates.


    "Looks like Unique FC just joined West Ham United as the only two teams to make it out of the Europa Conference League group stage without losing or drawing a match while West Ham United sets a new record of being the only team to lose all of their group games after losing three goals to two against Lazio." Steve articted.


    "Yeah, but you forget to mention that they''ve also joined the ranks of the teams to make it out of the group stage conceding the least amount of goals which is just one." Jim expressed.


    The voices of the home fans were going higher and higher with cheers.


    It had been quite a long time since they''d seen their team dominate apetition like this so it was a great feeling and this group stage performance was going to go down as one of the most notable moments in the club''s history even if they get knocked out in the round of sixteen.


    "With this very exceptional group stage performance, it wouldn''t be wrong to count Unique FC as one of the favorites to win thispetition, they beat Lazio who are one of the best teams in Europe based on league performance not once but twice both with clean sheets."


    "Yeah, I can see the possibility of them winning it, I wouldn''t be surprised," Stevemented.


    After that, the two brought their broadcast to an end as it was time for the official match interview.


    Dave didn''t even have the time to check his system because he was dragged into an interview by his wife before he could do that.


    However, Amber was going to be the one asking the questions.


    "So, Dave, you guys just crushed this group to get to the next round. I remember there were a lot of people calling this the group of death when it was first revealed mainly because of you guys, how do you feel about that now?"


    "Well, I''m not going to lie, I was scared when I first saw all the teams we had in our group, three good teams from Europe''s top five leagues, most of our teammates were also scared because assumed that if we were going to make it out of this group it''s going to be by the skin of our teeth.


    "We were quite worried but we weren''tcking motivation, we believed that we had a chance and we stuck together and fought for it to get here today."


    "You guys didn''t have a chance, you obliterated the group winning every single game and conceding only one goal, looks like the difficulty wasn''t really what you guys expected," Ambermented.


    "Yeah, it wasn''t really what we expected but I can''t say it was easy, our coach worked restlessly day and night and the fans were always here with their high voices to make sure that we had the morale to keep moving, that''s what kept moving."


    "Okay, and how do you feel about keeping five clean sheets in this group stage? You have a pretty good head start for that golden glove race now."


    "Well, I feel pretty good about it, of course. But then again, there''s still a lot of matches up ahead and I know what we''re going to face from now onward is going to be pretty toughpared to the group stage, unexpected things may happen but I''ll try my best to win the award."


    After that, she proceeded to ask him a couple more questions before he was finally allowed to go.


    He was about to check the stockpiled messages on his system when an arm suddenly hooked around his, he knew who it was just from the touch.


    "What now?" He muttered before letting out a sigh.


    "Hey, what''s with that voice?" Emma questioned before leaning closer to him.


    "Nothing, I''m just tired." He replied.


    "Okay, just make sure toe home early then." She said before leaning close to give him a peck. "I''ll see youter then."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    After watching her till she walked her way to Amber, the goalkeeper let out a sigh and continued his walk down the tunnel.


    He had to make a stop at the restroom because he needed to be alone while he checked everything his system was shoving down his throat.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ +250 exp received ]


    [ +2 stat points received ]


    [ +6 skill upgrade points received ]


    [ Congrattions, you have now joined the record holders for the goalkeepers to make it out of the group stage with five clean sheets and only one goal conceded ]


    [ Four more goalkeepers hold this record ]


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Six crucial saves: +60 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded (0): +159 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 8.0 ]


    ''I''m d this match ended well, it''s finally time for that two weeks break.''


    <Yeah, you guys sure deserve a good break but I hope you don''t grow soft from taking it easy for two weeks>


    ''Hey, no way, if my honeymoon didn''t make me grow soft then nothing can.'' He replied before making his way out of the room.


    Minino was obviously making a lot of noise when he got to the locker room, and just like always, he ignored him and his group and made his way to his locker beside Mateo''s.


    He talked about a few things with the winger including their short vacation ns.


    Norman came inter to talk to them about a few important issues, and after that, the yers had to start heading home.


    Dave said goodbye to his teammates in the parking lot before entering his car and closing the door.


    He put the key where it should go, and was about to turn it to start the engine when he heard the notification sound from his phone which was lying on the other seat.


    Normally, he would have ignored it and just driven home, but for some reason, he had the urge to check what it was.


    He picked up his phone and opened it to see that it was a tweet from Twitter and when he opened it, he found a pretty strange tweet title.


    ''Unique FC''s goalkeeper Dave Richards ms group stage opponents for being too weak.'' He read subconsciously.


    After reading that, he quickly scrolled down to thements and they were outrageous.


    <Well, this looks interesting>

 Chapter 436 Reminiscence

    436 Reminiscence


    Emma got home earlier than Dave just as expected but she didn''t seem to be conscious at the moment.


    It looked like she wasn''t even able to remove her uniform as she could be seen lying on the couch with her bag on the table and soothing music ying in the background.


    Shey there for a while without making any movement and the sound of her soft snoring being drowned out in the soothing music which was like a mix of soft ocean waves and the soothing sounds of the night.


    It didn''t take long before Devon walked into the house and it looked like he was about to say something until he found her fast asleep on the couch, the music told him everything he needed to know.


    ''She looked quite energetic back at the stadium.'' He said subconsciously as he slowly made her way toward her.


    <Well, it looks like she ended up draining all her energy or someone ended up draining it if you know what I mean>


    ''Yeah, I know what you mean.'' He replied. ''Anyway, I think I should leave her be, and go take a shower.''


    He slowly made his way upstairs with the thoughts of the tweet he just read before driving back still lingering in his mind.


    He was really trying to not think about it but it just kept popping into his mind like an annoying fly.


    <Seriously dude, stop thinking about that, they''re just doing it for the engagement. Anyone reasonable enough to look into it properly will just watch the interview. But then again, there are a lot of senseless people on the inte>


    ''I know Catherine, I''m just wondering what Emma will do if she sees it, she did warn me not to say anything controversial on camera, I didn''t really say anything bad but still.'' He replied as he opened the door to his room and walked into it.


    <Well, there''s really no way for you to stop her from seeing it unless the algorithm decides not to show it to her but she''ll still find out>


    ''Well, that''s sad.''


    It took him about thirty minutes to be done with everything he needed to do upstairs, and now that he was making his way downstairs, he expected Emma to have already woken up but it seemed like she was still fast asleep.


    "Hmm, looks like youpletely drained yourself today." He muttered before he slowly made his way to her and sat down beside her.


    He slowly ced his left hand on her head before picking up the remote control to watch something but he made sure to turn down the volume just enough for it to somehow sync with the music like a TikTok edit that made absolutely no sense.


    While he was still trying to find something to watch, he felt her head move under his hand, and after that followed a loud yawn before she raised both of her hands.


    She did all this with her eyes closed, and by the time she opened them, she found him staring down at her.


    "Oh, hey, when did you get back?" She asked with a hypnotic voice but the expression on her face was one of confusion.


    "Oh, it''s been almost an hour since I came back."


    "Almost an hour?"


    She was quite shocked to the extent that she had to quickly sit up on the couch, and that sleepiness in her voice was no longer there.


    "Yeah," Dave replied with a nod before quickly turning her gaze back to the television.


    "I''ve really been sleeping for that long?"


    "Yeah, you know when you got back right? Just look at the clock?" He suggested before pointing toward the clock.


    She followed his hands with her gaze to get them on the clock where she could see that it was already five minutes past five.


    "Oh, what the heck?" She sighed before crashing down on the couch. "I don''t know what happened but I just felt like arge portion of my strength was pulled out as soon as I walked into the house."


    "Well, you are sharing some of that strength with him so I can see how that happened." He expressed before giving her stomach a little poke.


    "Oh, yeah, him, I think he''s starting to grow." She said before cing both of her hands on her stomach.


    "Well, that is expected."


    "Yeah." She replied before suddenly leaning toward him. "You smell really nice."


    "You think?"


    "No, I know." She said before slowly rxing her head on his thigh.


    There was a little moment of silence between the two before she suddenly said something.


    "I''m really proud of you."


    "Huh?" Dave reacted before looking down at her.


    "I mean you were still struggling with a lot of things when I first met you, your form was bad and you weren''t really doing that much to improve with almost everyone always making fun of you."


    After listening to her say all that, he smiled before turning his gaze to the television.


    "And you still agreed to date me."


    "Well, I found out from Mateo that you were a really nice person and you always tried your best in training, you justcked a lot of motivation but, he also told me that you argued with your father because he didn''t want you to be a goalkeeper and you insisted on bing.


    "That''s when I realized that you knew what it meant to fight for something, there was no way you were going to fail on a path you had to fight with your dad for, you just needed time to realize or maybe a push would be the right word."


    <Yeah, a very huge push


    "Hmm, so you did your assignment properly." He said before turning his gaze back to her.


    "Yeah, isn''t that what we''re supposed to do before getting into a rtionship with anyone?"


    "Yeah, I guess you''re right but I didn''t really do much of that with you."


    "Huh?"


    "Well, Mateo was always nice and super helpful to me at the academy so that day when you showed up at our training and he told me you were his sister, I just sort of got attracted. I did get him to tell me about you and even some things he shouldn''t have told me about."


    "Ughh never mind, I promised him I wouldn''t tell you about it,pared to how he is toward you now, he sounded really scared when he told me to keep it a promise, he said it just sort of fell out."


    "Hmm, I see. Anyway, back to what I was saying, from that goalkeeper everybody made fun of to the goalkeeper who has the leads for the golden glove race for everypetition you guys are still part of, it''s really surprising how good you got in such a short amount of time, I haven''t really given much thought to it."


    "You yed a big part in that, just know that."


    After hearing him say that, she smiled before slowly turning her gaze away from him.


    "Hey, I want to ask you about something?"


    "What?"


    "Since we now know the gender of the baby, what''s your name suggestion?"


    "Hmm, you know I''ve been thinking about that myself and I think I know the name I want to give him if you''re okay."


    "As long as it''s not one of those weird names then why won''t I be okay with it?"


    "Okay, then how about we call him, Devon?"


    "Oh, Devon, wasn''t that your grandfather''s name?"


    "Yeah, I don''t really remember meeting but what I was told, we would have been best friends, I still believe that he was the one that passed on this will to be a goalkeeper to me."


    "Devon," Emma muttered with a smile. "If you want to call him Devon, then sure, let''s call him that. I can''t wait for the day Devon wille into this world."


    "Me too." He mumbled before cing his hand on her stomach.

 Chapter 437 Too Personal

    ?


    Despite being on a two-week break, Devon woke up pretty early the next morning, it wasn''t really his choice his body was just following the pattern now like a programmed bot.


    Emma was still fast asleep beside him with her arm on his body, and after slowly removing her hand from his body, he changed into one of his sports outfits, slid his legs into his running boots, and quickly made his way downstairs.


    Since he couldn''t go outside now because of the crazy fans now, runningps around his house was now the norm for him.


    During normal days, he did it just ten times before jumping straight into the other things he had to do, but today he decided that he was going to triple it.


    He was doing pretty fine afterpleting the tenthp, but after that, his breathing got a rapid speed up and he began to get slower, but despite that, he kept pushing himself.


    [ 25% stamina remaining ]


    [ 56/157 Energy ]


    He didn''t bother to look at those as he kept pushing himself until he finally got to the thirtieth one, and just as hepleted it, he crashed down right beside his training pitch.


    [ 2% stamina remaining ]


    [ 7/157 Energy ]


    His breathing was very loud and fast now, and he could feel the sweat rolling into different parts of his body.


    ''I really can''t remember thest time I saw my stamina that low.''


    <Are you sure? I still remember those miserable days as if they were yesterday>


    ''I should have seen thating.''


    [ +2 stat points added to endurance ]


    ''Well, that makes sense, this took a lot of endurance toplete.''


    After catching his breath for a while, he slowly sat up on the floor and raised his gaze to look up into the sky.


    "The day sure feels nice when you know you don''t have anything important to do." He muttered before taking in a deep breath.


    He just sat there and took in the warmth and vitamin from the early sun for a while.


    He sat there as still as a tree for a couple of minutes before he slowly got up from the floor because he still had a few other things to do toplete his daily exercise.


    He was stretching himself out now unaware of the front door that the back door just opened for Emma to walk out through it.


    "Hey, good morning" She greeted


    As soon as Devon heard her voice, he slowly turned his gaze toward the area to see her standing there.


    Her hair was still messed up, her eyes were sunken in a bit, and she was still in the red robe she wore to bed.


    "Oh, hey good morning, honey." He replied as soon as he spotted her. "I didn''t expect you toe out here this early."


    "I just wanted to show you something." She said before raising her phone with the screen pointing toward him. "Have you seen this?"


    The moment she said that first part, he already knew what it was but it wasn''t exactly it.


    It was still the same headline, but this time it was on another social media tform, and the person who posted it wrote a whole article about it.


    _______ _______


    Just by getting close to the door to Mateo''s house, anyone could hear the sound of rustling pans and sizzling ingredients on the pan, and then there was also the aroma to back it all up.


    It was obvious that Unique FC''s wonder kid was cooking up something nice for breakfast but he wasn''t doing it all alone.


    He had a partner in the kitchen in the person of Amber.


    If it was up to her, she wouldn''t be here but Mateo was the one who invited her for breakfast that morning and made sure that she was there.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    She wanted to make the breakfast alone while he went to take care of other things but he insisted on joining him and there was nothing she could do about that.


    If this was the Amber before the incident happened, then there would surely be a lot of talking in the kitchen as they prepared the breakfast.


    She was busy making the pancakes while Mateo was taking care of the maple syrup.


    The table was already set, so after taking care of everything they poured the maple syrup on the pancakes and brought them over to the table.


    After that, they washed their hands and sat down to eat.


    Mateo was smiling the entire time while eating the meal but Amber still looked like she was forced to be there and while that wasn''t entirely false, she wasn''t unhappy to be there, if anything, she was d that he was able to let her into his house again.


    "Hey, our effort sure tastes great don''t you think?"


    "Yeah." She replied with an indifferent voice before taking a bite from the pancake on her fork.


    "Hey, what''s the matter?"


    "Nothing." She replied before shaking her head.


    "You said you wanted us to go back to the way we used to be but you''re sure not acting like it." He expressed. "You''re a lot more energetic than this."


    "Yeah, but¡­"


    "But what?"


    "You know what? Let''s just talk about something else?"


    "Okay, what do you want to talk about?"


    "Thest time we spoke, you told me you were still deciding on where you were going to spend the holiday."


    "Yeah."


    "So, have you made up your mind now?"


    Mateo couldn''t help but smile after seeing how genuinely interested she was in this topic.


    "Yeah, I''m going to Spain."


    "Oh, where in Spain?" She inquired.


    "Well, this is mostly for football reasons, transfer, and stuff but I have to be in Madrid, I may spend a few days there before going to Barcelona." He exined.


    "Oh, and what are you going to do in Barcelona?"


    "What am I going to do? To see Sofia of course and if you''re also there, cool."


    "Oh."


    That was the only reaction she could give before turning her gaze back to her te of pancakes, Mateo was not oblivious to what was going on and now he wished he hadn''t said thatst part.


    _____ ______


    Back at the Richards'' home, Dave was now inside because Emma had to make him read the long-ass article someone wrote because of what he said in his interviewst night.


    It wasn''t really that long but it still felt like one given how he had to leave what he was doing, but the further he read, the more he realized why she had to make him read it.


    Compared to what he sawst night which was just a tweet with no personal hate, he understood that the person who posted was just chasing clout but this article right here was something else.


    The more he read it, the more he felt the hatred and strong desire to create a bad image that the writer had for him, almost every paragraph talked about how he knew that Dave was just an arrogant and ungrateful goalkeeper who had his father push him into professional football, he even went as far as bringing up the case with the fans with the statement that his fans meant nothing to him.


    <Well, this dude does have something against you and it''s sort of creepy>

 Chapter 438 Back To Glory Hunting

    ?


    "Hmm, are you nning on doing anything?"


    The goalkeeper was done reading the hateful article, and now he wanted to find out if Emma was nning to do anything, he didn''t want her to go and do something crazy on his behalf.


    "Umm, there''s not really much I can do but I''ll try to put out something to try and rify all the false ims."


    After hearing her say that with a calm voice, he let out an inward sigh of relief.


    "Okay." He said before slowly walking closer to her. "Don''t worry about it."


    "I''m not worried, things like this are inevitable in a life of a footballer, this one is quite wild but not really harming anyone so it''s sort of okay." She exined. "I wonder who could have written something like that."


    Dave kept his gaze on her for a while before slowly turning it to the stairs.


    "Hey, do you have to go to work today?"


    "No, I have a couple of things I have to finish here. Is there a problem?"


    "No, I just wanted to know when you were going to be free today."


    "When I''m going to be free? Are you nning on taking me somewhere?"


    "Maybe? Are you going to be free today?"


    "Umm, yeah, if I start on time, I should be done before noon."


    "Well, that works then." He said before quickly making his way up the staircase.


    _____ _____


    When Dave said he wanted to take her somewhere, he had three ces in mind but then he realized that two of those ces weren''t exactly that suitable during this time of the season but thest ce also came with its problem.


    He decided that they would go to a museum hoping that they would be fewer people there that day, but things didn''t really turn out that we''ll for him.


    The goalkeeper was surrounded by a crowd of about twelve people while Emma was at the side with an amused look on her face.


    They were all asking for autographs, and in the situation he was in right now, he had no choice but to give them all what they wanted.


    There wasn''t any security personnel in the area they were in at the moment so there was no one pushing them back and that meant that their number kept rising.


    It took quite a while before they spotted what was going on and came to rescue the goalkeeper.


    With the people now away from him, Dave could finally catch his breath, and when he turned his gaze to the left where he left Emma to see that she was no longer there.


    He had to look straight to find her at the far end of the hallway and she happened to be talking to two people who were standing beside her.


    It was when he got closer that he realized that those people were teenagers, a boy, and a girl and it didn''t look like they were talking to her about the painting on the wall.


    "Hey, you just left me over there to nevere back, right?" He fumed as he slowly closed up on her.


    "Woooah." The young boy gasped in excitement as his eyes were suddenly stuck on the goalkeeper''s face. "You''re Dave Richards?"


    "Dave? You mean the goalkeeper for Unique FC?" The young girl said before turning his gaze to the goalkeeper.


    "Hey, miss, howe you didn''t tell us that you were here with him?" The young boy inquired after turning his gaze to her.


    "Um¡­.well, now you know," Emma replied with an awkward expression on her face.


    "So, are you guys like siblings or something?" The young girl asked.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    After hearing the young girl ask that question, Dave slowly turned his gaze to Emma before shaking his head. "No."


    "You''re on a date?"


    "Close but still no."


    "Wait, close? You''re a married couple?"


    "Yeah," Emma replied with a nod.


    "I had no idea, we haven''t been in this city for that long." The young boy said before turning his gaze back to Dave.


    "Oh, so you two are siblings?"


    "Yeah, she''s my big sister."


    Hearing him say that, Emma couldn''t help but smile as she suddenly thought back to those days when they got asked questions like this and Mateo would give the exact same response.


    The boy ended up asking for an autograph from the goalkeeper as expected but the sister wasn''t bothered and kept on talking with Emma.


    However, they had to go their separate ways soon, and with the siblings now gone, the couple continued their tour inside the museum.


    _______ _______


    Dave thought pretty hard to try ande up with where they were going to spend their vacation in Germany, and in the end, he chose Frankfurt.


    His reason was that if this club was going to be a club he might move to in the future then he had to see how the city was other than what he was told.


    He made his way to Frankfurt with Emma on Monday to see how the city was going to be for him.


    Unlike in Unique City, he didn''t need to cover his face most of the time because rarely anyone knew him over there and that made sense.


    Frankfurt was indeed one of the best cities in Germany. The people were quite weing to them, the ones they met at least and the streets were always lively and bustling with people, especially during nighttime.


    There were also a couple of days when it snowed but it wasn''t much snow like the ones that would cover an entire road.


    The goalkeeper really enjoyed his stay there and Christmas was just the best part of it.


    He also went to a Frankfurt game he went to and watched them destroy Wolfsburg four goals to one.


    He wasn''t there for anything contract rted so he tried his best to stay out of it.


    At the end of his two weeks stay there, he made up his mind that if Frankfurt was his only option for a club to move to at the end of the season then he wouldn''t have any problem moving here.


    With his vacation now over, Dave had to return home to see the rest of the season through and the same could be said about all his teammates who traveled to different parts of the world for their vacation.


    Mateo went to Spain just like he said, Minino went to Greece and the others went to different other ces.


    They''ve had their fun to the fullest and now it was time to return to their glory hunting.


    The fans and their coach were just hoping that they hadn''t lost their edge and even if that was the case, he was going to get them back into shape in one training session.


    The yers were in that training session right now and it wasn''t exactly the training session they were used to.


    Push-ups, pull-ups, and other forms of exercise that required them to exert a good portion of their physical strength was what Norman was imposing on them at the moment and well, they didn''t feel bad about it, they needed to build their physicality after all.

 Chapter 439 Second One

    ?


    The training session that day was pretty exhausting for all the yers but it was fun nheless, and now that they were all sitting on the pitch, Norman was just going to tell them everything that he needed to tell them everything he needed to tell them before their uing game which was going to be against Frono FC two days from now.


    "Wee back, everyone once again, looks like you guys are still in top shape."


    "Of course, two weeks isn''t enough to make us get into bad shape," Minino muttered.


    "I know you guys are aware that there were teams in the past who performed superbly during the first half of the season but aftering back from the mid-season break their performance dropped drastically and they ended up winning nothing that season.


    "Well, it was drastic for some teams, and some, it was just a small drop in form, but I want it to be neither for us. We''ve worked hard to get to where we are so far this season we''ve struggled a lot in the past seasons to get to where we are this season and we can''t just let all that crumble, we''re through to the round of sixteen in the Europa Conference League, we''re just a point behind Supreme United in the league and we''re still in the cuppetition. I see the possibility of us winning a treble this season."


    <He has that big dream too, huh?>


    "Anyway, what I''m saying is that everyone has done pretty well so far this season, I''m proud of all of you and hope that we will continue doing what we''re doing."


    After that, Norman had a few other things that he talked to them about before they were finally allowed to start making their way to the locker room.


    [ +10 exp received ]


    "Hey, Devon."


    As soon as the goalkeeper heard his name, he turned around to see the goalkeeping coach Mr. Lucas.


    "Huh?"


    "Your father wants to see you, he''s in his office."


    "Is there a problem?"


    "I don''t know, he just asked me to call you."


    "Okay," Dave said with a sigh before he turned around and began to make his way to the area.


    It didn''t take him long to get to his office, and after knocking on the door, he heard his voice from inside telling him toe inside.


    He opened the door and walked into the office to find him sitting on his chair with his legs crossed and on his table.


    "Hey, Father." He greeted as he slowly made his way to him.


    "Oh, hey, Dave, have a seat." He said before pointing to the seat in front of his desk.


    "Okay," Devon muttered before slowly sitting down on the seat.


    There was a little moment of silence between them as Tom checked off some things in the tablet he was holding before dropping it on the table.


    "So, Dave, I heard you were in Frankfurt these past few weeks."


    "Yeah, with my wife.*


    "And you didn''t even tell me about it."


    "Because there was no reason to, you didn''t tell me when you traveled to Enndst month, did you?"


    "Hmm, fair point?"


    "Was that the only reason why you called me here?"


    "Umm¡­no, not really, I just find it a bit strange that we got a good offer from you from Frankfurt during the mid-season break and then suddenly you decide to go to Frankfurt." He expressed.


    "Oh, dear," Dave uttered before letting out a sigh. "I wasn''t there because of any of that, I already told you that I''m not leaving the club until the end of the season."


    "I know that I was just wondering if you''re really nning to go to Frankfurt?"


    "Uh¡­I don''t understand that question." He replied before shaking his head.


    "Okay, let me make it clear, with the talent you have right now, are you nning to go to Frankfurt?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "And what if I want to?"


    "Seriously, Dave? You''re breaking records this season and you want to be a Frankfurt yer next season?"


    Dave let out a sigh before slowly letting out a deep sigh.


    "I never said I was going there, Father, it''s just one of my options and I am considering how good it is going to be for me and also how much it is going to benefit the club." He exined. "This is my choice to make Father, the only thing you should be worried about is how much your club benefits from it."


    "I know Dave, all I''m saying is that there are clubs better than Frankfurt that wille with better options so you shouldn''t be in a haste to make up your mind with Frankfurt."


    "And who said I did that, you know I really hate it when you make all these assumptions without asking proper questions." The goalkeeper said before getting up from the seat. "I have to go now."


    "Sure, go ahead. Send my regards to Emma."


    "I will."


    He made his way straight to the door and opened it, and while Tom was expecting him to m the door shut, he closed it slowly.


    ''It''s funny how this man makes all these assumptions, Frankfurt isn''t even in the top five clubs I want to move to next season.''


    <Well, at least now you understand that he''s doing everything because he really cares about you and wants the best for you even if he fails to consider your feelings most of the time>


    ''Yeah, but it''s still annoying.''


    _______ _______


    The goalkeeper got home that evening to find out that Emma wasn''t at home.


    She didn''t go to work that day which meant that she went out to get something.


    The television was on when he walked into the living room, and while he was still standing, he picked up the remote control and changed the channel to one of the sports channels.


    It was another episode of the official Bilbeth Premier League show and it looked like they were talking about the highlights ofst month.


    "Alright now, it''s time to look atst month''s top three goals." The female host said before turning her gaze to the screen.


    The third goal was the neat left-footed strike from Rnd against Litno FC, it was a neat setup from Mateo and he did pretty well to put it away.


    The second one was the volley from Fredinho just from the edge of the box, and while those two goals were great, they were totally outssed by the goal that got the number one spot.


    A neat strike from Dynamo FC''s Frank just as he was racing toward the goalpost from the right, the ball ended up bouncing in between the crossbar and goal line before falling into the goalpost.


    "That was crazy," Dave muttered.


    <You guys should watch out for him in your next encounter, he''s the reason why you guys have one loss after all>


    ''Yeah."


    "Alright then, it is now time to reveal the yer of the month forst month, and once again, we have Dave Richards scooping up the award for the second time this season."


    As soon as she said that, Dave''s image popped up on the screen before quickly switching to highlights of his notable moments on the pitch.


    "Well, that makes a lot of sense, the goalkeeper has been exceptional this season."


    "He will receive his award in their match against Frono FC."


    After watching all that, the goalkeeper couldn''t help but smile before crashing down on the couch.


    *****


    Hey, guys. Quick question.


    Would you rather have Dave move to a top, mid or bottom club in the top five leagues next season, and if you can would you mind giving the reason for your choice? Thank you.

 Chapter 440 Just Incase

    440 Just Incase


    The first league meeting between Frono FC and Unique FC this season was at Frono where the Uniques went home with their first win of the season and handed their opponents their first loss of the season.


    This time around, their opponents were going to be visiting them at home for theirst league face-off of the season.


    Frono FC were currently in eighth ce looking for a way to rise while Unique FC were in first ce at the moment, all they needed was for Supreme United to draw or lose their match that day while they beat Frono FC.


    The fans were pretty d to have the yers back to put on another show for them just like they have been doing so far this season.


    The yers were still in the warm-up phase of the match at the moment but the atmosphere of the stadium was already getting pretty suffocating, suffocating in a good way of course.


    Almost all the seats for Unique FC fans had been filled up with the melody from their anthem chants echoing around the stadium and while Unique FC yers couldn''t help but smile to all that, some Frono FC yers were getting a bit intimidated.


    This kind of atmosphere wasn''t present when they traveled to Frono to face off against Frono FC.


    The fans were getting better and better at their job and there was no doubt that it was part of what spiked up their performance this season.


    "Here goes nothing!" Rnd yelled before he quickly closed up on the ball which was just on the penalty spot and fired it at the goalpost.


    It looked like he put all his power into the one shot as he sent it flying toward the right.


    Dave went the right way but without the elevation as the ball ended up smashing right into the.


    "So much power in a penalty kick," Mateo uttered as he slowly made his way to the left back and ced his hand on his shoulder.


    "Well, when you''re not sure if you can outsmart the goalkeeper then you just go hard so that even if he gets his hands on it, there''s a chance that it''s going to go in." The left-back expressed.


    "Yeah, you''re right, but the problem is when you''re in a match, you may end up getting overwhelmed because of all the pressure and that shot you nned to concentrate on a particr part of the goalpost may end up flying high and wild."


    "Hey, you know I''m not one to crumble under pressure."


    "Yeah, but the pressure you feel from just ying a match and the one you feel from taking a penalty, especially when it''s one that will keep your team in the game or seal the victory for them," Mateo exined.


    "Maybe that''s true, but I''m sure I can handle it."


    "Oh, really? Then why don''t we make a deal?"


    "Huh?"


    "If we win a penalty in this match, I''ll let you take it so that you can prove your point because I''m not getting your point."


    Rnd let out a sudden sigh before slowly removing his hand from his shoulder.


    "Okay, then, I think I''ll finally add another goal to my goal tally this season if we end up winning a penalty."


    "Don''t worry, we will."


    "Hey, what are you two talking about?" Devon yelled from the side.


    The two quickly turned their gaze to the goalpost as soon as they heard his voice to see that the ball was right on their noses now but it was only going to hit one person.


    The unlucky one turned out to be Rnd as the ball ended up smashing right into his face.


    Minino was busy trying to take the ball off Ferran when he saw that and now he was on the floorughing his ass out.


    Dave was also trying to hold in hisughter as he slowly made his way to the left back but Mateo just shrugged before walking off to the side.


    There were only a few minutes left now before the match kicked off, and because of that the yers were asked to make their way down the tunnel to get ready for the match.


    Now that Norman was this close to clinching first ce with his team his hope of winning the league was getting brighter now and his determination was getting clearer, they just needed to go through this second half of the season while avoiding the few mistakes they made in the first half.


    The yers were all dressed in their home kit now which was the orange kit with ck polka dots while Dave was on a lemon green kit.


    After dressing up, they made their way to the exit where they met up with Frono FC yers.


    Frono FC were putting on their away kit which was a in sky blue shirt but the shorts were more of white with a little bit of sky blue design, it was a good-looking kit, and their goalkeeper''s red kit also looked nice.


    They stayed there for a while before they were given the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    Just as they headed onto the pitch, the crowd erupted with cheers as Jim and Steve gave their introductions.


    Norman was sticking with his trusty four-three-three formation.


    Frono FC weren''t pulling any punches either, they were also starting the match with the "Oh, it feels great to have Bilbeth Premier League football back, this season has been pretty wild so far for this league." Jim articted.


    "Yeah, Unique FC were in tenth ce by this timest season, and fast forward to the same time this season and they''re in second ce just one point behind the league leaders, it feels really strange but they deserve it, they''ve worked really hard to be where they are so far this season and their fans are really proud of them I''m sure." Steve expressed.


    The captains from both teams had to make their way to the match officials for the coin toss, and in the end, Unique FC ended up winning it.


    "Just before the match kicks off, let us take a quick look at the lineups from both teams," Jimmented.


    Looking at the lineups, Norman was pretty much going all out with his team.


    He had in defense from the right; Norman, Adolf, Aima, and Rnd.


    In midfield, he had Martinez in the defensive position and then there was Ferran and Minino up front.


    And then the attackers were Mateo on the left, Fredinho in the CF position, and Merino on the right.


    Norman was sticking with his trusty four-three-three formation.


    Frono FC weren''t pulling any punches either, they were also starting the match with the four-three-three formation but with three central midfielders instead.


    They had Darwin Shaw, Seth, and Ahmed on the pitch so they weren''t holding anything back in trying to leave Unique City victorious.


    "This is surely going to be an interesting match."


    The match was about to kick off now as everyone quickly made their way to their positions.


    Dave was making his way to his position when something suddenly popped up in front of him.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Avoid conceding a goal from any of the forwards ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +1 attribute point ]


    [ +200 exp ]


    [ +5 stat points to energy ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points ]


    ''Well, that''s an interesting single quest with interesting rewards, I might have to prepare carefully for this one.''


    [ +20 stat points added to energy ]


    ''Just Incase.''

 Chapter 441 Unique FC Vs Frono FC: Match day Twenty

    441 Unique FC Vs Frono FC: Match day Twenty


    As soon as the referee blew his whistle, Fredinho quickly pushed the ball to Minino who sent it rolling back to Martinez before Ahmed could get to him.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    Unique FC weren''t trying to be hasty here and were just linking up nicely with each other while trying to find those holes that Frono FC failed to cover, finding a big one would surely make something happen.


    Rnd received the ball from Adolf after it was sent to him by Mateo, and just before Seth could get to him he pushed the ball back to Dave who quickly sent it flying over to Minino on the right.


    "It''s Minino''s ball."


    Minino brought the ball down with his chest and quickly got past the midfielder right beside him with some neat dribbling, but just before Ahmed could get to him, he pushed the ball to Ferran with his left foot.


    Ferran quickly cut past the yer right in front of him before quickly pushing it forward toward Mateo on the left.


    "Nice work from Ferran they''re pushing forward here."


    Mateo had some space to cover down the wing, but now that he was getting close to the box, his path was suddenly blocked.


    He knew it wasn''t a good idea to try and take them on or at least he just wasn''t in that state of mind at the moment.


    He found Fredinho calling for the ball down the middle as he quickly made his way into the box, but instead of sending the ball to the striker, he pushed it to Ferran who quickly lobbed it in for the striker with his first touch.


    However, Fredinho didn''t get the chance to make good use of that as one of the defenders got his head on the ball and softly nodded it toward the goalkeeper.


    "Nice defending from Frono FC, they may be looking to start a counterattack here."


    The goalkeeper quickly threw the ball out toward Darwin to start that counterattack just like Dave said, but that didn''t work out quite well for them.


    Martinez quickly rushed toward the striker at that time to contest for the ball in the air, and he ended up winning it with a header which he used to send the ball flying toward Rnd.


    The midfielder in that area quickly slid toward Rnd to take the ball off his feet at that time, but the left-back was fast enough to chip the ball over him before he quickly sent it flying over to Merino on the other side.


    "And Unique FC are back with the ball, they''re not letting Frono touch it for too long."


    Perhaps sending the ball over to Merino with two opposing yers close to him wasn''t the brightest idea from Rnd, but the winger was able to get out of that situation by nodding the ball back toward Minino before the yers around him could attempt to take it from him.


    "Nice way to get out of that situation."


    "Hmm," Minino muttered as soon as he got his foot on the ball.


    It was quite odd but he just stood there with the ball trapped under his foot.


    Ahmed quickly rushed toward the midfielder at that time to try and take the ball off his feet but just as he got close enough, Minino just get the ball a little nudge with the tip of his boot and sent it rolling past his opponent from in between his legs.


    Now that the ball was through, the midfielder quickly moved past him and kept moving forward with the ball.


    "Woooah, that''s some sleekness from Minino there."


    Ahmed didn''t back down, just as Minino got past him, he quickly turned around and kept on chasing him.


    He was quickly catching up to him now, but just before that could happen, the midfielder sent the ball flying over to Mateo on the left side of the pitch near the box.


    "Frono FC should be wary now, Unique FC have been causing problems for them since the start of the match, and it doesn''t look like they''re slowing down."


    Mateo tried to confuse the right back blocking with some strange leg movements, and when that didn''t shake the defender he quickly pointed toward Ferran near the edge of the box before he sent the ball rolling to Rnd who was close up toward the edge of the box at that time.


    Both of the yers felt a sense of Deja vu as soon Rnd got his foot on the ball and struck it with his left foot with his target being the goalpost.


    "Rnd!"


    The goalkeeper dived toward the left side of the goalpost to get his hand on the ball but unfortunately, he failed to do that.


    However, that didn''t really matter as the ball ended up bouncing right on the crossbar before flying over the bar for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that was such a nice link-up between Mateo and Rnd, too bad the wing-back failed to make it count.


    Rnd didn''t let that get him down, he quickly turned and began to make his way back to his position before Frono FC could send the ball out.


    The match yed out till the twenty-fifth minute with the scoreline still the same.


    Frono FC were trying their chance with almost every opportunity they got firing a total of eight shots so far with just two being on target.


    Both of the shots that were on target came from Darwin but none of them was a threat to Dave.


    The first one was a shot that flew directly toward the goalkeeper and into his hands while the second one was a bit tricky as it was ced a little to the top right side of the goalpost, but Dave was still able to stop it pretty easily.


    Unique FC on the other hand were more on the conservative side just as always and because of that they had way more ball possession than Frono FC at the moment, seventy-three to twenty-seven.


    Their shots were also on the lower side obviously, but the uracy percentage was better with four shots fired and two being on target.


    Of course, all these things didn''t matter as long as there was no goals from them because after all, what would be brought up at the end of the day was the match''s final score, not the statistics of how exactly the match went.


    Unique FC were the ones with the ball now after Norman skillfully took it off Torres down the right wing and now they were slowly pushing forward with it.


    Well, it was supposed to be slowly until Martinez got hold of it and immediately sent it flying over to Fredinho down the middle.


    Fredinho quickly brought the ball down with his chest, and just before the yer from behind could attempt anything, he pushed the ball to Mateo who avoided the right back immediately and tried to get into the box from the center.


    His path was immediately blocked by one of the center forwards so he quickly pushed the ball back to Ferran with a backheel pass before making his way into the box.


    Ferran pushed the ball to Fredinho and without hesitation, he lobbed it over to Merino down the right.


    "I can smell something cooking here."


    Merino feigned racing down the wing with the ball before he quickly drilled it into the box low.


    Mateo was still closing up toward the goalkeeper when the ball got to his feet, and without hesitation, he put it past the goalie from the top before he was swept off his feet by him.


    "And it''s in! That''s what you call teamwork!" Jim eximed as the winger took off to the side.


    He fell t on his body halfway and just slid all the way there.


    Their fans were going wild as the stadium was immediately covered with Mateo chants.


    "He just keeps getting better." Dave smiled as he raised both of his hands.


    "I''m going to say it once more. Ladies and gentlemen, it''s the wonder kid once again, that was some mad teamwork and understanding and he did fabulously to put it away."

 Chapter 442 Deja Vu

    442 Deja Vu


    That goal from Mateo was pretty devastating for Frono FC, but they had to pick themselves up and see what they could now that they still had time, because if they ended up losing against Unique FC today then it would be the first time in a long while that they lost all their matches against Unique FC in a season and they didn''t want that to happen.


    "Unique FC are going to try and get back into the game as fast as possible, but obviously, Unique FC won''t make that easy for them," Jimmented.


    They were trying to be a little conservative here passing the ball around slowly mostly on their side of the pitch to drag out Unique FC yers and although that was working, they still weren''t able to find that space that they needed to strike them, and when one of the midfielders attempted to send the ball over to Seth on the right, Rnd ended up stealing it and now the home team were back with the ball.


    "The men in orange are back with the ball, they really can''t let Frono keep it for too long," Jimmented.


    "Or perhaps, Frono FC should be careful with the way they move the ball around," Steve added.


    Rnd had to quickly push the ball to Martinez as soon as he got his foot on it, and without hesitation, the defensive midfielder quickly sent the ball rolling to Minino.


    "Minino."


    As soon as the ball got to Minino, he moved forward with it a little before he quickly turned back and passed it to Ferran who was on the center of the pitch.


    "Ferran."


    Ferran had Ahmed and another yer quickly heading toward him from behind at the same time so he had to send it to Martinez who quickly yed it short to Rnd as soon as he got his foot on it.


    The difference in quality when it came to teamwork and cooperation was quite evident on the pitch.


    Unique FC have been the exact definition of a team working together on the pitch since the start of this season and that was obviously the reason why they have been doing what they have been doing this season.


    Yes, they were a couple of brilliant individual performances here and there but at the end of the day, everything came down to their superb teamwork.


    Five minutes had just passed now and Unique FC were still with the ball, no shots had been fired during this time but they had made a couple of attempts to attack, and when it failed they just moved the ball back and tried to restrategize.


    Not touching the ball for five whole minutes was starting to get on the nerves of Frono FC yers as they were starting to get quite aggressive with the way they were chasing the ball now, but Unique FC were still doing pretty well in keeping the ball away from them while avoiding getting fouled.


    Minino received the ball from Martinez with a neat trap, and just before Ahmed could get to him with a ferocious slide, he sent the ball flying over to Mateo on the other side and jumped over the midfielder.


    "Mateo."


    As soon as Mateo got his foot on the ball, he quickly pushed it to Ferran before taking off toward the box.


    "They''re pushing forward once again."


    Ferran quickly turned to the right to avoid the yer in front of him, and after getting away from him a little further, he sent the ball rolling to Merino down the right.


    "Merino, he pulled off the assist for the opener, can he think of something here?"


    Merino was a bit hesitant here as he slowly pushed the ball toward the left back but perhaps he was just stalling because as soon as Martinez entered the area, he pushed the ball back to him and the defensive midfielder quickly sent the ball rolling to Mateo near the edge of the box.


    Mateo tried to dribble his way through both of the yers and find that space to take the shot, but that didn''t work out quite well for him as Ahmed quickly popped up from behind and swept the winger off his feet right there just at the edge of the box.


    "Ow, that''s a terrible challenge from Ahmed."


    Mateo was still trying to get up from the floor now as the referee blew his whistle and quickly rushed to Ahmed with a yellow card in his hand.


    "No doubt, that''s the first booking of the game."


    "Yeah, and they also have a free kick to deal with now."


    Frono FC had to set up their four-man wall inside the box as both Ferran and Mateo stood over the ball right at the edge of the box.


    "Looks like it''s between Ferran and Mateo in this one, it''s obviously Mateo, Ferran rarely takes free kicks these days," Jimmented.


    "Not calling up Dave again, Mateo''s a really good free-kick taker, one of the best in the league at the moment but I sort of feel like Dave is better even if he hasn''t taken that many free kicks." Steve articted.


    "Yeah, I get that kind of feeling too but we can''t really say until they have both taken the same or close to the same amount of free kicks which I don''t think is possible unless Dave goes to a club where he bes the dedicated free kick taker."


    The only thing everyone was waiting for now was the referee''s whistle, and as soon as that high-pitched sound pierced the air, Mateo quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost with his right foot.


    "Mateo!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost right at the end, he really put a lot of effort into trying to make sure that went in.


    However, Emerson reacted fast enough and was able to get his hand on the ball just in time and send it over the bar.


    "Oh, what a save from Emerson!" Jim eximed.


    The crowd let out a loud gasp after witnessing that save from the goalkeeper. That was already one of the first-spot contenders for the best saves of the season.


    "Wonderful save from Emerson, but now they have a corner kick to deal with."


    Ferran was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle with everyone else running around inside the box, and as soon as he heard it, he took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying in.


    Adolf was in the box to contest for the ball this time, and it looked like the ball wasing his way.


    He sprang up to get his head on the ball with one of the opposing defenders right behind him, and just before he could get his head on the ball, he ended up getting pushed from behind as the ball dropped to the floor along with him and Emerson quickly rushed to grab it.


    The defender quickly raised his hand calling for a foul but he didn''t need to because the referee saw everything.


    He blew his whistle before quickly pointing to the penalty spot.


    The defender was just lucky to have not gotten a card, but still, Frono FC yers were not happy with that decision as most of them were gathered around the referee now.


    "Adolf was pushed inside the box, and now it''s a penalty for Unique FC, they have a chance to double it."


    There was nothing the yers were going to say that was going to dissuade the referee and if they became too persistent then he was just going to show them a card.


    While the stubborn ones were still trying to dissuade the referee, Mateo slowly made his way to Rnd with the ball in his hand.


    "Looks like it''s your time, buddy." He remarked before handing the ball over to him.


    "Yeah." The left-back responded with a nod before taking the ball from him.


    It was time to see if Unique FC could get their second goal as Rnd could be seen standing over the ball on the penalty spot now.


    "I expected Mateo or someone else, but it looks like they''re leaving this one for the young left back. Can he put it away?"


    Everyone else was behind outside the box, and after making sure that no one was trespassing, the referee blew his whistle.


    The wing-back was starting to feel the pressure a bit, every single eye in the stadium was on him at the moment with the fans expecting him to score and their opponents wanting him to miss it so that they couldugh at him.


    ''He''s right, this is a bit intimidating, but I still have to show him that I can do it.''


    He slowly took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost.


    Emerson went the right way, but he should have gone high instead of low.


    However, Rnd seemed to have overhit the ball by just a bit as it ended up making contact with the crossbar before flying over for a goal kick.


    As soon as Rnd saw the ball hit the crossbar, he felt a sudden spark of Deja Vu, this was exactly what happened during the pre-match warm-up with Dave.


    ''He was right, he knew I was going to miss it.'' The left-back muttered with a devastated look on his face.


    "That was a horrible horrible miss from Rnd."

 Chapter 443 Time For Annihilation

    ?


    Rnd turned his gaze to Mateo as he made his way out of the box expecting some kind of smug expression from the winger but there was none of that.


    Mateo quickly made his way to him and gave him a pat on the shoulder before whispering something into his ears.


    "Don''t let it get you down, you''ll get it next time, it''s all part of the process."


    After getting all that across to him, the winger left him and returned to his position before they could send the ball out.


    Rnd was sort of happy that he didn''t act smug after proving him wrong and that made sense because they were ying for the same team after all and he would be happy to see him double their lead rather than blow a chance to do so.


    However, there was still a part of him that wished he would have just given him that smug look instead.


    After that miss from Rnd, none of the sides were able to do anything threatening against each other until the referee finally blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    "There''s the whistle and the first halfes to an end with Unique FC leading by one goal to nothing," Jim announced.


    "Well, this has been a pretty interesting first half, I think Unique FC should have gotten more goals but it''s a good thing for Frono FC that they had Emerson in between the sticks."


    "Well, we''ll be expecting more in the second half, I can''t wait to see what both teams wille up with tobat each other in the second half."


    The yers were all in the locker rooms now, and in Unique FC''s locker room, Norman was standing in front of them just as always.


    There was really nothing serious that he wanted to scold anyone about and he even ignored the fact that Mateo gave Rnd a penalty that he was supposed to take and he missed it, he did tell the winger to make sure that he was going to be the one taking any penalty they win in the second half.


    What he focused more on was talking about the weakness he spotted in Frono FC''s tactics in the first half that they could have taken proper advantage of.


    He tried to give them the hints from the sidelines but they weren''t really getting it and he didn''t me them, they needed a proper breakdown to get the insight and that was what he was going to do now.


    He had a lot to talk about, and the more he spoke, the more the yers could see what they could have ruined Frono FC with in the first half.


    Norman also considered the chance that they would be switching up thingspletely for the second half and for that, he had some form of backup that he told them about.


    The main theme of this dubious n topletely dismantle Frono FC in the second half was to y the ball through the middle.


    That was where they had a very serious hole that they try to cover up once their opponents focus their attack there, and once that happens they leave the other areas open.


    It was a brilliant discovery from Norman and he made sure to give them a lot of methods to carry out their n, but how well it was going to work was up to the yers.


    _______ _______


    "Wee back, everyone, the second half of the game is about to kick off now. As you all can see, the yers from both teams are now matching onto the pitch, I have a feeling that this half will be better than the first one." Jim articted.


    "I hope so, Jim."


    Unique FC were the ones who started the match from the kick-off spot in the first half so Darwin was the one standing over the ball in the kick-off spot now waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    It didn''t take long before the referee blew his whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he quickly pushed the ball to Ahmed who immediately sent it rolling to Torres.


    "There''s the whistle and we''re back in the game."


    The ball was quickly sent over to the other side toward Seth by Torres, and as soon as the winger got his foot on the ball, he pushed it back to the midfielder behind him who quickly sent it rolling to Darwin.


    "And immediately, Frono FC are pushing forward." <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Darwin got his foot on the ball before he sent it rolling to Torres who tried to get past Norman before cutting back to the striker whose effort to go for goal ended up getting sted over the bar.


    "And it''s over the bar, that could have been so much more, but it''s another wasted effort."


    ''Well, this has been a pretty easy quest for a quest that was supposed to be hard.'' Dave said subconsciously before throwing the ball to Rnd.


    <Yeah, the context of the quest was that it would be hard to stop any of the three attackers from scoring because they would be the ones shooting most of the time, but none of them has looked threatening so far, even Seth''s not having a good time in this game>


    "Oh, they''re pushing forward here."


    Merino brought the ball down with his chest near the edge of the box, and without hesitation, he quickly cut past the defender there to get inside the box.


    Just before the other two defenders could get to him, he cut the back to Martinez who was entering the box right at that time with Ahmed right behind him.


    Both of the defenders were out of the way how thanks to Merino, and without hesitation, the midfielder fired the ball toward the goalpost just before Ahmed could get to him.


    He ced the ball toward the right with a little bit of elevation and although Emerson was able to chase, he wasn''t able to get his hand on it, as the ball ended up smashing into the before he could do so.


    "And it''s Martinez with a wonder strike!" Jim eximed as the midfielder took off to the side before his teammates caught up to him and dragged him down.


    The second half just kicked and they''re now two goals up.


    The voices of the fans were going up once again and Frono FC yers had devastated looks on their faces.


    "Frono FC will have to step up their game if they want to leave Unique City without a defeat, Unique FC are just dominating this match."


    Just four minutes after that goal, Unique FC won a free kick about twenty-five yards away from the goalpost, and while some were expecting Mateo to take it just like he did with the first one, he decided to call up Dave to take it.


    "Looks like Mateo''s nning to leave this one for his buddy, Dave. He has a good conversion rate so far, will he make it better with this one?"


    Dave was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle with his gaze on Frono FC''s four-man wall stationed right on the edge of the box.


    It didn''t take long before the referee blew his whistle and now it was time to see what the goalkeeper could do with this one.


    "Here goes nothing."


    He slowly took three steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost.


    "Dave shoots!"


    The goalkeeper sent the ball flying toward the top left-hand corner of the goalpost, and although Emerson was able to chase it, his hands were far from reaching it as the ball hit the crossbar before dropping into the goalpost.


    "And he scores!"


    ''Can''t do much when it''s your weak side.''


    The goalkeeper quickly raised both of his hands as Minino quickly rushed to him and lifted him up.


    "Unique FC''s number one does it again! Frono FC are in shambles, a state of utter shock, they can''t believe, three goals down already."

 Chapter 444 Deeper Hole

    Frono FC were really starting to feel the immense force from Unique FC now, they thought they had hope when the first half ended with the scoreline being just one goal to nothing, but now that they just conceded two goals in a space of four minutes, that hope was starting to fly out of the stadium.


    "There''s still a lot of time for Frono FC to get back in the game, but do they really have what it takes to make that happen?"


    "Looks like Unique FC are paying back for what they did to themst season, and that''s something you like to see football," Stevemented.


    They were trying their best to keep the ball away from Unique FC or perhaps they were being a little too cautious because it''s been a minute now and they''ve not made any attempts in moving forward.


    "Dave just got his third goal of the league season, and just thinking about that, it''s pretty wild considering there are forwards and midfielders who haven''t scored up to three goals this season while a goalkeeper has." Jim articted.


    "Yeah, I was just thinking about that, three goals and five assists, those stats look like they belong to a midfielder, not a goalkeeper, eight goal contributions so far this season, wild." Steve expressed.


    It looked like Frono FC had realized that they were just hurting themselves by keeping the ball to themselves because they were finally moving it forward now with the hopes that they would be able to pull one back through any means.


    Darwin received the ball as he ran down through the middle, and just before Martinez could get to him, he pushed the ball back to Ahmed with a backheel pass.


    "Nice pass back to Ahmed."


    As soon as Ahmed got his foot on the ball, he quickly turned to the right and sent it flying over to Seth.


    "Over to Seth."


    Seth brought the ball down with his chest and trapped it under his foot.


    Rnd was quickly heading toward him now, but just before the wingback could get to him, he sent the ball rolling back to Ahmed who quickly evaded Ferran to move back and pass it to the midfielder on the right.


    The midfielder quickly sent the ball flying over to Torres on the left with his first touch.


    "Trying to find Torres on the left now."


    The left-back had both Martinez and Norman heading toward him at that time, but he was able to nod the ball back to Ahmed before they could do anything to dispossess him.


    As soon as Ahmed got his foot on the ball, he feigned firing toward the goalpost before he sent the ball flying over to Seth on the right.


    The winger had Rnd right on him, and the left back wasn''t giving him any space.


    He was able to get his foot on the ball though but the wingback wasn''t making getting through easy for him.


    In the end, the winger made the smart decision of pushing the ball back to their right back Jeremy who was right behind him.


    "Sends it back to Jeremy, Seth isn''t having a great time in this match and it''s all because of Rnd."


    The winger quickly rushed back into the box while asking for the ball back from Jeremy.


    The right-back did as he was told but that was a mistake as Rnd was able to get in front of the winger right at that time, and all it took was a little push to get the ball to Adolf who quickly sent the ball flying over to Ferran.


    "Nice defending from Rnd, the Uniques are back with the ball now."


    As soon as Ferran got his foot on the ball he quickly turned with it and began to push down the middle with it.


    The defense were still moving back to get to their positions at this moment while the other yers were quickly rushing forward from behind.


    Ahmed quickly raced toward the midfielder to try and dispossess him from behind, but just as he got close to him, he quickly pulled back and sent it rolling to Mateo who was a little further down the left wing.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Mateo."


    The winger wasn''t able to get far with the ball all thanks to Jeremy who quickly closed up on him and swept the ball off his feet bringing the winger down in the process.


    The referee quickly blew his whistle before pointing to the area.


    It was a free kick for Unique FC and Jeremy wasn''t happy with that as he threw the ball on the floor before walking off.


    "I don''t know what he''s mad about, that wasn''t a clean tackle," Jimmented.


    "Well, tempers rise unnecessarily when you''re losing a match by a scoreline like this one."


    The spot where they were going to be taking the free kick wasn''t that close enough to take the shot directly unless you were Dave, but Dave would still find it hard to score a free kick from there because he wouldn''t be catching the goalkeeper off guard.


    This was a ball that needed to be sent into the box and cause confusion, and the task of sending it in was left to Minino who was standing over the ball now.


    Since it was a free kick on Frono''s side of the pitch they got to set up a wall but as soon as Minino heard the referee''s whistle, hepletely ignored that wall and sent the ball flying into the box.


    Ferran was right at the edge of the box and from there he managed to get his head on the ball and send it flying toward the right side of the goalpost.


    However, his effort ended up hitting the post before rolling to the feet of one of the Frono FC''s defenders inside the box.


    "Oh, no! It''s the woodwork!"


    The yer could have just sted the ball away to wherever but he thought maybe they could pull something off from this.


    He quickly sent the ball rolling to the other center back who was on the right just before Merino could get to him.


    What the defender wanted to do was to quickly send the ball flying toward Seth, but in his attempt to send it flying out, his foot ended up missing the ballpletely.


    It was at that moment that Mateo quickly took the ball while the defender''s leg was still trying toe down.


    He instantly moved into the box with it, and without hesitation, he fired it toward the right side of the goalpost.


    Emerson was quite slow to react to that one and that was because he didn''t quite get what happened there.


    Ultimately, it was a pretty easy goal for Unique FC''s number ten.


    "And he does it again!"


    Mateo raced off to the side as soon as he saw that go in, he was screaming at the top of his voice now and even ended up jumping into the stands and the fans there felt blessed having to ce their hand on the footballing wonder.


    "The wonder kid strikes again! They are pulverizing Frono FC!"


    Frono FC yers had devastated looks on their faces now while Emerson was just yelling at the defender who caused the goal.


    <I knew you guys were going to win but I wasn''t expecting four goals>


    ''It''s quite surprising to see you surprised.''


    "Looks like the hole just got deeper for Frono FC, they''ll need more than just their hands to climb out of this one," Stevemented.

 Chapter 445 Another Step Forward

    The match stretched out till the seventy-fifth minute with Frono FC still unable to get at least one goal, they were really struggling here and their cooperation was starting to fall off after that clumsy mistake from the center-back.


    Both teams had to make a couple of changes, and just to show how rxed Norman was now, he decided to pull out some of his best yers.


    Minino was reced by Harry Norman while Ferran was reced by Henry.


    He also reced Adolf with Pirlo, and then Fredinho had toe off for sixteen-year-old Gregory.


    He left Rnd because he didn''t want Seth causing any trouble for him down that wing, and leaving Mateo on the pitch was his way of saying that he still needed one or two more goals.


    Unique FC slowed down a bit after that fourth goal from Metro, but still, it wasn''t enough for Frono to cause any serious problems for them.


    Seth managed to get past Rnd and get off his shots or create a chance a couple of times but none of those was fruitful.


    His first shot ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over the bar and although the second was a bit tricky because he ced it right at the top right-hand corner, Dave was able to get to it right on time to catch it with both of his gloves.


    Both of the chances he attempted to create ended up flying off with nobody being able to get to them.


    The match was getting closer to the eightieth minute and still, the away team were unable to pull one back at least.


    They were slowly starting to ept their fate, but still, they were trying their best to get at least one goal but so far every attempt had failed.


    Unique FC were back with the ball now after a failed drilling attempt from Darwin.


    Rnd got hold of the ball from Henry who sent it flying over to him from the other side.


    As soon as the left back got his foot on the ball, he pushed a little further down the middle with it before passing it to Martinez who quickly sent it flying over to Henry.


    "Henry."


    "Looking back at the first half, I felt like Unique FC were missing something and once the game resumed in this half it seemed like they found what they were missing, to be honest, Frono FC have just been underwhelming since the start of this match." Steve expressed.


    "You know, they just returned from the mid-season break, theirmunication on the pitch is justcking and Unique FC have just been taking advantage of that, Norman''s doing a really good job with this team."


    "Yeah, no doubt about that."


    Gregory was with the ball now near the edge of the box with a couple of yers around him, and after weighing his options with the few seconds he had to do that, he quickly pushed the ball back to Martinez who sent it rolling to Merino with his first touch.


    Merino just gave the ball a little push forward before he sent it flying in toward the far left.


    He was setting it up for Mateo to connect with it but the winger wasn''t able to get to the ball on time as it ended up rolling out for a goal kick.


    "That could have been a good chance if Mateo was fast enough, but it doesn''t really matter."


    Frono FC got hold of the ball because of that failed attempt by Unique FC but it didn''t take long for Unique FC to get the ball back from a failed attempt from them.


    The ball didn''t go out for a goal kick, it was just a simple case of Rnd getting the ball off Seth who was just frustrated at this point.


    The home team were pushing forward with the ball now, but they weren''t too hasty.


    Ferran was moving down the middle now and just before Xavier who came on to rece Ahmed could get to him he pushed the ball to Harry down the right, and without hesitation, the midfielder took off with the ball.


    He was closing up on the ball now before he sent the ball rolling to Merino who quickly sent it rolling to Gregory.


    "Gregory."


    Gregory had to pass the ball back to Merino after a while and now the winger was just at the edge of the box with the left back right in front of him.


    He quickly rushed to him to try and take the ball from him, but the winger quickly moved a little further down with it before racing off down the wing.


    The left-back quickly rushed after him to try and close any space he had for a cross but it was already toote as the winger send the ball flying into the box just before it could cross the line.


    The ball was sent flying to the far end where Mateo beat Jeremy in their jumping contest to get his head on it.


    He sent it flying toward the goalpost but his header wasn''t on point and ended up bouncing on the floor as soon as it got close enough to the goalkeeper.


    However, that was exactly what needed to happen as the ball ended up hitting the goalkeeper under his arm before falling into the goalpost.


    "Goooaaaaalllllll!!"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Mateo quickly rushed toward Merino after seeing that go in, and as soon as he got to him, he jumped right on top of him.


    "Oh, what a duo these two have been in this match! It''s a hattrick for Mateo and a hattrick of assists for Merino."


    Unique FC fans were going wild in the stands now, this match had turned out to be so much more than they expected.


    Watching their team trash Frono FC after everything that happenedst season was a feast for their eyes, what more could they ask for?


    Frono FC yers were starstruck at this moment, five goals to nothing, they really should have considered a lot of things beforeing into this match.


    "Well, it''s a goal fest for Unique FC, they''re not taking it easy with their revenge, this match is pretty much over."


    Steve was right, the match was pretty much over, Frono FC just lost their drive after that goal but they still tried their best to prevent Unique FC from getting a sixth goal until the referee finally blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end.


    It was all smiles on the faces of Unique FC yers as Darwin and a few other Frono FC yers stormed off the pitch in anger.


    "It''s another victory for Unique FC, not enough to move them to first ce because Supreme United just concluded their match against Rojo Sturm United and they beat them four goals to one but at least they''re still pushing, Supreme United have seriouspetition this season." Jim expressed.


    Dave was given his yer of the Month awardter, and while he having a word with Norman, Mateo decided to head down the tunnel with Rnd.


    They seemed to be talking about something when they ran into Amber.


    "Hey, Amber."


    "Oh, Mateo and¡­Rnd."


    "Hi," Rnd said with a little wave.


    "Are you looking for someone to interview?" Mateo asked.


    "Umm¡­yeah." She replied with a nod.


    "Well, you can have Rnd."


    He didn''t take it easy in pushing his teammate toward her, Rnd was just able to stop himself right in time before he could crash into her.


    "I''ll be in the locker room." He remaked before slowly walking away.


    Amber kept her gaze on him for a while before slowly turning it to Rnd.


    "You have a thing for him?"


    That question came quite as a shock to her but she still kept herposure as she shook her head.


    "No, no, I was just¡­."


    This was her attempt to deny it but the rest of the words just wouldn''t form for some reason.


    "Hmph, it''s written all over your face. You know sometimes the people we love just don''t love us back or see us the same way, it hurts but you just have to deal with it, that''s just life, you can''t force them to see you that way and there might be someone better out there."


    "Did Mateo tell you something?" She asked with a confused expression on her face.


    "No, he hardly tells me anything about his love life at least, but I can tell he just sees you as a friend but you don''t."


    "That was my fault, I shouldn''t have made that silly mistake." She muttered to herself before folding her right hand into a fist.


    "Umm¡­. anything the matter?"


    "No, it''s nothing, let''s just go get this interview over with." She replied before shaking her head.


    Her voice sounded a bit demotivated this time.


    "Alright then, I''ll be over there."


    After saying that, Rnd slowly began to make his way to the area leaving while she just stood there with her unwavering gaze on the grass.

 Chapter 446 Mind Set

    [ +200 exp received ]


    [ +5 stat points added to energy ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points ]


    [ +1 attribute points ]


    ''And to think that I dropped points into energy thinking that this was going to be a tough match.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he made his way down the tunnel.


    <It''s still good that you did, it wille in handy in touch matches>


    ''Yeah, I''m aware of that, it''s just that I expected so much more from them in this match.''


    <Hey, are you happy that you won or not?>


    ''I am, I never said I wasn''t.'' He replied. ''Darwin must be in rage wherever he is now.''


    <Well, he used to give you guys that feeling, now he knows how that feels, football is such an interesting game on and off the pitch>


    ''I couldn''t agree more.''


    Dave got to the locker room to find out that there was no running around being done by Minino, but his voice was going up as he seemed to be talking about something with his teammates on the other side.


    He didn''t even bother to try and find out what that was all about as he made his way to his locker and sat down beside Mateo who was busy going through his phone.


    "Hey, bro have you seen this?" The winger suddenly asked before turning his gaze to the goalkeeper.


    "Seen what?"


    "There''s a rumor going around about you being in Frankfurt a couple of weeks ago because you''re nning to move there next season." He exined before giving him his phone so that he could see it himself.


    Dave carefully went through everything that was written there before giving it back to him.


    It was a post from one of the big sports media from Bilbeth, and although that was misleading andpletely false, he couldn''t really be bothered.


    "If that''s what they found to drive engagement for them then so be it, this isn''t the first time they''re doing something like this after all." He expressed.


    "Yeah, you''re right, I''m even surprised they didn''t say anything about me being in Madrid." The winger said before dropping his phone on the bench. "Can I ask you something?"


    "Yeah, sure."


    "I heard Frankfurt are the ones that want you the most ording to the offers they''ve already made, are you going to consider moving there if there''s nothing better from the other sides at the end of the season?"


    "Well, they are on my list of favorable clubs to join but it isn''t just about the offer, there are a lot of things that I''m going to consider before joining any club and rk is helping me with that at the moment, his findings at the end of the season will influence about sixty percent of my choice to join any club, thest percentagees down to their offer and other personal stuff."


    "Oh, I see."


    "What about you? Do you have your mind set on joining any club next season?"


    "Well, I didn''t tell anyone about this, but part of the reason why I was at Madrid during the mid-season break was because of contract reasons."


    He had to whisper that to him so that his other teammates wouldn''t hear it.


    "Oh, contract reasons, was it Real Madrid?"


    "No, Real Madrid doesn''t seem to be interested in me." He replied before shaking his head.


    "Oh, so it was Atletico then."


    "Yeah."


    "They''re making a good offer but they haven''t contacted the club yet, that would be at the end of the season."


    "So, you''re going to join them then?"


    "Yeah, outside the Bilbeth Premier League, La Liga is my favorite league and if can''t join any of their top two clubs might as well join the third one."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "What about Aston Vi?"


    "Umm¡­.I don''t want to go there anymore and other than that, Atletico has the better offer."


    "Hmm, I see, it''s cool that you have your mind set on somewhere." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah, but that could change depending on how much things change at the end of the season but if nothing too much happens then I''ll move there."


    After saying that, the winger turned his gaze back to his phone as Dave got up to bring out his stuff from his locker.


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ +4 crucial saves: +40 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded (0): +100 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.5 ]


    ''I knew it was going to be low.''


    <Yeah, you didn''t do much in this match>


    ''Because there wasn''t much to do, I wished there was but there wasn''t.''


    It didn''t take long before Norman walked into the locker room pping as loud as he could, he was really happy with the way his team destroyed Frono FC as shown by the bright smile on his face.


    He went on a rant for a while before finally saying something they could understand.


    "You know what? We''re all going out for dinner tomorrow after our training session, my treat."


    "Yes! Let''s go, coach!" Minino screamed at the top of his voice and before anyone knew it, the rest of his gang joined him in his madness.


    What was happening inside the locker room now was pretty interesting.


    After the yers were done having their fun in the locker room, it was finally time for them to start heading home.


    They met up outside where they parked their cars where they said goodbye to each other before they got in their car and began to make their way home.


    It didn''t take Dave long to get home, and after parking his car however he wanted outside, he made his way inside the house where he found Emma sitting on the couch with her gaze on the screen but she turned her gaze to him as soon as he closed the door.


    "Oh, hey, wee back."


    "Hey." He muttered before he made his way to her and gave her a little peck on the cheek. "How are you doing?"


    "I''m okay, and I see you''re in a really good mood after trashing Frono FC."


    "Why wouldn''t I be in a good mood? Those dudes frustrated usst season, this is our payback season and we handed it to them in style."


    "Well, you guys have been doing things in style since the start of this season, I just hope you guys win the league for us."


    "Well, we''re trying our best." He said before he turned and began to make his way upstairs. "But don''t me us if we don''t."


    He made his way straight to the room and was removing his shirt now when his phone which was lying on the bed now began to ring.


    He leaned closer to check who it was, and as soon as he saw that it was rk, he picked up the phone and pressed the answer button.


    He didn''t exactly know but he was expecting something surprising from him as he ced the phone against his ear.


    "Hey, rk."


    "Hello, Dave."


    He was expecting something surprising from his friend, but the more he spoke, the more he realized that there was nothing like that or maybe he was just expecting too much.


    "Oh, so it''s for another Footy Wear video."

 Chapter 447 Team Dinner

    Norman promised that he was going to take the boys out for dinner the next day after their victory against Frono FC, and right now he was keeping that promise.


    They had to go to one of the more expensive restaurants where they wouldn''t be getting interrupted constantly by random people who recognizes them, and the restaurant they were in now was just perfect.


    They did get interrupted by the waiter who was a big fan of Mateo but he didn''t act all crazy and that was just it.


    The yers along with their coach were all dressed nicely and were all sitting around thisrge table that was brought so that most of them could fit into one table at least.


    Not all the yers came though, Jonas said he had something important to take care of that night and there was Martinez had ns with his wife, Harry had to go see his mother in the hospital and Pirlo was just out on a date.


    Those weren''t the only ones that couldn''t make it but they were the only ones that gave a reason for not being able toe.


    That said, the number of yers that were there that night was still greater than the ones that couldn''t make it.


    They ordered some drinks before kicking off their feast with some barbecue.


    Just before they started drinking, Minino had a toast to make, and just as he said that, everyone knew he was about to say something crazy.


    "To making it to the round of sixteen of the Europa Conference League and also to dismantling Frono FC yesterday and making Darwin cry." He recited with his ss of drink raised.


    That first part was okay and everyone thought he was going to end it there and act normal for once but he had to sneak in thatst part with that smug expression on his face.


    "We''re definitely going to hear this somewhereter." Merino sighed.


    The team ate and drank to their fill while discussing some matters.


    They started off with matters regarding their personal life, that was when they found out that Dave was expecting a male child soon because Ferran just had to ask.


    The discussion topics kept on fluctuating between casual and serious topics until Norman finally decided to bring up the topic of next season''s transfers.


    He had his gaze on Dave as he decided to ask his first question regarding the topic.


    "So, Dave, I heard you were in Frankfurt during the break some say it was mainly because you''re nning to move there next season, how true is that?"


    "Well, if you put it that way it is sort of true since you didn''t bring up anything rted to contracts, I just went there to see how the atmosphere is because it is one of the clubs I am considering moving to but I haven''t made up my mind yet." The goalkeeper replied.


    "So, you''re dead set on leaving at the end of this season I see," Norman remarked before taking a sip from his ss of wine.


    "Yeah."


    "Are you really sure you can''t stay one more season? You know you''ll get a better renewal offer with the things you''ve done so far this season."


    "I know coach, but I have to leave, I''m sorry."


    "Hmm, I see, I guess signing a new goalkeeper is on my to-do list for next season, I''ll inform the scouts about that too." The coach muttered before turning his gaze to Mateo who had his ss on his lips for a while because Norman just kept looking his way. " What about you Mateo? I know you were in Madrid."


    The winger almost choked on his drink after hearing him say that, but he was able to get a hold of himself and slowly drop the ss on the table. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "You already told me you were leaving at the end of the season I just wanted to know if you changed your mind."


    "No, not really." The winger replied before shaking his head.


    "Hmm, I see." Norman sighed.


    Although losing Dave was quite a big blow to him and the whole team, losing Mateo was a bigger blow because, at the end of the day, he could just sign a good goalkeeper without all the extra stuff Dave came with.


    Finding another yer like Mateo was going to be pretty tough for him, the winger gave him the impression that he didn''t need to sign another proper left winger but now it was finally time to make that move of bringing in two proper left-wingers.


    If it was up to him, he would try his best to make the winger stay but not force him because it would be bad if he stays and ys for the club with no interest, but as long as his move was going to make a huge sum for the club which is a possibility with almost no doubt, then the board was going to push it.


    "I guess that''s another thing to note down."


    "Don''t worry coach, I''m still here! No matter what we''ll still dismantle Frono FC whenever we meet them again." Minino dered.


    He seemed to be getting a little drunk there because his voice sounded a bit drowsy.


    "Yeah, we know," Merino muttered before letting out a sigh.


    Overall, it was a really enjoyable dinner for everyone and they all had lots of fun, Norman was quite close with most of his yers and maybe that was part of his secret in getting the most out of them.


    ______ ______


    After the team dinner that night, the yers went straight back to training the next day.


    The training session was set to kick off by 3:00 PM, and right now, all the yers were on the pitch hitting it out because it was 3:40 PM already.


    Minino was still feeling the effects of almost drinking himself to a stuporst night but he couldn''t mess up in training with Norman watching, this was one of those ces where he had to take things seriously.


    However, it was still a fun training session because Norman didn''t like making training sessions too strict for his yers unless it was really necessary, most of the time he just allowed them to do whatever they wanted as long as it was a form of training.


    That was the reason why the yers had juste up with a new activity targeted mainly toward improving Dave''s goalkeeping and they called it ball barrage.


    It was a fun idea from Minino where they had to linearly ce ten balls near the edge of the box and have ten yers stand over them.


    The idea was to have the first yer fire his ball toward the goalpost and just as Dave rushes toward that one and saves or fails to save it, the next person would immediately fire his own and it would continue like that till the tenth person.


    This was a test to see how fast the goalkeeper was and how many balls he was going to save.


    It was just like what Catherine had been subjecting him to in his dream.


    "Alright, Dave, are you ready?!" Fredinho asked before raising his hand as he was going to be the first person.


    "This is pretty wild but yeah!" The goalkeeper responded before raising his hand.

 Chapter 448 Someones Coming Back

    ?


    Fredinho fired the ball toward the top right side of the goalpost, but Dave was fast enough to get to it on time and hit it down.


    Minino was the second person, and seeing that Dave was now on the furthest right, he ced right in the bottom left corner.


    Dave quickly dived toward the ball with his right glove, but unfortunately, he wasn''t able to get to it on time.


    The goalkeeper was still on the floor when Mateo fired the ball toward the right but he didn''t even bother to chase it as the ball ended up crashing into the goalpost.


    Next up was Merino, and as soon as the winger fired the ball toward the right with a little bit of elevation, the goalkeeper dived toward it and caught it with both of his gloves.


    "Go, Rnd!" Minino yelled.


    The left-back got a bit irked by him suddenly yelling his name like that but he knew he had to hurry, and because of that reason, he made the mistake of firing the ball right down the middle.


    Dave quickly sprang toward the ball as soon as he saw iting and sent it flying over the bar with the tip of his glove.


    Ferran was up next and he fired the ball toward the top right-hand corner where he believed the goalkeeper wouldn''t be able to reach it from, but unfortunately, the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over.


    <That was the sixth one>


    It was now over to Fred, and the striker didn''t hesitate in firing it toward the goalpost, toward the right side.


    However, he made the mistake of adding no elevation to it, and not stretching far enough as all it took Dave to stop that, was stretching his leg out.


    Next up was Martinez and the defensive midfielder just didn''t have the time to y around as he fired the ball toward the top left-hand side while Dave was still on the floor, and the goalkeeper didn''t even bother trying to save that as the ball ended up smashing right into the.


    Pirlo was the ninth man who attempted to stretch out Dave by firing the ball toward the farthest right side with just a little bit of elevation.


    However, Dave was able to get the tip of his glove on it right on time and that was all that was needed to push it further for it to hit the post and roll off from the side.


    Adolf was thest man, and the captain does not miss opportunities like this.


    He didn''t hesitate in firing the ball toward the left while Dave was still on the right and he did not hold back with his shot power.


    Dave attempted to get to it despite knowing how impossible it would be and he failed miserably as the ball ended up smashing right into the before he could even get close to getting to it.


    "Seriously?" The goalkeeper muttered before slowly sitting up on the floor.


    "Hmm, so you managed to save five, we scored four, and one hit the crossbar." Minino articted as he made his way to the goalkeeper. "Not bad."


    "Yeah, I won." Dave dered before slowly getting up on his feet.


    "It would have been a tie if that one from Ferran had gone in instead of hitting the crossbar but since that happened it ended six to four so yeah, you won which is sort of embarrassing for us." The midfielder expressed before turning his gaze back to his teammate.


    <And to think that you didn''t use ball ma, thrust, or focus, if you had used any of those they would have scored less than four>


    ''Yeah, but I already told you, I''m trying to limit using the skills to dangerous situations where it''s really necessary.''


    <Yeah, I know, that''s good adaptation training in case the system shuts down on you one day in the middle of a match or you get a no-system quest like the one you got against Lazio>


    ''Yeah, that is part of the reason why I''m doing it.''


    The yers continued their training session until Norman called them together for an announcement.


    "I have good news for all of you." He dered as soon as all the yers gathered in front of him.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Good news? What kind?" Minino inquired.


    "The good kind of course." The coach said with a confused expression on his face before slowly turning his gaze away from the midfielder. "Anyway, Frankie will be returning to the squad this month, he won''t be able to join us against ck Roz on Tuesday but he''ll be back to training with us for the match against Dynamo FC."


    "Wow, that''s great news," Martinezmented.


    "Yeah, I''ve missed that guy," Minino remarked.


    "Well, he is the only midfielder on the team who can easily fulfill multiple roles, I just hope he hasn''t lost his mojo." Rnd expressed.


    ''That''s quite the good news, now I won''t have to get worried whenever Martinez gets subbed off.''


    <Yeah, but just like Rnd said, just pray he hasn''t lost his charm>


    ''Don''t worry, the coach will get him back in shape if that happens to be the case and besides this isn''t the first time he''s been out for a while because of an injury.''


    After telling the yers about Frankie returning, Norman proceeded to talk to them about a couple of things regarding their match against ck Roz FC, he already had every strategyid out, all that was left now was for them to implement it in the match two days from now.


    Talking to the yers about all that was the final part of their training session as the yers were allowed to start heading home after that.


    It was a morning training session that day, so it was normal that Dave got home by noon to discover that there was no one at home.


    After walking into the house, he let out a deep sigh before mming the door shut.


    He staggered toward the couch and dropped his bag on it before proceeding further to the kitchen and straight to the fridge where he took out a bottle of water to quench his thirst.


    He slowly slurped down the contents of the bottle until it was all gone and he threw the now-empty container into the waste bin.


    ''It''s been a good day so far, Cat.''


    <Yeah, I wonder if it will end as a great day>


    ''Hey, what are you on about? Don''t jinx it.''


    <I wasn''t trying to, sorry>


    The goalkeeper didn''t say anything in response to that as he made his way to the couch and crashed down on it.


    Now that he was on the couch, he slowly slipped his phone out of his pocket and turned the screen on.


    "So, Mateo''s still the yer with the most goals and assists so far this season, twenty goals and fifteen assists in twenty matches."


    <Yeah, those numbers look unreal>


    ''He''s four goals ahead of Rnd now and two assists ahead of Frank, I wonder if he can pull off winning both.''


    <It''s possible, he''s doing great so far but anything can happen down the season but he''s on the right track at least>


    ''Yeah, I would be really happy to see him win it though, and be the first yer in the Bilbeth Premier League to grab both awards in a season.''


    <You know you''re also on the right track of breaking a big record this season>


    ''Yeah, Grandpa''s record of thirty-two clean sheets in a season, looks unreal but I''ll try my best.''

 Chapter 449 Black Roz FC Vs Unique FC: Match Day Twenty One

    ?


    The voices of the fans were all going up as the yers marched to the pitch.


    It was finally the day for Unique FC to face ck Roz FC for the second time in the season.


    Norman had to travel to the city of ck Roz to face off against their most abused opponents.


    There were only two things that were going to happen here today, and it was either Frono FC breaking the curse of always losing against Unique FC and getting a draw or even going ahead to win the match, the former was the most realistic option.


    It was either that or Unique FC continued their eternal winning streak against them.


    They would have had a better chance of breaking the curse when Unique FC were a bit on the low but unfortunately, they were in the second division.


    The fans really believed that it was a curse because all the seasons they''ve been in the Bilbeth Premier League Unique FC yed well if not great but once they get relegated the team starts dropping form.


    Jim and Steve said their introductions as the yers lined up in front of the pitch.


    ck Roz FC were putting on their home jersey which was a ck kit, the shirt had nice red outlines with two diagonal red lines on the lower part of it a little to the left, their goalkeeper on the other hand was putting on a in red kit.


    Unique FC on the other hand were putting on their away kit which was a ck kit with orange polka dots, the exact opposite of their home kit while Dave was putting on a ck kit with orange outlines.


    The captains from both teams had to make their way to the match officials for the coin toss now, and Unique FC ended up winning it which meant that they were going to be the ones kicking off the match from the kick-off spot.


    "Just before the match kicks off, let''s take a quick look at the lineups from both sides."


    ck Roz FC wereing up against their mortal enemies once again with the four-four-two formation but this time they were doing things a bit differently.


    They had just one attacking midfielder up front then the remaining three were there to make sure nothing got past but they weren''t restricted to just that area because that would make their attacks dull.


    "Starting with George and Aveiro up front, good, I just hope they can hold up against Unique FC this time," Jimmented.


    Norman was still sticking with his standard four-three-three formation for this match.


    He had Luis Roberto, Aima, Adolf, and Rnd in defense.


    In midfield, he had Martinez, Ferran, and Minino, and finally, upfront, he had Mateo, Fred, and Merino.


    It had been a while since Fred started a match but he was giving him that chance now.


    "Norman once again with his stacked squad, clearly the favorite to win this match but let''s see what ck Roz FC has to say about that." Steve articted.


    [ Conjoined quest received ]


    [ Keep a clean sheet ]


    [ Make at least five crucial saves ]


    [ Provide an assist ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +200 exp ]


    [ +2 stat points ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points ]


    The goalkeeper was heading toward the goalpost when he saw that quest pop up and he had a few thoughts about it.


    ''I was about to say easy conjoined quest until I saw thatst one.''<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    <What''s so hard about providing an assist if you can score from the goalpost?>


    ''It''s not about providing the assist, it''s mainly about having the yer I send the ball to score without passing it to anyone else or missing the shot, it''s sort of difficult to pull off sessfully which is why almost all my assists had been to Mateo but those were mostly during counterattacks.''


    <Yeah, I understand what you mean, just look for Mateo at the right moments>


    ''I''ll try, of course.''


    Fred was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle and after making sure that everything was in ce and everyone was ready, the referee blew his whistle.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    Fred quickly passed the ball to Minino who quickly sent it rolling back to Martinez just before Mason could get to him.


    Martinez sent the ball rolling to Fred who quickly tried to find Merino down the wing but that wasn''t the brightest idea as the winger ended up losing the ball to the left back there who quickly tried to George up front but that was also a mistake as Adolf was right there to nod the ball to Martinez who quickly sent it rolling to Rnd.


    "Lost the ball for a second there and now they''re back with it."


    Rnd moved down the wing with the ball a little before pushing it to Ferran who feigned sending over to Merino before passing it short to Mateo on the left.


    "Mateo."


    Mateo quickly raced toward the right back in the area before he suddenly paused and pushed the back to Ferran who pushed it back to Martinez.


    "What was that? I thought he was about to do something there."


    "Yeah, me too," Stevemented.


    Martinez pushed the ball to Minino before Mason could get to it, and after pushing a little further down the wing with it, the midfielder sent it rolling to Fred.


    The striker was right at the edge of the box, but there was no space for him to do anything so he had to send the ball back to Merino who sent it rolling to Ferran with his first touch.


    They were doing pretty well in evading everything ck Roz FC had stacked in front of their goalpost with their passes.


    Ferran had to send the ball rolling to Mateo to avoid the defensive midfielder heading toward him.


    Mateo got his foot on the ball and moved back a little with it before passing it to Rnd who had closed up on the area now.


    Rnd sent the ball back to him because of the yer quickly heading his way, and after getting his foot on the ball, the winger sent it rolling to Ferran who quickly linked it back to Rnd.


    Their passing continued like this for a while until the ball finally got to Mateo for the fourth time.


    As soon as he got his foot on the ball, he quickly spun around to get rid of the yer right behind him, and right now he was heading toward the box from down the middle with full speed.


    He got past the first defender with some rough dribbling to get into the box, and just before the second one could do anything to stop him, he pushed the back toward Fred with a backheel pass.


    The striker wasn''t going to miss this opportunity as he got his foot on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost just as Mateo crashed down inside the box.


    "Fred!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the right side with just the right elevation to keep it away from the goalkeeper as it ended up evading the gloves and smashing right into the box.


    "And he puts it right in!"


    The fans burst into cheers of jubtion as the striker took off to the side and did a knee slide while screaming at the top of his voice.


    "Just six minutes into the game and they''re already one goal up, that was a brilliant move from Mateo and Fred did not disappoint." Jim expressed. "ck Roz FC will have to step up their game or else it''s their loss against Unique FC once again."

 Chapter 450 Dangerous When He Strikes

    ?


    Fifteen minutes had already passed since Unique FC opened the scoreline in a ssical way and so far ck Roz FC had been unable to respond to that.


    They were doing quite well in keeping Unique FC from dismantling their defense but they weren''t keeping them awaypletely.


    It took an assist from Mateo for them to realize that they had to heavily mark him but at least they were doing that now.


    Unique FC were still able to pull off a couple of good chances after that goal from Fred but only one of them came really close to going in.


    It was set up from Ferran to Mateo inside the box, the winger got his left foot on it right on time for both of the yers right on his trail caught up to him, but the ball ended up hitting the post before rolling out for goal kick.


    The winger really came close to putting that one away but it was just not meant to be.


    ck Roz FC were also able to pull off a couple of really good chances.


    They won a free kick at the edge of the box which Aveiro took and came quite close to putting it in from the right but he missed the goalpost by just a few inches as the ball ended up flying over the bar.


    A few minutester, the same Aveiro fired the ball from thirty yards out where no one expected him to shoot from.


    It was obvious Dave also wasn''t expecting that in any way as he was glued to a spot while the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over for a goal kick.


    That could have been such a sick goal and a guaranteed one just because Dave wasn''t even able to go toward it.


    However, neither of those two was their best chance. Their best chance was when Mason somehow managed to stagger his way past Aima and Adolf with the ball glued to his feet and just before Dave could run into him he sent the ball flying toward the right.


    However, Dave was able to make slight contact with the ball just at the right time to push it farther enough for it to hit the post before rolling off toward Minino who sent it flying away from the goalpost as soon as possible.


    At this point in the match, it was safe to say that ck Roz FC were doing quite well against Unique FC looking at all the chances they''ve managed to get against them.


    However, Unique FC were still dominating the game while leading the scoreline so everything was still in their favor.


    They were also making sure that their opponent''s ess to the ball was limited by keeping it to themselves most of the time and not making any careless attempts with it.


    ck Roz''s defense was quite tough on them, but they were still trying to find a way.


    There was always going to be a way, they just had to find it and exploit it.


    Ferran received the ball right at the center of the pitch from Martinez, and just before Mason could get to him he sent the ball rolling to Minino who had to push it back to Luis Roberto.


    Luis got his foot on the ball and without hesitation, he sent the ball flying over to Mateo on the left.


    Mateo had to quickly move away from the defensive midfielder marking him to get his head on the ball and send it flying toward Ferran.


    "Sends it to Ferran with a header."


    Ferran got his foot on the ball and neatly nutmegged Mason in his attempt to move back with the ball and after that he sent the ball rolling to Minino down the right.


    "Looks like they''re just keeping the ball in the middle."


    Minino had to push the ball back to Ferran who quickly turned and sent it rolling to Rnd who had moved down toward the center of the pitch now.


    "Rnd."


    Rnd quickly pushed the ball forward toward the defensive midfielder who was heading his way and just as the midfielder stretched his leg to try and take the ball from him, he quickly moved it toward the light and ended uppletely evading him, now he was racing down the middle with it.


    "Rnd''s on the run here."


    The left-back had Mason heading toward him as he approached the box, but just before the midfielder could get to him, he sent the ball to Merino who tried to chip it over for Fred but he shouldn''t have rushed it like that.


    The defender there neatly brought the ball down with his chest and moved it past Fred before firing it forward Aveiro up front.


    Aima and Adolf were already moving forward with Luis and Rnd way too deep on the offensive.


    The only person who was keeping both George and Aveiro on side was Martinez.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "They''re trying to start a counterattack here."


    The defensive midfielder quickly rushed to the striker before the ball could get to him and managed to get his head on the ball, but instead of nodding it forward toward any of his teammates, he decided to nod it backward.


    Dave got the gist immediately and quickly rushed to the ball and got to it before George could.


    He feigned firing it out to startle George and that worked quite well for him as he quickly got past the striker to set the ball up for a proper kick.


    "What''s Dave nning to do here? Is he going to go for goal?"


    Aveiro was quickly heading toward him right at that time, but just before he could get to him, the goalkeeper quickly pulled his leg back and quickly sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.


    However, he wasn''t going directly for the goalpost, rather he was trying to Fred and he did pretty well in sending the ball on the right path.


    Fred moved deeper into the box as the ball got closer to him until he finally managed to get his head on the ball before anyone else could.


    "It''s Fred!"


    That was a really good header from the striker, but unfortunately, the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that was so close."


    The striker let out a deep sigh before he got up from the floor and turned his gaze to Dave to give him a thumbs up.


    "That was such a lovely setup from Dave, he''s always full of surprises."


    That chance forced out quite the gasp from the fans and now all that could be heard was them chanting Dave''s name.


    <That could have been it>


    ''Yeah, I''ll get it next time, I hope.''


    The match had just entered the forty-fifth minute with Unique FC still leading one goal to nothing.


    Mateo had been quiet for a while now and it looked like he was sticking like that.


    This wasn''t the first time he had been marked like this in a match but he was just going along with this one.


    Ferran was with the ball now, and after passing it to the winger, he just sent it back to him.


    The midfielder quickly turned toward the box now to find Minino, Merino, and Fred making their way into the area so he attempted lobbing the ball over to them but the defender there was fast enough to go up and get his head on the ball.


    However, he made the mistake of nodding it toward Mateo.


    The winger quickly got past the midfielder marking him with a neat nutmeg before quickly heading toward the edge of the box.


    "Oh, it''s Mateo."


    He feigned firing it at the defender right in front of him before he quickly stretched it a little to the right and fired it right toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost.


    "Mateo!"


    The goalkeeper dived toward the ball right at that time, but he failed to get his hand on it as the ball ended up hitting the angle between the post and crossbar before smashing right into the goalpost.


    "And he puts it in!"


    The fans were going wild now as the winger quickly raced to the sideline but before he could do anything, Minino got to him and dragged him down.


    "What a strike from outside the box, he''s been quiet for a while now but he''s just shown us that he is still in the game." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, he is dangerous when he strikes."

 Chapter 451 Brilliant Plan

    ?


    After that stunner from Mateo ck Roz FC tried their best to pull off something before the first half came to an end but they failed to do that before the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    Unique FC yers were all in the locker room now with Norman standing right in front of them because he had a few things to tell them about what they needed to do in the second half.


    He made sure to stress the fact that he had just a few things to tell them and he wasn''t joking.


    He only spoke to the yers for about five minutes before leaving the room.


    However, he made sure to hit really important points with the few things he had to share with them.


    His tactics remained the same, all they needed was to implement what he just told them now and make things easier for themselves in the second half.


    With the coach out of the room now, the yers began to converse among themselves.


    Adolf was speaking to the other defenders while Mateo seemed to be discussing something that sounded pretty interesting with Merino.


    Dave on the other hand was just scanning the room looking for nothing in particr.


    It didn''t take long before the yers had to start making their way back to the pitch to kick off the second half.


    "Wee back everyone, the second half of the match is about to kick off here as we can see the yers making their way to the pitch now," Jim announced.


    "The first half was pretty good, I loved how well ck Roz FC fought to try and keep out Unique FC but unfortunately, they still had to collect two goals, I can''t wait to see how this second half pans out."


    Unique FC were the ones who started the match from the kick-off spot in the first half which meant that ck Roz FC were going to be the ones doing it in this half as George could be seen standing over the ball.


    All he was waiting for now was the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he sent the ball rolling to Mason.


    "There''s the whistle and we are back into it."


    The home team were doing quite well in keeping the ball away from Unique for a while or perhaps that was because they didn''t attempt attacking yet because the moment they tried to, they ended up losing the ball.


    Ten minutes passed and it was just a stalemate between both sides.


    They were doing pretty well with their movements up front but their defenses were doing so well in cancelling out their attacks.


    Unique FC were the only ones who managed to pull out a shot during the first ten minutes of the first half and it was another shot from Mateo from outside the box.


    The goalkeeper could have kept this one out but it didn''t matter because the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over the bar for a goal kick.


    Aveiro was moving toward the right with the ball now with Rnd slowly heading his way but just before the left-back could get to him, he pushed the ball to George down the middle.


    However, before George could go any further with the ball, Martinez slid toward him in an attempt to take the ball off him but he failed as the striker somehow still managed to retain the ball and get away from the midfielder but that wasn''t the end.


    Suddenly, Mateo quickly closed in from behind and took the ball off the striker with a neat tackle.


    "Strange to see Mateo helping out in defense but he''s got the ball now," Jimmented.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The winger quickly took off to the right with the ball and it didn''t look like he was nning to slow down.


    He was able to easily get past Mason and he was still going.


    "Mateo''s moving, he''s moving too fast."


    Just as the winger got closer to Minino as he approached the boss, he pushed the ball to the midfielder who quickly sent it back to him as soon as he got past both of the yers in front of him.


    "Nice teamwork."


    With the winger now closing down on the right wing, Merino quickly began to shift to the left, and while he was still doing that, Mateo sent the ball rolling to him.


    "I smell danger around ck Roz''s box."


    The winger got hold of the ball while still moving and just before any of the defenders could do anything to take it from him, he sent it rolling to Fred who quickly pushed it back to Mateo.


    Mateo paused as soon as he got hold of the ball with the left back quickly heading toward him but before he could get close enough to him, he pushed the ball back to Minino before quickly rushing past the defender to receive the ball back from his teammate right inside the box.


    "He''s on side with a lot of options here."


    The winger quickly feigned firing the ball toward the goalpost to get the yer right in front of him to drop to the floor.


    He could have scored himself because he was in a very good position but he found Fred right down the middle with an open right in front of him and decided to send the ball to him.


    The striker just had to tap the ball in before anyone could get to him and he did just that, it was the easiest goal ever.


    "Now, that''s what you call teamwork!."


    "That was some mad effort from Mateo, it was like he had everything nned in his head, taking the ball from George like that and making that, he could have finished it off himself there but I guess passing it to Fred was the safer option." Steve articted. "That was a brilliant set up to such a simple-looking goal."


    Fred had to quickly rush toward Mateo as soon as he put the ball in.


    This was the second time the winger was assisting him tonight and he was very happy about that.


    The voices of the fans were going up now while ck Roz FC yers had devastated looks on their faces, it looked like they were going to lose to Unique FC once again.


    This was Mateo''s brilliant n and it worked even better than he expected.


    Switching positions was something he discussed with Merino during the halftime break but he didn''t exactly n it like this.


    He found out that getting past the wingback on his side was a bit difficult and he wanted to see how things would pan out for him on the other side and Merino had no reason to disagree but they had to do it this way to make sure he was unprepared for the storm he was bringing and everything worked out quite well.


    "That''s a goal and two assists for Mateo Smith tonight, he''s still leading the race for the golden boot and the ymaker award and it doesn''t look like he''s nning on slowing down," Jimmented.

 Chapter 452 Unfortunate Situation

    ?


    "Oh, looks like Dave''s down here."


    The goalkeeper was on the floor now with his teammates and a few other ck Roz FC yers gathered around him.


    He had his face on the floor, and judging from the way he was moving his legs, he seemed to be in serious pain.


    Adolf had to help him lift his face, and when he did that, they all let out loud gasps.


    The goalkeeper''s face was covered, and it didn''t look like it wasing from just his nose, his left eye waspletely shut and there was also blood dripping down from it.


    "Uh, oh, that looks way more serious than I imagined," Jimmented.


    "That doesn''t look good, the striker''s boots got him on the left eye too."


    Minino would have already started a fight on the pitch over that but Aveiro who was the cause of the situation the goalkeeper was in now seemed to be genuinely apologetic for his actions.


    The medical team had to quickly make their way to the pitch to see what they could.


    Things weren''t looking good for Dave, but how exactly did this happen?


    Well, it all started in the seventieth minute when Dave put a neat strike from Aveiro right from the edge of the box over the bar with a really good close save.


    ck Roz FC won a corner kick and they hoped that this would be their chance to finally pull one back against their opponents and that was the point where everything stemmed from.


    Mason was the one taking the kick, and as soon as he heard the referee''s whistle, he sent the ball flying in.


    The midfielder''s intent there was more for going for goal than crossing it in as the ball ended up curling toward the crossbar and smashed right on it before falling off a little to the right.


    That was the moment before the disaster as Dave dived toward the ball just as Aveiro wasing toward it with a slide.


    The goalkeeper got to the ball first to grab it with both of his gloves but it was all at the cost of getting his face smashed by the heel of Aveiro''s boot.


    That was a clear foul and the referee even gave the striker a yellow card but after seeing Dave''s face, the fans and his teammates, Minino specifically were asking for a red card because that was a brutal injury that he just gave to the goalkeeper.


    [ 40/100 HP ]


    ''It''s been a while since I''ve seen that.'' He said subconsciously before letting out an inward chuckle.


    <What do you mean? You got an HP message at the start of the season, but don''t worry, you''ll be okay>


    ''Oh, yeah, I suffered an injury at the start of the season. It was during a training session but I wasn''t able to y against Dynamo FC because of it, and now our next match is against Dynamo FC.''


    The goalkeeper had to be carried off the pitch with a stretcher, he had to be taken down to one of the treatment rooms to receive proper treatment because his left eye wasn''t looking great.


    "Sad, it looks like Dave Richards won''t be able to continue with the match and Alexander will being on to rece him."


    The fans were raging at this point, but there was really nothing more they could do, they could throw stuff at Aveiro whenever he gets close to their side, but that was uneptable behavior especially away from home.


    "I''m sorry, guys." He muttered under his breath as they took him down the tunnel.


    <Hey, just what are you whining about? They''re already three goals up with less than thirty minutes left in the game, if they lose the lead during that time then it''s all of them, but still I don''t think ck Roz will be able to do something like that, it''s not like the defense weren''t doing a good job><novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    ''Yeah, you''re right but I was talking about missing another match against Dynamo FC, the only match I''ve missed this season was against them and we ended up losing that match, it''s our only loss in allpetitions so far this season.''


    <Oh, well, then you have a point but you may still be able to y, this isn''t as serious as thest one, blooding out doesn''t mean it''s worse>


    ''I don''t know about that, Catherine, it sure feels that way. God, my left eye and nose hurt like hell now.''


    It didn''t take long before they got to the treatment room with the goalkeeper, and after dropping him on the bed, they left to get the doctor who was going to be taking care of him.


    They used first aid on him before bringing him in so there was nothing to worry about for now.


    The affected eye was just his left eye, but he couldn''t even open his right eye properly because doing that made his left eye hurt more so he just closed it.


    While he was trying to calm himself down and rx his mind, he suddenly heard a ding sound in his head.


    [ Quest forfeited as you are unable to continue the match ]


    [ +200 exp received ]


    [ Every other reward has been forfeited because of your inability to continue the match ]


    ''Would you look at that, the system is feeling generous today.''


    <Yeah, not something you see everyday>


    While Dave was down the tunnel receiving treatment, the match had to continue, and it looked like his teammates already punished their opponents for what happened to him because the scoreline now was four goals to nothing.


    "Just what was that strike?!"


    The yers were celebrating in front of the fans now with their voices and that of the fans going up.


    "I did not expect him to shoot from there but he went all the way and somehow managed to put it in," Stevemented.


    The yer they were talking about was none other than Rnd Ryle.


    The left-back was the one who started the build-up from his side and after sending the ball to Mateo from the center of the pitch, the winger sent the ball back to him.


    After receiving the ball back from the winger, he pushed it forward a little before firing it toward the goalpost from that far away.


    He fired the ball toward the top left-hand side of the goalpost and although the goalkeeper managed to get his hand on it, he just wasn''t able to keep it out as the ball ended up smashing right past his hand to fall into the goalpost.


    That was a goal that got the fans off their feet just like it was supposed to.


    "Yet another banger goal from Unique FC topete for the goal of the season award," Jimmented.


    "That''s winning goal of the month for sure."


    ck Roz FC yers had devastated looks on their faces as the voices of the away fans kept going higher and higher.


    "Dave may be out of the match, but maybe they should have thought about putting him out earlier because right now, I don''t think there''s any way they can make aeback now."

 Chapter 453 Losing Sanity

    ?


    After that fourth goal from Rnd, ck Roz FC knew that it was all over, their eternal losing streak against Unique FC was going to continue and there was nothing they could do about it.


    They still tried their best to at least pull one back but it was as if, as soon as Dave was taken off the pitch, they started taking defending super seriously because they knew that the person in between the sticks now was not that reliable.


    In the end, they seeded in seeing the game through with a clean sheet just like they wanted.


    Unique FC yers were quite happy for another win as it pushed them forward toward their league title goal but Minino wasn''t feeling it.


    He would always smile brightly after each win but right now, he just had a frown on his face with his arms crossed.


    "Dave had to leave the match early because of an unfortunate injury, but they still managed to pull it through with a clean sheet, their eighteenth clean sheet of the season, the best defense in the league so far this season." Jim expressed.


    "Also, don''t forget, they''re on an eighteen-game unbeaten run across allpetitions and they''re still going," Stevemented.


    "Yeah, Norman''s boys are really doing wonders this season and I hope they can keep it up."


    In theirst match against Frono FC, Mateo won the man of the match award with a hat trick and he won it again against ck Roz FC today, but this time, with a goal and a hat trick of assists, it was ten out of ten performance for the winger or at least nine out of ten.


    This was in ck Roz so Emma couldn''t be in the stadium but she would have been there if it wasn''t for her condition and there was also no Amber.


    Mateo had to be picked up for the post-match interview, and now he was standing in the area with a microphone ced in front of him by a male reporter.


    He asked him a couple of recycled questions which the winger answered in the best ways he could until he got to the important questions.


    "Dave had to be taken off the pitch at the seventy-second minute because of a serious injury and may be in doubt of being able to join you guys against Dynamo FC, how do you feel about that?"


    "Umm¡­Firstly, no one said he won''t be able to y against Dynamo FC but I can see where you''reing from." The winger replied. "As for how I feel, I think I speak for all my teammates here when I say that winning all these matches with clean sheets has been mostly because of him, he makes tough saves look easy and the only match we''ve lost so far this season was one that he wasn''t part of. "


    "That was against Dynamo FC, right?" The reporter asked.


    "Yeah." He replied with a nod.


    "And that''s your next match with the possibility that Dave won''t be part of it once again."


    "Well, I hope the possibility of that being a possibility is low."


    "Alright, what about Aveiro? I spoke to a couple of fans and they thought that him getting his boot on Dave''s face like that was intentional, what do you think about that?"


    "Hmm¡­.Well, he seemed really apologetic about it and held his teammates back when they tried to make a fuss about it. He also met me after the match and apologized to me personally because he knows Dave is a dear friend of mine." The winger expressed. "I had my reservations about his apology until that moment, it wasn''t intentional, he was only trying to get to the ball, and then an ident happened, that''s something that happens a lot in this game.


    "I am still a bit mad about what happened but it''s not like he killed him, this is something that happens in football a lot so let him be."


    "Alright then, that will be all from us, thank you for answering our questions."


    "My pleasure." The winger said with a smile before he quickly turned and made his way out of the area.


    All of his teammates had already gone down so he was heading to the locker room alone now.


    He was heading to the area when he spotted Dave walking down the hallway, it looked like the goalkeeper had juste out from the treatment room.


    "Hey, Dave, wait up." The winger called before quickly closing up toward him.


    When he got close enough to him, he could see that his left eye and nose were covered with bandages now and he didn''t have the brightest of expressions on his face. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Oh, hey, Mateo." He muttered with a frail voice before slowly cing his hand on his forehead.


    "I see they patched you up, how are you feeling now?"


    "Better than before but my head still hurts like hell." He replied before letting out a sigh. "The doctor gave me the prescription for the drugs that will lessen the paper."


    "And did she say anything about your status for the next game?"


    "Yeah, she said I shouldn''t take part in it no matter how better I feel after today, just for my own good." The goalkeeper replied.


    "Oh, I see." The winger said before letting out a sigh. "Anyway, I''m just d that you''re okay, I can''t imagine what my sister must be thinking now."


    "Don''t worry, she''s probably slee¡­."


    He wasn''t able to finish that statement as he suddenly felt a throbbing pain in his head and quickly leaned against the wall with his hand on his head.


    "Hey, what''s wrong?" Mateo asked before quickly getting closer to him.


    <You shouldn''t speak too much in your condition>


    "I know." He let out a grunt.


    "Huh?"


    "It''s nothing, I just felt a little rush of pain in my head."


    "Maybe you shouldn''t talk too much." The winger suggested.


    "Yeah, I''ve got that noted down, I''m not sure if I''ll be able to handle Minino''s noise in the locker room."


    "Don''t worry, I don''t think he''s in the mood for that."


    "Huh? Why''s that?"


    "He hasn''t been in a good mood since you left the pitch so I don''t think he''s doing anything crazy in the locker room," Mateo exined.


    "Hmm, I see." The goalkeeper replied with a smile.


    "Let''s get going then."


    "Yeah." He muttered before the both of them began to make their way down the hallway. "You know, Aveiro came to see me, he''s a really nice guy."


    "Yeah, I know."


    ______ ______


    The drive back home was like hell for Dave, he kept turning his head every second trying to see if there was any position that would make him feel better but it was to no avail.


    The longer the drive the more he wanted to scream and let out that burst of pain in his head, but the little piece of sanity he had left was keeping him from doing that.


    He was able toplete the journey without doing anything crazy, however, this was where the real troubley, there was no way he would be able to drive himself home in his condition.

 Chapter 454 Dual Personality?

    ?


    Dave was quite well aware that he wouldn''t be able to drive himself home safely but for some reason, he was trying to convince Mateo that he could do it.


    Fortunately, the winger was not careless enough to just let him drive himself home in his condition.


    "Hey, what are you on about? I can drive myself home."


    He was trying to pull the door open here but Mateo held his hand against it firmly to prevent him from doing that.


    "No, you can''t, just get in my car so I can drive you home, that''s the only way you can get home safely."


    <Come on, Dave, you have to try to think straight>


    Catherine had been trying for quite a while now to get her message across to him and see if he woulde back to his senses, but for some reason, he wasn''t hearing her or maybe he was just pretending not to.


    "I don''t understand your problem with me, I already told you that I''m going to be fine." He responded before suddenly giving the door a heavy pull.


    Mateo had to make use of his other hand to stop him from opening the door.


    The worst part about this situation was that most of their teammates were already gone and the few that were still in the area were inside taking care of some things.


    "I know you''re not in your right mind, Dave but you have to listen to me, if you get into that car in your condition, you may end up getting in an ident."


    "And so what?"


    "Huh? You have a wife and an unborn child at home for crying out loud."


    The goalkeeper suddenly let out a gasp before quickly letting go of the door.


    Those words kept ringing in his ear forcing him to stagger away from the car a little with his hand on his forehead.


    Mateo used that opportunity to quickly lock the car before sliding the key into his pocket.


    "What am I even doing?" He muttered under his breath.


    The winger let out a sigh of relief before he slowly made his way to him and put his arm around his shoulder.


    "Don''t worry about it, just let me take you home." He offered.


    This time, there was no resistance from Dave and he was d about that as he took him to his car and put him in the backseat before quickly getting in the driver''s seat.


    Dave was now in the backseat with his hand still on his forehead as he was trying to recall what just happened a few minutes ago.


    Mateo turned the key to start the engine and was about to move out when he heard him mutter something from the back.


    "Hey, Mateo."


    "Huh?" He responded before turning his gaze to him.


    "I feel like I said things I shouldn''t have said." He said before shaking his head.


    "Don''t worry about it, you just need some rest and you''ll be back to your old self."


    <I don''t even understand what''s wrong with you, there''s no damage to your brain, it''s quite appalling>


    ''Me too, Cat but the doctor said I needed to get some rest so maybe that has something to do with it, I just don''t hope I don''t lose it again before we get home.''


    The drive home was ufortable for him just like the drive from ck Roz to Unique City but getting home from the Wondanimo stadium wasn''t a long drive so he didn''t have to go through that for long.


    Mateo had to get the house control from him to open the gate and drive into the house.


    The winger parked his car on the side after driving into the area, and after stopping the engine he quickly opened the door to jump out from the car.


    Emma happened to be outside at that time, and as soon as she saw the gate open and the car drive in she quickly made her way to the area.


    "Mateo?"


    She was quite surprised to see that her brother was the one that drove in.


    "Oh, hey, sis." He responded before he stretched his hand to open the door for Dave and let him out.


    "Is Dave¡­."


    She had to pause in between that statement as soon as she saw Dave emerge from the car with his hand stuck on his forehead and his only visible eye shut.


    "No." She muttered before covering her mouth with her hands.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He was staggering so Mateo had to help get him inside.


    Emma just stood there with a horrid look on her face as the two walked past her but she had to follow them inside soon.


    As soon as Mateo got into the house with him, he quickly made his way to the couch and slowly dropped him there.


    Emma made her way into the room soon after and quickly made her way to her husband.


    "I saw all the blood, but I didn''t know it was going to put him in this state." She muttered before squatting down beside him.


    "Don''t worry, he''ll be okay, the doctor said he just needs some rest and he''ll be okay," Mateo exined. "However, I think one of his screws has been disced."


    "Huh?"


    "He wanted to drive himself home."


    As soon as she heard him say that, she let out a gasp before turning her gaze to her husband.


    "In his condition?"


    "Yeah, I had to force him to drive him home."


    "Oh, Mateo, thank you so much."


    "What are you two bbing about?" The goalkeeper voiced abruptly before removing his hand from his face to see Emma staring at him. "Oh, hi, um¡­"


    "It''s your wife." She uttered.


    "Oh, yeah, and what was your name again?"


    "You forgot my name?"


    "Yeah, I guess it sort of happened." He replied before quickly covering his eye with his hand and leaning back on the couch.


    She expected him to bring his face down to continue their conversation but he just stayed like that.


    "You see what I''m talking about?" Mateo said as soon as his sister turned her gaze to him. "It''s like he has a dual personality now."


    "Yeah, this is really worrying." She replied before slowly turning her gaze back to him to see that he still had his head leaned back. "Did he suffer brain damage or something?"


    "No, I don''t think so, or else the doctor would have mentioned it." He replied. "Hopefully, he will get better tomorrow."


    "I hope so." She muttered with a voice of concern before getting up on her feet.


    "Yeah. Anyway, I have to get going now."


    Before he could take a step toward the door, she quickly moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around him.


    "Thank you so much, you''re the best brother ever."


    "Hey, no need to get all sappy now, Dave''s like a brother to me you know."


    "Yeah, that''s why you''re the best brother." She muttered with a frail voice.


    He was trying to get out of her grip at first, but now he just let go to let her hug to her satisfaction.


    Hugging him forfort was something she used to do when they were younger even though he was the younger sibling.


    After that, she had to see him off, and now that he was gone, she returned to the house to find Dave in the same position.


    She slowlyid him straight on the couch to avoid making any contact with him, and after that, she just sat down on the couch, tilted her head to the side with her hand holding it in ce, and was about to drown in her thoughts when she heard him mutter something.


    "I love you, Emma."


    She slowly turned her gaze to him as a smile suddenly appeared on her face amidst her worried gaze.


    "I love you too."


    "A Ballon d''Or? Yeah, I would love to have one."


    "And you might get one." She muttered before slowly turning her gaze away from him.


    [ Dream control activated ]

 Chapter 455 New Day New Feeling

    ?


    The goalkeeper was fast asleep and he seemed to be enjoying himself as he slowly floated around on the surface of the water.


    It felt calm and soothing and just the warm feeling of the water on his body made it seem like everything he had been feeling just a while ago never existed.


    The sky was dark at first but then everything quickly changed as the sky quickly brightened up and a rainbow projected on the sky.


    It was a nice view from where he was but he couldn''t even see it because he was still asleep.


    Just as he moved further down the surface of the water, trees began to sprout around him with birds of different colors suddenly appearing on them.


    The ce was starting to look like a proper world, a fantasy word to be precise.


    However, his movement across the surface of the water had to be suddenly halted as he ran into a wedge, a wedge that turned out to be a canoe with someone in it.


    The person in the boat turned out to be Catherine, she still had her silver hair and sses and was still in the suit even in a ce like this.


    "I see you''re starting to get the hang of using dream control to take proper control of your dreams." She said before looking down at him. "I would say you''ve mastered it with everything you just did but I don''t know how wild your imagination is when you''re conscious here."


    After saying all that, she gave him a light tap on his forehead and that was all that was needed to get him to open his eyes.


    "O." He groaned as he slowly opened his eyes to see her staring down at him. "Catherine?"


    "Hi." She said with a little wave.


    "How am I here? And how am I.."


    He paused for a while to push his right hand further down to confirm that he was really floating on top of the water.


    "How am I doing this?"


    As soon as that question escaped from his mouth, his body slowly began to sink into the water.


    "I thought as much," Catherine muttered before letting out a sigh.


    "Hey, Cat,e on, give me a hand here." He requested before raising his hand toward her.


    He wasn''t panicking because he knew in his dream world but he still didn''t want to know what drowning felt like.


    Catherine epted his request and helped drag him onto the canoe.


    "Thank you."


    "No need for that, you could have just kept yourself afloat like you were doing."


    "Like I was doing?"


    "Yeah, you were the one who created this whole ce with your imagination and kept yourself afloat on the water this whole time."


    "Hmmm¡­.Well, that''s a surprise." He uttered. "I guess I just needed somewhere nice to cool my head."


    "Yeah, I already figured that out, the main issue now is if you will go back to normal after waking up, I still can''t figure out what happened to youst night."


    "Same here, I just kept flipping on and off, it was really weird, I remember everything I say and do but I have no control over it."


    "If it continues today, then it''s a problem and you have to go see the doctor, I hope it doesn''t." Catherine articted.


    "I hope so too."


    "Anyway, you have to get back now, it''s morning so let''s see how things turn out."


    "Okay."


    As soon as he said that, his body slowly began to disintegrate until he was no longer there.


    It didn''t take him long to wake up in the real world as soon as his body disappeared in his dream, and now he could see that his body was covered with a nket and he had a pillow below his head.


    "Wow, my head feels so much lighterpared tost night." He muttered with a yawn as he slowly sat up on the couch. "Hmm, something smells nice."


    The nice smell was obviouslying from the kitchen.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    <Hmm, so the pain is gone now?>


    ''Not entirely, I still feel a little numb in my head and my eye is feeling a little itchy.''


    <Don''t scratch it>


    ''I know, I''m not a child.''


    "Oh, you''re up."


    He quickly turned his gaze to the kitchen area where he heard her voicee from to see that she was standing at the entrance now.


    "Hey, good morning."


    "Good morning, how are you feeling?" She asked as she slowly made her way to him.


    "Better thanst night for sure." He replied.


    "That''s huge news." She voiced with a bright smile on her face before slowly sitting beside him. "You got me seriously worriedst night."


    "Yeah, sorry I had to put you through that, I also owe Mateo a huge apology."


    "Hey, there''s no need for that, you didn''t know what you were doing."


    "Asking you what your name was was hrious." The goalkeeper said with a chuckle before cing his hand on his forehead. "You must have flipped inside at that moment."


    "To be honest, I sort of did but then I remembered what Mateo told me about one of your screws getting disced. If you were to seriously ask me a question like that, I will punch you in the face."


    "Oh, then I guess that''s something I''ll be doing after my face is all healed up."


    "My fist will be waiting." She said with a straight face before suddenly bursting out with a chuckle.


    "Seems like you''re in a whole different mood this morning."


    "I''m just d that you''re okay,st night was really something." She said before leaning closer to him.


    It looked like she wanted to do something but then she suddenly pulled back from him.


    "Umm, I think you should go upstairs and get your mouth cleaned." She suggested with an awkward expression on her face.


    "Is it that bad?"


    "Yeah, really bad." She responded with a nod.


    "Oh." He muttered before quickly getting up from the couch. "I guess I should start heading upstairs now."


    <I see you seem to be back to normal but you have to take things easily>


    ''Yeah, I know.'' He replied subconsciously as he made his way upstairs.


    "Just call me if you need anything!" Emma yelled from downstairs before she began to make her way back to the kitchen.


    "I will."


    _____ ____


    On the other side of town, a whole lot of people could be seen gathered in front of someone''s house with the aim of touching him or getting his autograph.


    Mateo knew that this day was going toe one day and it was finally here.


    He had to fight his way through the crowd to get to his car, and as soon as he got to it, he opened the door, entered inside, and mmed it shut before any of them could stick their heads or hands through.


    He was safe now but driving out was still going to be a problem.


    He had to slowly push them back as he tried to reverse with his car and they had to move back, and as soon as he got on the road, he cracked up the speed and zoomed.


    "I guess it''s finally time to make that move." He sighed.

 Chapter 456 First Strike Already

    ?


    Dave was expecting the day to be less eventful for him because of what happened yesterday and how he was required to get a lot of rest today but resting onlysted about two hours for him and now he was sitting outside just beside his practice pitch with his arms crossed and a face as long as a fiddle.


    However, he wasn''t out there to just stare at nothing, it wasn''t even his choice to be there.


    All he was doing was watching the ball move back and forth in the air as Mateo and rk nodded it back between each other.


    Mateo being there was easy to exin because he wanted toe see the goalkeeper that morning but how did rk get there that morning?


    Well, he tried to get through to Davest night while he was still out of it.


    Emma had to pick up the call and she ended up telling him about what happened to him, he had no choice but toe check up on his friend as soon as possible today.


    He got thereter after Mateo who had a wholesome alone moment with his sister because Dave was still upstairs.


    Dave came downstairs a few minutes after rk got there and after spending some time inside together they told him toe get some fresh air outside but things turned this as soon as they spotted the balls inside his gym.


    Now all he could do was watch them do all that with the ball without being able to join them.


    "I thought we were out here on a walk." Hemented as soon as Mateo nodded the ball to rk and he stopped it with his feet before bringing it down.


    "Yeah, but you''re the one who should be doing that," rk responded before turning his gaze to him.


    "I don''t feel like it anymore." The goalkeeper replied before shaking his head.


    "Okay," rk uttered before he turned his gaze back to Mateo and sent the ball flying over to him.


    Dave let out a sigh along with a chuckle before slowly raising his gaze to look at the sky.


    ''I really can''t wait for this injury to go away.''


    <Well, that will take some time or do you want me to¡­>


    ''To do what?''


    <Nevermind, it will do your more harm than good>


    After hearing that response from her, he let out a sigh before slowly closing his eyes.


    ''Of course.''


    He still had his eyes closed when he felt someone give him a little tap on the shoulder but he just ignored the person because he thought it was rk or Mateo but he was wrong.


    "Hey, if he doesn''t want it just give it to me," rk suggested.


    "Okay," Emma replied.


    As soon as he heard that voice, he quickly shot his eyes open to see his wife standing in front of him with a milkshake in her hand, Mateo and rk were also standing there slowly sipping on the milkshakes in their hands.


    "Hey, don''t you dare give that to him."


    "I wasn''t even going to give it to him." She replied with a little chuckle.


    "Oh, I see."


    They all shared augh while enjoying their milkshake until rk decided to bring up the topic of football.


    "Hey, your next match is against Dynamo FC next week, right?" He asked after turning his gaze to Mateo.


    "Yeah." The winger responded with a nod.


    "That''s going to be a pretty tough match without Dave, he also wasn''t in the squad when you guys faced them the first time, right?"


    "Yeah," Mateo replied.


    "Without Dave? Who said I wasn''t going to be ying?" Dave questioned with his gaze now fixed on rk but maybe he shouldn''t have asked that question as all three of them had to quickly shoot their gaze at him as soon as he asked that question.


    <Now, you''ve done it>


    ________ ________


    ''I know the doctor said I shouldn''t y the match and everyone agrees with that but still¡­.''


    <You''re really something, Dave>


    The match against Dynamo FC was just about to kick off and the goalkeeper was on the bench with his arms crossed.


    Norman didn''t want him anywhere nowhere near the stadium for the training sessions leading to this match but he begged him profusely to let hime train with the rest of the team.


    The coach nned to just ignore him at first but then the calls and everything started getting too much as theirst training session before the match approached.


    This stunt probably wouldn''t have worked with another manager but he was quite close with Dave.


    He had to agree to let the goalkeeper train with his teammates after all, it''s not like he was including him in the squad or letting him start the game but he had no idea of what Dave was nning.


    During the training session that day, the goalkeeper kept trying to prove to him that he was fit for the match but the coach wasn''t buying it.


    In the end, he had to resort to verbally begging him as the training session was nearing its end.


    He knew convincing him to start him in the game was going to be tough so he focused on convincing him to put him on the bench at least that way he still had a chance of getting into the game.


    Norman had to agree to put him on the bench just to get him to leave him alone but he had no intention of putting him in the game that would be risking his investment for a short-term benefit, but how far was he going to go with that decision?


    Dave seeded in getting himself into the squad for the trip to Dynamo.


    Emma wasn''t happy with him for insisting to be part of the squad for the match but he assured her that he was going to be okay.


    Now he was sitting on the bench with the rest of his teammates on the bench as the match was about to kick off.


    Unique FC were in their normal away kit while Dynamo FC were in their home kit which was a ck kit with red outlines and two red stripes on the upper part of the shirt but the short was just ck with red outlines.


    "I have never seen Dave Richards on the bench since his first season with Unique FC, it''s a little odd," Jimmented.


    "I don''t think he''s that fit for this match, I think Norman is just keeping him there just in case but I don''t know how he''ll be


    able to do much if he''s not that fit." Steve articted.


    "Yeah, my exact thoughts but I guess it''s a good choice since they lost theirst match against Dynamo FC without Dave."


    Cornell was standing over the ball in the kick-off spot waiting for the referee''s whistle and it didn''t take long before he heard it.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    Dynamo FC kept the ball on their own side for a while, but as soon as Frank got his foot on the ball, he sent it flying over to Damian down the right.


    Damian quickly got the ball past Rnd with an overhead kick, and just before Rnd and Adolf who wasing in from the side could stop him, he fired the ball straight toward the goalpost.


    "Damian!"


    The ball flew straight toward the goalpost from the right and ended up hitting the post before bouncing out for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that was so close! Just a minute into the game and they''ve already gotten that first strike."


    "Hmph." Dave reacted with his arms still crossed.

 Chapter 457 First Time

    ?


    Thirty minutes had already passed in the game now and the scoreline was still the same.


    Both sides had been equally at each other''s throats so far but statistically speaking, Dynamo FC had been the better team.


    They''ve been pressing the away side high on both wings mostly because that was where most of their yy and although they were doing well in dealing with most of them it was starting to get a bit overwhelming for them, they gave Norman''s boys a lot of trouble in their first match and they were doing it again.


    Norman had what happened in mind when he made preparations for this match so he had a lot to consider.


    He was aware of how much they liked pressing high so he had to think of a way to beat that.


    Instead of starting the match with his standard formation, he decided to kick things off with the other formation that he used from time to time, four-four-two.


    This time, he didn''t put Mateo in midfield, he kept him up front with the main role of a striker alongside Fredinho but he still had that free role he would have as a winger.


    The midfield was where things got a bit interesting because Norman was starting the match without a defensive midfielder but four central midfielders who were going to take care of creating chances, attacking, and defending when necessary.


    He had Henry on the left, Ferran and Merino in the middle, and Merino on the right, he was nning to outss Dynamo FC with his midfield, but how well was that going to work for him?


    His defense from the right was Norman, Aima, Adolf, and Rnd and in the goalpost, he had Alexander because Dave was unfortunately on the bench.


    Norman was starting the match with a very good teamposition nheless but how was that going to do against the aggressive force of Dynamo FC who had been waiting for this moment to catch up to the Uniques who were still four points ahead of them?


    They were ying with their four-five-one formation and it was working pretty well for them in defending against their opponents and also attacking.


    The match had just hit the fortieth and the scoreline was still the same.


    Merino had been Unique FC''s best yer on the pitch so far and the things he could do in midfield were quite surprising.


    He was working the team''s central processing unit alongside Ferran, but he was doing more than that.


    He was also pushing up front when he got the chance and was doing pretty well in setting up both Mateo and Fredinho but so far, the forwards had not been able to finish any of the chances they got.


    Mateo ended up hitting the crossbar twice from really while one of his shots was mishit because he was brought down inside the box just as he kicked and although that looked like a foul no one neutral person wouldin about if the referee made a call there but he didn''t do anything about it and now, he had everyone supporting Unique FCining.


    Fredinho on the other hand was able to get two goal-scoring opportunities but he ended up sting both of them over the bar.


    Dynamo FC also missed their fair share of big chances, the most significant one came from a cross from the right.


    It was heading toward the right and Alexander was too quick to dive to the area but that was a mistake as Damian got to the ball just before it could get to the middle, and although he meant to go for the goalpost, he ended up sending the ball toward the center for Frank to connect to it with his foot but he ended up sting it over the bar.


    The was right open for him and he ended up sting it over the bar.


    The attacking midfielder was really mad about missing that chance as he was spotted kicking the post a few secondster.


    The match was heading toward the forty-second minute now as Minino slowly pushed down the wing with the ball.


    He was about to run into one of the midfielders before he quickly sent it rolling to Ferran who pushed it to Merino.


    Merino pushed a little forward with the ball before he sent it rolling to Mateo a little to the left.


    "Mateo."


    Mateo quickly took off down the left with the ball before he quickly turned and tried to curl the ball in for Fredinho, but that was a failed n as one of the defenders ended up nodding it back right toward Frank.


    "Nice defending and Frank''s with the ball now."


    The midfielder quickly took off with the ball with Unique FC''s defense quickly rushing back to their positions and Rnd doing everything he could to keep Damian behind him.


    Frank spotted Damian down the right, and although Rnd was on him, he quickly sent the ball flying over to him.


    All it took for Damian to get the ball past the left back and now he was quickly racing toward the goalpost with Rnd right on his trail and Adolf closing up on him from the middle.


    "Damian is still going, this could be their chance here."


    The midfielder managed to get into the box before Adolf, and just as the captain slid toward him while Rnd stuck his foot out toward the ball from behind and Alexander slid out to try and stop him, he fired the ball right into the goalpost from the right before tumbling on the floor.


    "And he makes no mistake! Straight into the goalpost!" Jim eximed.


    "That moment just before he fired the shot is a masterpiece that''s something you''ll be seeing in a TikTok editter today," Stevemented. "What a goal and Unique FC are the first to go behind."


    The voices of the home fans were getting higher and higher and now as Mateo slowly made his way to Rnd who was still on the floor and helped him up.


    No one was going to me the forward but that goal sort of stemmed from that failed cross.


    Norman''s boys had taken the first hit, but they still had a lot of time to get back into it.


    They had to restart the game from the kick-off spot, and now they were just moving the ball around.


    Minino received the ball and without even properly looking he sent the ball rolling back with the aim of getting to Adolf and that was where he made a mistake.


    Adolf was slowly moving away from his defensive position which meant that he wasn''t able to get to that ball which was heading toward the goalpost now, and just before any of them could do anything, Frank zoomed in from nowhere to get his foot on the ball.


    Norman and Rnd tried their best to stop him but the striker didn''t give them the chance to get close enough to him.


    As soon as he got to the edge of the box, he fired the ball toward the top right-hand corner which Alexander couldn''t get to, and just as the ball smashed into the, he slowly turned around and raised his hand.


    "It''s all been a minute since that first goal and they''re already two goals up."


    "That was a terrible mistake from Minino and Frank made sure to properly punish them for it," Stevemented.


    Minino was quite embarrassed now as he stood there with both of his hands on his waist.


    "Just in thest minutes of the first half, Dynamo FC decided to shock Unique FC with two goals, Unique FC are two goals down for the first time this season."

 Chapter 458 A Chance

    ?


    After that goal from Frank, Unique FC came storming toward them with a barrage of attacks with just a few minutes left for the first half toe to an end, but they managed to hold out until the referee finally blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.


    "Oh, what a first half this has been, I really thought we were going to go in for the break still goalless but Dynamo FC struck their opponent''s twice in thesest few minutes to lead by two goals." Jim articted.


    "First time Unique FC are going two goals down in allpetitions this season, Norman will have to pull his boys together in the locker room." Steve expressed.


    Unique FC yers were all in the locker room now with Norman standing in front of them with a sullen look on his face.


    This was the first time in a while that he was being like this after the first half of a match but I guess it was inevitable.


    He stared at the yers for a while before he let out a sigh and then the words just started flowing out with the kind of energy they were able to witness from himst season when they were losing matches.


    He called out the yers who made a couple of mistakes and not only that, he also gave them pointers to prevent things like that from happening again.


    They were on the verge of losing their second match of the season in the league and across allpetitions and it was the same Dynamo FC that they lost against at home.


    They still had forty-five minutes to try and make aeback but at this moment, all the odds were stacked against them and Norman was aware of that.


    He didn''t have any major changes to make in the tactics he had already set up for this match, the main thing he thought they needed to touch was innovate the way they moved the ball around and try to be more clinical with their finishing because they sure had missed a lot of big chances in this match.


    After touching all the areas where he thought the yers needed to improve on the pitch at least for this match and providing the possible solutions for all their evident problems on the pitch he proceeded to leave the room to go grab a drink because his throat was sort of sore after all that shouting.


    Dave was just standing beside the entrance with a feigned look of oblivion on his face but he was just waiting for Norman to leave the room for him to slip out and follow him.


    "The answer is no, Dave, we can at least pull off a draw from this match without you." Norman articted as he made his way down the hallway.


    He was already aware that the goalkeeper was right behind him.


    After hearing him say that, Dave let out a deep sigh but he still proceeded to close up on him.


    "Come on, coach."


    _______ _______


    The second half of the match was about to kick off now as the yers from both teams made their way to the pitch while the voices of the fans went up in excitement.


    Unique FC were losing the match so far but that wasn''t discouraging the fans from doing what they did best because they strongly believed in their team''s ability to make aeback.


    "I can''t wait to see what this second half has in store, I''m expecting a lot of interesting moments or maybe my expectations are just too high," Jimmented.


    "No, Jim, we''re on the same boat."


    Fredinho was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he quickly pushed the ball to Minino who quickly sent it flying over to Rnd on the left.


    "There''s the whistle and we are back into it."


    Unique FC weren''t trying to rush anything here just like they were trying to do in the first half.


    ording to Norman, they just had to slow things down a bit and tried to observe what their opponents did when they got the ball. They still had forty-five minutes to at least equalize the scoreline and they were going to do it for the fans.


    With this second half, it seemed like Mateo had found a new form and was starting to pick himself up from his mediocre performance in the first half.


    He was starting to make use of that free role position by dropping deep most of the time and allowing Merino to take the action up front but so far they had not been able to pull one back with two shots off target.


    One thing was obvious though, they were starting to get that dominance over Dynamo FC. However, none of that mattered without a goal.


    Rnd linked up to Ferran who was at the center of the pitch from his position, and after getting his foot on the ball, he sent it rolling to Merino who quickly took off down the left with it.


    The midfielders in the area quickly made their way to him to try and stop him, he pushed the ball to Mateo who quickly evaded the yer beside him to give his teammate the space needed to run through.


    "Mateo''s still with the ball."


    The only person in his way now was the right back in the area, but just as Merino was making his way down the left, he linked the ball up nicely to him with a backheel pass.


    "Nice pass to Merino, he has options in the box here."


    Merino didn''t hesitate to send the ball flying in as soon as he got his foot on it and that was a pretty neat cross as he linked it up nicely toward Fredinho who was in the middle of two opposing yers right inside the box and the striker had no problem getting his head on it.


    "Fre¡­dinho!"


    He sent the ball flying toward the middle and that looked really close, but the goalkeeper was able to get the tip of his glove on it just in time to send it flying over the bar.


    "Oh, what a save from Victor!" Jim eximed.


    Fredinho bit his lower lip in anger before folding his right hand into a fist.


    "That was such a nice setup from those two and a nice header but Victor said no. However, now they have a corner kick to deal with."


    Ferran was standing over the ball now in the spot with the rest of the yers running around inside and around the box.


    All he was waiting for was the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he quickly sent the ball flying in.


    "Whips it in."


    One of the defenders in the area jumped up to contend for the ball against Fredinho and ended up nodding the ball off a little to the left.


    Mateo got his foot on the ball just before it could leave the box but just before he could do anything with it, one of the midfielders came rushing from nowhere and sent him tumbling outside the pitch until he hit the barricade.


    "Oh, dear, that''s some push."


    The referee saw everything and he didn''t hesitate to blow his whistle before he made his way to the yer and showed him a yellow card.


    Dynamo FC yers had to quickly gather around the referee now but it didn''t look like he was going to change his mind.


    "As expected, it''s a penalty for Unique FC, they have the chance to pull one back."

 Chapter 459 On The Verge

    ?


    Mateo was standing over the ball in the penalty spot with his gaze on the goalkeeper and everyone else behind him.


    "This is their chance to pull one back, a step toward not losing this match, can Mateo pull it off?"


    The referee made sure that none of the yers were encroaching into the box before blowing his whistle and now it was time to see how this was going to turn out.


    Mateo closed his eyes and let out a deep breath before slowly taking two steps backward.


    "Hey, you know no one''s going to do anything to you if you just st it over the bar, so just do it, I know where you''re going to put it anyway."


    Victor was trying to get into his head as he jumped up and down on his goal line, but the winger wasn''t even paying attention to what he was saying.


    His only focus was the goalpost and that was where he had his gaze as he quickly closed up on the ball.


    He got his foot on the ball and while Victor went toward the right, he sent the ball right in through the middle with a lob.


    "And he sends it in with a ssic panenka."


    Mateo didn''t rush to the side to celebrate or anything, he just pointed to the sky with both of his index fingers as his teammates closed up on him.


    "Trying a Panenka when your team is two goals down now that''s something I would never do if I were a football yer, Victor could have just stood there and caught but he pulled it off and now they''re just one goal down with fifty-nine minutes on the clock." Steve expressed.


    Unique FC fans were all chanting the name of their club, they knew they still had hope and they were going to continue cheering on their team because they believed that that second goal wasing soon.


    The match continued after that goal with Dynamo FC getting through to their side with a nice build up but the shot from Damian ended up flying over the bar.


    Compared to the first half where Dynamo FC dominated the game most of the time, Unique FC were dragging them around in this half.


    The home team had five yers in midfield against the four that they had, but they were still outssing them.


    Merino was the link up to everyone and he was doing his job pretty well.


    However, that problem of finishing was still there, Fredinho had gotten a couple of chances that he failed in finishing and even Mateo got a chance inside the box and although he had a yer right in front of him, he could have scored from the left there but he ended up firing it straight into the goalkeeper''s hands.


    Dynamo FC also got a couple of good chances but most of them were blocked by the defense and the few that managed to get through to Alexander, he was able to save.


    The match had just entered the sixty-ninth minute now when Dynamo FC won a free kick twenty-five yards away from the goalpost.


    Frank was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee''s whistle with his gaze on Unique FC''s wall at the edge of the box.


    "A good opportunity for Dynamo FC, can he put this away and put Unique FC''s hope of an equalizer farther away from them?"


    As soon as the referee was sure that nothing was out of ce, he blew his whistle, and now it was time to see what the attacking midfielder could do with this one.


    He slowly took three steps backward and then took in a deep breath and let it out before closing up on the ball.


    As soon he got to the ball, he lifted it with his feet and sent it flying toward the goalpost with a thrust of force.


    "Frank!"


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand corner of the goalpost.


    He was aiming right for the angle but Alexander was swift enough to get the tip of his gloves on it right on time to send it over the bar.


    "Oh, what a save from Alexander!" Jim eximed.


    "This kid is quite quick on his feet, Unique FC may not need to bring in a new goalkeeper if Dave leaves," Stevemented.


    That was a spectacr save from the youngster and his teammates were quite d he was able to save that and some of them had to go pat him.


    Dave couldn''t help but put his hand together after witnessing that save from the youngster.


    ''He has the potential of a great goalkeeper.''


    <Yeah, he justcks experience and a few other things but the core is there>


    ''Yeah, but I still want to be in the match.'' He replied before turning his gaze to Norman who was standing up ahead.


    Damian sent the ball flying in from the corner spot as soon as he heard the referee''s whistle.


    It was sent flying to the middle where Conrad and Minino contested for the ball in the air.


    The striker ended up being the one to get his head on the ball.


    Alexander was on the left side of the goalpost when he sent the ball flying toward the right so there was no way the goalkeeper was going to be able to get to it on time but there was no need for that because Adolf was just there to nod the ball away toward Norman Kole who immediately sent it flying far away from the goalpost.


    "That was a close call from Adolf, they don''t want to go two goals down again and they''re fighting for it but will they be able to get that equalizer before the final whistle?"


    The answer was probably no because the match had just entered the eighty-first minute now and Dynamo FC were still leading two goals to one.


    Unique FC were starting to get really aggressive with them and were starting to press really high against them so instead of trying to get a third goal, they decided to put almost everything they had into their defense.


    Yes, they were parking the bus.


    Everything Unique FC tried to get that equalizer failed even though the match was starting to look one-sided now.


    Norman had already made some changes like bringing in Martinez to rece Henry, Pirlo to rece Aima, and switching to the four-three-three formation which was focused more on offensiveness but nothing was working and Mateo was also failing to bring in that individual brilliance that they needed right now.


    "The clock is ticking away and Unique FC are still behind, they are on the verge of losing another game against Dynamo FC."


    Norman was standing in the technical area with a furious look on his face when he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder.


    "What is it, Dave?" He asked with his gaze still on the pitch.


    "Come on, coach, we''re going to lose this match, the match is almost over. Just put me in, I know I can do something to spark things up." The goalkeeper pleaded.


    "And what if you get hit on the head or something? That''s something that I cannot risk."


    "Come on, I''ve already told you, I''ll be careful and I won''t even be ying for long anywhere."


    "But¡­."


    "Coach please, just trust me, I have a n or we''ll lose this match."


    Looking at the condition on the pitch, Norman couldn''t agree more.


    "Okay, Dave." He said before letting out a sigh. "Start warming up, once the ball goes out of y you''re going in."


    As soon as the goalkeeper heard that, his face brightened up with a smile.


    "Thank you, coach." He voiced before rushing off to the side to start his warm-up.


    "Would you look at that, Dave is warming up on the sidelines, Norman''s finally bringing him in," Jimmented.


    "Imagine bringing in a goalkeeper when your team needs an equalizer in thest minutes, but then again, Dave isn''t just any goalkeeper."


    "Yeah, I have a feeling something''s about to happen."

 Chapter 460 Odd Substitution

    ?


    With eighty-seven minutes on the clock now, the ball finally went out for a throw-in against Dynamo FC and now it was time for Dave to make his appearance in the match.


    The goalkeeper was already dressed and was standing beside the official with the board.


    "Looks like it''s finally time for Dave to join his teammates on the pitch with just two minutes of normal ying time left," Jimmented. "I wonder how much this will be able to change for Unique FC."


    The official raised the board to show the number one in green and the number thirty-two in red.


    Alexander knew that was his clue to start making his way out of the pitch.


    The young goalkeeper received apuse from a few of the fans but it wasn''t really anything special.


    However, he still had a bright smile on his face as he made his way to Dave, and the two shared a hug before Dave made his way into the pitch and began to jog toward the goalpost.


    The goalkeeper received a standing ovation from the fans as he made his way to the goalpost and even some of them were screaming his name.


    Unique FC fans knew about the things he could do which was why their reaction was like this because they believed the goalkeeper could do something, but most of the away fans who had never seen a Unique FC game this season apart from when they''re their opponents were just confused.


    They knew he was clearly the best goalkeeper in the league so far this season ording to statistics but how was he going to help them get an equalizer? He was a goalkeeper after all so their reaction was sort of justified, but they had no idea.


    "You could have done this a long time ago, coach." Minino scoffed before turning his gaze to Rnd who was holding the ball in the sidelines.


    "Hmph." Martinez reacted with a smile on his face.


    "Let''s see where this goes," Frank muttered with his right hand on his waist.


    "Dave''s on the pitch now with just a minute of normal time left, Unique FC needs to get the ball moving fast," Jimmented.


    ''Alright, let''s do this.''


    [ Quick quest ]


    [ Help your team avoid a loss ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ ??? ]


    [ ??? ]


    ''I''ll try my best, system.''


    <This is about to get interesting>


    Rnd quickly threw the ball to Mateo who had to quickly send it rolling to Fredinho.


    As soon as Fredinho got his foot on the ball, he sent it rolling back toward Martinez, and as soon as the defensive midfielder got his foot on the ball, he quickly sent it rolling back to Dave.


    "Martinez sends it rolling back to the goalkeeper."


    "Thanks, Martinez." The goalkeeper muttered as soon as he trapped the ball under his feet.


    Conrad was heading toward the goalkeeper now alongside Damian and during that time, he had a couple of things going on inside his mind.


    ''Oh, I''m just going to go for it, the match is almost over anyway.''


    [ Shot stopper activated ]


    [ +20 stat points added to Strength ]


    [ +10 stat points added to Dexterity ]


    [ +10 stat points added to Endurance ]


    Just before Conrad could get to him, he pushed off with the ball a little to the right, and just as he got to the edge of the box, he fired the ball straight toward the goalpost.


    "Dave''s going for the goalpost!"


    The goalkeeper wasn''t on his goal line, but he had to quickly return to his goal line just to be able to get his hand on the ball.


    The ball was heading straight toward the top right-hand corner but he was able to get his hand on it right in time to tip it over the bar.


    "And Victores through to deny him!"


    Victor crashed into his goalpost after making that save and now he was just looking at his gloves with a stunned look on his face.


    "What sort of shot power was that?"


    "What the heck?" One of the fans stuttered with a shocked expression on his face. "How did he do that?"


    "If you had watched any of their previous matches you wouldn''t be surprised, that''s one of the things Dave can do as a goalkeeper, we''re lucky he wasn''t able to start the game." Thedy beside him exined.


    "Nice save from Victor, but now they have a corner kick to deal with six minutes of added time left in the game," Stevemented.


    "And would you look at that, Dave ising to join the action." Jim pointed out. "This could work against them in a lot of ways but he''s willing to take the risk."


    Dave was indeed on the other half of the pitch which left their goalpostpletely open but he didn''t venture into the box and just stayed about twenty-five yards away from the box.


    Ferran was waiting for the referee''s whistle on the spot now, and as soon as he heard it, he quickly sent the ball flying in with the aim of getting it to one of his teammates and hoping that the person would be able to put it in.


    However, that didn''t work out as nned as a Dynamo FC yer ended up getting his head on the ball, and he sent it flying toward his teammate near the edge of the box.


    Things weren''t looking good for Unique FC at this moment, but as soon as the midfielder trapped the ball near the edge of the box, Minino zoomed in toward him and got the ball off his feet with a neat sliding tackle.


    There was no foul there as confirmed by the referee as the ball rolled toward Martinez who immediately sent it rolling to Dave who was behind him a little to the right.


    "The match ising to an end and they''re still with the ball here."


    After witnessing what the goalkeeper did from his goalpost which was quite unreal, Frank quickly rushed toward him to try and stop him as he was the closest yer to him.


    However, just before he could get to the goalkeeper, he gave the ball a little push before he pulled back his right foot and fired the ball straight toward the goalpost.


    "Dave goes for another strike!"


    This time he sent it flying toward the top left-hand side, and although Victor was able to get the tip of his gloves on it, it just wasn''t enough to keep the ball from going out as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before smashing right into the goalpost.


    "I have only one word for that goal and it''s ''Spectacr!" Jim eximed. "Just when his team needed him, he came in and got that equalizer with a strike straight from a football fantasy novel!"


    Dave quickly raced to the sidelines screaming at the top of his voice quickly as his teammates rushed after him.


    The fans were overflowing with joy now as most of them could be seen jumping up and down in the stands.


    "Well, this is usually known as a scripted moment."

 Chapter 461 Three Points Behind

    ?


    Unique FC yers had relieved looks on their faces as the referee blew his whistle for the third time to finally bring the match to an end.


    It has been a very tough night for them and this could have ended just like their first meeting this season, but they were able to drag out a draw thanks to their fervent goalkeeper.


    A goalkeeper saving his team by scoring the equalizer was quite unheard of in this modern age of football but it happened today at the Mec Dynamo stadium.


    "Unique FC makes it out of this one with a draw, their unbeaten run is still moving but their winning streak ended today," Jimmented.


    "It felt quite odd seeing them struggle in this match after how well they''ve handled their previous matches but I guess it was expected given what happened when they faced Dynamo FC for the first time this season." Steve expressed. "Maybe Norman just doesn''t have a good enough tactic to properly take care of Dynamo FC."


    Everyone was busy hugging Dave after the game came to an end, but they were being careful not to touch his head which was pretty tough because a couple of them ended up touching his head.


    Dynamo FC yers got on pretty well with Unique FC yers because there were quite a lot of shirt swaps.


    The shirt Dave was putting on now was Victor''s, the goalkeeper just had to get it after failing to stop that strike from him.


    He tried to get Dave to tell him how he was able to do something like that and Dave replied that he practiced shots way more often than he is required to, which is absolutely true but that wasn''t exactly everything.


    This draw meant that Dynamo FC were still four points behind them because both teams had to take just a point each from the match and then throw the remaining one away.


    It wasn''t really a bad result for Unique FC if they were just focused on Dynamo FC catching up to them but that wasn''t what they were focusing on, primarily at least.


    Their main focus was getting past Supreme United to top the table but the oue of this match meant that they just dropped two points which extended them from a point behind Supreme United to now three points.


    But still, in whatever way you looked at it, this was better than losing the match so they were going to take it and try to not slip off with the rest of their matches.


    Merino was announced as the man of the match at the end of the game which was pretty well deserved.


    The winger was everywhere in this match, too bad his teammates weren''t able to do much with all his setups.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ You sessfully helped your team avoid a loss ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +200 exp ]


    [ +2 stat points ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points ]


    ''I was sort of expecting an attribute point.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he slowly made his way down the tunnel.


    <Don''t be silly, a quest like that is easy with your level of abilities and you just showed it>


    ''Well, you''re notpletely wrong but it isn''t just about that, a lot could have gone wrong starting from the point Ferran sent the ball flying in, and I wouldn''t have been able to do anything about it.''


    <Well, when you put it like that, you do have a point, but still, the system only takes your abilities into ount when giving out rewards for quests so my point still stands>


    ''Yeah, yeah, I know.''


    <Anyway, here''s your very short post-match rewards>


    [Post-match rewards ]


    [ Zero crucial saves ]


    [ Goals scored(1): +150 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.0 ]


    ''Very short indeed but decent, I''ll take it.''


    The locker room was pretty calm even though Minino was there.


    The midfielder was just on his phone and it didn''t look like he was nning to start anything today or he was still mad at himself for carelessly giving the ball away for that second goal against them.


    Mateo was still out there because he got held up for an interview so when Dave got to the bench, he pulled out his phone to check what was going on online and that was when he saw that he got a text message twenty minutes ago.


    When he saw the sender, he was expecting a lovely message but after reading everything he got the opposite feeling.


    ''This doesn''t look good, Catherine.''


    <I can see, but that''s your problem>


    ''I knew you were going to say that.''


    _______ _______


    The team had to start making their way back to Unique City soon, and since Dynamo was quite a distance away from their City they had to make the trip there by flight and that was how they were going home now.


    That match was quite draining for the yers, and although they were generally happy for not losing the game, they still wished they could have done more and won the match because they had the chances.


    If the chances never came, then that would have been a different story.


    Dave wasn''t taking part in the self-pitying and wishful thinking, he was just d that he was able to help his team get a draw when they were on the verge of losing a match and that was it, or maybe his mind was upied by something else.


    After getting to the stadium, everyone including Dave got in their car and began to head home, and while the goalkeeper was driving home, he had a couple of thoughts running through his mind.


    ''I''m sure I''m going to be okay.''


    <Yeah, you keep telling yourself that>


    It didn''t take long for him to get home, and as soon as he parked his car however he wanted, he made his way out of it and began to head to the door.


    He had the keys and could have just opened the door but for some reason, he decided to knock.


    He knocked thrice on the door and was about to do so again when the door was suddenly pulled open by Emma who was putting on red pajamas.


    "Oh, it''s you." She said with an indifferent tone to her voice before leaving the door open to make her way back to the couch.


    "Well, this is some wee," Dave muttered before he slowly made his way into the house and closed the door.


    He stared at her from there for a while before he slowly made his way to her and dropped his backpack on the couch before sitting down beside her.


    She seemed to be watching something so she just kept her gaze there and pretended she didn''t notice him sitting down beside her.


    "What are you watching?" He asked before slowly looking down at the lower part of her body."


    He already saw it in the morning, but her stomach had gotten a bit bigger, her baby bump was finally starting to show.


    There was no response from her after that question causing him to let out a sigh.


    "I know I got you worried with what just happened over there, I''m sorry but I just had to do it or¡­."


    "Or what?"


    That question came with her quickly shooting a gaze at him.


    "You were going to lose the game? Your health is more important than a football match, Dave."


    "I know."


    "No, you don''t, if you knew you would have taken the doctor''s advice and stayed home tonight but you had to make Mr. Norman put you in the squad so you can still have a chance in the game when you have not recovered." She expressed. "So that you¡­."


    She wasn''t able to finish what she was saying because Dave had to quickly press his lips against hers just to get her to shut up, he thought she was going to push him away but she didn''t.


    "I already said I was sorry." He said after pulling out from the kiss. "And if you want me to do anything to make up for it, I''ll do it."


    "Anything?" She muttered as the straight look on her face suddenly got reced with a smile.


    <You shouldn''t have phrased that like that>

 Chapter 462 Third Wheel

    ?


    When Dave saw that cheeky smile on her face, he thought she was about to make him do something crazy or embarrassing and he became even more convinced that it was either of those two when he tried to get it out of her and she insisted that she wasn''t going to tell him anything until the next day.


    Thest thought in his mind before he slept that night were spections of what she was going to make him do the next day.


    "I think I''m overthinking this."


    That was thest word he muttered before finally falling asleep.


    <Yeah, certainly>


    When the next day came, it turned out that he was actually overthinking it because what Emma wanted him to do had nothing to do with any of the things he thought about.


    "Wait, so you just want me the whole day at home with you?" He inquired with confusion written all over his face but at the same time, he felt relieved.


    She got up before him and had to wake him up just to tell him while they were still on the bed.


    "Yeah." She replied a bit confused about why he had that look on his face. "Wait, did you think I was going to make you do something bad?"


    He couldn''t outright answer that question but his awkward smile gave it away.


    "What kind of person do you even think I am?"


    "The kind type that can be mean sometimes, I mean you''ve tried to make me do a few embarrassing things before." He exined trying to get his point across to her.


    "Well, when you put it that way I guess you do make a point." She muttered before slowly turning her gaze to the bed. "But let''s forget about all of that for the moment, I have a lot that you have to help me out with today." She added with a sly voice before leaning closer to him.


    "Huh? I have to help you with things?"


    "Yeah, that''s part of the deal, didn''t you read the contract?" She replied, staring deep into his eyes.


    "What contract?"


    "This one." She replied before gently pressing her lips against his.


    She loved the feeling of his warm lips against hers and would have gone in deeper, but she had to stop because she didn''t want to start something she wouldn''t be able to handle.


    "And now, it''s sealed." She said after pulling out from the kiss.


    <Some contract>


    ''Yeah, some contract.''


    Dave didn''t really get to help her out much because there were only a few things that she needed help with and she ended up doing most of the work in the ones that they had to do together.


    He helped her with cleaning,undry, and a few other things before she had to go downstairs, something that she also needed his help with.


    She kept on smiling with every interaction they had while he was helping her out in the kitchen and seeing her that happy made his flutter causing him to smile even when he didn''t feel like it.


    After preparing breakfast together, the two sat down and ate together.


    They also talked about a couple of things during that time but it was mostly about family.


    She expected him to help her clean the table while she made her way to the kitchen to grab something but as soon as she went in there, he slowly slipped off toward the couch.


    <You''re breaking the contract>


    ''Contracts are meant to be broken.'' He replied subconsciously before stretching himself on the couch.


    <I think the word there is supposed to be rules>


    ''It''s still the same thing.'' He replied. ''I think I should put those dishes away before she gets back.''


    He was about to get up from the couch when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.


    He quickly dipped his hand into his pocket and brought the phone out to see that it was a text message from someone.


    "Oh, I almost forgot about that." He muttered before picking up the house control from the table.


    At that moment, Emma returned from the kitchen to see that the dishes were still on the table, no, it was more like she came to see why he had not brought them in yet.


    "Dave." She grumbled before turning her gaze to the couch where she could see his legs sticking out.


    "Honey, can''t you please get that one for me, just this once?" He pleaded but he didn''t even bother to raise his gaze to look at her or he just didn''t want to see the look on her face right now.


    She didn''t say anything for a while before finally responding with; "Fine."


    She was about to start picking up the tes when a knock suddenly came from the door.


    "Who''s that?"


    "Come inside, it''s open." Dave articted.


    As soon as he said that, the door was slowly pushed open for Mateo to walk in.


    "Mateo?"


    "Hey, guys." Mateo greeted them with a wave.


    "And we just finished having breakfast." She muttered before lowering her gaze to the te she was about to pick up.


    "That''s okay, sis, I had breakfast beforeing out." He informed her as he made his way to Dave.


    "Oh, I see, so why are you here this early?"


    "I came to see Dave, of course, he''s the one that asked me toe."


    "Oh, so he had ns with you today." She pointed out with a nod.


    "I guess you can say that," Mateo replied with a shrug.


    "I''m not hearing the end of this one," Dave mumbled before slowly shaking his head.


    "Hmm, I see." She muttered with a smile meant to disguise her irritation.


    After that, she picked up the dishes and quickly made her way to the kitchen.


    "Is there anything going on between you two because I know thatst smile was fake?" Mateo asked with his gaze fixed on Dave now.


    "I agreed to spend the whole of today with her until you got here just now," Dave replied with a calm voice before sitting up on the couch.


    "Oh, I guess I can''t stay for long then." He said before slowly sitting down beside him.


    "Yeah, I guess."


    "We''re getting pretty strong teams from the Europa League in the round of sixteen, Tottenham, Real Betis, Wolfsburg, Napoli. Wolfsburg already beat Lazio in their first meeting this Thursday." The winger articted.


    "What was the scoreline?"


    "Two goals to one."


    "Hmm, I see, but this round was always going to be tougher so getting tough opponents was expected but the draws haven''t been made yet so things can always turn out differently."


    Mateo was about to say something when he heard Emma call his name from the kitchen entrance.


    The two had to quickly turn their gaze to the area to see her slowly wiping her hand with a piece of cloth.


    "What do you say to a match in FIFA?" She inquired.


    "You want to y FIFA with me?" His confusion was evident in his voice.


    "Did I stutter?"


    "Okay, if you want to y then I guess it''s okay."


    He was trying to see if Dave would have any objections but he seemed to be fine with it.


    "Cool." She smiled as she made her way to the controllers sitting on top of the yStation below the television and picked them up.


    She made her way to the couch afterward and just before she could hand one of the controllers to her brother, she turned her gaze to Dave.


    "Do you mind? I want to sit beside my brother." She exacted with a cold tone to her voice.


    "Yeah, sure, go ahead," Dave muttered with a sigh before shifting off to the side.


    With him now out of the way, she slowly sat down beside Mateo and handed him the other controller.


    ''I guess I''m the third wheel now.''


    <A shame>

 Chapter 463 Back To Winning Ways

    ?


    With the match against Lesica United slowly approaching Dave was given the green light to go back to start starting games but the doctor still rmended that he wore a guardian cap to protect his head and that wasn''t a problem.


    The only thing that injury left behind on his left eye was just a scar so there was nothing to worry about, he could already see properly with it when he scored against Dynamo FC anyway.


    The match against Lesica United was quite a tough one, Unique FC dominated the match possession wise just as always but finding the back of the against their opponents was proving to be difficult.


    Perhaps Norman overestimated the potency of his tacticsing into this match.


    Unique FC tried everything they could to overpower or outsmart their opponents but none of that had proved to be potent so far.


    Mateo tried to weave in a little bit of individual brilliance whenever he could but he had not been able to pull anything off so far with forty minutes already gone.


    Dave tried to set up his teammates whenever he got the chance but none of that worked either.


    Unique FC were really putting the pressure on Lesica United despite being unable to get a goal but that didn''t mean Lesica United had been quiet throughout all this time in the match.


    They had gotten a couple of good chances, Okafor had gotten a couple of good scoring opportunities but most of them were sted over the bar and the ones he managed to get on target were easy saves for Dave.


    It took until the forty-fourth minute for Unique FC to get a goal but this kind of goal is what you would call lucky.


    Mateo tried to set up Carlos from his side with a lobbed cross, and although Carlos wasn''t able to get to the ball, the ball ended up hitting the crossbar, and before the goalkeeper could react to that it had already fallen into the goalpost.


    It wasn''t intentional but the winger was going to take it as he quickly raised both of his hands.


    That was where Unique FC sealed the game because nothing happened in the game.


    Well, the second half was a hell of a rollercoaster because of all the chances and the anticipation that Lesica United would equalize the game or Unique FC would score a second and seal the game but none of that happened until the final whistle.


    It was a win for the Uniques but they could have done so much more, this was quite a poor performance from them.


    "Unique FC have not looked lethal in theirst two games, struggling to get a draw against Dynamo FC in theirst game and struggling to grab a one-goal victory against Lesica tonight," Jimmented. "How long can they hold on?"


    Jim had to eat his words in the next match because Norman''s boys came in with the storm against Tereville United.


    The match started out quite dull but once Unique FC pushed forward with a counterattack in the fifteenth minute, Mateo was able to get a goal with a neat strike from the left inside the box.


    Just two minutes after that, the winger popped up on the score sheet once again thanks to a quick setup from Dave.


    That was such a clean lob over the goalkeeper from the edge of the box.


    Unique FC were dominating the game but they didn''t get their third goal until the forty-fifth.


    Mateo was once again involved in another goal but this time he wasn''t the one putting it in.


    He terrorized the right back to get into the box and set up the ball for Fredinho to tap it in straight into the box.


    They ended the first half with a juicy scoreline of three goals to nothing and they didn''t slow down in the second half.


    Mateo was involved in another goal but sadly it wasn''t his hat trick because he was starting to drop deep a little too much now.


    He sent the ball flying toward Merino from thirty yards out and the winger made no mistake in smashing it straight into the goalpost with a neat header.


    The fifth goal was the only one that had nothing to do with Mateo because he had to leave it for Fredinho who made no mistake in putting it away.


    That was thest goal of the match and no matter how hard Tereville tried to at least pull one back they just weren''t able to pull it off before the final whistle.


    This was a massive win for Unique FC given how theirst two matches turned out so they were feeling great and so were the hyped-up fans.


    Their next match after this one was against Zilo FC and things didn''t slow down there.


    Zilo FC decided that they were going to be reckless from the start of the game and gave away two penalty kicks that Mateo made no mistake in putting away.


    They were already two goals up before the twenty-fifth minute and then minutester Mateopleted his hat trick with a beautiful solo goal.


    The winger had to tear through the defense from the middle to put that ball in from the right and he had quite the smile on his face as he raced to the sidelines.


    With just these three games, Unique FC were back to being the trend of the Bilbeth Premier League and they were loving it.


    Supreme United were on a longer winning streak than Unique FC now but their victories were quite temperedpared to what Unique FC had been doing so far, Norman''s boys had the most goal division in the league now with the most goals scored and the least goals conceded.


    The first half against Spree City ended with a scoreline of three goals to nothing and that was pretty much the highlight of the game because the second half was less eventful although Rnd was able to get that fourth goal for his team with a neat strike from twenty-five yards out.


    That was thest goal of the game as Unique FC ran away with another goal-fest victory.


    Zilo FC yers were under pressure all this while and now they could finally catch their breath.


    After that victory, the team were looking forward to extending their lead against Spree City although they knew that it was going to be a bit toughpared to theirst three matches.


    Well, the match started out pretty tough with Spree City getting in behind the spaces they weren''t able to cover to create chances but Dave wasing in clutch with saves no one expected him to make.


    It took until the fortieth minute for Ferran to put his team ahead with a nice header over the goalkeeper and the pass from that goal came from none other than Mateo.


    The first half ended with that scoreline and just as the second half kicked off, they won a penalty kick which Mateo left for Rnd and the left back made no mistake in putting it away.


    Spree City kept on pushing forward against them to pull one back and equalize against them, but the team held on strong until the final whistle.


    "Oh, what a game this has been, we finally saw Unique FC struggle a bit after three games but they still managed toe out on top with a two-goal victory." Jim articted. "Now they''ll have to take a break from league football to face off against Spree City once again, I wonder how that will turn out."

 Chapter 464 Round Of Sixteen Draws

    Dave was announced as the man of the match at the end of the game and it was well deserved because if it had not been for the goalkeeper''s brilliance throughout the game, his team would have most likely drawn this game or in the worst case scenario, they would have lost it.


    He was in the locker room now with his teammates and had already seen his quest rewards and post-match rewards but he was still going through his system while sharing his thoughts with Catherine.


    [ yer Profile ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ yer Level: 14 ]


    [ 100/100 HP ]


    [ 650/3790 EXP ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Goalkeeping Skills ]


    [ Thrust: level(05) ]


    [ Ball ma: level(03) ]


    [ Focus: level (06) ]


    [ Double stamina: level (02) ]


    [ Goalkeeping attributes ]


    [ Shot stopper: level(02) ]


    [ Sweeper keeper: level(01) ]


    [ 180/180 Energy ]


    [ Unused stat points: 27 ]


    [ Skill points: 19 ]


    [ Skill upgrade points: 62 ]


    [ Attribute points: 7 ]


    [ Physical Status ]


    [ Strength: 40 ]


    [ Dexterity: 70 ]


    [ Endurance: 46 ]


    [ Career info ]


    [ Name: Dave Richards ]


    [ Age: 21 ]


    [ Height: 187 cm ]


    [ Position: Goalkeeper ]


    [ Strong foot: right ]


    [ Developed qualities: Shot stopper ]


    [ Developing qualities: Sweeper Keeper, ball ying keeper. ]


    [ Current Team: Unique FC ]


    [ Status: Starter ]


    [ Market value: €1.5M ]


    [ Matches yed: 111 ]


    [ Goals: 7 ]


    [ Assists: 10 ]


    [ Shots faced: 375 ]


    [ Goals conceded: 93 ]


    [ Saves made: 267 ]


    [ Penalties faced: 31 ]


    [ Penalties saved: 07 ]


    [ Clean sheets: 27 ]


    [ Career average rating: 7.9 ]


    [ Awards ]


    [ Man of the match awards: 11 ]


    [ Trophies ]


    [ Minor trophies: ¡Á1 Bilbeth Charity cup ]


    [ Major trophies: 0 ]


    [ Records set/broken ]


    [ Bilbeth Premier League record: First goalkeeper to score from 42 yards ]


    [ Only goalkeeper to score twice and assist in a season ]


    [ Goalkeeper with the most consecutive clean sheets ever (18) ]


    [ First goalkeeper to ever score and assist in the same match ]


    [ First goalkeeper to directly contribute to three goals in a match ]


    <You seem to have stretched the most consecutive clean sheet record from six to eighteen for the Bilbeth and now you''ve broken the record for the most consecutive clean sheet ever which is fourteen, I wonder who''s going to break that>


    ''The main reason for setting or breaking records, so if no one is able to break then that checks out for me.'' He replied. ''Anyway, my goal and assist record is looking pretty fine.''


    <Yeah, seven goals and ten assists, but you''re still not the goalkeeper with the most goals and assist or the twobined>


    ''I''m aware of that, and I''m working toward breaking that, a hundred and thirty-one goals is quite something but I''m sure I can surpass the assist.''


    <Well, your career is still starting in its earliest stage so it is still very much possible but you''ll have to start attempting more shots during the game, and convincing them to give you more free kicks will also help>


    Despite being three points behind Supreme United now, Unique FC still had hope of getting past Supreme United with a lot of matches still left before the leaguees to an end.


    It would have been tough if Dynamo FC were also close but after drawing their match against Spree United on match day twenty-five, Dynamo FC were now six points behind Unique FC and nine points behind Supreme United.


    Their next match was going to be against Spree City, the ones they just defeated now in the third round of the Bilbeth Super Cup.


    Norman had a fewments to make on that after talking about the just concluded match.


    He had to talk about how they struggled in this match and what they needed to fix in their cup game against them next week.


    However, he didn''t dive deep into that because that was supposed to be reserved for their next training session.


    After that, he left the room to give the yers the space they needed to do everything they needed to do before they would start heading home.


    Dave along with Mateo were making their way out of the building together now, and they seemed to be talking about something as they made their way down the small steps.


    "The round of sixteen draws is happening tonight, right?" Dave asked as the two stepped down from thest step.


    "Yeah," Mateo responded with a nod.


    "I still can''t believe Lazio managed to turn things around against Wolfsburg, I thought the Bundesliga side were going to send them home but they proved me wrong."


    "Yeah, I thought so too but I guess they underestimated Lazioing into the second half."


    The match between Lazio and Wolfsburg ended two goals to one in the favor of Wolfsburg in the first leg but Lazio managed to beat them three goals to one in the second after Wolfsburg managed to get the first goal against them.


    Lazio were through to the round of sixteen now but they weren''t going to be facing Unique FC again unless both teams make it to the finals.


    "I wonder who we''re going to get paired up against," Dave uttered before opening the door to his car.


    "No idea, but whoever it is, I''m sure we''ll be able to pull through." Mateo certified before opening the door to his car. "Say hi to Emma for me." He added before entering the car."


    "I will." The goalkeeper replied.


    It didn''t take him long to get home, and when he entered the house, he didn''t see anybody but he knew Emma was inside the kitchen just from the sweet aromaing from inside there.


    "Hey, babe, I''m home." He announced as he slowly made his way to the couch, and when he got there, he slowly dropped his backpack on it.


    "Oh, hey."


    As soon as he heard her voice, he quickly turned his gaze to the kitchen entrance to see her standing.


    "Wee home, honey."


    "What are you making?"


    "Why don''t you guess?" She retorted before crossing her arms.


    "Well, I can smell chicken and spice but I can''t put together what you''re making with those." He replied, hoping that she would tell him what it was.


    "Hmm, well then you''ll have to find out when I''m done, and don''t forget to take a shower." She remarked before slowly disappearing into the kitchen.


    Now that she was gone, Dave let out a sigh before he picked up the remote control and crashed down on the couch.


    The television was already on so all he needed to do was change it to the right channel.


    He was aware that the drawing ceremony had already started but the drawing process was already starting now.


    There was arge table in the area and two pots on both sides with a man on one end and a woman on the other end.


    The man was the first to draw from his pot, and after bringing out his slip and revealing it, it turned out to be Lyon, one of the teams that dropped out of the Europa League.


    "So, who will Lyon be facing in the round of sixteen?" The female hostmented. "Melina''s your turn."


    "Okay, let''s see." Thedy at the other end uttered before dipping her hand into the pot to draw a slip. "And it''s¡­."


    She revealed the team before saying the name, and as soon as Dave saw it, his jaws dropped.


    "Unique FC, looks like Lyon will be facing off against Unique FC in the round of sixteen."


    "You have to be kidding," Dave muttered with a horrid look on his face before slowly sinking into the couch.


    <Looks like you guys got the big shots>


    Lyon dropped out of the Europa League and had to face Dynamo Kyiv to qualify for the round of sixteen.


    Well, they didn''t take things easy with them, beating them eight goals to nothing in the first leg and going on to beat them six goals to one in the second leg, theypletely destroyed Dynamo Kyiv.


    Looking at both of those score lines Dave''s reaction to getting drawn against them was sort of justified.

 Chapter 465 Preparing For Spree City

    ?


    Two dayster and the yers were back in training, they had all seen the round of sixteen draws and some of them had interesting things to say about it.


    "They''re obviously trying to put us out of thepetition!" Minino remonstrated before he sent the ball beside him flying toward the goalpost on the other side of the pitch.


    He wasn''t trying to do anything with it, but the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before falling into the goalpost.


    "I don''t think that''s the case, Minino," Merino remarked.


    "Yeah, I don''t understand why they''ll have anything against us, this is our first time in the tournament anyway," Rnd added.


    "Both of you are just so sad," Minino said in detest before slowly walking past both of them to pick up the ball behind them.


    "I seriously don''t understand what all the ruckus is all about," Martinez pronounced as he closed up on the three.


    "Huh?" Rnd muttered with a confused expression on his face. "We''re going to be facing a team that beat Dynamo Kyiv fourteen goals to one."


    "Yeah, and so what? We''re not Dynamo Kyiv are we?" He established before crossing his arms.


    "No, but¡­"


    "But what? This was the way you guys reacted when the group stage draws came out and just look at what we did to that group." The midfielder pointed out. "They don''t really deserve these reactions from you guys, if they were so strong then they should have continued through to the next stage of the Europa League and not drop down to the Conference League."


    "You have a very good point, Martinez." Minino sniffled before making his way to him with the ball in his hand. "But you can''t deny that beating a team with abined score of fourteen goals to one is a bit scary."


    "Wow, and I thought nothing scared you," Martinez remarked as his voice immediately took on a mocking tone.


    "Hey, I wasn''t talking about me." Minino retorted with a little stutter.


    "Hmmm."


    "I was talking about the rest of the squad, it may affect the way they go into the match." He stated.


    "Well, it''s okay to have some thoughts about an opponent but thinking too much about is bad, they''re beatable just like every other team and we are going to beat them, the squad is going to be fine, Mateo doesn''t look that bothered."


    As soon as he added thatst part, they turned their gaze to the side where Mateo could be seen joggling the ball with his head.


    "Dave told me how he was a bit worried about the match but he doesn''t seem to be thinking about it too much either."


    Well, he wasn''t wrong because while almost everyone was using the break period to rest and talk, he was attempting something with Alexander who was standing in front of the goalpost on the other side of the pitch while he was standing in front of the goalpost on his side.


    "Are you ready?!" He yelled before raising his hand.


    "Yes!" Alexander yelled back before raising his hand.


    "Okay, here goes nothing." He grunted before slowly taking three steps backward.


    After that, he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost with a thunderous shot.


    "Oh, boy," Alexander muttered as soon as the ball starteding his way.


    The ball was heading toward the top right-hand corner, and although he was in a good enough position to save it, he wasn''t able to hit it outpletely as the ball ended up sliding past his glove and hit the post before falling into the goalpost.


    "I wasn''t expecting that to go in," Dave muttered before he slowly began to make his way to the other side.


    Alexander would have already gotten up by the time he got to him but he was still sitting on the floor with his head hanging low.


    "Hey, what happened?" Dave asked before bending toward him with both of his hands on his knees.


    "I almost got it but then it sort of slipped off, that was supposed to be an easy save, I saw where it was going before it got close enough."


    "Yeah, I get that feeling but it''s okay, you''re doing way better than I was doing at your age, I couldn''t even break into the first team at seventeen years of age so you should know that you have the makings of a great goalkeeper." Dave empathized before slowly turning his gaze to the left.


    "Yeah, but that was because the team didn''t have a backup goalkeeper and I was the only one avable."


    "I wasn''t done," Dave said before slowly turning his gaze back to him. "Your performance against Dynamo FC reveals that you''ll be a great goalkeeper."


    "Are you serious? We were going to lose that game because I let two goals in, you had toe in and save the day."


    "To be fair, there was nothing you could do to stop those goals, I believe I would have been able to save that first one but that second one, those goals came from the team''s mistakes, you did your job quite well in that match."


    "You''re right but I could have done a bit more like how you came in and scored that equalizer." He uttered with a sudden spark to his voice and eyes.


    <This kid has really big dreams>


    "Um¡­you shouldn''t be bothered about things like that, scoring goals isn''t even part of the job description for a goalkeeper, I just do it because I can do it somehow," Dave replied with a shrug.


    "Yeah, and I want to be able to do it too."


    "Hmm, I see," Dave said with a smile. "Well, then you should start by putting some time into training your shooting during your training sessions."


    "Noted."


    Just before bringing the training session to an end that day, Norman brought the yers to the locker room to talk about a couple of things regarding their uing match.


    He stood in front of the board with his arms crossed behind his back while waiting for everyone to enter the room, and now that everyone was there, he cleared his throat before taking a deep breath.


    "I heard some of you make some interestingments about getting drawn against Lyon and as much as I''d like to talk about that now, I''ll have to adjourn it till we''re done against Spree City." He articted. "Now about Spree City, we''ll have to beat them to move on to the quarterfinals of the Bilbeth Super Cup so we can''t joke with this match.


    "I''m just going to reveal the formation we''re going to be using in the match and the tactics I''vee up with, we''ll try to do some practice on it during ourst training session before the match."


    "So, is the formation four-three-three or four-four-two?" Adolf asked.


    "None of those."


    "Huh?"


    Almost everyone in the room had the same reaction of shock.


    "For the match against Spree City on Friday, we''ll be using the four-five-one formation." He dered.


    "Four-five-one?"


    "Huh?"


    <For some reason I feel like he''s using this Cup matches to experiment>


    ''You can say that again.''

 Chapter 466 Spree City Vs Unique FC: The Bilbeth Super Cup Round Three

    ?


    The match between Unique FC and Spree City was set to kick off on Friday and that day was finally here.


    It was supposed to be an away match for Unique FC so they had to travel to Spree which was quite a distance away from Unique City the night before the day the match was supposed to kick off.


    This was one of the most highly anticipated matches in Bilbeth so far because everyone wanted to see how things were going to turn out between Unique FC and Spree City after their recent league match in which Unique FC beat them two goals to nothing.


    They wanted to see how Spree City were going to handle this match and which team was going to make it to the quarterfinals of the Bilbeth Super Cup.


    Well, the odds were in favor of Unique FC but anything could happen in these kinds of matches so everyone just needed to watch.


    With a whole hour left before the match would kick-off, the yers from both teams were now on the pitch warming up for the main event.


    "Five-four-one looks okay for us during practice but how much of that is going to transition into a match," Merinomented.


    Dave was jogging alongside both of the team''s main wingers Mateo and Merino and they seemed to be talking about something that led Merino to say that.


    "Yeah, I don''t think this is the right match for the coach to try something like this," Mateo remarked before shaking his head.


    "I''ve already told you guys, he''s using the Super Cup matches for experimenting and I don''t like the idea," Dave imed.


    "Yeah, that''s the general idea, I just hope he can fix things when things start going wrong but I hope it doesn''t have to get to that," Mateo spoke with a hint of optimism in his voice.


    With the time for the match kick-off getting closer now, the yers had to make their way down the tunnel and to the locker room to get ready.


    It didn''t look like Unique FC were going to be putting on their standard away jersey for this match, instead, their kit for this match was going to be their second away kit.


    A dark blue kit with just an orange diagonal line running down with a bit of curve down the left side of the shirt with that webnovel logo embroidered with a touch of white in its usual spot.


    Dave''s kit was just in orange with the logo on the shirt embroidered with ck.


    Both teams met up in front of the exit and just as expected, Spree City were putting on their light blue kit while their goalkeeper was putting on a ck kit.


    They stayed there for a while with the mascots before they were given the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    The fans went up with an uproar as soon as the yers from both teams stepped out into the open.


    Unique FC fans were back with all the loudness that was needed and Spree City fans could not be described as quiet either.


    Jim and Steve said their introductions while the yers slowly lined up in front of the pitch.


    "Well, you can call this a rematch between these teams after their match against each otherst week but this time there is something immediate to lose, and that is being knocked out of the Bilbeth Super Cup, so what''s it going to be?" Jim articted.


    The yers from both teams had to make their way to the officials for the coin toss and in the end, Unique FC ended up winning which meant that they were going to be the ones to start the match from the kick-off spot.


    The tension between both teams was already starting to build up as they all made their way to their side of the pitch.


    "Just before the kick-off, let''s take a quick look at the lineups and formation from both sides," Jimmented. "Well, it looks like Norman is going to make things a little interesting today with this formation."


    "Five-four-one, I think this is the first time he''s using this formation, I wonder how it''s going to work out for him in this match, I would be cautious in using a formation I have never used before in a match."


    Having five yers in defense was something, Norman and Rnd were in the right-back and left-back positions respectively.


    Then the center backs were Aima, Pirlo, and Adolf, that was almost all of his standard center back options.


    Their midfield was more of an attacking midfield than anything and with that many yers behind with a defensive midfielder, he had a point for making things this way.


    Martinez was starting in the defensive midfield position as expected and then up front, there was Mateo on the left side of midfield, Minino on the right, and Ferran in the middle.


    And then up front was their only striker for the game, Fredinho.


    At least he wasn''t pulling any punches with this starting eleven so there was still a chance that they could do something with this formation or even shock everyone with a stunning performance.


    Spree City on the other hand were ying with their normal Four-three-three formation and since the start of this season, their manager has had no reason to pull his punches against Unique FC so he was throwing out the best of everything he had out there.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Quest type: Conjoined ]


    [ Keep a clean sheet ]


    [ Make at least eight crucial saves ]


    [ Get a shot on target ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +150 exp ]


    [ +2 stat points ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points ]


    The goalkeeper had the quest pop up in front of him as he slowly made his way to his goalpost.


    <Looks like the system clearly recognizes your shooting abilities now>


    ''Yeah, I guess but it also feels like these rewards are getting smaller even with quests like this.''


    <Well, that has nothing to do with me>


    ''Of course.'' He replied with an inward sigh.


    Fredinho was standing over the ball now on the kick-off spot and as soon as he heard the referee''s whistle, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Mateo.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    Mateo had to quickly push the ball back to Rnd before quickly making a run forward.


    Rnd quickly tried to find Minino down the wing but that didn''t work out quite well as Dennison was able to get his head on the ball just before Minino and that header was all he needed to send the ball rolling toward Felix.


    "And Spree City are with the ball now."


    Felix had Martinez quickly heading toward him, but just before the midfielder could get to him, he sent the ball rolling to Jni down the right.


    The right winger had Rnd hot on his trail as he raced down the wing with the ball and he also had Adolfing from the side to block him so he had no choice but to send the ball flying in as Torres and Felix had already closed up in there.


    "Jni sends it flying in."


    Pirlo and Aima were in the area to try and stop the opposition but Pirlo may have been a bit too extra as he got his head on the ball and instead of sending it out, he sent it flying straight into the goalpost from the top left-hand corner.


    "Oh, dear it''s an own goal!" Jim eximed as Spree City yers raced to the sidelines.


    "That has to be the most ridiculous own goal I''ve ever seen, he just headed it straight into the goalpost." Steve chuckled.


    Pirlo was lying on the floor now with his hands covering his face while Dave was standing in front of his goalpost with his left hand on his waist.


    [ Quest failed ]

 Chapter 467 Not Looking Bright

    ?


    This was the worst start Unique FC has had to any game since the start of this season, going behind in the first minute of the game from an own goal.


    It was a pretty rough start but since it was just the start of the game, they still had ample time to get back into it.


    ying with this formation in a training session and a real match just like the one they were in now were two different things.


    No matter how hard anyone tried to recreate the feelings of being in a real match in a training session, it was always going to remain a training session.


    Thepetitiveness might be there but feelings like the frustration from conceding a goal, the unending strive to win, and the joy from having the fans cheer them on only existed in a real match and those things were one of the main factors that affected how a team was going to perform.


    The yers had already developed muscle memories of how to link up well with the other two formations but the same could not be said for this formation because they just didn''t seem to be linking up well and happened to be losing the ball a little too much.


    Rnd even managed to give the ball away in their own half, but luckily for the team, Dave was able to catch the ball which Jaleni attempted to put in from the bottom left-hand side of the goalpost.


    <They are really pushing you guys which is expected, I just don''t understand why he would do something like this after seeing how much you guys struggled against themst week>


    ''Me and you, Cat, we''re in the same boat.'' Dave replied subconsciously as he slowly got up from the floor with the ball.


    "Unique FC are looking reallyckluster so far in this game, I just hope they''ll be able to get themselves together sooner rather thanter," Jimmented.


    Dave had to send the ball flying out toward Mateo, and as soon as he brought the ball down with his chest, he pushed it to Ferran who had to send it back to him just before Jamie could get to him.


    "Back to Mateo."


    Mateo tried to move forward with the ball but his path was blocked by the midfielder so he had to move it back to Rnd who quickly lobbed it over to him as soon as he got past the midfielder.


    "Back to Mateo once more."


    The midfielder tried to take the ball from him from behind, but Mateo was quick enough to elerate to the right just in time before pushing the ball to Fredinho.


    "They''re finally pushing forward here."


    Fredinho feigned firing toward the goalpost with all the yers right in front and he managed to startle a few of them before flicking the ball to Minino on the right.


    As soon as Minino got his foot on the ball, he quickly took off down the right with it.


    However, he wasn''t able to get past the left back on time as the defender quickly blocked his path but he didn''t slow down and just quickly pushed the ball back to Ferran with a backheel pass.


    Ferran had to push the ball back to Martinez because of all the yers around him, and as soon as Martinez got his foot on the ball, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Mateo down the left.


    As soon as Mateo got his foot on the ball, he quickly cut past the left back with a neat nutmeg.


    However, he still had the center backs to deal with but he chose to skip that stage and just go straight for the goalpost from the edge of the box.


    "Mateo!"


    The winger curled the ball toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost and he had the goalkeeper glued to a spot but his effort ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, and the crossbar gets in the way."


    There was a loud gasp from the fans as soon as the ball hit the crossbar, that was so close.


    The only thing Mateo could do was sigh before he began to walk back to his side of the pitch.


    "That could have been the equalizer and what a goal it would have been."


    The match continued till the fortieth minute without anything impactful happening, the home team were still leading one goal to nothing but there had been a couple of good chances mostly from Spree City.


    Dave has not known rest so far with every shot they''ve been sending his way so far.


    Right now they had a corner kick to capitalize on after Dave managed to send the shot from Torre''s free-kick over the bar.


    Jamie was standing over the ball on the spot now waiting for the referee''s whistle with everyone else running around inside and around the box.


    It didn''t take long before the referee blew his whistle and as soon as the midfielder heard, he slowly took three steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying in.


    However, he made the mistake of cing it in Dave''s range a little to the goalpost.


    The goalkeeper wasn''t going to let an opportunity to clear the danger pass him by as he quickly dived toward the ball just as it got into his direct point of view and punched it out toward the right.


    The ball fell to the feet of Norman who quickly sent it flying out toward Mateo who was at the center of the pitch.


    "Oh, they''re looking to start a counterattack here!"


    Mateo had a defender trying to drag him down from behind and take the ball but he was able to control the ball properly and escape his grip but the yer was still hot on his trail.


    "Mateo''s pushing forward but he''s notpletely clear."


    The winger was able to get to the edge of the box with the yer still behind him and everyone elseing in fast from behind.


    He knew he wouldn''t be able to take a proper shot with the yer right behind him so he came to a sudden halt to allow the yers to zoom past him with his sliding attempt to take the ball.


    "And he gets him out of the way, it''s time to go for that shot!"


    Mateo quickly got into the box and was about to fire toward the goalpost when the other center back quickly zoomed in from behind and pushed him down right inside the box.


    The referee didn''t hesitate to blow his whistle before he quickly made his way to the area and showed the defender a yellow card.


    "It''s the first yellow card of the game and Unique FC have been awarded a penalty, the chance to pull one back is finally here."


    A couple of Spree City yers quickly gathered around the referee in protest but it didn''t look like he was going to go back on his decision, that was a clear push after all.


    ''Finally, don''t mess this up, Mateo.''


    <Well, the chance is there but I hope he doesn''t>


    Mateo was standing over the ball now as the fans kept chanting his name to give him that boost of morale.


    He had his gaze on the ball now with Spree City''s goalkeeper trying to trash talk him and break his focus but he wasn''t really paying attention to that.


    It didn''t take long before the sound of the referee''s whistle pierced through the air, that was his go signal.


    "This is the chance but can Mateo put it away?"


    The winger took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the top right side.


    He had the goalkeeper glued to a spot which was really good, however, he ended up sting the ball over the bar.


    "Terrible, terrible, terrible miss."


    The reaction from the crowd was a gasp of shock and disappointment.


    "That could have been easy, Mateo." The winger bit his lower lip in frustration before kicking the air.

 Chapter 468 Back To Normal

    ?


    If Mateo had capitalized on that penalty kick, they would have gone in for the half-time break on equal grounds, but since he failed to do that, they had to end the first half of the game still a goal down.


    The yers were all in the locker room now with Norman standing in front of them with his hands crossed behind him.


    This was one of those times that he would ept me for something but he still had some me to put on the yers who messed up in one way or the other.


    "I know you guys would have yed better with the other two formations and would maybe be leading but that doesn''t excuse the fact that you guys missed a couple of really good chances." He took a nce at Mateo as he said this.


    After that, he let out a sigh and slowly observed the yers for a while before turning to face the board.


    "We''re going to be switching back to four-three-three in the second half but I doubt that alone will be able topletely get us out of this situation so listen up everyone." He beseeched.


    He had been observing Spree City since the start of the match to notice that the tactics they were using wasn''t that much different from the one they used against them in theirst match.


    The only thing he needed to do now was rework his tactics a little bit and then his team would be able to keep up and have a chance to make aeback.


    However, everything was in the hands of the yers, if they fail to execute everything properly in the second half then Spree City were going to continue doing what they were doing and they might end up losing this match.


    After saying everything that he needed to say, he left the room so that the yers could reflect on all the information he just passed on to them.


    "Looks like our treble dream has met quite the storm," Dave remarked with his gaze on Mateo who had his gaze on his hands while he was fumbling with his fingers.


    "I wouldn''t call it quite the storm." The winger replied before slowly turning his gaze to him. "We''re just a goal down and it''s not like we didn''t get really good chances to equalize it just like the penalty kick I missed."


    "Hmph, you''re still salty about that, huh?"


    "I guess but I don''t want to think about it too much." He sighed before shaking his head.


    "Hey, don''t worry, there''s still a lot of time for us to get back into it," Dave said in an attempt tofort him.


    "I know, I don''t needfort."


    "Okay, can I ask you for a favor then?"


    "Favor?"


    "Yeah, I just need you to let me take the first close-up free kick we get in this second half." The goalkeeper requested.


    "Hmm, I see," Mateo responded before cing his hand on his chin. "Well, that''s not a problem because I was going to call you to take it even though you didn''t ask just now."


    _______ ______


    "Wee back, everyone, the second half of the match is just about to kick off as we can see the yers making their way to the pitch now," Jim announced with an enthusiastic voice.


    "The first half was something, should have ended with a draw with the chances Unique FC got, especially that penalty kick that Mateo missed but I guess the home team got lucky on that front." Steve articted.


    The voices of the fans were going up now as the yers made their way to the pitch.


    Unique FC were losing the match but their fans were not backing down with their huge contribution to make the atmosphere lively.


    "Looks like Norman is switching back to four-three-three for this half, a good decision I would say, they didn''t seem to be linking up that well in the first half, didn''t feel much like the Unique FC I''ve been watching since the start of this season." Jim expressed.


    "Yeah, this is definitely going to make this second half more interesting but how''s Spree City going to respond?"


    "Well, we''re going to find out soon."


    Felix was standing over the ball on the kick-off spot waiting for the referee''s whistle and as soon he heard it, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Jni.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    Spree City yers were well aware that Unique FC were nning to take this second half way more seriously than they did in the first half so their game n was to tread cautiously and avoid making any mistakes, they had the lead and they were not nning to lose it.


    If worse came to worse they were going to resort to parking the bus, they had the lead anyway, Norman was well aware that this was a very valid option for them which was why his game n for this second half was to strike as fast as possible to prevent that from happening.


    Torres was slowly heading down the left wing with the ball now with Norman quickly heading his way, but just before the right back could get to him, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Felix down the middle but that pass could have been better.


    Martinez quickly got to the ball with a slide just before it could get to the striker and sent it rolling to Adolf who quickly pushed it back to Dave with a backheel pass.


    As soon as Dave got his foot on the ball, he gave it a little push forward before he sent it flying down the left toward Pirlo.


    Pirlo had to take Ferran''s position in midfield because the midfielder had to be moved to the right wing.


    Jamie quickly closed up on him to try and win the aerial duel, but Pirlo ended up winning it as he sent the ball flying toward Mateo who brought it down with his chest before turning toward the box with it.


    He had space to run down before getting to the box and his teammates were covering up from the other side.


    Jamie quickly rushed to the winger from behind to try and take the ball from him, but before he could get to him, he sent the ball rolling to Martinez who had closed up down the middle now.


    As soon as he rolled the ball to Martinez, he quickly raced down the wing in an attempt to get past the right back because he needed Martinez to give the ball back to him.


    As soon as he started making that run forward, Martinez quickly sent the ball flying to him with a lob.


    He was quick enough to get in front of the right back and bring the ball down with his chest, and just before the defender could do anything to stop him, he sent the ball in with a low cross.


    "Mateo, and he sends it in."


    Everyone in the middle missed the ball as it managed to get to the other side of the post just as Ferran closed up on it and got the heel of his boot on it.


    However, his effort ended up hitting the post before rolling out for a goal kick.


    "Ferran! Oh, no it hit the post!" Jim eximed.


    "That was very close."


    Ferran just couldn''t believe he wasn''t able to put that in, he was sitting on the floor now with a disappointed look on his face.


    "That''s another big chance missed by Unique FC, if they keep this up then this match might not end so well for them."

 Chapter 469 Proper Power Shot

    ?


    The match had just entered the fifty-eight minute now and so far there has been nothing from Unique FC.


    They were slowly gaining control of the pitch just like they do in almost all of their matches but all that meant nothing when Spree City still had the lead.


    They had to get that equalizer quickly because Spree City were slowly starting to switch to a more defensive style of y.


    When the match entered the sixtieth minute without his teaming up with anything, Norman decided to make a couple of changes.


    An attempt from Felix was sent flying over the bar from outside the box in the sixty-first minute and that was his cue to bring on the yers he wanted to bring on.


    The first substitution was bringing off Pirlo and recing him with Merino because he was really needed down that right-wing so that Ferran could return to his position.


    And then finally, for now, Frankie had toe on to rece Martinez.


    The midfielder received quite a standing ovation from the fans as he made his way to the pitch.


    After not seeing him for a while, the fans were really d to have him get this much y time once again.


    He''s been back in the squad for a while now but Norman had only been bringing him on around the eightieth to eighty-fifth minute because he wanted to give him more time to recover before he would start bringing him in earlier in matches and it looked like he had finally made up his mind to do so today.


    "Finally bringing on Frankie when there''s still a lot of ytime left, the midfielder was exceptional for Unique FC before his injury, I hope he hasn''t lost his mojo," Jimmented.


    "Spree City will be hoping for the opposite but let''s watch and see." Steve expressed.


    With the substitution now done, it was now time for the game to resume.


    Dave was standing over the ball which was ced on the edge of the six-yard box, and as soon as he heard the referee''s whistle, he quickly sent the ball flying down the middle.


    Ferran had Dennison quickly heading toward him as the ball happened to be heading his way but before he could get to him, he sent the ball flying to Frankie with a header.


    "Frankie gets his first touch on the ball."


    As soon as the midfielder got his foot on the ball, he quickly moved a little to the right with it before passing it to Minino.


    "Minino."


    Minino pushed a little forward with the ball before he sent it rolling to Ferran who quickly turned with it to find Mateo down the left.


    "Mateo."


    Mateo didn''t try to make any move with the ball and just pushed it back to Rnd before moving into the box.


    Rnd moved a little further with the ball before he sent it rolling to Ferran who quickly tried to find Mateo inside the box with a lob but one of the defenders in the area was able to nod the ball back and stop it from getting to the winger.


    Minino was fast enough to get to the ball just before Dennison could, and without hesitation, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Merino down the right.


    The winger quickly took off down the wing with the ball but the left-back was hot on his trail and wasn''t giving him any space to do anything.


    After almost moving the ball out for a goal kick, he had to turn back and send the ball rolling back to Minino who found Frankie closing up down the middle and sent the ball rolling to him.


    As soon as Frankie got his foot on the ball, Dennison quickly rushed to him to try and take the ball from him but the midfielder was able to get past him by flicking the ball a little to the right before connecting with it once again to keep moving down the middle with it.


    "Nicely gets past Dennison."


    Frankie kept on moving with the ball and it looked like he was going to take on everybody on but once but of the centre backs along with Dennison from behind surrounded him, he knew that wasn''t going to be easy.


    He was just about to send the ball to Mateo down the right when one of the defenders quickly closed up on him and sent him tumbling on the floor with a ferocious tackle.


    "Uh oh."


    The midfielder was on the floor now clutching onto his feet as the referee blew his whistle and quickly made his way to the one responsible for the foul.


    Minino was always going to get involved whenever any of his teammates got tackled like that and this time was no exception.


    It looked like a fight was about to break out between him and the defender who brought Frankie down because he was not remorseful any way even after getting a yellow card from the referee.


    Their teammates had to step in to prevent anything from going on.


    "Were you trying to kill him? He just came back from an injury, don''t you know that?!" Minino''s voice was going up now just like his temper.


    "And how am I supposed to know that?" The other side responded.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll show you!"


    The midfielder was trying to break free from his teammates'' grip now but they weren''t going to let him go do something stupid although a few of them wanted him to just go do it.


    Anyway, the both of them got really lucky, it was any other referee, they might have gotten sent off.


    "Oh, boy that was something but I guess it''s sort of understandable from Minino''s side, Frankie just came back from an injury and that tackle looked quite deliberate." Jim articted.


    While the yers were arguing, Rnd rushed to check up on his teammate before the medical team could get to him on the pitch.


    After a few check up on him, he was able to get up on his feet.


    The fans and his teammates breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that he was okay but a majority of the fans still thought that the defender deserved a red card instead of yellow.


    "Looks like Frankie will be able to continue, that''s good news for Unique FC."


    "Yeah, and now Unique FC have a free kick in a good spot."


    Just as promised, Mateo turned to Dave and called to him with a gesture.


    "Looks like Mateo''s leaving this one for the goalkeeper." Jimmented.


    <That''s your cue>


    "Yeah." The goalkeeper muttered before he quickly began to make his way to the area.


    "The goalkeeper has taken four free kicks so far, he scored two, assisted with one and missed one, that''s a pretty good free kick record, will he make it better better with his fifth one?"


    The goalkeeper was standing over the ball now twenty five yards away from the goalpost with his gaze on the four man wall at the edge of the box.


    "I think the odds are in his favor, for a goalkeeper, his uracy is insanely broken and his shot power is something else, if FIFA chooses to make his stats exactly as he is in the next version of their game then a lot of people would just y him in midfield or attack." Steve articted.


    All he was waiting for now was the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he slowly took three steps backward before taking a deep breath.


    ''One, two, three.''


    As soon as he finished that countdown in his head, he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it straight toward the top right hand corner.


    He did not hold back on his shot, this was what you would call a proper power kick.


    "Dave!"


    The goalkeeper dived toward the ball just as he sent it out, but the speed and power was just too much for him to deal with as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying right into the goalpost.


    "And he slots it in right into the top bin! They have their equalizer!"


    That goal had the fans of their feet and even some of the away fans couldn''t help but apud him.


    Minino didn''t even give him the time to react to his goal and straight up jumped on him.


    "I think it''s confirmed now, Dave''s a free kick master."

 Chapter 470 First Fifteen Minutes

    ?


    Things could have been devastating for Unique FC without that goal from Dave because right now, the referee''s whistle pierced through the air with that high-pitched sound for the third time to finally bring the second to an end.


    "There''s the whistle, it''s supposed to be over but it''s not over, Unique FC managed to get that equalizer and now they''ll go into extra time," Jimmented as the yers slowly made their way down the tunnel.


    "Well, this has been something, Unique FC did everything they could possibly think of in this half but all they were able to get out of it was that wonderful free-kick goal from Dave which kept them in the game." Steve articted. "The goalkeeper saved them once again just like he came on at thest minute to do against Dynamo FC but this time around it won''t really matter unless they win this match."


    When Steve said that Unique FC did everything they could possibly think of to seal the game in this second half after that goal from Dave, he wasn''t trying to exaggerate it, Unique FC really did put the pressure on Spree City in this half but they just couldn''t put the ball in the goalpost.


    That was mainly because Spree City switched to an almostpletely defensive style of y after that goal from Dave.


    It looked like they were bent on taking the match to extra time and maybe their ultimate goal was to get the match to go into penalties but that would be stupid considering the fact that Unique FC had the best goalkeeper in the league by miles this season in their team, so maybe all they just wanted to do was take it to extra time where they would try to do something.


    However, there was no guarantee that they would be able to do anything in both halves of extra time and if the match ended up going to penalties then the odds would be stacked against them.


    Unique FC yers were in the locker room now with a lot of them drinking from their water bottles.


    Norman was in the room as expected but this time he wasn''t standing in front of them and was sitting on the seat a little to the right beside the board.


    "So, it has finallye to this." He muttered with his hand on his chin.


    He stared at the wall on the other side for a while before quickly turning his gaze back to the yers.


    "Listen up, everyone!" He shot up with an assertive voice just to make sure he gets the attention of all of them. "Don''t go out there thinking that because we have Dave we''ll be safe if this match goes into penalties, Dave is not invisible, no goalkeeper is invisible, especially during penalty shoot-outs, everything can go wrong during penalty shootouts and besides Dave''s only job is to try and stop the ball not take your penalties which some of you might end up missing!"


    "I think coach really hates penalty shootouts." Minino leaned closer to Ferran to whisper.


    "Yeah, and it''s understandable," Ferran whispered back.


    "We have to do everything we can to crack them open and make sure that this match doesn''t go into a penalty shootout, or maybe we won''t need to try so hard to crack them up, I''m sure they know that the game into penalties has a high chance of not favoring them." The coach hypothesized as he paced up and down in front of the yers.


    ''I have never seen him get this wary before.''


    <Well, when you''ve been managing a team for a few years now and somehow manage to make a good team worthy ofpeting for trophies and manage to get this far in apetition that might win you your first trophy as a manager for the club then you might start to get wary because you might never get this chance again>


    ''Yeah, that''s a nice way to put it but I don''t think there''s any reason to worry, well, there is a little reason to worry but we''ll still pull through.''


    "That''s it!" Norman announced with a spark of hope in his eyes as he came to an abrupt halt in front of the board. "So, they''re nning to go all out in this part of the game and run away with it, I see." He added this time with a calm voice as he slowly turned his gaze to the yers.


    "Looks like he got something," Minino muttered.


    _______ ______


    "Wee back everyone to this drawn-out match, the first half of extra time is about to kick off as we can see the yers from both teams making their way to the pitch now," Jim announced. "This is going to be a battle of endurance, who will hold out longer ande out on top or will it go into a penalty shootout which I would honestly love to see since the match has already gotten to this point."


    "Yeah, but I''m not sure they would want that, especially Spree City."


    Fredinho had to be substituted for Fred during thete stages of the second half so Fred was the one standing over the ball in the kick-off spot now.


    The referee made sure that everything was in ce before he blew his whistle, and as soon as the striker heard it, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Minino who didn''t hesitate in pushing the ball back to Luis Roberto.


    "The first fifteen minutes is on the way."


    Unique FC were not attempting to make any quick forward movement with the ball but they knew they had to strike fast because they simply had no time and unlike the second half, Spree City yers were being really aggressive with the way they were chasing the ball now.


    Luis Roberto sent the ball rolling to Aima who had to quickly send it rolling back to Dave just before Felix could get to him, as soon as Dave got his foot on the ball, he quickly sent it flying out toward Mateo just before both Felix and Jni could get to him.


    Mateo had to nod the back toward Rnd because Jamie was just too close and he wouldn''t have the time to properly trap the ball.


    As soon as Rnd got his foot on the ball, he quickly sent it rolling to Ferran who quickly began to push forward with it.


    He found Mateo down the left and quickly sent the ball rolling to him.


    Mateo was able to evade Jamie as he took a turn toward the middle and got past the center back in his way with a nice footwork and get off a shot toward the right.


    "Mateo!"


    The ball just had a little bit of elevation to it but the goalkeeper was able to get to it and hit it out with both of his gloves.


    "And he saves it!"


    Fred was able to get to the rebound just before any of the defenders or the goalkeeper could get to it, but he ended up sting it over the bar.


    "Oh, and he sends it over the bar, that was supposed to go into the."


    Fred was quite frustrated after missing that chance as he could be seen pulling his shirt up to cover his face before pulling it down to show that frustrated look on his face.


    "Another terrible miss from Unique FC, I''m starting to doubt their ability to capitalize on this one," Stevemented.

 Chapter 471 Second Fifteen Minutes

    ?


    "And the first fifteen minutes is over with the stalemate still unbroken," Jimmented as soon as the referee blew his whistle the second time.


    Well, it was just fifteen minutes so there wasn''t really much time for them to do much but the good chances they managed to get, they failed to put away.


    Unique FC got two good chances that they failed to convert while Spree City won a free kick at the edge of the opposition''s box but Felix ended up sting it over the bar.


    The break was a very short one for the yers but during that time, Norman managed to pass on a couple of useful info to the yers before they could get back on the pitch to finish thest fifteen minutes.


    The tension in the stadium was quickly rising now and the fans were enjoying it as their voices were also rising.


    "This is thest fifteen minutes, will we be able to see a winner or will it go into a penalty shootout which I would love to see?"


    Felix could be seen standing over the ball in the kick-off spot waiting for the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Torres.


    "And the second fifteen is on the way."


    Torres quickly tried to link up with Jni down the right wing but that didn''t exactly work out as well as he expected it to.


    The winger was able to bring the ball down with his chest, but just before he could do anything with it, Rnd came sliding his way in an attempt to get the ball off his feet.


    The left-back seeded in getting the ball off his feet but just before he could get up and send it to any of his teammates, Jamie got to it and quickly sent it rolling to Felix.


    "Jamie makes sure his team retains the ball but Felix''s not having things easy Frankie around him, three minutes already gone," Jimmented.


    Frankie wasn''t going to give the striker that space he needed to either shoot or push the ball forward to any of his teammates up front so he had no choice but to push it back to Dennison who quickly tried to set up Torres with a lob into the box.


    The winger was able to quickly get past Luis but just before he could get to the ball, Dave quickly rushed out and grabbed it with both of his hands.


    That was pretty careless from the goalkeeper because if the winger had gotten his head on that ball before he could get to it, then it would have been game over for them but he had it covered.


    He was aware that there was no time to waste, that would be a different case if they were leading so he had to quickly send the ball flying out down the right.


    The ball was heading straight toward Merino, and as soon as it got to him, he sent it flying to Ferran with a header.


    "He sends it to Ferran."


    Ferran quickly started pushing down with the ball as soon as he got his foot on it.


    It took some of the defendersing to stop him along with Dennison and Jamie quicklying toward him from behind to get him to send the ball to Mateo down the left.


    "Mateo."


    Mateo tried to get past the right back with the ball before he had a change of mind and decided to send it flying to Merino down the right wing instead.


    Merino was at the edge of the box when the ball got to him, and as soon as he trapped it under his foot, the left back quickly came rushing toward him.


    He shouldn''t have been so fast because Merino was able to use that to his advantage and swiftly lob the ball over him to get into the box from him.


    "Merino gets into the box nicely, this could be their chance!"


    The winger had enough space to shoot with the other defenders quickly closing up but just before he could fire the ball toward the goalpost, the left back whom he had already taken off quickly rushed toward him from behind and sort of dragged him down leaving the ball to keep on rolling forward.


    Minino quickly rushed to the area to get his foot on the ball just at that time but the defender there was able to get to it first and he didn''t waste any time in sending it flying out for a corner kick and after that began the ruckus.


    It looked like Merino was pushed there right inside the box but the referee didn''t blow his whistle so a couple of Unique FC yers were gathered around the referee now trying to at least convince him to go check VAR while Spree City yers were against that idea as they imed that nothing happened there.


    "Yeah, it looks like Sekir sort of tugged his shorts there to get him to fall," Stevemented.


    At the end of everything, the referee made up his mind on not checking VAR and Minino even got a yellow card for talking too much.


    Unique FC yers and fans weren''t happy with that decision but it wasn''t like there was anything they could do about it, the only thing they could hope for was for VAR to call him back to order on the decision but that didn''t happen either which meant that there was no penalty for them.


    "Well, looks like Unique FC will have to do that but they have a corner kick that could turn into something," Stevemented.


    "We have just three minutes left for the match toe to an end."


    "How the heck was that not a penalty?" Ferran muttered with his gaze on the ball on the corner kick spot.


    He was still salty about that decision just like the rest of his teammates, the fans, and the coach.


    He was already a few feet away from the ball, and as soon as he heard the whistle, he quickly closed up on it and sent it flying into the box.


    He lobbed the ball in toward the far right where Mateo managed to get his head to it in the midst of everywhere going for it.


    However, he wasn''t able to direct that properly as the ball ended up bouncing off toward the right while the goalkeeper was still stuck on the left side.


    "His header goes haywire but someone can still capitalize on that!"


    Merino had Dennison right on him but he had no fear as he dived toward the ball just as the midfielder stretched his leg toward it.


    The winger managed to get his head to it first, and that was the end of it.


    The goalpost was empty and the ball just went flying in.


    "And Merino makes no mistake!"


    The fans immediately sprang up from their feet with their voices going to create roars of jubtion.


    "We all thought it was going to penalties but he came through with what could be described as the header of redemption!" Jim was just as enthusiastic as the away fans.


    "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Dave yelled as loud as he could as he quickly rushed into the goalpost and kicked the.


    "Took them long enough," Stevemented.

 Chapter 472 To The Quarterfinals

    ?


    "And Unique FC are through to the quarterfinals!" Jim eximed as soon as the referee blew his whistle for the third time to finally bring the match to an end.


    Unique FC fans just couldn''t hold in their joy after hearing thatst whistle and the same could be said about the yers and everyone down there who wanted Unique FC to win.


    Norman had to rush to the pitch with smiles all over his face and the yers who were on the bench couldn''t just sit there and do nothing, they had to race to the pitch and celebrate with their teammates who made sure that they came out of this battle alive.


    "Their Bilbeth Super Cup dreams are still alive! Oh, what a match this has been."


    Spree City couldn''t believe what hit them at thatst minute and a lot of their yers were sitting on the floor now with their face down.


    It was always going to be devastating when a team manages to drag a match on for this long and then end up losing.


    "Honestly, Unique FC should have sealed this match a long time ago but they kept missing those good chances, how many times did they even hit the woodwork in this match?" Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, you''re right, I think it was seven times. Spree City seemed to be quite tough for them in the first half but after they switched back to their normal formation in the second half they slowly began to regain control but still, the finishing wasn''t there.


    "Mateo wasn''t really himself in this match, considering his performance in the past few weeks, he looked quiteckluster but it''s a good thing he managed to assist that winning goal."


    The yers were celebrating in front of the fans now, and they were not taking things easy just like the fans who were jumping up and down in the sands.


    Dave was announced as the man of the match at the end of the game and it was expected given everything he was able to pull off in this match.


    He was able to keep his team in the game with those close saves in the first half and he was also the one who made sure they stayed in the game and took the fight to extra time with that free kick.


    "They''re really pushing for everything this season, you know I don''t doubt their ability to win the treble now," Jimmented.


    "Same here but I think we should wait for them to get past their next opponents who they will be facing in the quarterfinals, it''s Unique FC versus Dynamo FC in the quarterfinals, Norman and his boys have another tough fight ahead of them in the Bilbeth Super Cup."


    After that, the two talked about a few other things before bringing their broadcast to an end.


    The faces of Unique FC yers were all smiles as they made their way toward the tunnel.


    There were also a lot of fans who were calling their names from the stands mostly because they wanted their shirts.


    "Hey, Minino, can I have your shirt?!" A young boy yelled from the stands as soon as the midfielder got close enough to the area.


    He wanted to make sure the midfielder heard that, and it worked just like he wanted.


    "Sure," Minino replied before quickly moving closer to the area.


    As soon as he got there, he pulled off his shirt and handed it to him before proceeding to fist-bump him.


    The young boy was stunned to the extent that he could only gaze at the midfielder until he turned around and quickly made his way down the tunnel and that was when he burst open with uncontroble excitement.


    While most of his teammates had already gone down the tunnel, Dave was still up there because a reporter had to stop him to ask him some questions.


    "That was a magnificent free kick goal from you, Dave, that''s your third free kick goal from five takes. At this point, there are people suggesting that it would be a good idea to make you the team''s main free-kick taker, what do you think about that?" The reporter inquired before turning the microphone to him.


    ''Another controversial question.''


    <Always expect it, they''re looking for something to sell anyway>


    "Well, we already have Mateo and he''s one of the best free-kick takers in the league so I don''t really see why they should strip him of that role and give it to me, I''m pretty sure he would have converted that free kick if he had decided to take but I was the one who asked him to let me take it." The goalkeeper articted.


    "So, you don''t like the idea?"


    "Unless Mateo is okay with it which I''m sure he wouldn''t." He replied with a shrug.


    "Hmm, I see."


    After that, he asked the goalkeeper a couple of other questions before finally leaving him alone.


    He slowly turned around and was about to start heading down the tunnel when he spotted something in the stands.


    There was a young boy sitting on his mother''s thighs holding a piece of cardboard with something boldly written on it.


    ''I love you, Dave. Can I have your gloves, please?''


    After reading the words on the cardboard subconsciously, he couldn''t help but smile before quickly making his way to the area with both of his gloves in his left hand.


    The boy didn''t even know when he popped up in front because he had his gaze on something on the right.


    "Hey, Jamie, look." His mother said before giving him a little tap on the shoulder.


    The boy had to quickly turn his gaze back to see what she was talking about, and as soon as he saw who was standing there right in front of him, his eyes widened in amazement.


    "Dave." He muttered.


    "Here you go." The goalkeeper said before handing his gloves over to him.


    "Thank you." The little boy stuttered.


    "Thank you, you just made his night." The mother smiled.


    "I''m d I did." He replied before giving the little boy a little rub on the head. "See youter, Jamie." He added before quickly rushing down the tunnel.


    <I just love seeing wholesome moments like that after matches>


    ''Really? I never knew you had the capabilities to love anything.''


    <Hey!>


    ''I''m just kidding, you''re pretty wholesome yourself when you want to be.''


    <Is that supposed to be apliment?>


    ''Of course, what else is it supposed to be?''


    <I was just confirming because it sounded a bit sarcastic to me>


    ''Oh, Catherine.'' He replied with an inward sigh. ''Anyway, can I see my post-match rewards now?''


    <Sure>


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Six crucial saves: +60 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded(1) ]


    [ Goals scored(1): +150 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 9.0 ]


    ''Could have been better with a clean sheet but I guess it was bound to happen like this.'' He said subconsciously as he continued his walk to the locker room.


    The closer he got to the room, the louder the singing he started hearing when he walked down the tunnel got, and when he got there, he could see that Minino was running around with a couple of his teammates.


    "Just as expected." He muttered with a smile before shaking his head.

 Chapter 473 Terrible Childhood Memory

    ?


    The match against Spree City took quite a lot out of the yers but still, they didn''t have the time to kick back and take a few days off because their uing matches weren''t going to be easy.


    Their next league match was against Ronino FC, the team that managed to hand them their first draw of the season and then after that, they would face Supreme United who handed them their second draw of the season.


    Both of those matches were going to be tough for them so they had to be well-prepared, but things didn''t stop there.


    After those matches, they would have to travel to the thirdrgest city in France to face off against Lyon in the first leg of the Europa Conference League round of sixteen match.


    All of them had alreadye to the conclusion that that was going to be their toughest so far in the season but they still believed that they could pull through.


    Finally, after that match, they would still have to face Dynamo FC in the quarterfinals of the Bilbeth Super Cup.


    In conclusion, the uing weeks were going to be pretty tough for Unique FC which was why Norman was giving them a day off to properly cool off and rx before they would start preparing for the storm up ahead.


    Dave was putting his day off to good use by taking a dive in the swimming pool he almost forgot existed.


    "I haven''t been in a pool for quite a long while." He remarked after bursting back to the surface from below.


    His breathing was a bit fast-paced because he had been down there for quite a while.


    "Thest time I was in a pool I almost died."


    "Huh?" He responded before turning his gaze to Emma who was sitting on the edge of the pool with her legs being the only parts of her body in there.


    She was putting on a pair of red bikinis with a thin ck shirt, she also had a ss of orange juice in her hand.


    "When was that?" Dave asked.


    "I was twelve years old and we''ve just moved to a new ce that had this reallyrge pool. I just wanted to see what it would be like to dive in there since I''ve had a few sshes at the beach before." She had to pause to drop the ss she was holding. "I jumped in thinking it would be easy to just move around in there but it turned out to be really difficult and before I knew it, I started drowning."


    Dave had his gaze glued to her the entire time and was even swimming closer to her now.


    "What happened then?"


    "Well, I would have died because it didn''t look like anyone was going to hear my muffled screams, that was what I thought until Mateo came out from nowhere and dived straight in, he was able to get to me just before I lost consciousness." She narrated before weaving in a little chuckle. "My mind knew no peace that night, I was thinking what if no one heard my cry for help or if Mateo heard it and got there but had no idea how to swim? I received the scolding of my life from my father and my mother was just too terrified thinking about what could have been to say anything."


    "Wow," Dave muttered before shaking his head.


    "Is that your reaction to my story of almost drowning in a pool?" She retorted with a sudden snap.


    "No, it''s just that I never knew you had a reckless moment as a child and getting scolded by your father, that must be something."


    "Yeah, I had a lot of reckless moments as a child, Dave. I got suspended from school once for helping out with a prank on my teacher." She disclosed.


    "Say what now?" Dave was aghast as he had his mouth wide open now.


    "Yeah, something I''m not proud of." She sighed before slowly turning her gaze away from him.


    "What kind of prank was that?"


    "You don''t want to know." She replied before shaking her head.


    "Hmm, I see."


    <Well, would you look at that>


    "Anyway, back to what we were talking about. Since that day, I''ve never stepped close to a pool to talk more about jumping in. Mateo offered to teach me a couple of times but I refused, that experience was just too terrifying."


    "And still, here you are now, sitting beside a pool with your leg in the water," Dave remarked before slowly swimming closer to her.


    "Well, you are here."


    "So, you''re saying that if I try to teach you, you''ll say yes?" He asked before pushing closer to her until he had both of his hands on her thighs now.


    "Hell, no." She replied abruptly before shaking her head.


    "Hey,e on, it''s not that hard, I''ll hold your hand so you won''t drown." He assured her before grabbing both of her hands.


    "But."


    "Hey, you know there''s no way I''ll tell you to do anything that will harm you especially when you still have Devon with you." He reassured her.


    She didn''t reply immediately as she slowly turned her gaze to her stomach before letting out a sigh.


    "Fine, teach me how to swim."


    "Great." He chortled before quickly dragging her into the pool.


    That scared the hell out of her and she went all out in expressing herself with a scream.


    "Hey, you didn''t have to drag me in like that." Sheined in an attempt to kick him.


    "Sorry." He said with a little chuckle.


    "That''s not how you apologize." She pouted. "Just show me how you keep your body afloat before anything else, I don''t trust you at this point."


    "Okay, okay, just listen. Keep your body vertical in the water and your head up above the surface. Then, move your arms back and forth horizontally to keep your upper body afloat." He showed her a demonstration as he exined that to her.


    "Oh, I see." She muttered in amazement.


    "Do you think you can do it now?"


    "Yeah, I think so." She replied with a nod. "But if I fail to get it right, don''t let me drown."


    "Why would I ever let you drown?" He muttered with a little chuckle. "I''m letting go of you now, calmly now." He added before slowly letting go of her hands.


    She repeated everything just like he exined to her and showed and before she knew it, she was floating on the surface of the water.


    "Woah, this isn''t so hard." She chortled.


    "See, I told you so, now all you have to do to move around is to apply what you''re doing right now in another way."


    "Yeah, but you''ll still have to exin that to me." She replied before looking down at the water.


    "Of course." He replied with a nod. "You know, I heard that swimming has a lot of benefits for pregnant women." He added.


    "Yeah, and I can see why." She muttered.


    *****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter?


    Your power stones and golden tickets would be much appreciated!

 Chapter 474 Ronino FC Vs Unique FC: Preparations

    ?


    The yers'' day off came to a swift end, and now that it was all in the past, they had to jump straight back into training because they had a loting up.


    Their next opponents Ronino FC weren''t really in a good ce in the League at that moment, they were currently sitting in ninth ce, but after what they did against them in their first meeting this season, Norman had to make sure they took them seriously.


    The yers were now in their first training session after their day off and it was looking pretty nice for them.


    Norman made them start with a couple of stretches and other rxation techniques before moving on to the more serious part of their training session.


    He had something interesting in mind for the training session today and it looked like it was finally time to try it out.


    The yers had to gather in front of him now for him to exin his interesting idea to them.


    He carefully observed them as if he was counting them in his mind, and after that, he cleared his throat.


    "Now, listen up everyone, what I''m going to be doing now is testing out trio attacking capabilities and at the same time the defense''s defending capabilities." He illustrated. "What we will be doing is just the attacking trio going up against the defense starting from the center of the pitch. I want to see how this will turn out without any help from the midfield or anyone from defense, just the three of you against the defense.


    "Also, bear in mind that I can switch out anyone from the attacking trio after each round, and the round ends when anyone from the attacking trio sends the ball out, be it a throw-in or goal kick."


    <This sounds like it will be interesting>


    ''Yeah.''


    "Now for the starting attacking trio, I want Mateo on the left, Fredinho in the middle, and Merino on the right." He disclosed. "And for defense, I want Aima and Adolf in the middle, Norman on the right, and Rnd on the left. Now, everyone mentioned in defense, please move to your positions and the attacking trio, your starting position is the center of the pitch."


    After calling out everyone involved in the practice, they quickly began to make their way to their positions but something or someone was missing.


    "Isn''t a goalkeeper needed?" Dave muttered before quickly turning his gaze to Norman. "Hey, coach." He called.


    "Yes, Dave, you''re the goalkeeper."


    "Oh." The goalkeeper said in realization before quickly making his way to the goalpost.


    <Oh, Dave>


    ''What?''


    <Never mind>


    ''Good, you better keep it to yourself.''


    <I intend to, I wouldn''t have said never mind otherwise>


    With Dave now in the goalpost, the defense wereplete with the attacking trio at the center of the pitch.


    "Now, before we start, I would like to add one more thing, all the rules of a normal football match exist in this practice session and you''ll have to make sure the ball doesn''t cross to the other side of the pitch which has nothing to do with what we''re doing now because that will also count as round end, got that?" He exined before blowing his whistle.


    That was the signal to kick off the practice session, and as soon as Fredinho heard it, he quickly pushed the ball to Mateo before he began to head down with Aima quickly heading toward them.


    Mateo had to send the ball back to Fredinho just before Aima could get to him, and without hesitation, the striker linked it forward to Merino.


    Merino raced straight toward Rnd with the ball as Aima quickly headed back to his position, and just before he could run into the left back he pulled the back to Fredinho who quickly sent it rolling to Mateo with his first touch.


    Norman quickly rushed out to try and take the ball off the winger with a sliding tackle, but he should have learned from their opponents that doing something like that against the winger, is always most likely to fail.


    Well, this time wasn''t an exception because the winger ended up chipping the ball over him before quickly jumping over him to get his foot on the ball.


    "Don''t let him through, Aima!" Adolf yelled before quickly pointing to the left where the winger wasing in from.


    Aima quickly rushed toward the winger to try and stop him, but all it took Mateo to get past him was a neat nutmeg.


    Now he had clear sight of the goalpost with the only one close enough to stop him being Adolf but the winger had no ns on letting him get close to him before unleashing the shot.


    He fired the ball straight to the bottom left side, and just before Dave could get to it with his foot, the ball had already crossed the line before smashing straight into the.


    "Well, that was fast," Mininomented from the sidelines.


    "Good job." Norman sniffled before moving a little closer to the goalpost. "But this isn''t exactly what I want to see, Mateo did almost all the work there, what I wanted to see was a proper link-up in getting past the defense but Mateo eliminated two of them on his own."


    "But dribbling is part of what helps us when we attack," Fredinho interjected.


    "Yeah, but he overdid it, individual brilliance doesn''t always work in matches and what I want to see with this part of the training session is how well you guys link up, not how well one person can do almost everything on his own with just a little help from his teammates." The coach expounded on what he really wanted to see to give the yers a clearer idea of what they needed to do.


    "So, no dribbling?" Mateo inquired with his gaze on him.


    "Yes, Mateo, no dribbling, and if you must, dribbling past one person is enough, don''t try to take everyone on," Norman replied.


    "Okay." The winger responded with a nod.


    "Alright, then, I''ll give you guys a retry, get back to the kick-off spot.


    _______ _______


    That part of the training session was quite fun for the yers because Norman got to test out a lot of interesting trios.


    The midfielders thought they weren''t going to be part of this but they were wrong because Norman wanted to test out a couple of trios with them, and that was where the interesting trios came from.


    He was quite pleased with the results he got because he was able to spot how every single trio performed plus their individual capabilities in that wing, and now, he was going to use all that information to try and make his team better.


    The training session was over now and all the yers were in the locker room to listen to how they were going into this match against Ronino FC, in other words, their tactics, formation, and things to take note of.


    They were all sitting down now with Norman standing in front of them.


    "The most important factor for winning this match is acting quickly, they somehow managed to hold us down in our first meeting but if we strike them fast multiple times then that will be pointless for them." He articted with his hand on his chin. "The problem now is, can you guys execute it fast enough?"

 Chapter 475 Way Ahead

    ?


    "Wee everyone once again to another Bilbeth Premier League match. Your favoritementator Jim Waterson is here to cover all of it with you alongside my comentator Mr. Steve Jefferson." Jim articted.


    "Hello, everyone, It''s always nice to be back here to cover the match with you, and we seem to have a pretty interesting match in our hands today." Steve addressed.


    "Yeah, it''s Ronino FC vs. Unique FC and while all the odds point toward Unique FCing out on top on this one due to their recent form and overall performance so far this season, we all know how things ended between them in their first meeting this season, they held Unique FC down and managed to drag out a draw from them, they handed them their first draw of the season.


    "I know Unique FC will be well prepared this time but who said Ronino FC aren''t either? I can''t wait to see how this is going to turn out."


    The yers were already on the pitch now, and after shaking hands with each other, captains of both teams made their way to the match officials for the coin toss.


    Unique FC were putting on their standard away kit, the one that was the reverse of their home kit while Ronino FC were putting on their home kit.


    A yellow shirt with just a white stripe running diagonally down from the left and ck shorts.


    Unique FC ended up winning the coin toss which meant that they were going to be the ones starting the match from the kick-off spot.


    "Just before the match kicks off, let''s take a quick look at the lineups and starting eleven of both sides."


    Looks like Ronino FC were going to be using the same formation they used against them thest time, four-four-two and they had everyone in their official starting eleven in the squad.


    Norman on the other hand was sticking with the four-three-three formation for this match but it wasn''t the one that required a defensive midfielder.


    He said he was going all-out in attack for this match and he meant it.


    He had Ferran and Minino drop a little deep in central midfield and then up front was Henry as the attacking midfielder.


    He was ying with his standard defense, Norman, Aima, Adolf and Rnd.


    And then upfront he had Mateo on the left, Merino on the left, and in the middle was sixteen-year-old Gregory.


    "Well, Norman has some interesting additions in his starting eleven, and this time he''s not starting a defensive midfielder."


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Quest type: Conjoined ]


    [ Keep a clean sheet ]


    [ Make seven or more crucial saves ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +120 exp ]


    [ +2 stat points ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points ]


    ''And once again, it''s another case of getting tough quests with mediocre rewards.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously as he made his way to his goalpost.


    <This quest doesn''t look hard to me>


    ''Really? What if the shots to make those seven crucial saves nevere?"


    <Yeah, that''s something that could happen, but it still doesn''t justify calling the quest tough, for you at least, and I thought you don''t care much about the rewards now>


    ''Well, I need the skill upgrade points to upgrade my skills since I no longer use them that much in matches, and if only there were more quests with attribute points rewards.''


    <Well, to get an attribute points reward, you guys will have to go up against really tough opponents>


    ''Will Lyon do it?''


    <Umm, I can''t really tell now, we''ll have to wait and see>


    ''Oh, just give a straightforward answer for once, Catherine.''


    <I wish I could, but most of the time, that is beyond my capabilities>


    ''Yeah, right.''


    The voices of the fans were going up now with chants because the match was just about to kick off.


    Everyone was in their positions on their sides, and Gregory was standing over the ball in the kick-off spot waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    It didn''t take long before the high-pitched sound of the whistle pierced through the air, and as soon as the young striker heard it, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Ferran who sent it rolling back to Rnd as soon as he got his foot on it.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    Rnd had to push the ball to Adolf who quickly sent it rolling to Norman.


    "Norman."


    Norman pushed a little forward with the ball, and just before Xavier could get to him, he quickly pushed the ball to Henry down the middle.


    Henry quickly turned with the ball as soon as he got it, and just before Zen could get to him, he found Mateo down the left wing and quickly sent the ball flying over to him.


    However, his pass seemed to have had a bit of error as the midfielder in the area was able to get to it with his head just before it could get to Mateo.


    "Nice interception."


    The ball was heading toward Zen but just before could get his foot on it, Minino popped up from the side and stole the ball with a slide.


    "And Minino gets the ball back for his team."


    With the ball now in his possession, the midfielder quickly got up from the floor and sent the ball rolling to Ferran who quickly pushed it back to Rnd.


    "Back to Rnd."


    As soon as Rnd got his foot on the ball, he pushed a little forward with it as Sandro and Zen quickly headed his way, but just before they could get to him, he pulled his right foot back and sent the ball flying all the way to Merino.


    "He sends it flying deep toward the right."


    Merino was able to bring the ball down with his chest just before the left-back could get to him and without hesitation, he pushed the ball to Minino before quickly moving forward.


    "He moves it back to Minino."


    Minino only got a touch on the ball before he passed the ball to Gregory who immediately sent it rolling to Mateo with a flick.


    "Mateo."


    Mateo quickly raced down the wing with the ball dragging two of the defenders in the area with him to create space for Gregory, and once he found the striker in a good enough space, he sent the ball rolling back to him.


    "Mateo drops it down to Gregory, Gregory!"


    The striker fired the ball straight toward the goalpost as soon as he got his foot on it.


    However, his shot ended up hitting the defender in his way before deflecting toward the left.


    Mateo quickly rushed toward the ball and managed to get his foot on it just before it could hit the floor.


    He still had the defenders behind him, but there was nothing they could do to stop him as he pushed it over the goalkeeper''s hand and straight into the goalpost with the inside of his boot.


    "Goooaaalll!" Jim eximed as the winger quickly got up from the floor and took off to the sidelines with his teammates racing toward him. "He did well to capitalize on that rebound and now they are ahead! His twenty-ninth goal of the season in twenty-seven games, Mateo Smith is having an unbelievable season!"


    "Yeah, I don''t think Rnd''sing close now, he''s way ahead," Stevemented.

 Chapter 476 Straight Into The Top Bin

    ?


    Things weren''t looking good for Ronino FC so far with only twenty minutes on the clock.


    It took Unique FC just three minutes to get the ball into the back of the, and so far, the away team were dominating the game.


    Ronino had managed to get off a couple of shots though but only one of them was on target and it was an easy save for Dave.


    Norman''s tactics were working pretty efficiently so far but they needed to get another goal just to make sure nothing goes wrong.


    Rnd received the ball on the halfway line from Ferran before quickly pushing it to Mateo.


    "Mateo."


    Zen quickly rushed toward the winger to try and take the ball off him but Mateo used his speed and ball control to avoid him before he quickly sent the ball flying into the box.


    He was trying to find Gregory who was rushing in from in between the defenders in the box but he failed to get his head on it as the ball kept on flying toward the right.


    The left back in the area was just about to get to the ball when Merino quickly zoomed past him and got his foot on the ball just before it could hit the floor.


    That could have been something good because the goalkeeper was just rushing to the area at that time but there was no need for that as Merino ended up overhitting the ball to send it over the bar.


    "Oh, that was so close, that was supposed to be their second goal."


    After missing a chance like that, the winger had to raise both of his hands to apologize to the fans.


    "That was such a lovely cross from Mateo, a great chance gone to waste," Stevemented.


    "Well, that''s something that happens a lot in football matches, they just have to make sure this doesn''t turn into a big chance miss fest like what they did against Spree City." Jim expressed.


    The match continued till the thirty-fifth minute with nothing that exciting happening.


    Unique FC were starting to be conservative now because of how much effort the home team were putting into their defense.


    The match was in some sort of stalemate now, and someone did not like it, someone who had not been able to make a single crucial save so far in the game because the shots he wanted just weren''ting.


    ''Just how the heck am I supposed to make seven crucial saves when they are ying like this, I''ve only made one save so far and it wasn''t even a challenge.'' Heined subconsciously.


    He had his arms crossed with his back against the right post.


    <So, you want more shots, huh?>


    ''Precisely.''


    <And what if you end up messing up one of them?>


    ''Well, that''s a possibility, although I''ll try my best to minimize the chances, I just want them to fire when it matters.''


    Well, it was quite odd to see a goalkeeper asking for shots in a serious match, if anything they would love the number of shots they get to be less to reduce their chances of not saving any of them but Dave had only conceded five goals in twenty-seven games this season and the system quest needed to bepleted.


    That said, there wasn''t really anything he could do if his teammates were just too good for the other side to do anything, the only thing he could do wasin about it to Catherine just like he was doing now.


    ''I just hope they pick up their pace in the second half, they weren''t thisckluster when we faced them at home.''


    <Hmm, and do you also want the same result as that one?>


    ''I said I wanted them to spark things up a bit, stop getting the wrong idea.''


    <Okay, but do you want to know what I think?>


    ''What?''


    <You are still highly likely to fail this quest but it''s not like it''ll be your fault anyway, ande to think of it, didn''t you say that you don''t care much about the rewards anymore unless it''s a lot of skill upgrade points or attribute points?>


    ''I mean¡­.''


    The goalkeeper had to suddenly pause to trap the ball Rnd senting his way.


    Sandro was quickly heading his way, but just before he could get to him, he sent the ball flying out toward the left.


    "Dave sends it flying out immediately."


    ''I meant what I said but after doing so many of these quests I just have this desire to always try toplete them no matter what, but if I must fail this one for us to win the match then so be it, then it would be the second fail in a row.'' He sighed inwardly.


    The ball went straight toward Mateo who brought it down with his chest before quickly pushing it back toward Ferran.


    As soon as Ferran got his foot on the ball, he quickly sent it rolling straight to Gregory.


    The striker had two defenders right in front of him so he had to quickly send the ball back to Minino who quickly linked it to Merino down the right wing.


    "Merino."


    Merino quickly raced down the wing with the ball but he had the left back hot on his trail.


    The defender wasn''t giving him the space he needed to do anything and because of that, the winger had to push the ball back to Minino before he could move it over the line for a goal kick.


    All the midfielder needed was a single touch to send the ball flying straight into the box.


    He was trying to find Gregory inside the box, but the striker wasn''t in a really good spot, and one of the defenders there ended up heading the ball over the bar for a corner kick.


    "Good defending from Ronino FC but now they have a corner kick to deal with."


    Ferran didn''t hesitate in moving to the corner spot, and as soon as he got there, the ball boy there threw the ball to him.


    "Forty-three minutes on the clock and Unique FC have the first corner kick of the game, can they do something with this spot kick?"


    The only thing Ferran was waiting for now was the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    "And he sends it flying in."


    He sent the ball flying straight toward the middle where Minino and Adolf could be spotted.


    However, none of them were able to get to it because there were also Ronino FC yers in the area.


    One of the defenders there was able to nod the ball back in an attempt to send it out but that didn''t work out so well for him.


    Gregory closed up on the ball just before it could hit the floor, and just before Zen and the other yers could get to it, and with his left foot, he fired it straight toward the goalpost.


    "Falls toward Gregory, Gregory!"


    The ball was sent flying straight toward the top left-hand side of the goalpost and although the goalkeeper was able to chase it, he was only able to feel the wind from the ball as it moved past him and smashed straight into the goalpost.


    "And he smashes it straight into the top bin! Oh, what a strike from the young striker!"


    Gregory quickly took off to the side with both of his hands stretched as his teammates quickly rushed after him.


    "The youngster puts his team two, Unique FC might just be running away with this one after all."

 Chapter 477 Interesting Second Half?

    ?


    The first half came to an end with Unique FC still leading two goals to nothing and the statistics board had a lot to say on how much dominance they had in the first half.


    To start things off, they had seventy-one percent ball possession while the home side managed to retain the ball for what could only amount to twenty-nine percent possession.


    Unique FC were able to unleash twelve shots with seven of them being on target while their opponents were able to fire shots toward their goalpost five times with just one of those shots being on target.


    The away side attempted five hundred and fifty-five passes with five hundred and forty-nine of those passes being sessful while the home side attempted two hundred and eighty-seven passes with two hundred and sixty-four of those being urate.


    With all these stats along with the scoreline, it wouldn''t be an overstatement to say that Ronino FC got bullied by Unique FC in the first half.


    And to be honest, their midfield looked tired most of the time and Unique FC made proper use of that to run riot over them.


    Well, not exactly proper use because they could''ve had more than two goals otherwise but they managed to grab afortable two-goal lead in the first half, and that was all that mattered.


    The yers were in the locker room now with Norman standing over them and he had a very bright smile on his face, but just as he turned his gaze to Henry, that smile slowly faded away.


    Just looking at the midfielder brought back the memories of that one-on-one situation that the midfielder could have put away so easily, but he ended up sting it straight into the goalkeeper''s gloves.


    That was something he would have talked about if they weren''t doing good so far in the game, but now, he had to shake his head to shake it off.


    "You guys have done pretty well so far." He finally spoke after clearing his throat. "I wish you could have done better but I guess that''s the same for every team, there''s always going to be a couple of missed chances, even ones that would make you want to pull your hair out and wonder how someone could have missed that." He quickly nced toward Henry as he added that part.


    The midfielder had to put on an awkward smile to cover the shame.


    "However, those are things that happen every now and then but I honestly hope it won''t happen to me every now and then."


    After saying that, he paused for a while to observe the faces of the yers before sitting down on the seat behind him.


    "We''re already winning the game so there''s no reason to get loud but as you all already know, leading the game in the first half doesn''t mean that you should go into the second half and rx,ebacks happen a lot in football and we are not immune to it." He advised. "That said, I believe that we already have this one in the bag and if you guys keep on ying with the same intensity you had in the first half, I might end up pulling a couple off early for our next match against Supreme United."


    After that, he talked about his n to make sure they retained their lead in the second half if Ronino FC should somehow be too much for them to handle.


    It was quite ironic how he didn''t leave the room until it was time to start heading back to the pitch in a match they werefortably leading in but it is what it is.


    "Wee back, everyone, the second half of the match is about to kick off as we can see the yers making their way to the pitch now." Jim recited before clearing his throat. "Well, the first half sure was something, I knew Unique FC were going toe out on top but I expected Ronino FC to make it a little entertaining, the first half was just one-sided, disappointing performance from the home team so far."


    "Well, the match isn''t over yet, let''s just hope they fix their problem in this half," Stevemented.


    Unique FC fans were not taking it easy with their chants, the home fans were able to keep up with the first half, but now their voices were slowly beginning to drown theirs.


    That was wild considering that they were on Ronino FC''s home ground.


    "Sandro has been pretty quiet so far in this match, no, he has been quiet so far this season onlying through in a few matches." Jim articted. "He was among the top five contenders for the Golden Bootst season, but he''s not even in the argument this season, only managing to score nine goals in twenty-seven matches so far."


    "Yeah, this season has not been very bright for him."


    Sandro was standing over the ball in the kick-off spot with both of his hands on his waist.


    The only thing he and everyone in the stadium were waiting for was the referee''s whistle to get the second half moving.


    It didn''t take long before that high-pitched sound pierced through the air, and as soon as Sandro heard it, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Xavier.


    "There''s the whistle and we are back into it."


    Ronino FC were not trying to rush anything here, they were just moving the ball around slowly and dragging it back when necessary to push out Unique FC yers and create space for their own yers to move in.


    Zen received the ball back from one of the centre-backs after passing it to him.


    The midfielder quickly sent the ball to Xavier as soon as he got his foot on it but the striker had Ferran on him.


    However, all he needed to get past the midfielder was just a little flick to push the ball a little to the left, and now he was racing down the wing with it.


    He was just about to run into Rnd when he quickly sent the ball rolling to Sandro who was already near the edge of the box, but just before the striker could do anything with the ball, Aima came rushing toward him with a slide.


    The defender was nning to take the ball off his feet swiftly but the striker was quick enough to push it off a little to the right. However, he was not fast enough to get his legs out of the way as the defender ended up bringing him down right at the edge of the box.


    The striker quickly raised his hand as the referee blew his whistle before quickly making his way to the area.


    "Sandro is down at the edge of the box and Ronino FC have a free kick in the best position anyone could ask for."


    "Yeah, but will they be able to put it to good use?"


    There was no card for Aima and it was very understandable but Ronino FC yers didn''t care, they had a free kick in a very good position and they had to make good use of it.


    Xavier was standing over the ball now with his gaze on Unique FC''s four-man wall inside the box.


    ''Maybe I can finally get my first crucial save.'' Dave said subconsciously as he adjusted his gloves.


    <Yeah, maybe>


    After making sure that nothing was out of ce, the referee blew his whistle, and as soon as Xavier heard it, he slowly took three steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it directly toward the goalpost, he was going for the kill.


    The ball was sent flying toward the top right side, and although Dave dived toward to try and stop it, there was no need for that, as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, it hit the crossbar."


    "Just give me the failed message already." The goalkeeper sighed as soon as he crashed to the floor.

 Chapter 478 Marvelous Link Up

    ?


    The match had just entered the sixty-seventh minute now, and so far, Unique FC were still leading the game two goals to nothing.


    Ronino FC seemed to have gotten quite tough with their defense but their midfield and attack were still in shambles.


    As a result of that, Unique FC were still dominating them in terms of gamey, getting through their defense was just a bit difficult for them now.


    "I think Ronino FC''s defense has been trying well enough since the start of the match, their midfield and attack not so much, I expected more from them in this half, but they''re still getting canceled out by Unique FC," Jimmented.


    "I just think this match isn''t for them, Unique FC have just been overly superior so far, and I honestly don''t see theming out of this one unless a miracle happens." Steve articted.


    "Well, miracles happen a lot in the game of football so you haven''tpletely ruled them out yet."


    Ronino FC were able to get their foot on the ball after a while and that was after Mateo sent the ball flying over the bar after a goal attempt from outside the box.


    The goalkeeper passed the ball to one of the defenders who quickly sent it rolling to Zen.


    The midfielder got his foot on the ball and was just about to turn with it when Ferran quickly closed up on him from behind and stole the ball from him.


    He made little contact with him in the process causing him to crash to the floor.


    The midfielder quickly raised both of his hands as soon as he hit the floor, but it didn''t look like the referee was going to give that as Ferran just kept on moving with the ball.


    He had the midfielder from the left quickly heading toward him, but just before he could get to him, he pushed the ball to Henry.


    "Henry."


    All Henry needed to send the ball rolling to Merino was a touch.


    However, his pass seemed to have been a little on the slow part and now it was a race between Merino and the center back in the area to see who was going to get to it first.


    It looked like the center back was going to get to it first but just in the nick of time, Merino stretched his right leg to it and pushed it back to Henry with the tip of his boot.


    "That''s some determination to retain the ball."


    As soon as Henry got his foot on the ball, he feigned firing it toward the goalpost before pushing it back to Adolf with a backheel pass.


    "Adolf."


    Adolf had to quickly send the ball rolling to Minino down the right, and as soon as the midfielder got his foot on the ball, he quickly sent it flying over to the other side toward Mateo.


    The winger had yers around him as expected so he had to quickly push the ball to Rnd with his chest.


    "He drops it for Rnd."


    Rnd quickly twisted away from the yer on his way to switch to the middle, and now that he had a little bit of space to run down, he made use of it before attempting to lob the ball in so that either Gregory or Henry could get their head to it.


    However, one of the opposing yers in the box ended up getting his head to the ball and he didn''t hesitate in nodding the ball off to the right but maybe he should have nodded it out straight.


    "Good defending but the ball falls to Merino."


    The winger didn''t immediately move with the ball as soon as he got his foot on it until the left back began to close up on him.


    As soon as the defender got close enough to him, he quickly pushed the ball a little forward before he feigned sending it in to get him to act up.


    The defender reacted just like he wanted but he didn''t give him that space needed to send the ball in.


    The winger quickly pulled back with the ball, and once the defender followed him, he quickly repeated the process before he pushed the ball a little further and then sent it flying in just before Sandro could get to him.


    "He whips it in!"


    The ball was sent flying straight toward the far left where Mateo was quickly closing up on with just one yer on him.


    The winger managed to get to the area just before the ball could get there, and with just a little leap, he was able to get his head on the ball.


    "Mateo!"


    Everyone was expecting him to go straight for goal, but the winger had something else in mind.


    He nodded the ball straight down the middle to someone who understood what he had in mind and quickly began to go down.


    The goalkeeper had quickly gone a little to the left as soon as he saw the ball moving there, and that meant the middle didn''t have anyone covering it now.


    Mateo was aware that the sixteen-year-old striker might get pushed out of the way if he tried topete for the ball in the air, which was why he decided to send it down.


    The young striker went down right on time to connect with the ball and send it straight into the goalpost before the goalkeeper could get to the area.


    "Just what was that link up! I thought Mateo was going to go for goal himself but he decided to send it to Gregory and the young striker made no mistake in putting it away!"


    The voices of the fans were going up now as the striker quickly got up from the floor and rushed to Mateo who was already waiting for him near the corner area.


    As soon as he got to the wing, he quickly sprang up and fell into his arms, his face beaming with smiles.


    "They have done it again, It''s their third goal of the game and Gregory''s second goal of the game, the youngster has been that man with his chances in this game." Steve expressed.


    Ronino FC yers had devastated looks on their faces while Unique FC yers were celebrating in front of their fans.


    "Looks like Ronino FC are going to drop to tenth ce at the end of this game, they had so much guts in their first meeting this season but this time, Unique FC are showing them why they are the most in-form team so far this season."


    "Umm, they''re not the most in-form team at the moment, they lost that when they drew against Dynamo FC," Steve interjected.


    "Oh, that''s right but they have been the most impressive team so far this season in my opinion at least."


    "I agree, and I think that''s a fact."


    ''Well, this match has been shocking, this is the first time we''re trashing Ronino FC since I joined the team.''


    <Well, this is something you should have done in your first meeting with but the finishing in that match was terrible>


    ''Yeah, that''s always a problem but I guess we''re doing it now and it looks like it''s finally time for coach to start pulling out some yers.''

 Chapter 479 A Little Too Much

    ?


    They had eighty minutes on the clock now so the match was almost over but that was something for Ronino FC to worry about because they were currently four goals down.


    The fans thought they had seen it all when they scored that third goal, but the Uniques ended up grabbing a fourth goal even after the substitutions.


    Five minutes after that third goal from Gregory, Norman finally decided to rest some yers because they already had the match in the bag.


    The first person to get taken off was Mateo and Norman had to bring in Frankie to rece him because they didn''t have any other proper left winger in the squad but Frankie had the rare attribute of being able to bring out a good performance no matter the position he is in so it was okay.


    Gregory also had to be reced by Fred because Norman had no intentions of allowing the youngster to y a full ny minutes.


    Merino had to leave the stage for Carlos and then finally, Minino had to be reced by Martinez.


    Norman wasn''t really expecting anything more from his team after those substitutions, he just needed them to see the game to its end but I guess he had no idea that they still wanted goals.


    All it took was a nice link-up between Martinez and Frankie to get the ball into the back of the once more.


    The defensive midfielder sent the ball flying into the box toward the left from thirty yards out, and after bringing it down with his foot, Frankie quickly got around the defender in his way with a quick roulette spin before he sent the ball straight into the goalpost from the bottom right corner.


    The goalkeeper had no chance of stopping that because it was stretched just too far away from him.


    "Yeah, that was a beautiful goal from Frankie, and just two minutes aftering on to rece Mateo," Jimmented.


    "He''s a great asset for Unique FC, that one yer you can put into any position and expect a good if not great performance." Steve articted.


    The match had just entered the nieth minute now and Ronino FC were still lookingckluster.


    Unique FC were the ones with the ball now and they were just casually moving it around with no real intent to attack.


    "Looks like they''ve finally decided to stall time even though it''s pointless, there''s no way Ronino FC will be able to catch up to them now."


    Yeah, it was pointless but not if they wanted a clean sheet which they always want anyway.


    They kept moving the ball around and because Ronino FC yers weren''t aggressive enough with the way they were chasing the ball, they ended up holding on to it until the four minutes of added time got exhausted and the referee blew his whistle thrice to finally bring the match to an end.


    "There''s the whistle, it is all over!"


    At this point, Ronino FC fans had gone almost quiet all that could be heard in the stadium was the voice of Unique FC fans chanting the name of their club.


    "Ronino FC looked pretty underwhelming the whole of this match and Unique FC made no mistake in taking advantage of that." Steve articted. "That''s another victory for them, another clean sheet, their twenty-fourth clean sheet of the season, Dave is surely going to get that golden glove, Perez is the one right behind him with just eleven clean sheets."


    "Yeah, they have taken everyone by surprise this season after how much they struggledst season but Supreme United are not making the title race easy for them, they''re pushing themselves just as much as them."


    Gregory was announced as the man of the match at the end of the game which was really well deserved.


    The young striker was just in the right ces during the game.


    This was his first Man of the Match award and he had a very bright smile on his face as he spoke to the reporter in front of him.


    [ Quest failed ]


    Dave was already making his way down the tunnel alongside Mateo when that message suddenly popped up in front of him.


    ''Why didn''t this pop up right after the game? I had already forgotten about it.''


    <Maybe it was a glitch>


    ''A glitch?''


    <Yeah, you know that one time when the system just turned off on you during a match?>


    ''Yeah.''


    <That was also a glitch>


    ''So, the system''s faulty?''


    <No, it''s just something that''s programmed to happen periodically that''s why I made it clear to you earlier that there will be times when the system is going to fail you, it''s just things that are bound to happen during some games>


    ''Hmm.''


    <And, can I let you in on a little secret>


    ''You know I''m a bit scared that you''re so willing to let me in on a secret.''


    <Well, it isn''t really a secret that''s why I''m able to tell you>


    ''Of course.''


    <Just know that the more you level up and upgrade your attributes, skills, and stats, the worse the glitch gets until eventually¡­ >


    ''I know you''re not going to finish that part so I won''t bother asking.''


    Minino was still on the pitch because he was stopped one of the reporters out there stopped him to ask him some questions so there was no running around in the locker room for now at least.


    As soon as he walked into the room with Mateo, he made his way straight to the bench and sat down there.


    "What a match, I got to do absolutely nothing." He remarked before stretching out his hands.


    He said that with the intention of getting his teammates'' reaction and I guess it worked for him.


    "If the rest of our matches this season turn out like this, I''ll be okay with it, you start doing a little too much when we''re struggling, Dave," Aimamented.


    "Yeah, a little too much for a goalkeeper," Ferran added.


    "Well if he has to do a little too much for us not to lose a match then that''s perfectly fine," Rnd said.


    "Yeah, but when he does all those things, he sort of makes us look bad," Ferran uttered with a little chuckle.


    "Yeah, you''ve got that right," Martinez remarked before turning his gaze to Dave who was just quietly listening to everything they were saying. "But that means we have to step up our game."


    "So, you guys want me to just stick to saving shots?" The goalkeeper finally spoke after listening to what they had to say.


    "Hey, we never said that," Rnd said abruptly.


    "I mean if you want to, no one''s stopping you," Aimamented with a shrug.


    "Don''t listen to them, Dave, just keep doing what you are doing," Adolf remarked.


    "Well, I wasn''t going to stop even if coach told me to." Dave asserted before leaning against the locker.


    While the yers were busy sharing their opinions on the topic, Mateo was on his phone and wasn''t even paying them any attention.


    They weren''t going to pay him any attention either until he began to smile.


    "Hmm, who''s turning up your mood Mateo?" Rnd queried with his gaze now on the winger.


    "Huh?" Mateo replied before quickly raising his gaze to look at him. "Oh, it''s nothing." He added before shaking his head.


    "Are you sure it''s nothing? You were smiling there, It''s a girl right?" Ferran just had to take the teasing to another level. "Hold up, is it that blonde reporter that''s always with your sister? I know you two are close."


    "I already told you that it''s nothing." Mateo sighed before turning his gaze back to his phone.


    "They''re not in that kind of rtionship, Ferran," Rnd said before turning his gaze to the midfielder.


    "Oh."


    "But you''re probably still right about the girl part."


    "Can you just keep quiet?" Mateo blurted with his gaze still on his phone.


    "I might if you show me your phone," Rnd replied almost abruptly with a daring look on his face.


    After hearing him say that, Mateo let out a sigh before getting up from his seat.


    "Sorry but no, I think I''ll find more peace outside." He replied before making his way out of the room.


    "Yeah, and I think I might also need that," Rnd remarked before quickly making his way out of the room.


    <Hmm, your teammates are something and you are no exception>


    ''Yeah, I know I''m the worst.'' Dave replied. ''Anyway, can I see my stuff now?''


    <Sure, here you go>


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Goals conceded(0): +70 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 6.5 ]


    ''Wow, those are very juicy rewards.''

 Chapter 480 There Might Be Beef

    ?


    Norman had toe inter to congratte the yers because they sort of exceeded his expectations in this match.


    After what happened in their first meeting, he was expecting to win the game with at most two goals but they ended up finding the back of the four times, they subdued Ronino FC in the match and that was something he was very proud of.


    However, they were still three points behind with their next match being against Supreme United.


    This was a match that was going to decide who was going to stay on top of the table and he just had to bring it up.


    They had to beat the Supremes to equalize them on points and then top them with goal difference but if their neighbors should beat them then things were going to be pretty difficult for them.


    Catching up to a team with a six-point lead was not easy, especially when that team was Supreme United.


    Norman just shared his thoughts about the uing match and didn''t dwell too much on it because he knew that they still had a lot of time to talk about it ande up with ways to conquer them.


    The yers were in Ronino so after listening to everything Norman had to say, they had to start making their way back to Unique City.


    Ronino wasn''t that far from Unique City when youpare it to Spree, but they still had to make the trip there by flight because it would still take too long with the bus.


    The sky waspletely dark with only a portion of the moon visible as the yers made their way into the ne.


    However, it wasn''t like the area was dark because the airport had a lot of lights to counter the darkness.


    Once everyone got on the ne, they made their way to their seats and sat down quietly.


    Well, most of them sat down quietly.


    "Next up, Supreme!" Minino yelled as soon as he sat down beside Merino.


    "Yeah, next week," Gregorymented from where he was sitting in front of him.


    "We''re going to crush them just like we did on our first meeting." Minino asserted.


    "We didn''t crush them on our first meeting," Merino interjected. "I mean, we were obviously the better team in that match but that doesn''t mean anything because we still ended up drawing it."


    "This time we''re going to dominate them and crush them with a convincing scoreline, we''re better than we were at the start of the season." The midfielder said.


    "Yeah, I sort of believe that but I still have some doubts because if that waspletely we wouldn''t have struggled so much against Dynamo FC, Dave had to be the one toe in despite being injured to save us."


    "That match was a bit umm¡­." The midfielder had to pause now as his face was slowly turning red in embarrassment just thinking about what went down in that match.


    "You mean embarrassing?" Merino muttered before leaning closer to him with a grin on his face.


    "Yeah, but that wasn''tpletely my fault."


    "Let it go, it''s all in the past." The winger sighed before turning his gaze away from him.


    Mateo was sitting beside Dave just as always, and the two seemed to be looking at something together on Mateo''s phone.


    "All these twisted headlines." Dave sighed before falling back to his seat.


    "Yeah, this is a very twisted headline," Mateo said. "And the message is also twisted, I don''t even remember saying any of this."


    What they were looking at now was a headline that emerged from an interview that was done after their League match against Spree City.


    Mateo was asked a question about his goal record so far this season and the other yers who were fighting for the Golden Boot this season.


    He gave very simple answers about everything but the media seemed to have twisted everything to make sure it got them more exposure.


    The headline they were reading now read this; ''Mateo Smith sts The Bilbeth Premier League defense for being too weak and calls out Supreme United''s striker for not having a challenge for the golden boot all these years.''


    A pretty long headline that was sure going to grab a lot of attention but the winger never said any of those at least he didn''t say them like the article tantly put it.


    There were also a lot of outrageous ims in the article and they even had to talk about the winger''s intention to leave next season which was true, but they had to insert the wrong reason for him wanting to leave.


    They imed that he wanted to leave because the league was getting too easy for him and even Supreme United were no longer a challenge.


    Whoever wrote that article sure had a lot of guts to make all those wild ims.


    "This right here is why I always try to avoid interviews unless it''s at home because I know my sister wouldn''t do something like this to me now some people are going to believe that I actually said all these." The winger seethed before facepalming himself.


    "Well, Emma does include clickbaits in her article headlines sometimes but they''re never as outrageous as this and she never makes up anything other than what the yer said in the main body of the article." Dave expressed.


    "And that is exactly how things should be, do they have to lie all the time?"


    <I think both of you are missing the big picture here>


    ''Big picture?''


    <Yeah, can''t you see that there was a lot of emphasis on Supreme United there and tell me, who are you guys going to be facing next?>


    ''Oh, so they want to start beef between both sides.''


    ''Hmm, they''re really smart, I''ll give that to them, and who knows, their n might end up working.''


    <Well, it alles down to how they receive it but yeah, the chance of that match turning into something dramatic just shot up>


    It didn''t take long before the nended at Unique City and the bus was already waiting to take the yers to the stadium.


    The drive to the stadium was a short one, and aftering down from the bus, most of the yers made their way straight to their cars and began to head home, that included Dave.


    The goalkeeper had driven a little distance away from the stadium when his phone which was lying on the other seat began to ring.


    He quickly turned his gaze to it to see the name ''rk'' disyed on the screen now.


    ''Hmm, if he''s calling by this time then it has to be something important.'' He said subconsciously before picking up the phone.


    After that, he picked up the call and ced the phone against his ear as he kept driving.


    "Hey, rk."


    "Oh, hey, Dave, how''re you doing?"


    "I''m okay, I''m just heading home from the stadium now."


    "Oh, I thought you would be home by now, my bad."


    "It''s okay," Dave replied. "So¡­"


    "Well, I got a call from a fashion and clothingpany this evening. Have you heard about Stoff Mit Stool?"


    "Umm¡­no."


    "Well, it''s a German fashion and clothingpany and they want an endorsement deal with you." He disclosed.


    "Oh, I see."

 Chapter 481 The Right Quest

    ?


    Dave got up pretty early the next morning and maybe that was as a result of using dream control that night.


    He still had not been able toplete the one-second part of Catherine''s challenge but that wasn''t what he didst night.


    He decided to do something a bit different in his dreamst night, something that had nothing to do with training.


    Walking down an endless empty street was the idea he came up withst night.


    Catherine was confused as to why he wanted to do this, and for some reason, she couldn''t get into his inner thoughts.


    <You know you still haven''t told me why you did what you didst night>


    ''Oh, that.'' He replied subconsciously as he slowly got up from the bed.


    He turned his gaze to the wall clock to see that the time was 5:15 AM before turning it to Emma who was still fast asleep on the bed with his pillow in her grasp.


    ''My Mother used to go on these early morning walks, she said it helped her to properly clear her mind before starting the day. I would always be awake whenever she walked past my room and just before she got downstairs I would be out of my room to ask her if I coulde with her.


    ''She would always say yes with a smile on her face and then she would hold my hand as we both walked down the quiet street in the morning when the sun was yet to rise.''


    <Oh>


    ''For some reason, that memory just kept on popping into my headst night. I couldn''t sleep, that''s why I had to turn on dream control and create that endless and quiet street.''


    <Those memories kept popping into your head? Why didn''t I see anything about it?>


    ''Huh? I have no idea.''


    <And if you were thinking about yourte mother, why didn''t she appear in your dream world?>


    ''Well, I wasn''t thinking about her that much, to be honest, I''m not supposed to be doing that anyway, but it did feel like she was there with me.''


    <And none of these came through to me>


    ''Really?''


    <I wouldn''t ask you about it if it did>


    ''Hmm, I see so there are some things in my mind that you can''t see.''


    <Yeah, and we''re just finding out about that now, your body seems to be changing in some sort of way that I just can''t exin>


    ''Well, my mother used to tell me that I was special although I found it hard to believe that but I guess finding you and the system does make me special in a sense.''


    After saying that, he slowly made his way to the wardrobe to change into his workout outfit before he picked up his boots and slowly made his way out of the room.


    <How was I not able to hear or see those thoughts>


    ''You''re still thinking about that huh? I think I might try to figure out how I did that and then use it to my advantage, you hear everything I think about and to be honest, that sort of creeps me out.''


    <Well, it doesn''t seem to be working for you now which means that something happenedst night>


    ''Something special huh?''


    He was sitting on the couch now to tie thece for his boots.


    ''Well, my body did feel a little oddst night but I don''t think it''s anything serious but I really wish this was something I could do willingly. My thoughts being at your mercy all the time is creepy and annoying.''


    <I already told you, I don''t care about your dirty thoughts, your wife would be more worried about them than me>


    Dave didn''t reply to that and proceeded to make his way out of the house.


    ''Let''s continue this conversationter, it''s time for my morningps.''


    He raised both of his hands to stretch them before jumping a couple of times.


    "And off I go." He muttered before quickly zooming off.


    He was able toplete thirtyps around the house before he made his way to the gym to pick up one of the balls there.


    "And now let''s y some ball." He said before he threw the ball up and began to juggle it as he made his way to the pitch.


    The walk to the pitch wasn''t long, and as soon as he got there, he quickly brought the ball down and trapped it under his foot.


    ''Hmm, Catherine, why don''t you give me an idea for a fun training activity this morning?''


    <Okay, and this training activity should include shooting right?>


    ''Yeah.'' He replied.


    <Okay, why don''t you head inside and grab a marker?>


    ''A marker, okay.''


    The goalkeeper quickly made his way inside and it didn''t take long before he rushed out with a marker.


    ''Okay, so what am I going to be doing with the marker?''


    <Head over to one of the goalposts>


    The goalkeeper did as she said and quickly made his way to one of the goalposts.


    At this point, he was starting to get the idea of what she was trying to get him to do but he still wanted to hear what she had to say.


    ''Okay, I''m here.''


    <Alright, now draw a small circle on any spot on the crossbar>


    ''Oh, I see.'' He said subconsciously as he drew a circle a little to the right of the crossbar. ''Now I''m going to try and hit this exact spot from the other side.''


    <It could be from the center of the pitch but yeah>


    ''No, I want to do it from the other side.''


    He quickly rushed to the ball which was sitting on the sidelines and quickly sent it rolling to the other goalpost.


    The ball rolled straight into the goalpost, and once he got to it, he rolled it to the edge of the six-yard box.


    ''This is a great idea for uracy training, Cat, a bit evil I might say because I can barely see that circle from here.''


    <You were the one that asked for something fun so instead of just trying to hit anywhere on the crossbar, try to hit that one spot on the crossbar, this will greatly improve your uracy>


    ''Yeah, that''s why I called it a great idea.'' He replied as he slowly took three steps backward.


    After that, he quickly closed up on the ball and was just about to kick it when something popped up in front of him.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Hit the marked spot at least seven times out of fifteen tries ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +200 exp ]


    [ +5 stat points ]


    [ +10 skill upgrade points ]


    [ +1 attribute point ]


    ''Huh? Do my eyes deceive me? Is that an attribute point?''


    <If that''s what you''re seeing then yes>


    ''Looks like I''m going to need more balls.''


    Just after saying that, he quickly rushed to the gym and just a few minutester, he returned with all the ball there which was about twenty.


    He carefully lined up fifteen balls with enough space to avoid any intrusion while kicking them, and now that he was done with that, he turned his gaze to the target and took a deep breath.


    "I won''t let this attribute point pass me by."

 Chapter 482 Fighting For The Attribute Point

    ?


    "Okay, just seven times out of fifteen tries," Dave said subconsciously as he slowly took three steps backward.


    ''This is a pretty tough quest.''


    <Yeah, that''s why you''re getting an attribute point>


    He stared at the goalpost on the other side for a while before he quickly closed up on the first ball in line and sent it flying toward the goalpost, toward the crossbar to be precise.


    He was able to send it flying toward the right which wasn''t difficult with all the things he could, the question now was if he was going to get it on the target.


    Looking at the ball from the view of its target, it looked like it was heading straight toward there, but just as it got closer things became clearer.


    He seeded in putting the ball on the right path, but the elevation should have been a bit lower because the ball ended up flying just over the bar.


    "Shit." He cursed before kicking the floor.


    ''Who knows if I''ll be able toe that close again.''


    <Well, you still have fourteen tries, why don''t you try and see if you''lle that close again?>


    ''I''m on it.'' He replied before he quickly closed up on the next ball and sent it flying toward the target.


    This could have been his first hit but he ended up missing the target by just a few inches as the ball hit the crossbar before flying over.


    There could be arguments on whether that hit the target or not because it was really close, but the system had already made up its mind.


    [ Sessful hits: 0/7 ]


    ''Well, that''s a bummer.'' He said subconsciously as he slowly took three steps backward. ''Thirteen tries left.''


    He quickly lowered his gaze to the next ball before he closed up on it and sent it flying straight toward the target.


    Well, not straight because the ball looked like it was going to float over with the way it was moving.


    However, as it got closer to the goalpost it began to slowly slop down, and just as it got close enough to the crossbar, it took one final slope to bang straight on the target.


    "Yes!" The goalkeeper roared before quickly raising both of his hands.


    <That''s one down with twelve tries left>


    ''Yeah, twelve tries left, I can do this.''


    This time he decided to take not three but two steps backward and there was no pause as he immediately closed up on the ball and sent it flying straight toward the target.


    He seemed to have ced his elevation quite too low on this one because the ball ended up flying straight into the goalpost without making any contact with the crossbar.


    ''Well, that one was the worst.''


    <You wouldn''t call that the worst in a match but anyway, you''re down to eleven balls>


    "Eleven balls and I just have to hit it six more times now." He sighed before slowly taking three steps backward.


    <Just try not to rush it like you did with thatst one>


    ''Yeah, I know that now.''


    Just after responding to her, he quickly closed up on the next ball and lifted it neatly with his right foot.


    This one went off with the swerve but he managed to get it to hit right on the spot before falling into the goalpost.


    "Now just five more hits with ten balls left."


    <You have second chances in case you mess up>


    ''I''ll try not to mess up.''


    He sent the next ball flying with a lob, and when it looked like it was about to fly over the bar, it ended up falling straight on the target.


    ''I honestly have no idea how that hit there, I thought I overhit that lob.''


    <Wow, you''re taking this way less seriously than I thought>


    ''You know that can''t be true when there''s an attribute point on the line.''


    He ditched the lob for the next shot and ended up missing it, the ball just went flying straight over the bar with no form of contact.


    The one after that was the worst because he seemed to have messed up his cing when kicking the ball so instead of sending it toward the right, he sent it flying down the middle but it still ended up hitting the crossbar.


    <Seven left with four more sessful hits toplete>


    ''If I miss four more shots now, it''s over.''


    <Well, then don''t miss>


    ''I''m not nning to.''


    For thesest seven shots, he had to be really careful because his sess or failure was getting close now.


    He took a deep breath before slowly taking three steps backward with his gaze on the next ball.


    There was no pause as he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the target.


    At some point, it looked like the ball was just going to zoom over the bar, but then it managed to make contact with the edge of the crossbar causing it to fly up.


    The force of gravity immediately pushed it down and under the influence of the wind, it was pushed a little closer to the goalpost and ended up hitting the marked spot straight on.


    ''Umm¡­.does that count?''


    <Why don''t you check what the system has to say?>


    [ Sessful hits: 5/10 ]


    ''Looks like it''s just two hits left.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously with a smile on his face.


    <You have six balls left, looks like the odd just got better for you>


    ''Yeah.''


    It didn''t take long before the odds went back to the way it was because he ended up missing the next two shots but they were both really close.


    ''Well, Catherine, looks like I''m back to the second chance situation.''


    <Yeah, I can see>


    ''No matter what, this attribute point won''t pass me by!'' He screamed subconsciously before he quickly closed up on the next ball and sent it flying toward the target.


    He seemed to have ced that shot a little too far toward the right side as it ended up hitting the angle between the crossbar and the post before falling into the goalpost.


    <And then they were three>


    "This just got dire." The goalkeeper muttered with a worried look on his face.


    <Yeah, miss two more and it''s over>


    ''I will not miss this attribute point!'' He screamed subconsciously before he quickly closed up on the next ball and sent it flying toward the target.


    This was one of those times when the ball flew straight toward the target and ended up hitting it.


    <Nice, one more hit two balls left>


    "Yeah." He muttered before looking down at thest two balls.


    ''If I miss this one then it''ll be down to just one, I hate this type of situation.''


    He struck the next ball with more technique than shot which was the exact opposite of what he did with the one before that, it seemed like he wanted to lob it but not really.


    The ball flew slowly toward the target and ended up banging straight on it, something the goalkeeper wasn''t really expecting to see.


    "Yes!"


    He had a bright smile on his face now as he quickly sent thest ball flying.


    [ Questpleted ]


    The quest rewards were just about to pop up when his phone which was sitting a little to his right near the line began to ring.


    "That should be rk." He muttered before quickly heading over to it.

 Chapter 483 Too Early Practice Sessions

    ?


    "So, when do they want to meet me for the signing process?" The goalkeeper asked as he slowly made his way into the house.


    "Well, your schedule is sort of already tight until your match against Supreme so I set up dates for days you might be free next week after the game, I already sent them to you, just have a look and pick one so that I can get back to them," rk exined as his voice resounded through the phone''s speaker.


    "Oh, I see. Alright, then, I''ll pick the one that suits me best."


    "Great."


    "So, how are we going to go there? Are you going to head over there a day before or are we going to go together?" He asked before slowly sitting down on the couch.


    "Well, I''m going to be here for the Audiz derby so we''re definitely going to go together."


    "Oh, you''ve beening home quite a lot recently you know."


    "I knew you were going to say that."


    "Is there something you''re not telling me about?" The goalkeeper asked.


    "Something like what?"


    "I don''t know, you''re the one who should know." He replied with a shrug.


    "Well, there hasn''t been much for me to do over here recently so I figured that I should starting home a little more frequently."


    "Oh."


    "But seriously, Dave, you guys should make sure you win that match and not just a normal win, I want you guys to crush them so I can rub it on my reporter girlfriend''s face."


    "Yeah, she must have done something to you."


    "She''s been sending me match highlights of Unique FC getting destroyed by Supreme United in the past and that was just after I sent her a single message." rk expressed.


    That professionalism in his voice was gone now, this was now a chat between best friends.


    "And let me guess, you said we were going to crush them."


    "Precisely and I haven''t heard the end of it since that day. You guys have to win that match or this might get worse."


    "I think you should try talking to Mateo because I am only a goalkeeper whose only job is to stop shots," Dave uttered with a little chuckle escaping in between his words.


    "Are you kidding me, bro? You scored that equalizer against Dynamo FC and you also did it against Spree City, I know you''re just joking."


    "Yeah, but still you should try talking to Mateo instead if you''re looking for someone to coerce into winning the match." The goalkeeper remarked sarcastically.


    "I already did and if you guys end up losing that match, I won''t forgive any of you." He threatened.


    "Well, we don''t have any intention of losing. As long as you''re there to cheer us on, we''ll pull through, we also beat them in our first meeting this season anyway," Dave assured him.


    "Yeah, and you guys have been in superb formtely, Supreme United''s defense has been a little shaky when bombarded with pressure so maybe you guys can take advantage of that." rk expressed with a serious tone this time. "Anyway, I have to go now, take care and tell Emma I said hi, bye."


    "Bye," Dave said before he ended the call from the other side.


    "Was that rk?"


    As soon as he heard that voice, he quickly turned around to find Emma standing in the dining area.


    She was still in the ck robe she went to bed inst night and her stomach seemed to have gotten quite bigger, big enough for anyone to know that she was a pregnant woman from a good distance but it still wasn''t there yet.


    "Yeah, we were talking about the possible endorsement deal he told me aboutst night." He replied.


    "Oh, so you''ll be making a trip to Wiesbaden soon?"


    "Yeah, next week after the Audiz derby." He replied with a nod.


    "Oh, I¡­oooow." She suddenly groaned before slowly sitting down on the seat behind her.


    "Huh? What happened?" Dave asked before suddenly springing up from the couch with a confused expression on his face.


    "I think he just kicked me." She squeaked with her hands on her stomach.


    The look on her face said a lot about how painful that felt for her but Devon had to suddenly pause after hearing her say that.


    "And I thought it was something serious." He sighed.


    "How does this not look serious to you?"


    "The only thing serious about this is the fact that my son is going to be a great footballer, he''s already having training sessions in his mother''s stomach, I''m already so proud." He sniffled before putting his finger on his eye to wipe out imaginary tears.


    "You can''t be serious." Emma couldn''t help but let out a little chuckle. "Yeah, he might end up bing a great footballer though but I wish he wouldn''t have practice sessions so often."


    "Don''t listen to her boy, have as many practice sessions as possible."


    "O!"


    It was just as if the unborn child was listening to their conversation because that was in sync.


    "You know what, Devon, maybe you shouldn''t have practice sessions so often." He muttered before scrunching up his eyes.


    "Do you know what I wish for the most right now?" Emma asked before slowly raising her gaze to look at him and the expression on her face wasn''t a nice one.


    "With that look on your face, I don''t want to find out." He replied before shaking his head.


    "Well, you will because I just wish there was a way to transfer him to your pitch, I''m sure he would love it."


    "Yeah, something crazy, too bad I don''t have a pitch for training but I still wouldn''t want that." He replied before slowly making his way to her.


    "Hmph."


    "You''re scoffing at me now?" He muttered before letting out a sigh. "Okay, fine, let me try to convince Devon to stop his practice sessions for now." He added before squatting down in front of her.


    "That''s already toote." She pouted.


    "Huh?"


    "The pitch has already taken considerable damage from reckless actions and will take some time to be repaired so you''ll be the one making breakfast today."


    "I should have seen thating."


    <Looks like you''re getting punished for something that has nothing to do with you>


    ''Yeah, something you don''t see every day, but I was already nning toe help her in the kitchen.''


    <Well, looks like you''re doing it alone now>


    ______ _______


    The yers had to go back to training the next day because they had a tough match ahead of them.


    Nothing that eventful happened during the training session because it was a short one before the yers had to head over to the locker rooms so that Norman could talk about tactics, lineups, and formation.


    Everything seemed okay until he started naming the yers that were going to be starting the match.


    They expected him to start the yers that made up their strongest starting eleven, but he seemed to have something else in mind.


    The defense was okay because I guess he didn''t want to take any risks with that but in midfield and attack.


    "In midfield, we''ll have Martinez in his position, Edward on the right, and Harry on the left and then in attack, we''ll have Frankie, Gregory, and Carlos."


    <Experimenting against the league leaders now are we?>


    ''I just don''t understand coach, sometimes.''

 Chapter 484 The Audiz Derby Round Two

    ?


    "Just before I start hearing any murmurs, this lineup is subject to change before but this is just the general idea of what we might be working with in the match." Norman disclosed before cing the eraser he was holding on the board.


    He said that to dispel the murmurs but a few of the yers still had something to murmur about.


    <I doubt he''s going to make any impactful change in that lineup before the match but I hope I''m wrong>


    ''Yeah, if anything, I hope he decides to start Mateo at least.''


    "I know you guys think this is a n that is bound to rain disaster on us but trust me, I know what I''m doing. We will win this match, I know how to beat them and we''ll go more into that after thest training session we have before the match." Norman assured them.


    "That would have sounded more convincing if you were nning to use our full force," Minino mumbled.


    "I think that''s all I have to say, you can go now but expect to see you all here early tomorrow."


    After saying that, he slowly made his way out of the room and disappeared down the hallway.


    All it took was a few seconds after he had left the room for the yers to start saying what they had in mind.


    "I just hope this is a joke and he''ll change everything before the match because we can''t go up against Supreme United like this," Ferran remarked before shaking his head.


    "Well, he did say it was subject to change," Martinezmented.


    "I think you guys are overthinking it."


    That was ament from Merino and now almost everyone in the room had their gaze on him.


    "And what do you mean by that?" Minino asked.


    "Well, think about it, he wants to win the league just as much as we do so I don''t think he''s going to make any decisions that will hinder our progress in a match.


    "His tactics are a huge part of the reason why we''ve been able to get this far this season, he has a reason foring up with that lineup and if there''s a fault I''m sure he''ll spot it soon, and make changes, he''s not oblivious to the fact that our opponent is Supreme United." The winger illustrated.


    <Well, he does have a point but I still think he won''t make any major changes to that before the match>


    The other yers didn''t really have any points to dispute what their teammate just said and that was because they also believed that their coach wouldn''t do anything that would harm their sess but they were still a bit worried.


    They had to change the topic after that as some of them changed out of their training outfits so that they could start making their way home.


    While most of the yers were heading home, Dave had a press conference to be in along with Mateo and Norman who might be there already.


    The winger and the goalkeeper were making their way to the main hall now and since it wasn''t even time for the press conference yet, they were having a chat which slowed their movement.


    "So, how''re you feeling with your new ce?" Dave asked before slowly sliding his phone into his pocket.


    "Great of course, I have enough space to kick back and rx outside now, and the building''s huge but I still wish there was another ce just like yours." The winger replied.


    "We can swap if you want."


    "Really?" Mateo responded abruptly before turning his gaze to him.


    "Yeah, if Emma says yes to it." The goalkeeper replied.


    Mateo didn''t say anything for a few seconds before suddenly shaking his head.


    "Yeah, we can forget about that." He remarked before slowly turning his gaze back to where he was going.


    Seeing his reaction, Dave couldn''t help but let out a little chuckle.


    "You know your sister too well."


    "Yeah, but still nobody would agree to a house swap unless it was for a limited time but she still wouldn''t agree to that." He said. "It''s not like my new ce is bad anyway, I just think your ce is better."


    "Yeah, I know," Dave replied as the two walked into the main hall.


    The table had already been set up with the microphones, seats, and everything that was supposed to be on the table and some of the journalists were already there with cameras already lined up.


    "Well, it looks like it''s time to go answer some questions."


    "I just hope they don''t ask any annoying questions," Mateo remarked after letting out a sigh.


    ______ _____


    The day everyone had been waiting for was finally here, after what happened in their first meeting, their second meeting turned out to be the most anticipated match in the league so far this season.


    Supreme United had to make the short trip to Unique to face their rivals, and whenever there was a match against their rivals on their home turf, the fans showed no mercy.


    The atmosphere of Wondanimo stadium was bustling with screams, chants, and whistling from both sides of the stands as the yers from both teams made their way to the pitch.


    Unique FC were obviously in their orange home kit with ck polka dots while their opponents were putting on a ck kit but with red outlines and a design that gave the ck a sharper look.


    "It''s the day we''ve all been waiting for, it''s the second Audiz derby of the season. The first one ended in a draw so maybe it''s time to settle the score." Jimmented. "The most in-form teams in the league at the moment are going to battle it out here tonight and there''s no doubt that this will be an interesting match to watch."


    The captains of both teams had to make their way to the officials for the coin toss and Supreme United ended up winning that.


    "Just before the match kicks off, let''s take a quick look at the lineups."


    Well, it looks like Catherine was sort of right about Norman not making any impactful change to the lineup he nned to use for the match because the only change he made was starting Mateo on the left wing which Dave and the others were d he did but still.


    He had to reassure the yers that he knew what he was doing but they were still worried and so were the fans.


    Supreme United on the other hand were starting with the four-three-three formation just like them but the standard one with three central midfielders and they were not pulling their punches.


    Diego, Rnd, and Carlos were starting up front, they had Pelcao, Foden, and Zlensky in midfield and that was where Unique FC were going to suffer because of the midfield Norman was starting.


    Finally, they had Michael, Conan, Steven, and Simeon in defense to stop Unique FC''s advances.


    "Supreme United going all out and Unique FC starting with an unexpected lineup, I hope Norman has something up his sleeves or this could end terribly for him."


    Dave was making his way to his goalpost when something he had been expecting popped up.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Quest type: Conjoined ]


    [ Do not concede more than two goals ]


    [ Complete five sessful long passes ]


    [ Make at least seven crucial saves ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +150 exp ]


    [ +5 stat points ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points ]


    [ +1 attribute ]


    ''Yes.''

 Chapter 485 First To Grab It

    ''Finally, a quest that doesn''t require a clean sheet, plus the system is being nice today and offering another attribute point. That said, I still want to keep a clean sheet.''


    <Well, keeping a clean sheet is going to be tough in this match so you probably would have failed the quest and that will be three fails in a row, but it''s not like the ones you got are easy, that''s why there''s an attribute point>


    ''Yeah, and I''m not failing this quest.''


    Rnd quickly sent the ball rolling to Pelcao as soon as he heard the whistle but the midfielder had to push the ball to Foden just before Edward could get to him.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    Foden tried to push forward with the ball but he had Martinez in his way so he had to push the ball back to Rnd who quickly sent it rolling back to the defense just before Harry and Edward could get to him.


    "Supreme United looked prettyckluster in their first meeting with Unique FC but they still managed to drag out a draw from that match," Jimmented. "I know they''re going to be better just from what I''ve seen already."


    "Well, to be fair, Unique FC almost had that match in the bag but they just lost focus in thest minute and blew it." Steve expressed. "I''m still trying to make logical sense of why Norman won''t start Ferran and Minino in midfield for a match like this, those two have been the key men in his midfield since the start of this season."


    "Precisely what I''m saying, this might cost him this match or maybe there''s something that we''re just not seeing."


    The first minute had already passed and Supreme United were still with the ball.


    Unique FC still had zero percent ball possession and that was because their opponents were doing pretty well in keeping the ball away from them.


    However, their heatmap so far had been mostly in their own half and near the halfway line.


    Unique FC had done a pretty good job of stopping them from making any quick attacks by holding down their attacking trio and canceling every possible route for them to make a quick run and take them by surprise.


    Rnd had to close up on the halfway line to receive the ball from Conan and as soon as he got his foot on the ball, he quickly sent it rolling to Carlos to the left to avoid having to deal with Martinez who was right behind him.


    "Carlos Rodriguez."


    Harry quickly closed up on Carlos to try and take the ball from him but the winger managed to swiftly get past him with the ball and now he was racing down the wing with a wide space to cover before getting to Norman.


    He didn''t have any intention of taking the right back on, at least for now, so just before he could run into him, he sent the ball rolling down to Pelcao who immediately tried to link it up to Rnd.


    However, he seemed to have overhit that pass a bit and now it was a race between Martinez and the striker to see who was going to get to the ball first.


    They got to the ball just at the same time but Rnd managed to get his foot on the ball just before they crashed into each other.


    He wanted to push it forward and get past the midfielder but it ended up making contact with him before rolling off toward the right as the two came crashing to the floor.


    Rnd Ryle was the closest person to the ball and he was quickly closing up on the ball but Rnd Hills just couldn''t let him have the ball.


    The striker sprang up from the floor before Martinez and now it was another race between him and the left back.


    "Rnd quickly gets up from the floor and now it''s a race between two Rnds."


    It looked like the left-back was going to get there first and Rnd Hills, being aware of that, quickly stretched out his leg just to make sure he got to the ball first.


    "No." The left-back muttered under his breath before quickly boosting his speed with a slide.


    His n was to sweep the ball away from the striker and prevent him from passing it to any of his teammates but that didn''t work out quite well for him as he ended up sweeping him off his feet just as he got back on them.


    He made slight contact with the ball during that process but the referee still considered it a foul as he blew his whistle before quickly making his way to the area.


    "The first foul of the game, Rnd fouling Rnd," Jimmented.


    Anyone else might have said that with a little bit of chuckle but I guess too much screaming has made him immune toughter.


    "You know it''s sort of funny how we have two yers from both sides sharing the same names, we have Rnd Ryle and Rnd Hills then we have Carlos Oman and Carlos Rodriguez." Steve articted.


    "Yeah, and those aren''t the only things they share."


    Supreme United had a free kick in an okay spot, it wasn''t in the best spot for anyone who wanted to go for a direct kick but going for it would still work from there.


    However, that might not be the best idea against a goalkeeper like Dave.


    "A free kick twenty-nine yards away from the goalpost, will they be able to put this chance to good use?"


    Diego was standing over the ball now with both of his hands on his waist.


    Unique FC had to form their four-man wall a few feet away from the ball and everyone else was just running around the area.


    With everything now set, the referee blew his whistle and now it was time to see if Diego was going to float it in or go for the kill.


    The winger was already standing a good distance away from the ball so all he had to do was close up on it, and just as soon as he got there, he sent the ball floating in.


    That was the best decision because sending it to Rnd might produce a better oue.


    The striker was his target but Unique FC weren''t going to make things that easy for them. Adolf was in the area, and just before the striker could get his head on the ball, the defender got his head on it and sent it flying over the bar.


    "Wonderful defending from Adolf, can''t let Rnd have that space or he''ll punish you."


    "Yeah, but they have a corner kick to deal with now."


    Foden picked up the ball as soon as it came bouncing back and quickly made his way to the right corner spot with it.


    "The first corner kick of the game, Supreme United are just grabbing the first for everything in this match," Jimmented.


    "Hopefully they don''t grab the first red card or things might end terribly for them."


    "Hopefully we don''t get to see any red cards in this game," Jim added.


    The yers were running around inside and around the box now waiting for Foden to send the ball flying in but he needed the referee''s signal to do that.


    It didn''t take long before the referee blew his whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he quickly sent the ball flying in.


    "Sends it in."


    He made sure to keep the ball away from Dave and ce it a little close to the edge of the box.


    His teammates Rnd and Diego were in that area but none of them managed to get his head on the ball as Edward jumped in right on time to stop that from happening.


    However, his header came with quite the error as he sent the ball flying toward the left side of the goalpost while Dave was still on the right.


    "No, that''s the wrong way. Oh, it hit the post."


    The post managed toe in clutch for the home team but things weren''t cleared yet.


    The ball was still in front of the empty and Carlos wasn''t going to let this opportunity slip past him.


    He quickly stretched his leg toward the ball as Norman stretched his leg to stop him all while Dave was already diving to the area.


    Norman just didn''t have the strength to stop the winger as he ended up pushing the ball into the goalpost just before Dave could get to it.


    "And he makes no mistake with the rebound!" Jim eximed as the winger took off to the side with his teammates right on his trail. "Make a mistake like that in front of your goalpost and they will make sure to punish you for it!"


    "They grabbed the first free kick and corner kick, looks like they''ve grabbed the first goal too."


    Dave was still sitting on the floor after watching that ball go in and he didn''t have the happiest expression on his face.


    This was one of those matches where he knew his skills were needed more but there was nothing he could do in that situation even with ball ma activated.


    ''Well, looks like we''re starting with a deficit.''

 Chapter 486 Unprofessional

    ?


    "It took Supreme United just twelve minutes to find the back of the against Unique FC, Carlos came in clutch with that goal, the third time Unique FC are conceding the first goal in a match since this season kicked off." Jim articted.


    "Well, Unique FC still have a lot of time left to get back into this one but Supreme United aren''t making things easy for them, just look at the way Zlensky is keeping his marks up against Harry."


    That was a pretty bold move from Harry trying to dribble past the midfielder.


    The two got into a bit of a struggle but Harry was able to keep his foot on the ball until Norman got close enough for him to push it to him while he was still on the floor.


    Carlos quickly closed up on the right back from behind to try and take the ball from him but he was fast enough to send it rolling toward Martinez.


    The defensive midfielder wasn''t on the clear though because he had Rnd closing up on him from behind and Foden from the front.


    He had the option to send the ball to Edward a little to the left but it wasn''t like the midfielder waspletely free either because Pelcao was just closing up toward him.


    Martinez had to send the ball rolling to him because it was the only option he had in the position he was in at the moment, and as soon as he got his foot on it, he quickly sent it rolling to Adolf.


    "They''re just forcing them back."


    Adolf had to quickly push the ball back to Dave because of Rnd and Diego who were closing up on him even before the ball got to him.


    "These guys are just everywhere!" Dave snarled before sending the ball out toward the left with his first touch.


    "And Dave sends it flying out, can''t leave the ball in their own half with the way Supreme United are pressing them," Jimmented.


    After that uracy training he did the other day because of Catherine and the system quest, there was no way he was going to fail in getting that ball to his target, Mateo.


    The winger was near the sideline when the ball got to him, and just as he brought it down with his foot, Pelcao quickly closed up on him from nowhere.


    The midfielder made contact with the ball and had almost taken it from him but somehow the winger managed to gain control over the ball once again and even managed to nutmeg the midfielder.


    Unique FC fans had nothing but apuse to give after witnessing how the winger managed to get out of that situation, but the away fans were whistling him now.


    It wasn''t just some whistling from a small group of the away fans, almost all of them were doing it and it was getting really loud.


    The winger tried not to pay attention to that as he raced down toward the box with the ball but he soon got his blocked by the defenders and with Pelcao behind him and Fred not being in the best position support which was a little too deep in the box, he had to send the ball rolling back to Edward who had closed up toward him a little.


    "That was literally the first time he was getting the ball since the start of the match and they''re whistling him," Jimmented.


    "Well, I guess it was expected after everyone read that article. I think they took him out of context but anyway, it looks like it''s going to be a long night for Mateo."


    Martinez was slowly moving down the middle with the ball now, he was aware that both Pelcao and Foden were right on him, but just before they could get close enough to do anything, he sent the ball rolling to Rnd who quickly linked it up to Mateo just before Diego could stretch out his leg toward him.


    The winger quickly took off down the wing with the ball as soon as he got his foot on it but Michael wasn''t giving him the space he desired so much in a situation like this.


    He tried to turn and send it back to any of his teammates but they were all in really tough positions, and since he didn''t want to send it all the way back, he carried on with it with the hope that he would be able to get it past Michael somehow.


    It was as if the right back had choreographed his movement because he was making just the right moves to block anywhere the winger tried to put the ball through from and as a result of that, they were dragging it to the goal line now.


    Once Mateo came to a dead end he tried to find a way to get past the defender just a little or maybe create some space to send the ball in, but the whistling from the fans behind wasn''t really helping his case.


    All it took was an attempt to force his way past the defender for him to send the ball rolling out for a corner kick but it could have been worse.


    "Michael just had him locked down there, he gave him no space at all. One of those moments where Mateo looks helpless with the ball but at least he managed to win a corner kick for his team." Jim articted.


    "Well, that''s the point, he''s not supposed to be helpless, he was trying to do the job alone because he had no one to help him," Steve interjected. "He usually has Ferran making that run through the middle, receiving it and sending it back to him whenever he asks for it and then there''s Rnd who''s always there to receive the ball from him whenever he thinks he can''t make a dribble or isn''t in the position to do so and the left back does pretty well in connecting with him or any of their other teammates.


    "Rnd is being followed around by Pelcao now because Edward isn''t really doing anything exceptional to grab his attention and the defense can handle him fine, I think it''s time for Norman to start making substitutions."


    Since Ferran wasn''t on the pitch now, it looked like Mateo was going to be the one to be the one taking the corner kick, and that was the chance some of the away fans got to start throwing stuff at him while they were still whistling at him.


    Someone threw an empty soda at him before another one threw a bunch of trash stuffed into a stic bag at him.


    That one ended up missing the winger but just after that came flying the banana peel that ended up falling on his shoulder.


    Security had to quickly step in to stop the madness and while that was enough to stop them from throwing stuff, they continued yelling at the winger.


    "You talk too much when you can''t even do anything against us!"


    "Fraud! Your fraudulent nature will be revealed soon!"


    "You will still end up losing the league to us!"


    "I don''t even understand why they call me fraud when I don''t y for them." The winger sighed before knocking down the banana peel on his shoulder.


    "Well, that''s something you don''t see every day, the fans are going wild on Mateo. Good thing security stepped in on time to stop that, the other yers don''t have to get involved in this." Jim expressed.


    "I''m sure Mateo would have gotten involved if he was on the pitch."


    "Yeah, just look at the way his legs are shaking right now," Jim replied. "But anyway, this is very dirty behavior from the away fans, they should have stuck to just whistling at him."


    Mateo had to ignore anything that was being yelled at him from behind as he slowly took two steps backward after hearing the referee''s whistle.


    He quickly closed up on the ball afterward and curled it into the box hoping to get it to any of his teammates in the area but that didn''t work out well for him as Conan ended up getting his head on the ball before anyone in the area.


    He sent the ball flying off toward the right a little distance away from Michael.


    Just as the ball bounced on the floor for the first time on the edge of the box, the left back stretched his leg to get to it but just before he could touch it, Mateo closed up on it, got his foot on it and quickly dashed past him with the ball.


    The winger had a lot of yers heading toward him as soon as he entered the box with the ball, but he didn''t care, he just went straight for the kill.


    He curled the ball toward the top right side of the goalpost and because Perez wasn''t fast enough to react to that, it ended up flying straight into the goalpost.


    "Oh, my goodness! He has done it!"


    The winger quickly took off to the sidelines, not toward the home fans but the away fans, the ones who were whistling at him.


    He joined both of his hands together to do the golf strike celebration before quickly turning his back on them with both of his thumbs pointing at his name.


    "Yeah, take that all in!" He screamed before quickly turning to face them again.


    Rnd got to him at that time and he wasted no time in jumping on him.


    "Now that''s what I call sweet revenge," Stevemented.


    <I have never seen him so riled up before>


    ''Yeah, me too.''

 Chapter 487 Ill Handle It

    ?


    With that goal from Mateo and everything he had seen so far, Norman decided that maybe it was time to make a substitution because his team had been prettyckluster so far.


    Edward had to be reced by Ferran in the thirtieth minute because he believed that Mateo needed all the support he could get and bringing in Ferran was going to make things easier for them and also make their midfield lighten up a bit because so far in the match, it looked like they had no midfield.


    "This is the second time this season that Unique FC are scoring with their first shot of the game and once again it''s from their main man, Mateo." Jim expressed.


    "Well, he had to pay Supreme United fans back for all the disrespect and he did it way earlier than I expected," Stevemented.


    "Yeah, that was quite unexpected but thanks to that goal we''re back to square one now. I''m still surprised Norman made only one substitution after everything we''ve seen from his side so far."


    Bringing in Ferran was a good choice but it wasn''t really anything groundbreaking because Supreme United were still dominating the game.


    Foden received the ball back from Rnd after the striker got his path blocked by Martinez.


    Foden didn''t make any mistake in linking it straight to Diego as soon as he got his foot on it. Rnd was obviously closing up on him now, but he didn''t want to deal with the left back so he pushed the ball to Michael who sent it rolling to Pelcao with his first touch because Ferran was right on him.


    "Pelcao."


    Martinez quickly rushed to the midfielder to try and stop him, but he was fast enough to move the ball a little to the right before he sent it rolling to Foden.


    "Foden."


    Harry quickly closed up on the midfielder from behind and managed to get the ball off him with a clean tackle but his pass to Martinez could have been better.


    Michael ended up intercepting the ball just before it could get to the defensive midfielder, and without hesitation he sent the ball rolling back to Foden who sent it rolling to Carlos down the left wing.


    "That pass could have been so much better from Harry but Michael still did a good job of intercepting that. Supreme United continue their hunt for a goal to grab back the lead."


    Carlos slowly moved toward Norman dragging the ball along with him but he didn''t even get close enough to the right back before pushing the ball back to Zlensky.


    "He sends it back to Zlensky."


    Zlensky moved a little to the right with the ball before he sent it rolling to Rnd who had to push it back to Foden with his first touch.


    "I can see something happening here."


    Foden quickly sent the ball flying toward the left before Martinez could get to him with the slide that ended up taking him off his feet.


    "Sends it flying to Carlos."


    Carlos had Norman right on, the right-back was giving him no space but since he had the superior height he headed it back to Zlensky who found Rnd inside the box with Adolf the only one on him, and quickly sent the ball flying to him.


    "He drops it back to Zlensky, he tries to find Rnd. Oh, Rnd!"


    The striker managed to beat Adolf to get his head on the ball and he made no mistake in directing it toward the right with just the right elevation.


    However,


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    Dave dived toward the ball just at the right time, and with both of his gloves, he was able to grab the ball just before it could go any further.


    He would have gotten to the ball without ball ma but activating the skill was to make sure he caught it because this was one of those matches where making any mistakes waspletely ruled out.


    "I knew that wasn''t going to get past him. Wonderful save from Dave," Stevemented.


    In a match like this, not a single moment was to be wasted unless you were winning which wasn''t the case for either side at the moment.


    Dave was aware of this fact and that led him to cut his time on the floor really short as he sprang up almost immediately after hitting the floor to send the ball flying out toward the left.


    "Goodness me, I''ve never seen anybody get up that fast after hitting the floor." Jim sounded quite shocked.


    "Yeah, it''s almost as if he never touched the floor," Steve added.


    He got the ball to Mateo pretty nicely but the winger wasn''t able to quickly take off with it because he had Michael right on him.


    The right-back was quickly rushing back when Dave sent the ball flying out and now he was going to try and prevent the winger from getting that running space that he needed.


    As soon as Mateo got his foot on the ball, he quickly stretched out his leg to try and take the ball off his feet but Mateo was fast enough to send the ball rolling to Ferran before quickly jumping up to avoid the leg.


    The whistling came again from the away fans but the winger just didn''t care anymore.


    "Ferran."


    The winger quickly took off down the wing so that Ferran could send the ball to him from the top but Michael wasn''t letting him go because he was aware of what could happen if the winger should break loose with the ball.


    He was taking his job seriously before that equalizer but now he was taking it way more than seriously.


    "Yeah, just keep all your attention on him," Ferran muttered before he quickly sent the ball flying to Carlos down the right wing.


    "Over to Carlos."


    Simeon quickly rushed out to try and stop the winger as soon as he got his foot on the ball but just before he could get to him, he sent the ball rolling back to Harry who immediately pushed it to Martinez who had closed down a little down the middle.


    Martinez moved a little forward with the ball before passing it to Fred who was right at the edge of the box.


    It didn''t look like the striker had any space to shoot or do anything, but Ferran had him covered.


    The midfielder popped up from the left to pick up the ball from him.


    "And here''s Ferran, he swiftly gets past Conan, this could be their chance!"


    That would have been their chance if Simeon had not rushed in from the right to bring the midfielder down right at the edge of the box.


    The referee blew his whistle before quickly rushing to the area and while there was an argument between both sides on whether it was a penalty or free kick, the referee decided that it was just a free kick.


    "Looks like Unique FC will have to settle with just a free kick," Jimmented.


    "A free kick in a very good spot though."


    Mateo and Ferran were standing over the ball now, and just before anything could start happening, Ferran had a question for the winger.


    "So, are you going to call, Dave?"


    "No, I''ll handle this one myself." The winger replied calmly with his gaze on the goalpost.


    ''If this goes in, they''ll have more reason to be pissed off, which is just great.'' He said subconsciously with a grin now appearing on his face.

 Chapter 488 Working Backwards

    ?


    The atmosphere was in a great state of disarray as Mateo stood over the ball near the edge of the box.


    The home fans were cheering him on as loud as possible while the away fans hadn''t given up on whistling at him yet.


    The anticipation was building up here and the pressure wasing down but the winger kept a calmposure with his left hand on his waist.


    "Mateo insists he''s going to take this one. Well, he is the team''s free-kick taker but I was sort of expecting another Dave free-kick moment." Jimmented. "That said, Supreme United fans are doing everything possible here to make sure the winger doesn''t keep his focus up."


    "Why do I feel like Supreme United are just using what the media quoted in the article as grounds to do this to Mateo and help their team win this match? I thought he cleared that up during the press conference before the match."


    "Yeah, that is definitely what it feels like now, they know how dangerous he is with his finishing and passing, he''s Unique FC''s main man so him having a bad game will disrupt a lot of things for the home team, but he doesn''t seem to be giving them what they want."


    Supreme United had to ce the four-man wall inside the box with almost everyone else running around inside there


    <Honestly, I just wish the ultras from your side would have just picked up something from the interview done by any of their forwards and used it as a reason to whistle them, this is annoying>


    ''Yeah, but they can''t do that now or everyone will forget about Supreme United fans and paint them as the viins. I''m just d Mateo''s handling it fine.''


    <I hope he scores this free kick and puts them to shame>


    The shrill sound of the referee''s whistle suddenly pierced through the air at that moment, and as soon as Mateo heard it, he slowly raised his gaze before taking three steps backward.


    "They were whistling at him and throwing things at him yet he went on to score that magnificent goal to equalize the scoreline. Can the winger put this one away and show them once again that his focus is not that easy to break?"


    After taking that third step backward he slowly inhaled before flexing his shoulders.


    The whistling and Chanting from both sides were stilling when he quickly closed up on the ball and lifted it off the ground with his right foot.


    "Mateo!"


    The winger sent the ball flying straight toward the top right-hand corner but that was where Perez was expecting him to put the ball and he made no mistake in diving toward it.


    However, what he had failed to anticipate was the precise elevation and the winger''s swerve.


    The elevation looked to be a bit higher than what he had anticipated with his dive but he was still going to get some part of his glove on it.


    Well, that was until the ball curled a little further away from him and ended up hitting the crossbar before dropping straight into the goalpost.


    "And he pulverizes!" Jim eximed as the winger quickly took off to the sidelines pulling off his shirt.


    Once again he was heading toward the away fans and this time he was screaming at the top of his voice as he pulled off his shirt.


    "He tells them to keep on whistling while he keeps scoring! Elegant strike from the winger!"


    Just as soon as Mateo got to the sidelines with his shirt, he turned its back to them.


    "Yeah, remember the name! And also remember this day!" He eximed but with a more moderate voice than when he was racing there.


    It didn''t take long before his teammates got there and Ferran didn''t hold back in quickly jumping on his back.


    The whistling from the away fans seemed to have reduced a bit after witnessing that free kick from the winger and even some of them couldn''t help but apud him.


    The voices of the home fans were going up now as the Mateo chants seemed to have drowned out anythinging from the other side.


    "Well, after seeing that, I don''t think I would be wrong that whistling just seems to be doing the same job as cheering him on, or even better, Supreme United fans should probably rethink their decision to whistle him in this match at this point." Steve expressed.


    "Yeah, I''m sure they''re doing that now, the whistling seems to be dying down but I doubt they''llpletely give up on doing it," Jimmented.


    The team''s celebration had toe to an end soon and now that it was over and the yers were heading back to their positions, Mateo had to walk past the referee while putting back his shirt over his ck vest.


    He was expecting a yellow card from the official but for some reason, it just never came.


    "Well, that''s a surprise." He muttered as he continued walking to his side of the pitch.


    <I think that shut them up a bit>


    ''Yeah, I think some of them have lost interest.''


    <Well, it was backfiring against them, they wanted to make sure he had a bad game but he''s already scored twice so that''s already a great performance from him>


    ''And we have the lead now.''


    The match continued just after that with Supreme United slowly passing the ball around near the halfway line.


    They tried a couple of quick attacks but the defense were just in the right ces to stop them.


    Rnd was the only one who managed to get off a couple of shots but only one of them seemed to have been a real threat for Dave.


    It was a really close one toward the bottom right side of the goalpost while Dave was still on the left, but he was able to get to it just in time to tip it off toward Rnd who quickly sent it flying as far away from their goal area as possible.


    After that goal from Mateo, what Unique FC had been doing mostly was defending because Supreme United were just all over the ce and their midfield wasn''t doing anything to help their case.


    They just couldn''t keep up with them and Mateo seemed to be in secluded spots most of the time because he was being quite heavily marked now.


    However, the fact that their defense was able to hold out was a good thing and they kept holding out until the match got to the forty-fifth minute and now they had just three minutes of added time.


    Foden received the ball right on the kick-off spot and without hesitation he quickly sent the ball flying toward the right to get it to Diego.


    That didn''t work out quite well for him as Rnd managed to get to the ball with a header and just as the ball fell to Ferran he quickly sent it to Mateo who was near the halfway line with a flick.


    "Flicks it over to Mateo."


    Pelcao quickly rushed to the winger as soon as he got his foot on the ball but he was able to evade him with a clean nutmeg and now he was racing down the middle with the ball with everyone behind quickly covering up.


    "Mateo''s taken off here, what''s he nning?"


    If he was nning anything, Supreme United were determined to stop him and it looked like they needed more than one yer for that.


    Michael rushed in from the left, Foden from the right, and Pelcao.


    They all got to the winger almost at the same time except that Michael was a bit faster and they showed no mercy. Well, Michael didn''t.


    Mateo crashed to the floor clutching onto his legs as the referee blew his whistle before quickly rushing to the area to show Michael a yellow card.


    Martinez did not take that lightly, he rushed to the area and pushed the right back and the defender was about to return the favor when Ferran stepped in to stop him.


    The teammates from both sides had to quickly step in and that was where things started to get rowdy with Ferran and Rnd trying to make sure a fight didn''t break but a lot of tempers sure were ring.


    "Mateo''s teammates aren''t taking that tackle lightly and to be honest that tackle was something else. Things are getting pretty physical here, the referee has to step in."


    Well, he did and a couple of yers had to get booked, Martinez was the first.


    <I miss those days>


    ''Huh?''


    <Nothing>

 Chapter 489 Another Chance

    ?


    Well, one thing was certain after that first half, Norman was just d that they somehow managed to clutch onto the lead despite the disastrous lineup he started the match with.


    Clutching onto the lead was just Mateo''s individual brilliance though, the team was just not it during the first half and their possession was a huge proof of that.


    In almost all of their matches, Unique FC would always dominate the possession even if Supreme United were to trash them but that wasn''t the case for the first half of this match.


    They were able to acquire only twenty-nine percent of ball possession while their opponents ended up with sixty-nine percent of ball possession.


    "Well, it looks like I have a lot of changes to make in the second half but still, you could try to work on your pass a bit more and Edward¡­"


    "I knew it, there was just no way that he was going to take all the me for himself," Minino muttered before slowly turning his gaze to Mateo who was sitting beside him. "I just wish I was on the pitch when those bulls with no manners decided to y that trick on you, coach should hurry up and bring me in."


    "Well, I''m sort of d you weren''t there," Mateo replied.


    "Huh?"


    "You would have definitely gotten in a fight and then you would have gotten a red card for it."


    "Yeah, and it would have been for the best, they''ve been really dirty so far and I thought it was going to stop with just the fans." The winger expressed with a whispering tone.


    "Losing a yer for any reason is not for the best, that would just give them the advantage over us." Mateo necessitated. "But yeah, they started to y dirty toward the end of the first half."


    "Now listen up everyone!" Norman beckoned causing the two and anyone else who might not have been paying attention to what he was saying before to start paying attention now. "We have the lead now mostly thanks to Mateo, now all we just have to do is to take this second half seriously and we will defeat them.


    "There are going to be a lot of substitutions in this second half mostly in midfield because our midfield has yed shit so far, I knew things wouldn''t be that great with the normal midfieldposition but I honestly didn''t expect it to be this bad.


    "That said, Supreme United aren''t like any of the other teams we''ve faced until now so just making a couple of changes won''t necessarily seal things for us, we need to either get a third goal as quickly as possible or focus most of our forces in defense and make sure they don''t get that equalizer."


    He came to a sudden pause with that before ncing from left to right and after that, he inhaled deeply and exhaled.


    "So, what''s it going to be?"


    ______ ______


    "Wee back everyone to arguably the most interesting match we''ve seen so far in the Bilbeth Premier League this season. Supreme United has dominated the game so far and even managed to take the lead first but it took just one man from the other side to equalize the scoreline and turn everything around." Jim articted with an enthusiastic voice as the yers from both sides made their way to the pitch.


    "Yeah, and outside that there was a pretty interesting highlight when the ball was not in motion," Stevemented.


    "Well, this is not the first time the Audiz derby was getting a bit physical, the tempers are always ring when these two face each other." Jim expressed. "But anyway, it looks like Norman has not made any changes to his side which is quite surprising."


    "Maybe he''s waiting for the match to go on for a while before doing that."


    "Yeah, but I thought he would do that quickly after everything that happened in the first half."


    Everyone was on their sides and in their positions now with Fred standing over the ball in the kick-off spot.


    All they were all waiting for now was the referee''s whistle, and as soon as that high-pitched sound pierced through the air, Fred sent the ball rolling to Harry who quickly sent it rolling to Norman with his first touch.


    "There''s the whistle and we are back into it."


    Norman had to send the ball rolling back to Adolf just because of the way Carlos was quickly racing to him now.


    Adolf got hold of the ball and pushed a little forward with it before ying it short to Martinez because Rnd who was in between the both of them was closer to him at the moment.


    Martinez swiftly turned with the ball as soon as it got to his foot, and just before Foden could get to him, sent the ball rolling to Ferran who quickly linked up to Mateo down the left as he got his foot on it.


    The winger didn''t even get to do anything with the ball because just after it got to him, Pelcao rushed toward him with a slide that ended up sending the ball out but the ball wasn''t the only thing he sent out with that vicious tackle.


    Mateo was also sent tumbling past the sideline but he was able to get up on his feet almost immediately.


    Ferran wasn''t happy with that tackle because it looked like he had another motive there and he didn''t waste time in approaching the midfielder.


    He wasn''t trying to start a fight, he just wanted to have a few words with the midfielder.


    However, just before he could get there, the referee blew his whistle and the midfielder did not escape the yellow card.


    He didn''t try toin about that because he knew what he did and it was pointless.


    "I thought you guys were tough, you know you could try to win a match without trying to take the kid out," Ferran said as soon as he got close enough to the midfielder.


    "I wasn''t trying to take him out, but sure, you can believe anything you want I don''t care." Pelcao scoffed before turning to walk away from him.


    "Me neither I might if you attempt a foul like that on him again." The midfielder replied as he slowly moved back.


    "Well, I''m just surprised by how quickly Mateo was able to get up after that but anyway, it looks like Norman has finally decided to bring in some fresh legs."


    He was right about that, Norman was finally bringing in the rest of his midfielders with a forward.


    Harry had to be reced by Minino who was all smiles as he bounced onto the pitch and then Carlos had to leave the pitch for Merino.


    "Minino is on the pitch now, their midfield isplete, time to start getting that Unique FC vibes, I hope."


    Mateo was standing over the ball now on the spot he was fouled a little close to the halfway line.


    He was on their side of the stands so the whistling from the away fans wasn''t just hitting him from behind.


    As soon as he heard the referee''s whistle, he quickly sent the ball flying toward Merino down the right.


    "He sends it flying to Merino."


    The winger had to nod it back toward Minino who was right behind and just as soon as the midfielder brought the ball down with his foot, he quickly sent it flying into the box with the hope of finding Fred.


    Well, that worked out quite well for him because the striker somehow managed to get past the defense to bring the ball down with his chest but just before he could shoot, he came crashing to the floor.


    Conan was the person right behind him and he had to quickly lift both of his hands to deny doing anything.


    However, the referee saw everything and he didn''t hesitate to blow the whistle before quickly rushing to the area pointing at the penalty spot.


    "Oh, it''s a penalty, Unique FC have a penalty!"


    Supreme United yers quickly gathered around the referee to see if there was anything they could do about that decision but he was shaking his head.


    "A chance for the Uniques to go two goals up, things are looking up for them."


    "Nice," Dave muttered with a bright smile on his face.

 Chapter 490 Serves Them Right

    ?


    A chance for Unique FC to go three goals up and a chance for Mateo toplete his revenge on Supreme United for what their fans had done to him so far in the game.


    Mateo Smith scoring a hat trick against Supreme United despite their fans whistling at him was surely going to make the headlines and it was obviously going to bring in a lot of engagements.


    The winger was standing over the ball in the penalty spot now, with his gaze on Perez and everyone else behind him outside the box.


    "This is their chance, if he puts this away then their chance of emerging victorious will shoot up," Jimmented.


    "And don''t forget Mateo will get a hat trick which will be funny after everything the away fans had done to him in this match," Steve added.


    The voices of the home fans were going up in chants now making the whistling stilling from the away side sound pretty insignificant now.


    What everyone was waiting for now was the referee''s whistle and it didn''t take long before that high-pitched sound pierced through the air.


    "That''s the signal from the referee, time to see if the winger is up to the task," Jimmented.


    "Well, he did miss that crucial penalty against Spree City in the cup match but their fans will be hoping that doesn''t repeat here." Steve expressed.


    The winger was already standing a good distance away from the ball when the referee blew the whistle so all he had to do now was close up on the ball but he wasn''t in a haste to do that.


    Perez seemed to be saying something to him as he jumped up and down on his goal line and Mateo seemed to find it quite amusing judging by the smile on his face now.


    The winger slowly took a step forward before he quickly sped up to get to the ball and strike it with his right foot.


    Perez thought he had him figured out judging from where he was pointing his foot as he closed up on the ball.


    The goalkeeper dived toward the right but that was just where the winger wanted to put him and he ended up rolling the ball into the goalpost from the left.


    Perez would have probably saved that had he gone that way because there wasn''t really any shot power behind that but he failed to see through the winger''s trick.


    "And he rolls it into the goalpost!"


    This time there was no wild celebration from the winger, all he did was raise both of his hands as his teammates quickly rushed to him.


    This was one of those moments where Minino would rush to him and drag him down but the midfielder had something different in mind today.


    He let out a scream at the top of his voice as he raced to the away fans side of the stands and just before crossing the line he came to a sudden pause and did a chin flick with a smug look on his face.


    "Yeah, that''s what happens when you mess with us!" He screamed.


    "That was such a calmly taken penalty kick, he did so well to send Perez the wrong way and just roll it in," Stevemented. "He pulled it off, he got that hat trick Supreme United fans must be wondering ''Just who is this kid?"


    "They''re not the only ones wondering, Steve. That was his thirty-first goal of the season in just twenty-eight games, there''s no one taking that golden boot from him now."


    ''I have to say, it''s quite a surprise how we managed to get here.''


    <Yeah>


    ''When they scored that first goal I thought this was going to be at best another draw and at worst a very possible loss but then things ended up turning into this, Mateo''s something else.''


    <Yeah, he is something out of this world but anyway, it''s up to you now to make sure you guys don''t lose this lead, they''re very capable of equalizing this scoreline before the end of the match so keep your guard up>


    ''Yeah, I''m aware of that.'' The goalkeeper replied subconsciously.


    The match had to resume after the celebration from the home team.


    Supreme United knew they had a lot of work to do and with the match time still at fifty-one minutes, they still had a lot of time left to do that, it was a matter of whether Unique FC would be able to stop them.


    They started out pretty slowly at first but then they started to make quick movements up front with the idea of taking on their opponents in two versus one situations.


    That was how Diego worked with Pelcao to get past Rnd and send the ball in toward Rnd with a low cross.


    The striker had both Adolf around but somehow he managed to get his foot on the ball and fire it low toward the right side.


    If he wanted to get past Dave then maybe he should have added a bit more shot power to that because the goalkeeper was able to quickly get to the ball on time to catch it with both of his gloves.


    "Good shot from Rnd but Dave has no trouble catching that."


    "I miss the days when he wasn''t this good." The striker sighed as he slowly moved back.


    This time Dave didn''t send the ball out immediately, he gave everyone to move back a little or maybe he was just wasting time.


    Anyway, he had to send the ball out soon or he was going to get a yellow card from the referee so he quickly sent it flying toward the right.


    He sent it flying to Minino who had to nod it over to Ferran just before Zlensky could get to him.


    "Ferran."


    Ferran quickly took off down the middle with Foden right behind him, he was starting to pull on his shirt when he quickly turned around with the ball and passed it to Minino who pushed it a little forward and then sent it flying over to the left.


    "Trying to find Mateo here."


    Michael quickly rushed out to try to win the aerial duel against the winger but Mateo managed to win it and he got the ball past him in doing so.


    However, just before he could go any further with the ball, the right-back who just couldn''t let him go ended up tackling from behind and that did not look good as the winger tumbled off to the side with his hand on his right leg.


    The expression on his face showed just the level of pain he was feeling now.


    The referee blew his whistle before reaching for his pocket as he made his way to the area.


    He showed the wing back a second yellow before proceeding to show him a red.


    His teammates tried to plead his case but there was no way he was going to listen to anything they said after what he saw.


    Minino was surprisingly calm in this match, he didn''t even look at Michael and made his way to Mateo who seemed to be sitting up on the floor now while Ferran went to have a word with the yer who had already been sent off. Judging by the smug look on his face, he didn''t have anything nice to say.


    "Well, it looks like things just got tougher for Supreme United while they are still two goals down."


    <Serves them right>

 Chapter 491 The Victors And The Vanquished

    ?


    Eighty-seven minutes on the clock now and Supreme United were still down.


    They could have received more goals after losing one man but so far Unique FC had not found a way to capitalize on that empty space they had in their lineup now.


    They had to bring on their second right back because Mateo was not to be left alone and then Foden had to be reced by a defensive midfielder to cover both the role of helping out in midfield while covering the space that was left in one of the center backs positions now.


    Rockville seemed to be doing that job pretty well because most of Unique FC''s advances through the middle after Michael was sent off seemed to have failed and one of the ones they managed to get through, Fredinho ended up sting it straight into Perez''s gloves.


    So far Supreme United seemed to have made four substitutions, Steve had to leave for a right back and then Rockville had toe on from Foden.


    Philip also had toe on to rece Pelcao who already had a yellow card and then Carlos had to be reced by Smoke.


    Norman also made a couple of changes on his side because he needed to make sure they didn''t mess this up.


    Fred had to make way for Fredinho and then Martinez had to head off the pitch for Frankie.


    Martinez was a very good defensive midfielder but Frankie equally had that good defensive capabilities and could cover more ground in a shorter amount of time which was exactly what the team needed now that they were in thest stages of the match.


    "This match has just been all over the ce, I was expecting a lot more but Unique FC has managed to drag this to thete eighties with their two-goal lead still intact." Jim expressed. "They just have to hang in there and victory will be theirs and Supreme United don''t want that then they''ll have to perform a miracle and we all love miracles."


    Even after Michael was sent off, Supreme United continued to be the more aggressive side but with one person missing from their team now their threat level dropped a bit.


    They managed to get off a couple of shots which Dave did quite well in stopping and even Diego managed to get into the box to link up nicely with a pass from Rnd but just before he could do anything with the ball, Rnd got to him from behind and managed to get the ball off his feet before pushing it to Dave who wasted no time in sending it flying far away from the goal area.


    It was after that attempt in the seventy-sixth minute that Ferran had toe on and that was where things began to get tougher for them.


    Norman gave Minino and Ferran the signal to start dropping back a bit more to help out in defense and that was pretty much enough to lock down the dangerous advances from Supreme United.


    The match had just entered the eighty-eight minute as Frankie raced down the middle after taking off the feet of Rnd with a neat tackle near the edge of the box.


    "Frankie''s charging forward with the ball now."


    The home fans reacted with cheers of support as soon as the midfielder took off with the ball and he had quite a lot of space to cover down that path.


    Well, that was until Zlensky rushed in from the right to try and take the ball off his feet.


    That meant that he had to leave Minino alone for a while and Frankie did not miss this opportunity.


    He quickly sent the ball rolling to his teammate before quickly jumping up to avoid Zlensky''s legs.


    Minino did not waste any time in continuing their advance forward down the right as soon as he got his foot on the ball.


    Just as he got closer to the box, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Ferran who sent it rolling to Mateo down the left with his first touch.


    "Mateo."


    Mateo quickly moved past the right back with the ball in an attempt to cut in through the middle and just after moving past the defender, he found a very good space to shoot from.


    "Mateo, he goes for the shot!"


    However, he wasn''t able to get that shot to the goalpost as Rockville slid into the area right on time to block the shot and send it flying toward Zlensky who wasted no time in sending it flying to Rnd.


    "Rockville blocks it and this could be a counterattack!"


    The striker had Adolf on him, the defender was literally the only one keeping him on-side near the halfway line but he was able to nod the ball past him before quickly moving past him to get his foot on it.


    He left Adolf in the dust before quickly taking off straight toward the goalpost with no other yer in his path because everyone else was behind him.


    "Uh oh, it''s a one-on-one situation here."


    "Oh, dear." Dave sighed.


    The goalkeeper knew rushing out was the best in a situation like this where the yer had the ball close to his feet so he had to stay in his box until the striker got there.


    [ Sweeper keeper activated ]


    [ +10 added to all stats ]


    That was the moment he quickly rushed out unaware that Rnd had no intention of taking him lightly.


    He fired the ball straight toward the right side and he did not hold back.


    There was really nothing Dave could do about that as the ball flew past him and smashed straight into the back of the.


    "And he makes no mistake!"


    The striker quickly rushed to the goalpost and picked up the ball before quickly rushing back to his side while calling on his teammates to pick themselves up.


    "With ny minutes now on the clock they have closed it down to just one! What a strike from Rnd, there was nothing Dave could do to stop that." Jimmented. "The question now is if they can do it before the five minutes of added time gets exhausted."


    ''We can''t throw this lead away.'' Dave said subconsciously before getting up from the floor.


    The away fans were going wild now, there was finally a glimpse of hope.


    There was a question from Jim on if they could tie the game with five minutes left.


    Well, the answer to that question was mostly up to Unique FC.


    The home team refused to take any risks, they passed the ball around after resuming it and refused to advance that much with it.


    Supreme United yers began to get really aggressive with the way they were chasing the ball because they really needed that equalizer and their opponents were making it really hard for them.


    Something terrible could have happened in the fourth minute of added time when Minino almost lost the ball in his half but he was fast enough to push it to Frankie before crashing to the floor and Frankie did not hesitate in sending it rolling back to Dave.


    The goalkeeper dragged around with the ball until Rnd lost his patience but just before he could get to him, he quickly sent the ball flying out and while it was still in the air, the referee''s whistle pierced through the air.


    The second one came just as the ball hit the floor in front of Fredinho who already had both of his hands in the air and soon after the third one came.


    It was over, the victors had been decided and the vanquished had to deal with it.

 Chapter 492 On Top

    ?


    It was all smiles and cheers of jubtion in the Wondanimo stadium for the home team at least.


    Five years without being able to defeat Supreme United in a league match and they had finally done it here today in a match to decide who was going to be at the top of the table.


    "They started outckluster but they managed to persevere to the end with a shocking victory, Mateo being the highlight of the match." Jim expressed. "I don''t know if Norman had this all nned, starting with a mediocre lineup and then switching to his main lineup in the second half, that was the point they started to regain some control over the match and managed to run away with it."


    "Well, one thing is clear, Unique sure are doing things this season, They''re now at the top of the table with the higher goal difference, and the gap in goal difference between them and now second ce Supreme United is quite huge." Steve articted. "They''ve scored forty-nine goals this season while only conceding nine, that''s forty goal difference which is pretty wild considering this match was only their twenty-eight this season. Supreme United on the other hand has scored thirty-nine goals this season while conceding seventeen, that''s twenty goal difference which is also impressive but nothingpared to Unique FC''s numbers this season."


    "Yeah, the battle for that league title this season seems to be just between Supreme and Unique FC who are at each other''s necks at the moment, Dynamo FC doesn''t seem to be that interested but with ten matches left in the season they might be interested again somewhere down the line and that will only make things more interesting."


    After that, the two talked about a few other things before finally bringing their broadcast to an end.


    Back on the pitch, Unique FC were still greeting the fans who were jumping in the stands while singing chants of jubtion.


    The smiles on their faces as they let out those victorious chants were beyond wholesome and the yers were just vibing with them.


    Beating Supreme United in a match that would take them to the top of the table was not something to be taken lightly and they weren''t taking it lightly.


    They could have chosen to do that all night if it was up to them but the yers had to head home after an exhausting game like this so they had to start making their way down the tunnel now.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ Only two goals conceded ]


    [ Five long passespleted ]


    [ More than seven crucial saves made ]


    [ +150 exp received ]


    [ +5 stat points received ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points received ]


    [ +1 attribute point received ]


    ''This has been some match but thanks to those goals from Mateo we managed to make it out on top.''


    <This would have ended in a draw if it wasn''t for that penalty, Rnd knows not to take you for granted if he had gotten more chances like that you wouldn''t have been able to stop him>


    ''Well, most goalkeepers can''t do anything about one-on-one situations so that wouldn''t really be my fault and besides it''s the defenders'' jobs to make things like that don''t happen so the fact that he only got one of those chances in this match means that they did a pretty good job.''


    Mateo was announced as the man of the match after the end of the game and there was no surprise no one came close to the winger''s performance in the match.


    He had to make his way down the tunnel to receive the man of the match award and that was where he was heading now alongside Dave when they ran into two familiar faces.


    rk was just standing near the tunnel alongside Emilia who was in a casual ck dress with a ck jacket simr to the one he was putting on.


    "You guys almost gave me a heart attack in thosest minutes," rk said before quickly moving closer to the two.


    "Well, sorry about that," Dave replied.


    "I hope your heart is okay now," Mateo said sarcastically before putting his hand on his chest.


    "I wouldn''t be standing here if it wasn''t." rk blurted before removing the winger''s hand from his chest.


    It wasn''t noticeable from his voice at first but he sounded really excited and the expression wasing into his face now.


    "Hey, Emilia," Mateo said before waving at her.


    She seemed to have walked closer to the two now to stand beside rk with her arms crossed.


    "Hi, Mateo and Dave." She uttered before waving at the two. "Nice performance out there." She added with a monotone voice.


    "She still can''t get over the fact that we won," rk whispered to the two in front of him with his hand on his mouth.


    "Hey, I heard that." She retorted almost immediately before nudging him with her arm. "But on a serious note though, just what are you, Mateo? I expected a bad performance from you with how this match started out."


    "Oh?" The winger replied before raising his eyebrow. "Didn''t my sister tell you? I''m a cyber-human that my parents had to make when my mother could not get pregnant again after my sister so silly things like whistling do not work on me."


    "I would probably believe that if I didn''t know you when you weren''t this big yet." She replied before looking down at him. "Hey, you seem to have grown a bit taller." She added with an amused expression on her face before moving closer to him.


    "Hey, now''s not the time for that." He retorted with a startled voice before trying to move away from her but she had already grabbed him by his arm so that wasn''t going to work.


    "What''s wrong? I thought you were acting all smug just now." She said with a teasing voice before pulling him closer.


    "And they''re ying." rk sighed before turning his gaze to Dave.


    "So, I guess we should start getting ready for that trip to Germany." The goalkeeper said.


    "Yeah," rk responded with a nod. "And this victory just guaranteed it to be a fun trip."


    "So it wouldn''t have been a fun trip otherwise?"


    "For you maybe but not for me." He replied.


    "Oh."


    ''I''m sort of confused now.''


    <Don''t worry, you''re not the only one>


    _______ _______


    If a victory against any other club was enough to make Minino go wild in the locker room then a victory against their long-term rivals made that worse because the midfielder had most of his teammates joining him in his wild locker room celebration now.


    The dustbin was on the floor, their clothes were scattered on the floor and there was a lot of dancing.


    [Post-match rewards ]


    [ Nine crucial saves: +90 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded (2): 0exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.9 ]


    The goalkeeper already knew what the rewards were going to be and that was the reason why he had his gaze fixated on what was going on now.


    Well, not exactly what was going on, just one person who didn''t usually like taking part in this activity, Mateo but he was going wild alongside Minino now.


    <The whistling brought out the beast in him>


    ''Yeah, I''m terrified.''

 Chapter 493 The Weekly Show With Special Guests

    ?


    As expected, what was all over the ce the next day was news about what happened in the matchst night.


    Mateo scoring a hat trick despite the treatment he got from the away fans was obviously the highlight of everything but there were still other interesting things that happened in the match and those were moving around with simr intensity.


    Unique FC being at the top of the table now was also something to talk about and the Bilbeth Premier League weekly weren''t going to miss their chance to talk about it.


    This time, they weren''t just going to be talking about the highlights of the week and the most important matches, they invited two yers from both sides of the Audiz derby that took cest night.


    From Unique FC''s side, they invited Dave and Mateo and from Supreme United''s side they invited Rnd and Perez Zoe.


    They were all in a well-lit room with a floor properly tiled with white tiles but nobody could make out the color of the walls because it turned out to be just a huge screen that seemed to be showing the highlights from the week that was about toe to an end from different angles.


    The yers were sitting on some kind of long stool and they were ced opposite each other.


    Dave and Mateo on the right, Rnd and Perez on the left, and of course their blonde-haired female was in the middle but a little up so that she would be able to see all of them without having to turn around and she was also sitting on a stool.


    All she was waiting for now was the signal from the cameramen and as soon she got it, she cleared her throat before raising the cardboard slip she was holding.


    "Wee everyone to another episode of the Bilbeth Premier League weekly, I''m your host Amy Lance and today we have not one, not two, not three but four special guests joining us today." She articted. "And they''re not just any guests, I am talking about four Bilbeth Premier League stars. We have Dave Richards and Mateo Smith of Unique FC and Rnd Hills and Perez Zoe of Supreme United."


    That was the moment the camera revealed the yers to whoever was watching which was a lot of Bilbeth citizens and the yers had to wave at them.


    "Now, if you''re wondering how we managed to get these yers here just after their matchst night." She said before pausing for about three seconds. "You probably should keep on wondering because I have no idea." She added before turning her gaze to the guests.


    <You called them a day before the match, just say it>


    ''Let it go, Cat.''


    "The matchst night, the Audiz derby really gained a lot of attention, there was an estimate of one point five million viewers watching your match from around the worldst night." She disclosed.


    "Seriously?" Perez intoned with a baffled expression on his face.


    "I never knew the Audiz derby was that popr," Mateomented.


    ''I want to act surprised but the voice in my head already told me about it.''


    <You''re wee>


    "Well, this is a surprise, I''m sure both of our matches against each otherst season didn''t make it to three hundred thousand views globally," Rnd remarked before putting his hand on his chin.


    "Yeah, you''re right about that but that was because Unique FC were in eighth to tenth spot then, the matchst night was a decider on who was going to stay at the top of the table and people love it when a match is heated like that," Amy exined. "But anyway, let''s jump straight to why we are here, the highlight of this season, the Audiz derby. There are a lot of highlights to talk about."


    Just after saying that, the parts of the screen all around them quickly switched to disy a very familiar and memorable scene from the matchst night.


    It was paused at the moment when Mateo got his foot on the ball just inside the box and was about to move past Michael with it.


    Looking at the image right now Mateo couldn''t help but smile.


    "His moment pops up and he just bursts out smiling." She teased with her gaze now on the winger.


    "Well, what am I supposed to do? I can''t frown at that." The winger responded before letting out a little chuckle.


    Seeing the winger''s reaction, Perez couldn''t help but smile, Rnd kept a straight look on his face and Dave wasn''t really paying attention because he was busy talking with Catherine but he was smiling so it was okay.


    "Yeah, I wouldn''t frown at that either." The host said before turning her gaze to the screen on her side. "This was the moment you started getting your revenge but I have a question." She added before picking up the tablet sitting on her thighs.


    "You had an option to pass the ball to Edward right here." She said before using her hand to draw a circle around Edward who was free near the edge of the box just like she said. "Pelcao had already left him to get to you before you could do anything."


    She had to y the footage in slow motion to show when Pelcao decided to leave the midfielder alone ande for him instead.


    "You could have passed the ball to him and he would have put it away from the right while Perez was still more on the left side because of you, that was the safer option but judging from the way you grabbed the ball and went directly for the goal it didn''t cross your mind or did it?"


    That was the question for the winger but it took him a couple of seconds to say anything because he had to take a deep breath first.


    "Well, I think it all has to do with the situation I was in at that moment, Michael was heading toward the ball with just the same intensity as me, all the whistling wasing in as soon as I touched the ball and it was starting to get frustrating. I had a clear chance to shoot even though Perez was more on that side, I just had to take the shot, wasn''t even trying to find anyone to pass the ball to, I just wanted to score because I knew that was the only thing that could reduce the amount of frustration I was feeling at that moment." The winger expressed.


    "So everything they were doing was getting through to you? You didn''t really make that visible, staying calm even after they started throwing things at you."


    "Well, I knew I had to be the bigger person, fighting back was something I could only do on the pitch, there was no point in saying anything to them." The winger remarked.


    "Oh, wise wordsing from Unique FC''s talisman. You fought back pretty well which was amazing and surprising at the same time." She articted. "Just before we move on to the next one, let''s take another look at that marvelous goal."


    "Gets past Michael, and he ms it straight into the top bin!"


    Watching that goal now, Perez couldn''t help but shake his head with an awkward smile on his face.


    "Yeah, beautiful goal, now onto the next month that we have to talk about." She said before giving the tablet a slide to reveal a moment that could have given the lead back to Supreme United in the first half, something that happened before Mateo''s free kick.


    The scene was paused when Rnd jumped higher than the other Rnd to get his head on the ball.


    He had it directed toward the goal while Dave was still in the center of his goalpost with his hands stretched out.


    Looking at that image, Rnd just had to put his hand on his face before bringing down his face while he had an embarrassing smile on his face.


    ''This would have been something.''

 Chapter 494 No Way!

    Chapter 494 No Way!


    "Just what happened at this moment, Rnd?" Amy asked with her gaze now on the striker. "You could have gone for the top and that could have been more difficult for Dave to save."


    "Well, I thought the opposite of what you just said now." The striker replied after a few seconds.


    That forced a little chuckle from the host but she wasn''t the only one who found what he just said funny.


    Perez had to cover his mouth with his hand to kill the sound and Mateo wasn''t even trying to hide it. Dave just didn''t find it funny.


    "I mean I''ve been keeping track of most of their matches since after our first meeting this season and most of the impossible saves he makes are with balls sent really high toward the angles, I just thought maybe a low ball would be harder for him to save but I guess I was wrong." He illustrated.


    "Oh, so you''ve been keeping track of their matches and your attention has been on Dave specifically, that''s new information." She remarked before turning her gaze to her tablet to note down the information.


    "Yeah, I''m a striker, my job is primarily scoring goals in a match so I always try to pick up important information about the opposition defense and goalkeeper especially when we''re going up against tough opponents and this season Unique FC have been quite the tough opponents." The striker expressed. "I knew something was different about Dave right from the start of the season but I sort of shrugged it off with the thought that it wouldn''t make that much of a difference against us, that was until after our first match, I knew I had to start taking him way more seriously."


    "Yeah, ending that match with a draw was quite lucky for you guys, you met a Dave that could stop you right on your tracks, a very different Dave from the one you had to facest season." Amy articted. "Now I have a question for you before we continue all this."


    "Okay." He responded with a nod.


    "Do you think Dave is the best goalkeeper in the Bilbeth Premier League this season?"


    "Well, yeah, that''s very obvious." The striker replied almost immediately with a nod.


    <Wow, most yers would have annoyingly gone that question and I wouldn''t even me him if he chose to do that because of Perez being here>


    ''Yeah, he''s a very honest person.''


    "I mean the stats don''t lie, he has more saves, crucial saves, he has more clean sheets and he has conceded fewer goals. I know this can''t really be used to grade a goalkeeper whenparing him to other goalkeepers but he also has a good number of goals and assists to his name which is just wild for a goalkeeper.


    "Perez has also been great this season, I mean he''s saved us in a couple of matches that could have ended as draws, he''s an easy second because Dave has just been exceptional this season."


    "I agree," Perez said with a nod just after his teammate stopped speaking.


    "That''s a pretty straightforward answer and it looks like you also spoke Perez''s mind. Thank you, Rnd."


    "You''re wee."


    "Now back to the moment that could have ended terribly for Unique FC and given the upper hand back to Supreme United but the opposite ended up happening." She expressed before turning her gaze to Dave. "Now tell me, Dave, this situation looked really edgy for you, I just want to know, what were you thinking at this moment, had you already made up your mind or was it just an impulsive action as soon as he sent the balling your way?"


    Dave didn''t say anything immediately as he flexed his shoulders and sat up properly on the stool first.


    "Well, I knew he was going to put it below judging from the way he ced his head. Wait, let me rephrase that, it was more of a hunch and given the fact that it was an intense moment, I just had to go with it." The goalkeeper replied.


    "Hmm, a hunch huh? So if Rnd had decided to send it flying toward the top bin it would have probably gone in." She spected before quickly ncing toward Rnd.


    "Yeah, probably," Dave replied with a nod.


    ''Or I would have just used thrust and still stopped it.''


    "Wow, you must be shocked hearing that now, Rnd." She said with her gaze now on the striker.


    "There''s no crying over spilled milk." The striker shrugged.


    "Yeah, but it still hurts to find out that there was something you could have easily done to avoid spilling it." She replied. "But anyway, let''s take a quick look at more of the wonderful moments of the matchst night because there were a lot of them and we can''t talk about all of them or no one''s going home today."


    Just after saying that, an Allegro began to y in the background, it started off with heart-pumping drum beats that got even faster the moment a violin joined in to hype up the fast-paced music and just when it seemed like the peak was about to be reached, a saxophone joined in with style.


    The musical instruments resonating together to create the magical and energetic sound they were hearing now was doing marvelously in carrying the highlights fromst night''s match and the screaming from Jim with every strike made it even better.


    The piece of highlight on the screen now was when Dave attempted a shot from his box after receiving the ball from Martinez.


    He tried to stuff it in from the top right side because he was aware of Perez''s level as a goalkeeper but he ended up overdoing it, the ball hit the crossbar head-on on and there was no stopping it as it flew over for a goal kick.


    Most of the highlights were of Dave saving close shots from Supreme United and most of the missed chances from them


    It didn''t take long before the highlights came to an end and the music which Mateo was just vibing to with a smile on his face had to die down.


    The show continued with Amy bringing up certain moments from other matches for them to talk about and the fact that they didn''t know anything about what happened in those matches besides the scoreline meant that they had interesting responses.


    However, they only talked about those for a few minutes because their host had to bring everything to an end soon.


    "Well, it looks like it''s almost time to wrap this up but before that, I have a question for all of you." She disclosed.


    "Okay." Mateo and Rnd''s voice resounded in unison.


    "First the Supreme United yers but don''t answer until I ask your rivals their question. Do you think Unique FC can win the league this season?" She asked before turning her gaze to the right where Dave and Mateo were sitting. "And the Unique FC yers, do you think Supreme United can win the league this season?"


    "No way!" The four dered in perfect unison.


    She seemed to have turned on the echo effect of the speaker at that moment because that was still repeating in the room.


    "And with that, it''s another wrap for the Bilbeth Premier League weekly, thanks for watching and I''ll catch you all in the next one."

 Chapter 495 Second Deal

    Chapter 495 Second Deal


    The trip to Wiesbaden, Germany was a fun one for both Dave and rk but there wasn''t really much for them to do once they got over there.


    Well, that was what it seemed like at first.


    The process of signing the deal was smooth and didn''t even take up to ten minutes. That was something that could have been easily done online but they needed to get pictures of the moment with the goalkeeper because that would go a long way in helping promote their business.


    They also had to take pictures of him with some of thepany''s executives in front of their logo and then they also had to take pictures of him in some of the newly made designs that they wanted to promote, the ones that he agreed to put on at least because there were certain clothes in that pile that he was never going to put on no matter what especially when they were going to be taking pictures of him in them.


    While they were moving him around inside therge warehouse filled with clothes, rk was just tagging along with a bag of peanuts in his hands.


    A lot of pictures were taken that day but that wasn''t all they also had to shoot some videos to make nice edits.


    What the goalkeeper thought was going to be short and swift ended up turning his day into a very long day.


    The idea behind signing an endorsement deal with the goalkeeper was to increase the number of their customers from Bilbeth, they had never thought of partnering with any yer that was from Bilbeth or yed in the Bilbeth Premier League until now.


    This was a lifetime contract that guaranteed him seven million euros every year, there was a chance that it could improve in the future but that depended solely on how thepany improved from this day onward.


    Another good thing about endorsement deals was the amount of free stuff athletes and celebrities could get with them and this case was no exception.


    The goalkeeper received a lot of exotic clothes, shoes, and even underwear from them. They were quite generous ording to Dave who thought that the clothes were a little too much to the extent that he had to purchase a traveling box to be able to fit them all in.


    The number of clothes they gave him would be able to change the average person''s wardrobe, this was no exaggeration.


    With the sun slowly starting to set now, the two had to catch up with their flight which was due in a couple of minutes.


    Their reservation was in the first ss because staying in the other sses was sure going to draw a lot of attention to him with so many people going to Bilbeth in the ne andpared to the other sses, the first ss had a calm and rxing atmosphere with soothing music ying in the background.


    "I really should get a private jet." The goalkeeper said just after sitting down in the seat reserved for him.


    "It''s funny how I was just about to say that," rk remarked before sitting down beside him. "But anyway, it''s finally done."


    "Yeah, that took way longer than I anticipated," Dave replied with an exhausted voice before slowly leaning back in his seat. "Footy wears didn''t take this long if you take out everything that happened with the rain."


    "Well, Stoff Mit Stool is a slightly biggerpany than Footy wears, that''s also why you got that number of clothes."


    "Yeah, it makes sense looking at that and how much I''m making from them." He replied with his gaze now on the ceiling.


    "This is your second endorsement deal and more wille after moving to a different club and the further you go in your career, the biggerpanies will notice you and request endorsement deals with you." rk articted.


    "Yeah, go further in my career." The goalkeeper muttered before slowly returning to his normal sitting position. "I wonder how the training session today went without me."


    "There''s no reason to wonder, it definitely went well, you''ll be joining them tomorrow anyway, and me¡­"


    That sudden pause was enough to pique Dave''s interest and he had his gaze on him now, his eyes beaming with inquisitiveness.


    "And you?"


    "Well, I''m just going to hang around Supreme for a couple of days before heading back to Frono." He disclosed.


    "Of course, you''re nning to hang around Supreme."


    "Yeah, it''s not like I have much to do in Unique unless you need me for something."


    "I know, I wasn''tining, you have to stay there since Emilia can''t move because of her work but.." Dave interjected.


    "But what?"


    "Just do me a favor and say you''reing to Supreme and wille around Unique to check up on me whenever you intend toe back from Frono next." He replied.


    "Well, if you put it that way, that does sort of fit the context more," rk muttered with his right hand now on his chin.


    ______ ______


    With Most of Dave''s day spent taking pictures, trying out clothes, and whatnot, Tuesday came by pretty quickly for him because he went upstairs and passed out just a few minutes after getting home.


    It was a new day for them to get back to training for their match against Lyon on Thursday.


    Norman scheduled a training session by 11:00 AM that day and all the yers had to be there before that time because he was not takingteness lightly that week.


    Rnd arrived just seven minuteste yesterday and he made the left back pay a fine for it.


    He fined him four hundred euros despite informing them earlier that he would fine them a hundred euros for every minute ofteness so he was just being generous there because the wingback was the only one that arrivedte that day.


    There was no way that this was going to be a problem for Dave because since he got the system, getting up way too early had just be a part of him even without having dream control activated.


    He got to the stadium forty minutes before the time for the training session and made his way straight to the pitch after branching into the locker room to change into his training outfit.


    He made his way out of the tunnel to see that three of his teammates were already on the pitch but he was aware of that from what he saw in the locker room.


    Ferran, Mateo, and Rnd were the yers on the pitch now and they seemed to be talking about something.


    "Hey, guys!" Dave called out as he quickly made his way to them.


    That was enough to get their attention and they all had their gaze on him now.


    "What are you guys talking about?" He asked before proceeding to shake all of them.


    "Oh, we were talking about something disturbing that happenedst night," Ferran replied casually.


    "Something casual?" Dave uttered before turning his gaze to him with a confused expression on his face.


    "Yeah, do you remember who our next opponent in the Europa Conference League is?"


    "Yeah." The goalkeeper replied with a nod. "Lyon."


    "Okay, and do you know how many points PSG is topping the table with in Ligue One?"


    "I think it was eight thest time I checked, they were eight points ahead of Marseille. Why are you asking me these questions?"


    "Well, I''m asking because fifth-ced Lyon trashed league leaders PSG five goals to nothing in theirst game, PSG were on a winning streak." The midfielder dropped the bombshell and it did its work because Dave had a stunned look on his face now.


    "We''re their next opponents." He gasped.

 Chapter 496 Glitching

    Chapter 496 Glitching


    Funding out that the team you were going to be facing in two days trashed the league leaders in their league five goals to nothing was pretty frightening.


    If it was just a one-goal victory or a two-goal victory perhaps it might be dismissed as some lucky win and that happens in football but there was no way scoring five goals without conceding any could be considered lucky.


    If PSG were in a poor form of struggling to win matches and drawing most of theirst matches then that result wouldn''t be all that shocking but they had been in great form so far, they even trashed theirst opponents before Lyon, six goals to two.


    After finding out about that result, Dave told his teammates, the three that were there at least, to not worry about it.


    He assured them that they were going to pull through no matter what kind of storm Lyon mighte to that match with.


    Those were his words but even he didn''t believe that much, he told them not to think about it but thoughts of it kept on popping up in his mind frequently during their training session.


    It was quite true that they got a huge leap in strength this season, that was why they had managed to get so far, but there was a limit to that or to be precise, they were no super team.


    They could beat most of the teams in the league this season and could even rival the strength of Supreme United and Dynamo FC now but they haven''t really met any tough teams so far and that was about to start changing in the Europa Conference League round of sixteen.


    ''You know I would have been d if I never found out about this scoreline because my mind is starting to overthink things but I guess it''s for the best, now I know to not attempt pulling any punches with them, I''ll have to use everything in my arsenal.''


    <You''re hrious, so you were nning to pull your punches with them?>


    ''No, I was just saying that I wasn''t nning to activate any attribute from the start, but I might do that now.''


    <Oh, and which attribute are you going to activate? I see you haven''t really made up your mind yet>


    ''Yeah, I was wondering.''


    <About what?>


    ''I haven''t tried it before but is it possible to activate two attributes at once in a match?''


    <Oh, so that''s what it is>


    ''Yeah.''


    <Well, the answer is simply...no>


    ''Can''t say I wasn''t expecting it.''


    <However, it can be made possible with a little tweaking by me but I won''t do that because activating two attributes at once is too dangerous and has a good chance of sending you to your early grave even before the match reaches halftime and without you doing anything>


    ''Oh, I see but since when are you able to tweak the system''s programming?''


    <Since you got the system but it is only for some minor parts>


    ''Oh, so making it so that I can use something that can kill me is a minor part of the system?''


    <Yeah>


    ''That makes perfect sense.''


    <I know you''re being sarcastic>


    ''Well, of course I am.''


    Today''s training session was one of those sessions that Norman took really seriously and he was supervising everything mostly on his own to make sure none of the yers were goofing off.


    They went from rondos, to shooting practices, and precise uracy training but this time from closer range and every other thing they usually did during training sessions.


    Norman made sure they spent the most time on the precise uracy training because the amount of big chances his team missed in a lot of matches was really worrying.


    The record for the most big chances missed so far this season belonged to them yet they were still the team with the most goals scored this season.


    That was something really impressive but the point was that if they had scored half of those chances missed they would have way more goals now and perhaps they would also be a couple of points ahead of Supreme United at the top of the table.


    If they had to beat then this finishing problem had to be fixed.


    <You know if you guys get a deadly striker, one of Rnd Hills'' level at least, a lot of matches would be easier for you, and Mateo wouldn''t have to do most of the work alone most of the time and stick mostly to creating chances which he does really well>


    Dave was just standing by the side watching the yers try to hit the target ced on the left side of the goalpost from twenty-five yards out when Catherine said that.


    ''Yeah, but as you can see there were no summer transfers for us probably because the club is running low on funds.'' Dave replied. ''But Fredinho is doing okay at least and despite being young Gregory is quite clinical in front of goal.''


    <Yeah, my thoughts are that Fred should be sold and then a new striker who knows his stuff should be brought in, Fredinho and Gregory can be his backup>


    ''If that''s going to happen, I won''t be here to closely see how it works out. This season is almosting to an end, I just hope I don''t leave the club without making a good impact but making a great impact would be great.''


    <And by that you mean winning the treble?>


    ''Precisely.''


    The training session had toe to an end after a couple of hours and now that it was over, the yers had to make their way to the locker room to hear what Norman had to say about their tactics, formation, and lineup.


    He didn''t talk about them yesterday and since they were going to be leaving for Lyon in the evening tomorrow.


    "There really isn''t going to be any changes to our lineup except that Frankie will be starting in the defensive midfield position and Pirlo will be starting in the center back position alongside Adolf." He revealed after standing in front of the yers for a while without saying anything. "Now for the tactics, let''s just say we will be using a more offensive style of y, you don''t usually get involved in the attack but I want to see you moving up front to aid Merino.


    "Frankie will be the main link-up between the midfield and defense and he will also be there to cover up the spaces left by the defense when moving up front and Mateo, you have a free role as always do whatever you can to make sure we get an early lead but don''t go overboard, I would have given you the primary role of creation but you''re arguably the best finisher in the squad."


    That was just the basics of everything he hadid out because he wasn''t really done analyzing his tactics but he wanted to tell them about this bit so that things would be easier for him tomorrow.


    ________ ________


    A couple of hours passed and Wednesday was finally here, the day the yers were going to be making their trip to Lyon.


    They had a training session that morning and by evening, they were already on their way to Lyon.


    "This is going to be my first time in France," Mateo remarked with a hint of excitement in his voice before turning his gaze to Dave who was sitting beside him.


    "Yeah, me too." Dave smiled. "We wouldn''t be making trips like this if we had not qualified for the Europa Conference League."


    "Well, we could always do that when we have breaks but you''re right, making a trip to other countries for matches just gives a different feeling, that feeling that gets your blood pumping." The winger replied.


    "Mhm." Dave nodded.


    aircraft and they wasted no time getting on it.


    It took them almost two hours to arrive at the airport and they could see through the windows that the sky was almostpletely dark with the stars bing visible now.


    A bus was already waiting to pick them up as they alighted the aircraft and they wasted no time getting on it.


    The streets of Lyon were brightly lit as they drove down it and there were a couple of shops open with a good number of people walking up and down butpared to the streets of Switzend this wasn''t really that much.


    It didn''t take long for them to get to the hotel where they were going to be staying and as soon as they got down from the bus, it turned around and drove off.


    While his teammates had already begun making their way inside the building, Dave slowly looked up before taking a deep breath and just as he was about to take a step forward with the traveling box he was dragging along something happened.


    [ System deactivated ]


    ''Um¡­Catherine, what''s going on?''


    <I think it''s another glitch>


    ****


    Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I''m feeling a bit under the weather today so you''ll just have to do with this one.

 Chapter 497 First Leg: Lyon Vs Unique FC

    <h4>Chapter 497 First Leg: Lyon Vs Unique FC</h4>


    ''And I thought these glitches happened only during matches.'' Dave said subconsciously as he slowly walked into the room after opening the door.


    The room he had just walked into now was the room where he was going to be staying and just as always, Mateo was his roommate.


    The room gave off a calm and refreshing atmosphere with the lights emanating from the lights on the ceiling brightening up the white walls.


    Two beds were sitting a few distance away from each other on the far end of the room, a television hanging on the wall, and something that looked like a massage chair by the side.


    Mateo was already in the room when he walked in, the winger was sitting on his bed trying to find something from his bag.


    Dave didn''t pay him any attention because of what was going on in his mind now and just made his way straight to his bed.


    [ System is back online ]


    ''Oh, dear.'' He sighed inwardly before sitting down on his bed.


    <It''s back online>


    ''Are you sure you can''t do anything about this, Cat?''


    <Maybe you didn''t hear me thest time but this isn''t a minor part of the system so, no>


    "Tch." The goalkeeper blurted before crashing down on his bed.


    "Huh?" Mateo muttered before slowly turning his gaze to him. "Did you say something?"


    "No." He shook his head without even ncing at him.


    "Okay." The winger replied before turning his gaze back to his bag.


    [ System deactivated ]


    ''Of all the ces for the system to start a glitch of this level it had to be in a match like this, it wouldn''t have been a problem in any other match even against Supreme United but this match.''


    <Yeah, you''ll need the system in this match>


    ''Is there a chance that it will stop tomorrow.''


    <Yeah, but that''s about five percent>


    ''Five percent, you should just say no because I know that will never be in my favor.''


    "Dave."


    He had his eyes closed all these while but just as the call of his name pierced through his subconscious, he shot his eyes open to find Mateo leaning over him.


    "I''ve been calling for a while now but it looks like you fell asleep." He said before moving away from him a little.


    "Oh," Dave replied before sitting up on the bed with his hand on his forehead. "Is there a problem?"


    "No." The winger replied before shaking his head. "I just wanted to know if you were going to go check out the Groupama stadium?"


    "Yeah, I guess I would love to do that, but." He sighed before crashing down on his bed. "I''m not feeling that great."


    "Huh? Is it a fever?" Mateo asked before putting his hand on his neck.


    "No, it''s not that, it would be terrible if something like that happened now, I just feel a little drained that''s all."


    "Oh, I see, I''ll go check it out with Rnd Merino then." The winger remarked before turning his gaze to the door. "See youter."


    "Okay, have fun."


    Dave kept his gaze on him until he left through the door and closed it. That was when he let out a sigh before turning his gaze away from the door and to the ceiling.


    "Tomorrow''s going to be pretty rough." He muttered before slowly closing his eyes.


    ________ _______


    A couple of hours passed and the next day was finally here, the day everyone had been waiting for.


    The match was set to kick off by 4:00 PM which was enough time for Norman to show the yers every other thing that he needed to show them before the match.


    Dave woke up half expecting the glitch to be gone even though he was aware that in this situation, that was just a fairytale wish.


    The glitch was still up and going but the time between its deactivation and activation seemed to have gotten a bit longer and he made sure to take note of that.


    A couple of hours passed once again and now there was only an hour left until the match kicked off.


    That was the reason why the yers from both sides were on the pitch now.


    The Groupama Stadium was the thirdrgest stadium in France even bigger than the Parc des Princes with a sitting capacity of about fifty-nine thousand two hundred and eighty-six, and just like all the stadiums they''ve been to across Europe this season, it was a beautiful stadium.


    Nothing could be said about their atmosphere because all the fans weren''t there yet but it was going to be nice to see how theypared to Unique FC fans.


    While his teammates were busy practicing their shooting and doing other stuff on the pitch, Dave was standing near the sidelines juggling the ball with his feet.


    [ System is back online ]


    ''Oh, brother.'' He sighed inwardly as soon as that message popped up in front of him. ''You know I would appreciate it if this system would stay deactivated till the end of the match so that I won''t have to think about it, that or ites back online and stays that way.''


    <Well, there''s nothing I can do about that>


    ''I know.''


    <But I do have some tips for you>


    ''Tips?''


    <Yeah>


    ''Okay.''


    <Firstly, I''ll tell you the yers to keep your eyes on. You have their striker, Mason Rod, he has thirty goals across allpetitions this season and almost scored a hat trick against PSG in theirst match, he has good pace, his shot power is great and his uracy is really good, his ball control isn''t that great though so keep that in mind whenever he gets the ball in a good position.


    <Their right and left-wingers Antoine and Marcel respectively aren''t that much of finishers but they''re really good at finding their teammates in tight spots. However, they will finish good chances when ites to them so keep that in mind.


    <And finally their attacking midfielder Duncan, just make sure you''re not way off your goal line whenever he has the ball>


    ''Oh, I see, this is really nice of you, Cat.''


    <You''re wee>


    ''At least knowing all of this will make things easier for me, I''m surprised coach never mentioned any of this to me even after studying their y style.''


    <That''s because he believes that you can handle yourself, his focus is on the defense not messing up and the attack and midfield not struggling>


    ''Yeah, it makes sense when you put it that way.'' He replied before bringing the ball down to trap it under his foot.


    _______ _______


    The voices of the fans from both sides were going up breathing a very lively atmosphere into the stadium.


    The stands were filled to the brim now as the fans were waiting for the yers to start making their way out of the tunnel.


    Meanwhile, the yers were lined up in the tunnel waiting for the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    Unique FC were putting on their custom-made away kit, the ck kit with orange outlines and an orange horizontal stripe a little below their logo.


    Lyon on the other hand were putting on their home kit, a white kit with a red and blue strip running down the left side where they had their badge.


    The yers stayed there for a while until they were finally given the signal to start making their way to the pitch and just as they stepped out into the light, the fans erupted with cheers.


    Jim and Steve said their introductions as the yers made their way to the pitch to line up in front of the fans.


    "The round of sixteen of the Europa Conference League is finally here and it''s Lyon versus Unique FC. This match came with a lot of hype after the way Unique FC ended their group. A good number of people believe they will breeze through Lyon but with the French team''s current form I think I can say that no breezing through will be done in this match or I might be wrong." Jim articted.


    "One interesting thing about this match is that both teams defeated their league leaders in theirst league matchesing into this game," Stevemented.


    "Yeah, and while Unique FC went on to be the new league leaders, Lyon are still in fifth ce. Well, that''s because they didn''t start the season in the best way they could."


    The captains of both teams had to make their way to the match officials for the coin toss after they were done shaking hands.


    Adolf chose heads, and the coin ended upnding on heads after the toss, the Uniques were going to be the ones starting the match from the kick-off spot.


    Everything was confirmed now and the yers had to start making their way to their positions.


    [ System is back online ]


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Make twelve crucial saves ]


    [ Provide an assist ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ System deactivated ]


    ''Well, that''s quite the reward.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously with a confused expression on his face.


    ****


    I''m sorry it''s also one chapter today, I''ll return to two chapters daily tomorrow.

 Chapter 497 First Leg: Leon Vs Unique FC

    ''And I thought these glitches happened only during matches.'' Dave said subconsciously as he slowly walked into the room after opening the door.


    The room he had just walked into now was the room where he was going to be staying and just as always, Mateo was his roommate.


    The room gave off a calm and refreshing atmosphere with the lights emanating from the lights on the ceiling brightening up the white walls.


    Two beds were sitting a few distance away from each other on the far end of the room, a television hanging on the wall, and something that looked like a massage chair by the side.


    Mateo was already in the room when he walked in, the winger was sitting on his bed trying to find something from his bag.


    Dave didn''t pay him any attention because of what was going on in his mind now and just made his way straight to his bed.


    [ System is back online ]


    ''Oh, dear.'' He sighed inwardly before sitting down on his bed.


    <It''s back online>


    ''Are you sure you can''t do anything about this, Cat?''


    <Maybe you didn''t hear me thest time but this isn''t a minor part of the system so, no>


    "Tch." The goalkeeper blurted before crashing down on his bed.


    "Huh?" Mateo muttered before slowly turning his gaze to him. "Did you say something?"


    "No." He shook his head without even ncing at him.


    "Okay." The winger replied before turning his gaze back to his bag.


    [ System deactivated ]


    ''Of all the ces for the system to start a glitch of this level it had to be in a match like this, it wouldn''t have been a problem in any other match even against Supreme United but this match.''


    <Yeah, you''ll need the system in this match>


    ''Is there a chance that it will stop tomorrow.''


    <Yeah, but that''s about five percent>


    ''Five percent, you should just say no because I know that will never be in my favor.''


    "Dave."


    He had his eyes closed all these while but just as the call of his name pierced through his subconscious, he shot his eyes open to find Mateo leaning over him.


    "I''ve been calling for a while now but it looks like you fell asleep." He said before moving away from him a little.


    "Oh," Dave replied before sitting up on the bed with his hand on his forehead. "Is there a problem?"


    "No." The winger replied before shaking his head. "I just wanted to know if you were going to go check out the Groupama stadium?"


    "Yeah, I guess I would love to do that, but." He sighed before crashing down on his bed. "I''m not feeling that great."


    "Huh? Is it a fever?" Mateo asked before putting his hand on his neck.


    "No, it''s not that, it would be terrible if something like that happened now, I just feel a little drained that''s all."


    "Oh, I see, I''ll go check it out with Rnd Merino then." The winger remarked before turning his gaze to the door. "See youter."


    "Okay, have fun."


    Dave kept his gaze on him until he left through the door and closed it. That was when he let out a sigh before turning his gaze away from the door and to the ceiling.


    "Tomorrow''s going to be pretty rough." He muttered before slowly closing his eyes.


    ________ _______


    A couple of hours passed and the next day was finally here, the day everyone had been waiting for.


    The match was set to kick off by 4:00 PM which was enough time for Norman to show the yers every other thing that he needed to show them before the match.


    Dave woke up half expecting the glitch to be gone even though he was aware that in this situation, that was just a fairytale wish.


    The glitch was still up and going but the time between its deactivation and activation seemed to have gotten a bit longer and he made sure to take note of that.


    A couple of hours passed once again and now there was only an hour left until the match kicked off.


    That was the reason why the yers from both sides were on the pitch now.


    The Groupama Stadium was the thirdrgest stadium in France even bigger than the Parc des Princes with a sitting capacity of about fifty-nine thousand two hundred and eighty-six, and just like all the stadiums they''ve been to across Europe this season, it was a beautiful stadium.


    Nothing could be said about their atmosphere because all the fans weren''t there yet but it was going to be nice to see how theypared to Unique FC fans.


    While his teammates were busy practicing their shooting and doing other stuff on the pitch, Dave was standing near the sidelines juggling the ball with his feet.


    [ System is back online ]


    ''Oh, brother.'' He sighed inwardly as soon as that message popped up in front of him. ''You know I would appreciate it if this system would stay deactivated till the end of the match so that I won''t have to think about it, that or ites back online and stays that way.''


    <Well, there''s nothing I can do about that>


    ''I know.''


    <But I do have some tips for you>


    ''Tips?''


    <Yeah>


    ''Okay.''


    <Firstly, I''ll tell you the yers to keep your eyes on. You have their striker, Mason Rod, he has thirty goals across allpetitions this season and almost scored a hat trick against PSG in theirst match, he has good pace, his shot power is great and his uracy is really good, his ball control isn''t that great though so keep that in mind whenever he gets the ball in a good position.


    <Their right and left-wingers Antoine and Marcel respectively aren''t that much of finishers but they''re really good at finding their teammates in tight spots. However, they will finish good chances when ites to them so keep that in mind.


    <And finally their attacking midfielder Duncan, just make sure you''re not way off your goal line whenever he has the ball>


    ''Oh, I see, this is really nice of you, Cat.''


    <You''re wee>


    ''At least knowing all of this will make things easier for me, I''m surprised coach never mentioned any of this to me even after studying their y style.''


    <That''s because he believes that you can handle yourself, his focus is on the defense not messing up and the attack and midfield not struggling>


    ''Yeah, it makes sense when you put it that way.'' He replied before bringing the ball down to trap it under his foot.


    _______ _______


    The voices of the fans from both sides were going up breathing a very lively atmosphere into the stadium.


    The stands were filled to the brim now as the fans were waiting for the yers to start making their way out of the tunnel.


    Meanwhile, the yers were lined up in the tunnel waiting for the signal to start making their way to the pitch.


    Unique FC were putting on their custom-made away kit, the ck kit with orange outlines and an orange horizontal stripe a little below their logo.


    Lyon on the other hand were putting on their home kit, a white kit with a red and blue strip running down the left side where they had their badge.


    The yers stayed there for a while until they were finally given the signal to start making their way to the pitch and just as they stepped out into the light, the fans erupted with cheers.


    Jim and Steve said their introductions as the yers made their way to the pitch to line up in front of the fans.


    "The round of sixteen of the Europa Conference League is finally here and it''s Lyon versus Unique FC. This match came with a lot of hype after the way Unique FC ended their group. A good number of people believe they will breeze through Lyon but with the French team''s current form I think I can say that no breezing through will be done in this match or I might be wrong." Jim articted.


    "One interesting thing about this match is that both teams defeated their league leaders in theirst league matchesing into this game," Stevemented.


    "Yeah, and while Unique FC went on to be the new league leaders, Lyon are still in fifth ce. Well, that''s because they didn''t start the season in the best way they could."


    The captains of both teams had to make their way to the match officials for the coin toss after they were done shaking hands.


    Adolf chose heads, and the coin ended upnding on heads after the toss, the Uniques were going to be the ones starting the match from the kick-off spot.


    Everything was confirmed now and the yers had to start making their way to their positions.


    [ System is back online ]


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Make twelve crucial saves ]


    [ Provide an assist ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ System deactivated ]


    ''Well, that''s quite the reward.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously with a confused expression on his face.


    ****


    I''m sorry it''s also one chapter today, I''ll return to two chapters daily tomorrow.

 Chapter 498 Nice Pass

    Chapter 498 Nice Pass


    "Twelve crucial saves and an assist," Dave muttered just as he got to his goal line.


    ''Looks like there''s going to be a lot of shots in this match, either that or the system just overestimated them.''


    The match was about to kick off now as Fredinho could be seen standing over the ball in the kick-off spot.


    Norman was starting the match with his default four-three-three formation and just like he said after their training session on Thursday, the only changes in the lineup was Frankie starting ahead of Martinez and Pirlo starting ahead of Aima.


    Lyon on the other hand were also starting with the four-three-three formation but the reverse of their version which meant that they had just one attacking midfielder up front and two defensive midfielders.


    "Both teams are going all out here, no one''s ready to pull their punches," Jimmented.


    "Well, in these kinds of matches, it''s best not to do that to avoid any mistakes you might end up not being able to correct." Steve articted.


    Everyone was in position now waiting for the referee''s whistle, and after making sure that everything was in ce, the referee put the whistle in his mouth and blew into it to produce that high-pitched sound.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    As soon Fredinho heard the whistle, he quickly pushed the ball to Minino who did not hesitate in sending it back to Norman.


    "Norman."


    Norman pushed forward a little with the ball as Marcel closed up on him but just before the left-back could get to him, he sent the ball rolling to Frankie who sent it rolling to Ferran with his first touch to avoid Mason.


    "Ferran."


    The midfielder''s path forward was blocked by two yers, and after trying to get past them on his own without making any dangerous dash forward, he dropped the ball back to Frankie who gave it a little push forward before he sent it flying over to Mateo down the left wing.


    "Sends it flying over to Mateo."


    Mateo was able to move away from the right back marking him just in time to bring the ball down with his chest and abandon his wingpletely.


    Ferran had to quickly cover up down the left wing as the winger raced down the middle with the ball and a good number of opposing yersing toward him.


    "Mateo, charging forward with the ball now."


    With the way the opposing yers were closing up on him from the front, the winger knew that he wouldn''t be able to get that far with the ball so he quickly stopped just as he was about to close up on the box and send the ball rolling back to Frankie who had to quickly send it back to Minino with his first touch.


    Minino had one of the defensive midfielders on him and the yer wasn''t giving him that space to run through and was struggling with him to take the ball.


    That was a tough situation but he knew just how to get out of it. He slowly dragged the midfielder along with him as he moved further down on his side of the pitch and just as Norman moved past them, he sent the ball rolling to him with a backheel pass.


    "Nicely done by Minino to make sure the ball moves forward," Jimmented. "Unique FC are looking pretty fierce here."


    Norman moved down the wing with the ball with the midfielder chasing him from behind but the right-back didn''t wait for him to get close enough to him before he sent the ball rolling to Merino.


    "Merino."


    Merino was supposed to move forward with the ball but he wasn''t in a good position to do so he moved back with it a little before he sent it rolling back to Minino who quickly sent it flying into the box.


    He was trying to find either Fredinho or Mateo because both of the yers were in the box at the moment.


    However, he failed to get the ball to either of them as one of the defenders in the area ended up nodding the ball away a little to the right.


    The right back there managed to get his foot on the ball ahead of Ferran, and without hesitation, he sent it flying out down the right.


    Antoine got his foot on the ball just before Frankie could get to him, and without hesitation, he took off down the wing with it.


    "Antoine''s taken off with the ball here this could have been more serious for Unique FC if Rnd had not gotten in front of him on time."


    Antoine was just about to run into Rnd when he decided to push the ball to Duncan who dashed right past Frankie with the ball as soon as it got to him, the defensive midfielder stood no chance but he didn''t just stand there and watch him keep moving forward with the ball.


    The attacking midfielder had Pirlo closing up on him from the front and Frankie right behind him.


    That left Mason with just Adolf, Rnd with Antoine, and Marcel with Norman and Minino.


    "Perfect." He muttered before quickly lobbing the ball forward.


    The idea was to get it to Mason despite the fact that Adolf was right there.


    Well, Adolf wasn''t able to do much because the striker was able to block him with his body before trapping the ball with his chest.


    "Mason''s right in front of goal, Mason!"


    The striker wasted no time in firing the ball toward the goalpost just before it could hit the floor.


    He sent the ball flying toward the right side with just a little bit of elevation already concluding in his mind that it was a goal, and that was his mistake, underestimating the goalkeeper because he got a clear chance.


    Dave took off toward the right just before the ball could cross the goal line and blocked it with his body.


    The ball dropped to the floor after that save, but just before Mason could get to it, he stretched both of his hands and grabbed it.


    "Oh, my goodness! Just how did he save that!"


    Dave knew that there was no time to waste after making that save, if he was going to get that assist, now was the best time


    Just after grabbing the ball, he quickly sprang up from the floor, and without hesitation, he sent the ball flying down toward the left and it was obvious who his target was.


    The defense were already near the halfway line and instead of quickly moving back, some of them decided to try and stop him from getting the ball and the winger made no mistake in using that to his advantage.


    All it took was getting his head on the ball to push it forward and quickly get past them.


    One of them tried to drag him down but the winger ended up leaving him in the dust to get his foot on the ball and now everyone else was chasing him from behind with the goalkeeper trying to figure out the best way to stop him in this impossible situation.


    "Nice pass, Dave." The winger smiled as he quickly closed down toward the goalpost.

 Chapter 499 Beast Mode

    Chapter 499 Beast Mode


    After contemting everything in his mind for a while, the goalkeeper decided to rush out just as the winger got to the edge of the box, but just as he stepped off his goal line, Mateo hit the ball with the tip of his boot.


    That was all he needed to do to lob the ball over the goalkeeper and straight into the goalpost.


    "And he makes no mistake!" Jim eximed as the winger quickly took off to the sidelines with both of his hands pointing upwards.


    There was no way his teammates were going to let him be after scoring a goal like that, they were racing toward him now with Minino screaming at the top of his voice.


    "Another magical link-up between Dave and Mateo and the winger did not disappoint," Stevemented. "He had some work to do there even with that wonderful pass from Dave and he did marvelously in getting away from them."


    The away fans were jumping in the stands now while their voices were going up, they didn''t think scoring this early could be achieved by their team in this match.


    "Looks like Unique FC are the first to get on the score sheet, I wonder how Lyon will respond to this, they haven''t had that much ball possession anyway."


    The game had to resume after all the celebrations. Lyon knew they weren''t up against any weak team now and that meant that things were about to start getting interesting.


    [ System is back online ]


    ''I might not even need you in this match if we can just hold on to this lead and focus more on defense and I also justpleted the assist part of the quest.''


    <I doubt they''ll let it end that easily, but you''re right, you might not need the system in this match after all>


    The match resumed with the referee''s whistle and that was where Lyon''s match domination started.


    They held on to the ball lowering Unique FC''s defense and they were also doing really well in getting the ball up front to create good chances.


    However, dominating the game meant nothing without being able to find the back of the.


    The match stretched to the thirty-first minute without them being able to find the back of the.


    They tried everything they could try so far but Unique FC''s defense were doing pretty well to stop them and maybe that was because defending was mostly what they had been doing after that goal from Mateo.


    Dave''s gloves had not known rest since that goal from Mateo, it was as if Lyon went full beast mode after that goal against them.


    Their first chance after that goal came from a long-range shot which Duncan managed to pull off twenty-five yards away from the goalpost.


    The midfielder sent the ball flying toward the top left side of the goalpost but Dave was able to get to it right in time to tip it over the bar for a corner kick.


    The attacking midfielder managed to pull off another shot from outside the box a few minutester.


    This time it was from the edge of the box and he sent it flying toward the right side with just a little bit of elevation.


    Dave was close to the area at that time and he had no problem catching it with both of his gloves.


    That was just how they had been pulling off shots on top of shots toward the away team''s goalpost and there were a few that would have gone because Dave was out of ce at those moments but the defense came in clutch to stop them.


    Thirty-five minutes on the clock now and Unique FC had been able to fire just three shots on goal and only one of those shots was on target and that shot on target was also the only goal of the game so far.


    Unique FC were able to get the ball back after Adolf managed to thwart the opponent''s attack by stopping the ball from getting to Mason.


    He quickly sent the ball to Frankie who tried to link it up to Mateo from the top but maybe he should have yed it slow to anyone close by.


    The right-back managed to close up on the winger and get his head on the ball before he could do so and sent it flying to the defensive midfielder in the area who brought it down with his chest and sent it rolling to Antoine.


    "Antoine."


    The winger quickly took off down the wing with the ball and even managed to get past Rnd but the wingback didn''t back down and kept up with him to prevent him from sending the ball in.


    The winger kept dragging the ball forward and just as he got it close to the line, Rnd swept it off his foot and sent it rolling out for a corner kick.


    "Good defending from Rnd but now they have a corner kick to deal with."


    Antoine picked the ball up and made his way to the corner spot without hesitation.


    "I''m quite surprised Unique FC have been able to hold them off this long without conceding any goal, they just went bonkers after that goal from Mateo and Norman''s boys haven''t been able to see much of the ball." Jim articted.


    "Well, they have a chance now, their first corner kick was easily cleared but perhaps they could do something with this one." Stevemented.


    Antoine was waiting for the referee''s whistle now with everyone else running around inside and near the edges of the box.


    It didn''t take long before that high-pitched sound pierced through the air and as soon as the winger heard it, he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.


    cing the ball too close to the goalpost was always a mistake when Dave was the goalkeeper but this time, someone wasn''t going to let the goalkeeper have it.


    He dived toward the ball just at the same time as the goalkeeper dived out to grab it, and the both of them ended up crashing to the floor.


    What followed next was the referee''s whistle as the official quickly rushed to the area pointing at the penalty spot.


    "Oh, it''s a penalty but how?"


    Unique FC yers had to quickly gather around the referee now to get an exnation on how a foul happened there and he stated that his reason for making the call was Dave making contact with Mason just as the both of them went for the ball.


    "But I touched the ball first and he was the one that ran into me." Dave retorted.


    "Yeah, why don''t you go check VAR?" Adolf suggested.


    "And it looks like the referee is going to check VAR as there are doubts about what really happened there," Jimmented as the referee made his way to the VAR monitor.


    ''That wasn''t a foul, right, Catherine?''


    <Not really, but it does look like one so don''t be surprised if the decision turns out to be against you>


    ''Hmm, I see, but I sure hope it isn''t.''

 Chapter 500 Better Homework

    Chapter 500 Better Homework


    It didn''t take long before the referee returned from the VAR monitor, and just as he blew his whistle, the screen hanging in the stadium revealed the VAR decision.


    The word ''Penalty'' was disyed boldly on the screen now as the referee blew his whistle before pointing to the penalty spot.


    "Would you look at that, it''s a penalty, Lyon have a chance to pull one back." Jim expressed.


    "So, that''s how they''re ying it," Dave muttered before stepping back to his goal line.


    "How is that a penalty?" Minino grumbled before attempting to make his way to the referee but Adolf was there to grab him by the shoulder and prevent him from making any mistakes.


    <Looks like your lead is in danger now>


    [ System deactivated ]


    ''Yeah, I''ll need the system if I''m going to pull this off without any problem but I might still do it without it.'' He replied subconsciously. ''The system activates every five minutes after deactivating andsts just ten seconds before deactivating again, so I just have to stall for a bit to guarantee saving this penalty.''


    <Wow, you''ve already studied the pattern>


    ''Yeah, sort of.''


    <But that''s strange>


    ''Huh?''


    <I didn''t catch any thought of it in your mind>


    ''Maybe you were just focusing elsewhere.''


    <Yeah, maybe>


    The first minute had already passed which meant that Dave still had two minutes to stall.


    Mason was the one standing over the ball on the penalty spot and the referee had already blown his whistle.


    Letting him take the penalty immediately might cost him so he had to think of something.


    "Hey, I heard you missed a penalty in yourst match against PSG." The goalkeeper remarked as the striker took three steps backward.


    "No, that was Antoine." The striker replied bluntly.


    "Oh, and you think you''re a better penalty taker than him?"


    "Yeah." The striker nodded. "I am the team''s designated penalty taker after all, I only let him take that one because we were already four goals up."


    "Oh, I see."


    "If you''re done trying to mess with my mind, I''m going to take this penalty now." The striker remarked before he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it straight toward the goalpost.


    ''I think that was enough time.''


    [ System is back online ]


    [ Focus activated ]


    Everywhere suddenly turned dark and now he could see that the ball was heading toward the right, he quickly followed the ball but just before the ball could get to him, something happened.


    [ System deactivated ]


    "No." He gasped as the ball quickly shifted a little further to the right.


    He stretched his hand to its full length all in the effort of reaching the ball but he only managed to get the tip of his gloves on it as the ball ended up getting past him to fall into the goalpost.


    "He makes no mistakes when ites to penalty kicks," Jimmented.


    The striker just stood there and pointed to the sky with both of his hands as his teammates quickly closed up on him and brought him down to the floor.


    "That was supposed tost for five seconds," Dave muttered with a confused expression on his face before quickly sitting up on the floor.


    <The pattern changed>


    ''Yeah, it onlysted for five seconds this time, but why?''


    "Lyon finally have their equalizer with forty-one minutes of the clock." Steve articted. "They''ve made things pretty tough for Unique FC so far, I wasn''t expecting their equalizer toe from a penalty kick but things turned out that way and we''re back to square one now."


    The match continued after all the celebration and Unique FC fans kept cheering on their fans as loud as they could but it wasn''t really working like it used to.


    For the first time this season, Unique FC hade face to face against tough opponents who knew how to handle them quite well.


    They were aware that Mateo was their special weapon so they tied him down, every little space the winger had at the start of the match was gone now and even when he managed to get his foot on the ball, it was taken off his feet before he knew it.


    It was like they had studied his ystyle which made him more confused because they weren''t ying like this during the start of the game.


    The winger had to resort to sending the ball out as soon as he got his foot on it and that meant that his teammates had to rule out his assistance in their attack for now.


    That made things more difficult for them because no matter what they tried, Lyon was always one step ahead and they were thwarting them quite well.


    Minino had to resort to outside-the-box shots twice but one ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over and the other one just flew over.


    Their only saving grace was that their defense were doing okay in stopping their advances and Dave without the aid of his system was able to stop their deadly shots.


    As long as the shot wasn''t fired from a very close distance, the goalkeeper had what it took to stop it even without his system.


    However, even with all their efforts, it was obvious that they were starting to get overwhelmed by how fast their opponents attacked whenever they did.


    Five minutes had to be added to the time after it hit the forty-fifth minute, and in the third minute of added time, Lyon began to advance with an attack again.


    One of the midfielders was able to wrestle the ball off Mateo after Ferran tried to find him down the left, and now that the yer had the ball, he quickly sent it rolling to Duncan who immediately took off with it.


    "Lyon are with the ball here and they''re pushing forward with it."


    Duncan was just about to run into Frankie when he quickly sent the ball rolling to Antoine down the right.


    The right winger took off with the ball toward Rnd but just before the left-back could get close enough to try anything, he pushed the ball back to Duncan who swiftly got past the defender.


    "They got past Rnd, this could be their chance!"


    The attacking kept moving forward with the ball, and just before he could enter the box, he drilled the ball in low toward the middle.


    With a little bit of leg stretch, Mason was able to get his foot on the ball before Adolf, and with Dave rushing out, he quickly pushed the ball to the right and Antoine made no mistake in putting it into the empty.


    Rnd was right behind the winger at that time and he couldn''t help but crash to his knees after letting out a deep sigh.


    "Oh, my goodness! They have the lead! The French side stuck together with that one and it paid off, what a goal!"


    ''Oh,e on.'' Dave sighed inwardly before crashing to the floor on his back.


    <Looks like their coach did a better homeworkpared to what Norman did> Catherine remarked. <That or they''re just the head on superior team>

 Chapter 501 Down One More

    Chapter 501 Down One More


    Unique FC yers were all in the locker room now with Norman standing over them with his arms crossed.


    He had an uneasy look on his face as he kept tapping his right foot on the floor.


    "You guys started the match on a good note then you just started slipping off in thest minutes. Was that penalty really all it took to demoralize you?"


    His voice swept through the room in all its fierceness and none of the yers dared say a word.


    <He''s furious>


    ''And it''s understandable, I guess.''


    "Now listen up all of you, they''re really strong, I know that, but we can''t lose here. If ites down to it then we''re just going to grab an equalizer and back the bus, we''ll be better off with a draw than a loss then we can think of something in the second leg.


    That was the foundation of Norman''s n for the second half, score the equalizer and park the bus.


    He didn''t really n for something like this but finishing the match with a draw was at least going to give them some ground to do something in the second leg which was going to be happening on their home turf and that was a very good thing.


    Norman didn''t waste any time in going into the details of how they were supposed to y things out in the second half.


    He knew his team was having a hard time moving forward so the best n he coulde up with was to keep focusing most of their efforts on defense and make sure they didn''t break their line like they did to get that second goal.


    His n was to turn defense into attack, a counterattack whenever they got the best opportunity, then they would park the bus and make sure another goal didn''t enter their goalpost.


    "Remember what I told all of you, no matter what, we cannot lose this match." He asserted before mming his fist on the table beside him.


    ______ ______


    The halftime break was over now and the yers from both teams could be seen making their way to the pitch alongside each other.


    "Wee back everyone, the second half is about to kick off as we can see the yers from both teams making their way to the pitch now," Jim announced. "The first half sure came with a lot of surprises don''t you think, Steve?"


    "Yeah, during the first couple of minutes of the match, it really looked like Unique FC had what it takes to take down Olympique Lyonnais, they yed quite well and managed to get the lead courtesy of Mateo and that was where everything changed.


    "Lyon just turned into a different team and started making things difficult for Norman''s boys, they scored their equalizer from the penalty spot, and took the lead in added time."


    Mason was standing over the ball in the kick-off spot waiting for the referee''s whistle with everyone else standing in their positions.


    "Lyon still have the lead, it''s two goals to one which means Unique FC can still get back into this, they''re not that far off and they have enough time. The question now is, can they pull it off?"


    Just after making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle, and as soon Mason heard it, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Duncan who had to immediately push it back to the teammate behind him before Mason could get to him.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    Unique FC started out chasing the ball aggressively but they made sure not to overdo it, Norman made sure their attacking yers always had someone on them and that was also the case for Duncan.


    If they wanted to win this match, then they had to tie them down just like they did to them in the first half.


    This forced Lyon to keep the ball in their own half for now but Unique FC were getting more and more aggressive with the way they were chasing the ball.


    It didn''t take long before the ball rolled out for a corner kick courtesy of Ferran trying to take it off the feet of one of the midfielders.


    "Unique FC are not letting up, they''re putting the pressure on the home team," Jimmented.


    "That was the intensity they needed in the first half."


    [ System deactivated ]


    ''Oh, just turn off already and stop giving me false hope, there''s no way I can use you for anything meaningful in this match.''


    <You sure about that? You can still use it for close calls if you time it correctly>


    ''Yeah, you mean the same thing I tried to do with that penalty kick?''


    Catherine didn''t have any response to that.


    ''I feel like this system is consciously trying to mess with me, but I''ll show it that I don''t need it for every single thing.''


    <Hmmm>


    Lyon were still with the ball after that throw-in, Duncan was with it to be specific and now he was slowly moving down the middle with it but Frankie was also heading toward him so he didn''t really have the space to make a quick run.


    He had to send the ball rolling to Antoine who quickly pushed it back to the midfielder behind him to avoid losing the ball to Rnd.


    The midfielder quickly sent the ball rolling to Duncan who managed to wriggle away from Frankie before attempting to find Mason upfront.


    The striker quickly tried to get past Adolf in order to get to the ball which had already gone past both of them, but he wasn''t able to get past Adolf who pulled back at that time and it ended up mming right into the striker''s face.


    The striker crashed down a little distance away from the edge of the box as the referee blew his whistle before quickly making his way to the area.


    "Mason''s down with his hand on his face and the referee''s not letting that slide."


    Adolf didn''t get booked for that but the home team had a free kick now from about twenty-five yards out.


    Mason was able to get back on his feet after receiving treatment ''Roger that.''


    Antoine was standing over the ball in the kick-off spot with his gaze from the medical team and now it was time for the free kick.


    <Antoine is a very brilliant free-kick taker so stay sharp>


    ''Roger that.''


    Antoine was standing over the ball in the kick-off spot with his gaze on Unique FC''s four-man wall at the edge of the box.


    "A good chance for them to go two goals up, can Antoine pull it off?"


    It didn''t take long before the sound of the referee''s whistle pierced through the atmosphere, and as soon as Mason heard it, he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the top right-hand side.


    That was just where Dave anticipated him to put it and he was able to get the tip of his glove on it, just enough for it to hit the crossbar before flying into the box.


    That was a wonderful save from the goalkeeper but just as he crashed to the floor, the ball flew past him straight into the goalpost.


    The rebound went straight toward Duncan and the attacking midfielder made no mistake in putting it away with his head.


    "They''re two goals up! That was a wonderful save from Dave but his teammates just couldn''t clear it and now they''re two goals down, the mission here just got tougher for them."


    The home fans were off their seats now screaming at the top of their voices as Duncan raced to the sidelines and did a full-body slide.


    "How are we going toe back from this one?" Dave sighed before covering his face with his glove.

 Chapter 502 We Hit A Rock

    Chapter 502 We Hit A Rock


    That third goal from Duncan was the final nail in the coffin for Unique FC.


    They tried really hard after that goal to get back into the game but despite everything Norman nned for the second half, their opponents just had them figured out.


    Every counterattack they tried to pull off failed and the same could be said for the chances they managed to get.


    Despite being tightly marked, Mateo was able to get a couple of okay chances but they just weren''t his type of chances, and with all the pressure and marking he ended up missing them.


    Dave also tried a couple of things from his goalpost but Lyon''s goalkeeper made sure to stay in his goal line whenever the ball was sent back to the goalkeeper or whenever he had the ball.


    During this period, Lyon could have gotten one or two more goals but Unique FC''s defense got tougher for them after that third goal and even when they managed to slip through the cracks, Dave was there to make sure.


    The match dragged on until the nieth minute and that was when everyone concluded that this was a loss for Unique FC.


    Thest person to touch the ball was Mateo, he received it from Mateo during the sixth minute of added time, and from twenty-five yards out, he fired the ball straight toward the goalpost.


    He fired the ball toward the top right side and the goalkeeper was glued to a spot as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, my, that was so close!"


    With the ball out of y, the referee decided to blow his whistle.


    The moment the first high-pitched sound pierced through the air, Minino turned and began to make his way toward the tunnel.


    "Looks like it''s all over here at the Groupama Stadium, the Olympique Lyonnais fans are delighted as their team just ran away with a three-one victory. The Unique fans and supporters from all over the world are definitely disappointed but all hope isn''t lost yet, Lyon will be traveling to Bilbeth for the second leg and that''s where the score will be settled or not." Jim articted.


    "After making it out of the group stage unbeaten, Unique has finally taken their first loss of the Europa Conference League and their second loss of the season overall." Steve disclosed. "They yed pretty well today but Lyon was just the better team in almost every department. Another interesting thing about this match is that this is the first time that Dave Richards is conceding three goals in a match this season."


    "Yeah, that''s true, he was good in between the sticks just like always and even tried those bizarre shots of his but I guess all that couldn''t suffice today."


    Duncan was announced as the man of the match at the end of the game which was pretty well deserved because the midfielder really caused a lot of problems for Unique FC and was the key to breaking their defensive line most of the time.


    While yers like Minino, Aima, and even Ferran stormed down the tunnel as soon as the game was over, Dave alongside Mateo, Rnd, Adolf, and their other teammates had to stay behind to greet the fans first.


    They may have lost the match today but that wasn''t enough to discredit the fact that the fans were there to give them their support and they did it as loud as they could.


    They were the ones who failed to give them what they came for but at this moment, it wasn''t really that much of a big deal because they weren''t out of thepetition yet.


    They still had the second leging up, their chance to redeem themselves.


    Despite the loss, most of the fans seemed cheerful and were even trying to cheer them up because they understood how they were feeling now.


    "After a smooth sailing group stage, we''ve finally hit a rock," Dave muttered as he made his way toward the tunnel alongside Mateo.


    "Yeah, we hit a big rock today." The winger remarked. "But then again, it''s just a rock, we can always find a way around it, and smashing through it is always an option."


    After hearing him say that, Dave couldn''t help but smile.


    "Huh? What''s wrong?" The winger asked with a confused expression on his face.


    "Nothing," Dave replied before shaking his head. "It''s just that unlike me, you always find a way to be optimistic about every situation."


    "Oh, but you know that''s not entirely true."


    "Huh?"


    "There have been situations in the past where I just crumbled and lost sight of myself."


    "That''s okay, nobody''s perfect and besides that was in the past, I used to be way worse if you can recall." The goalkeeper replied.


    "Are you sure you want to talk about that?"


    "No, not really." He sighed before shaking his head.


    [ System is back online ]


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ System deactivated ]


    ''Oh, just stay deactivated stupid system.''


    <I can keep it deactivated until the glitch stops if you want>


    ''Huh? Why didn''t you mention that earlier?''


    <Because I believed that you would still need it in the match even with the way it was behaving, and I was right, it wasn''t enough to prevent your loss but at least it helped in preventing a massive defeat>


    ''Yeah, you''re right but just keep it deactivated for now.''


    <Roger that>


    "Hello, Dave!"


    The two were about to start heading down the tunnel when they heard that call from behind and they didn''t hesitate to quickly turn around to find a blonde-haireddy with a Bob cut and a microphone in her hand.


    "Oh, hello, Miss journalist."


    "It''s Miriam." She corrected with a smile.


    "Oh."


    "Can I get your opinion on a few questions, please?" She requested.


    "Um¡­sure, I don''t see why not." He shrugged.


    "Great."


    "It looks like I''ll have to head down alone, see youter," Mateo said before he began to head down.


    "Sure, see youter."


    "Follow me, please." The reporter said before she began to make her way to the cameras.


    ''I guess she was being cautious because we lost the match.''


    <Yeah, I wonder what would have happened if it was Minino in your ce>


    ''It''s a good thing he stormed down just as the match ended but he would have just ignored her.''


    The goalkeeper was in front of the camera now and Miriam didn''t hesitate to throw the first question at him.


    "So, Dave, you guys just suffered your first loss of thepetition today, I''m sure it must be tough because I think you guys gave it your all. The second leg will being up soon in your home and you guys have a goal deficit to cover, do you think you guys have what it takes to pull it off and move to the next round of thepetition?"


    The goalkeeper already had an answer prepared in his mind before she could finish asking that question but on second thought, he decided to try a different approach.


    "Of course, they were tough for us to handle today, that''s a fact but things will be different when theye to Bilbeth, it''s going to be another tough match but we''ll make sure to return the favor because tough rocks can also be smashed into pieces."


    <Well, looks like you just gave them something to go on about>

 Chapter 503 Inner Subconscious

    Chapter 503 Inner Subconscious


    The yers expected Norman toe into the locker room shouting and calling out the yers he thought yed shit today but none of that happened.


    He walked into the room quietly even though he had that gloomy look on his face and talked to the yers like he would talk to them normally, some of them did get scolded a little but it was nothing serious.


    The highlight of everything he said was that he wanted to see them at the stadium tomorrow evening because they had a rough road ahead of them.


    They had to head back home that night on the team''s private ne.


    The ne was lively when they wereing to France yesterday, but right now, it was almostpletely quiet and that made perfect sense.


    They just lost a match so most of them weren''t in the mood to talk about anything, that plus the fact that the match was pretty exhausting.


    Dave was sitting beside Mateo just like always but while he was wide awake with his left hand on his chin, the winger was fast asleep with his earbuds in his ears and his phone on his chest.


    "This one sure took a lot out of everyone, didn''t it?" The goalkeeper muttered.


    sighed inwardly.


    [ System is back online ]


    <Yeah, it also took a lot out of me>


    ''Oh, keep quiet.''


    <Looks like the system is working fine again>


    ''Oh, that''s great, right after we''ve lost the match. Just turn it on.'' He sighed inwardly.


    [ System is back online ]


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +250 exp ]


    [ +10 skill upgrade points ]


    [ +5 stat points ]


    ''There''s no attribute point but I guess this doesn''t look that bad. Can I see my post-match rewards now?''


    <Sure>


    [Post-match reward ]


    [ Thirteen crucial saves: +130 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded(3): 0exp ]


    [ Provided an assist: +50 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.0 ]


    ''Those guys really wanted to kill me with shots.''


    <I''m surprised you survived that, one of the balls almost stabbed you to death>


    ''Your jokes areme.''


    <Hey>


    ''Anyway, pulling off thirty shots in a match is really crazy, we only fired at their goalpost twelve times.''


    <They came to kill, you guys were supposed to be trashed, to be honest,>


    ''Yeah, everything was pointing in that direction.''


    _______ _______


    After almost two hours in the air, the ne finally arrived at the Bilbeth airport.


    Mateo was still asleep so Dave had to give him a little tap on the shoulder.


    "You''ve slept for almost two hours now, that''s a lot of sleep for a so-called nap." The goalkeeper remarked before moving his face closer to his. "And you were ever drooling."


    "I was?" The winger muttered in a hypnotic voice before slowly wiping the liquid off his mouth with his hand. "Oh, I guess that happened."


    They got off the ne and got into the bus that took them straight to the stadium and now, they just had to head home and get some rest.


    Mateo was in a hurry to head home because he was really just like the rest of their teammates but Dave wasn''t really feeling that tired.


    [ 60/180 Energy ]


    It was understandable though since he was the goalkeeper who hardly did any running in the match, and with his stamina stat that high, his energy problems no longer existed.


    He got in his car when there were only two cars left in the space, and after starting the engine, he started heading straight home.


    ''So, who''s our next opponent?''


    <Junami United>


    ''Oh, shouldn''t be a problem, I guess.''


    <Yeah, unless you guys forget how you''ve been ying since the start of the season because of the loss you suffered today>


    It didn''t take long before he got to his home, and after using the remote control to open the gate, he drove into thepound and parked his car however he pleased.


    "I guess that marks the end of today." He sighed before he got out of the car and mmed the door shut.


    He made his way straight to the door, and instead of knocking like he always did, he just decided to open it.


    That was a good decision because when he walked into the house, he found Emma fast asleep on the couch with a nket that was supposed to be covering her body on the floor.


    "It was a long day for you too, huh?" He muttered before he slowly made his way to her.


    He picked up the nket and slowly used it to cover her body before kissing her on the forehead.


    After that, he slowly took three steps backward with his gaze still on her.


    "Did her stomach get bigger?" He pondered with his left hand on his chin.


    <Yeah, but just a bit>


    ''Hmm, I see, looks like Devon''s getting bigger.'' He smiled before he turned and made his way to the kitchen.


    After getting to the kitchen, he made his way to the freezer and opened it to grab a bottle of water.


    He opened the bottle and emptied everything into his pocket in no time before dropping the empty bottle on top of the freezer.


    With that taken care of now, the goalkeeper let out a deep sigh before slowly walking out of the kitchen with both of his hands in his pockets.


    He turned his gaze to the couch to see that Emma was still fast asleep before he began to make his way upstairs.


    ''I know I shouldn''t be thinking about it, but I seriously don''t know how we''re going to beat Lyon at home after what they did against us today, but for what it''s worth, I hope the system doesn''t misbehave like it did today that day.''


    There was no response from Catherine after saying all that in his mind, but he didn''t think anything of it and just kept moving.


    He was about to enter his room when she finally said something.


    <Hey, Devon>


    ''Well, that caught me by surprise, you rarely call me by my name.''


    <Tell me something>


    ''Huh?'' He replied this time with a confused expression on his face.


    <You know how to use your inner subconscious don''t you?>


    ''Inner subconscious?''


    <You can make thoughts that I can''t hear, that''s what I mean>


    ''Oh, that''s what it''s called? Yeah, I figured out how to do that a while back.''


    <Then that means you know>


    ''Know what?''


    <Who the former system wielder was>


    ''Yeah, that was sort of easy to figure out.'' The goalkeeper replied with his right hand on the back of his head.

 Chapter 504 Systems Origin, Sort Of

    Chapter 504 System''s Origin, Sort Of


    ''Just as I said, Catherine, it was quite easy to figure out but I tried to keep it out of my mind because of that thing you said but my mind kepting back to it and then.''


    <You opened your inner Subconscious>


    ''Yeah, I started thinking about it and you just couldn''t hear me.''


    It was a bright new day in the home of the Richards and disregarding what happenedst night, Dave got up early to kick off his day the way he usually did, with some training.


    He was in the gym now running on the treadmill while having a little chat with Catherine.


    <To be honest I would have confirmed my suspicion of you being a dunce if you weren''t able to figure it out with everything I told you>


    ''That''s sort of rude but I guess you''re right.''


    <Hmmm>


    ''So, are you going to tell me about him?'' The goalkeeper asked subconsciously before slowly getting off the treadmill. ''You''ve been with him for quite a long time just like you''re with me now, right?''


    <Well, I guess there''s no harm in that>


    ''Great, you can tell me all about him while I make breakfast for Emma.''


    With Emma now in the second trimester of her pregnancy, she was starting to find it hard to do some of the things she used to easily do in the house, so he took it upon himself to help her out any day he didn''t really have anything urgent to deal with.


    Today was one of those days, they had a training session in the evening so he had a lot of time to spare until then.


    Catherine told him almost everything he wanted to know as he prepared something in the kitchen and he got distracted a couple of times when she mentioned a skill being used.


    ''So he never really uses his attributes unless you make him do so?''


    <Yeah, and he also didn''t like using his skills but he instinctively activated them during matches>


    ''So, he just wanted the system to go away.'' Dave said subconsciously before throwing the pepper he chopped up into the pot.


    <Yeah, to him, it felt like cheating because he believed that the other yers didn''t have the kind of abilities he had but I exined it to him>


    ''Oh, and how did you exin it to him?'' He inquired before closing the pot.


    <It''s not cheating when it''s something that''s a part of you>


    ''Huh?''


    <I already exined this to you, but the system will always go from generation in this family>


    ''Huh? But what if I didn''t open that box under my room that day?''


    <Oh, that was just something I set up to make everything look cool, if you had failed to take the bait that day you would have still heard a ding in your head with all the system messages. The system has always been with you since the day you decided to be a goalkeeper, I just wanted to see how far you could go without it, but sadly,pared to your grandfather you were a huge pessimist>


    ''So the system is a part of us and is passed down from one generation of goalkeepers to the other.'' The goalkeeper recapped in his mind. ''But how did this system evene to be, Catherine?''


    <I can''t go into details because I wasn''t there from the beginning but I can tell you that this world didn''t use to be this peaceful a long time ago>


    ''Peaceful? There''s been two world wars and there''s always disputes breaking out here and there.''


    <Trust me, Dave, those are nothingpared to how things were back then>


    "Seriously?" The goalkeeper muttered as his eyes suddenly widened in shock.


    <Yes, I''m serious but that''s not the point, but the system has always belonged to this family but it wasn''t a goalkeeper''s assist from the start>


    ''Huh? Then what was it meant for?''


    <Football wasn''t a thing back then so there was no need for it, it served a more useful purpose back then, questionable but useful>


    ''Questionable?''


    <Don''t think too much about it,e to think of it, your unborn son will be the third Devon in this family>


    ''Wait, so my grandfather was the second? Who was the first then?''


    <You wouldn''t know him but just know that he''s the main reason why you got to see a world like this, he''s the reason this world still exists>


    ''Okay, now my head is spinning.''


    <Huh?>


    ''All this sounds like something straight from a fantasy novel.''


    <Well, you have a system, that''s something straight from a fantasy novel>


    ''I guess you have a point.''


    "Anyway, let''s see how this is doing." He muttered before opening the pot to check his chicken soup.


    ''This world is a strange ce.''


    _______ _______


    Three dayster, the yers had to return to the Bilbeth Premier League.


    They were up against Junami United this time around and ording to this season''s statistics, they were the better team.


    However, after that loss against Lyon, some people were starting to reconsider who they believed were going toe out on top in the match.


    Thest two matches had been quite something for them, beating Supreme United for the first time in a while and then going on to pick up their first loss in the Europa Conference League.


    Before that match, everyone believed that they would crush Junami United but now, they believed that their morale would be low in the past but they should have given a bit more thought to it because there was also another possibility.


    because of the loss and Junami United would have the chance to beat them.


    That was a possibility because it has happened to a couple of teams in the past but they should have given a bit more thought to it because there was also another possibility.


    The referee''s whistle pierced through the air the third time as Unique FC yers raised their hands with bright smiles on their faces.


    It was another victory for them in the league, but it wasn''t just any victory because the scoreboard disyed six goals to zero as the final score of the match.


    They failed to consider the possibility of them taking out their anger on Junami United after their loss against Lyon and that was just what happened here today.


    Unique FC ran riot on Junami United throughout that match but somebody was pretty awful that day even with that scoreline.


    No goal, no assist and he kept losing the ball throughout the game. Surprisingly it was Mateo who could be seen panting on the sidelines with both of his hands on his knees.


    "What is going on?"

 Chapter 505 The Thread

    Chapter 505 The Thread


    Minino was announced as the man of the match at the end of the game and there was no disputing that.


    The midfielder scored a hat trick and assisted thest game of the match which meant that he was involved in four goals out of six, he went full beast mode today while someone else wasn''t himself throughout the match.


    "A forgetful performance from Mateo today but I guess it''s all good since they managed to win six goals to nothing," Jimmented.


    "Yeah, he looked tired and disoriented throughout the match, I wonder why Norman didn''t substitute him."


    The yers were making their way to the tunnel now and just like always, Mateo could be found beside Dave, but the winger seemed to be dragging his feet with his breathing still a bit louder.


    <Yeah, it''s getting worse>


    ''Huh?''


    <Mateo, he''s about to fall>


    "What?"


    The goalkeeper quickly turned around to see that she wasn''t kidding, Mateo was really about to fall, but he was there to catch him before that could happen.


    "Hey, buddy, are you okay?"


    The winger didn''t say anything but he could tell by how hot his body felt that he wasn''t okay and his breathing was slowing down while getting louder.


    <He''s not okay>


    "Don''t worry, I''m okay." The winger drawled before suddenly passing out.


    _________ ________


    ''Why didn''t you tell me about this earlier?''


    The yers were all in the locker room now and just like most of his teammates, Dave was just sitting quietly with a lot of thoughts running through his mind.


    Minino would have gone all out in the locker room especially today that he was the man of the match, but because of the current situation, he decided to stay quiet.


    "How did we not notice that he was suffering on the pitch?" Merino muttered with his gaze on the floor.


    "How were we supposed to know when he was all smiles even after making those silly mistakes?" Minino retorted. "He even looked okay to me before the match."


    "My guess is that this started someone near the end of the first half and got worse toward the end of the second half." Ferran spected with his hand on his chin. "But why didn''t he ask to get substituted or why didn''t coach just change him since he wasn''t ying like himself."


    "Don''t me coach, if you really wanted him to be taken off, you would have just turned to him and told him that," Adolf remarked.


    <He kept telling himself that he was okay>


    ''And why didn''t you tell me about this?''


    <Well, I thought he was okay and was just trying to clear something about the match against Lyon in his mind>


    ''But you should have at least told me.''


    <I know, I''m sorry but don''t worry, I did a thorough check-up when you touched him, it''s just a fever>


    ''I can''t believe he''s been ying with a fever.''


    <I think Norman was thinking of substituting him somewhere down the second half but he told him he was okay and didn''t have any trouble staying on the pitch till the end>


    ''Seriously, Mateo.'' The goalkeeper sighed inwardly. ''What were you thinking doing something like this when we werefortably winning?''


    <I think he wanted to score a goal or provide an assist before potentially leaving the pitch to save his poor performance but since that never happened, he ended up with a five-point eight average match rating>


    Dave''s response to that was a sigh which most of his teammates heard.


    "Hey, cheer up guys, we just won a match so there''s no need for the long face, Mateo''s going to be okay, he''s one of the strongest yers in this team so there''s no need to worry. From what I can tell, he''s just down with a fever." Martinez expressed just a few seconds after walking into the room.


    "And how can you be so sure of that?" Rnd asked with his gaze now on the midfielder.


    "Umm¡­. Because I''m justing from the room where he''s receiving treatment." Martinez replied before he made his way to his seat and sat down there. "The nurse there told me it was just a fever so there was nothing to worry about."


    His teammates were quite relieved to hear that, but nothing really changed in how quiet the room was.


    ''Yeah, it''s just a fever but there might be a problem.''


    <Yeah>


    ''We have an important match on Thursday and he might not be fit for that.''


    _________ ________


    Dave got home a bitter than usual because of everything that happened that night.


    He opened the door expecting to find Emma fast asleep on the couch but she was wide awake with her gaze on her phone''s screen.


    "Oh, hey." She smiled before she quickly got up from the couch and began to make her way to him. "Wee back."


    "I didn''t expect to find you awake."


    "Well, I''m not feeling sleepy tonight." She replied before slowly taking his backpack off his shoulder.


    "Oh, and why''s that?" The goalkeeper asked with his gaze fixated on her and that was when he could see the worry she was trying to mask with that smile.


    She didn''t say anything for a while before she turned and made her way to the couch with the bag.


    "Well¡­.." She drawled as she slowly unzipped the bag. "I heard what happened to Mateo."


    "Of course, Amber was at the stadium." He sighed before slowly making his way to her.


    "He''s okay, right?"


    "Yeah, there''s nothing to worry about." He assured her before cing his hand on her shoulder. "It was just a fever and I made sure he got home safely."


    "That idiot, what was he thinking doing something like that?" She grumbled.


    "I haven''t gotten the answer to that question from him so I''ll try again tomorrow." He replied before turning away from her.


    <But you know>


    ''I never said otherwise, I just said I haven''t gotten it from him which is the truth.''


    "I''m going upstairs to take a shower."


    "Okay, don''t take too long, I''ll have dinner ready in a moment."


    Dave made his way upstairs and straight to the room, the bed was just in front of him now so he just crashed down on it.


    "Maybe I should take a look at this stuff now." He sighed.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ Kept a clean sheet ]


    [ Made five crucial saves ]


    [ Completed three long passes ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +150 exp ]


    [ +3 stat points ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points ]


    [Post-match rewards ]


    [ Seven crucial saves: +70 exp ]


    [ Goals conceded (0): +150 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 7.8 ]


    ''Honestly, Catherine, I feel like everything is hanging on a thread at this moment.''


    <Huh?>


    ''I''m not trying to be pessimistic or anything but we''ve just entered the tougher part of our goals this season and I feel like it''s only a matter of time before everything starts snapping, I mean our Europa Conference League dreams is really close to snapping.''


    <Yeah, you''re right, but that''s what makes football fun, it wouldn''t be fun with tough moments like this but there''s still life left in that thread everything is hanging on>

 Chapter 506 The Second Leg

    <h4>Chapter 506 The Second Leg</h4>


    Dave woke up the next day feeling as energetic as ever, and to start off his day just like always, he ran a couple ofps around the house.


    They had three days left before Olympique Lyonnais paid them a visit to finish what they started at home.


    He had been thinking about what that match could turn into, he had been thinking about it a lot, just like his teammates, Norman, and the fans and to make matters worse, Mateo was looking doubtful for the match now.


    The goalkeeper was slowly filling up his system with water from his water bottle as he made his way to the seat in front of his practice pitch, and as soon as he got there, he slowly sat down on it.


    "I hope this fever doesn''t persist today." He muttered before dropping the water bottle on the floor.


    <His phone isn''t too far away from him, I can check for you>


    ''You can do something like that?'' He asked subconsciously with a confused expression on his face.


    <You know I''m not just an AI so quit acting surprised>


    ''I knew that from the start, just wasn''t sure, and you''re not even an AI to begin with.''


    <Oh, I wish they didn''t take myughter away>


    ''Huh? Who took away yourughter?''


    <It''s a long story, you won''t get anything done if I start telling you about it now>


    ''Okay, just go ahead and see how Mateo is doing then.''


    <Sure>


    His head suddenly went quiet like Catherine moved out of it, and after a couple of seconds, he heard a ding in his head.


    <I''m back>


    ''So, what''s his situation?''


    <Well, all I have is good news for you>


    ''Okay.''


    <His body temperature is at thirty-seven point nine degrees Celsius at the moment, the fever is still strong but that''s better than the number from yesterday. All he needs now is some rest and someone to make him something nice and hot to eat>


    ''I guess I should go pay him a visit this morning then.''


    <You should hurry because he has already gotten up from his bed to do the things he does every morning and that''s not good for him>


    <Seriously?>


    <Yeah, and you should also take your wife or that girl who likes fawning over him since Emma has a situation>


    ''The girl that likes fawning over him? You mean Amber?''


    <Who else is there?>


    ''That''s not a very nice way to describe someone, Cat, but I guess you''re not wrong.''


    <I''mpletely right, she does¡­ >


    ''That''s enough chit-chat.'' The goalkeeper interjected before getting up from the seat. ''I came out here to get some practice in not gossip with you.''


    <It''s rude of you to assume that I was about to start a gossip>


    [ Stat points: 40 ]


    [ Strength: 40 ]


    [ Dexterity: 70 ]


    [ Endurance: 46 ]


    ''I''ll have to put these stat points to good use before the second leg against Lyon.''


    <Ignoring me now, are you?>


    ''I guess having my dexterity that high wasn''t enough to save us from that loss.''


    <There''s a reason why football is a team sport, if you throw the best yer in the world into a very bad and disorganized team with poor management, he will be able to make some impact with his individual brilliance but if things don''t change after his arrival, the team won''t be able to move far despite having the best yer in the world in their team.


    <You did all you could do that day, the defense just wasn''t able to keep up with them that well but things might be different this time around if the system doesn''t start glitching again and yes, you might need to make use of your stat points>


    ''You know you didn''t have to start a lecture, but thank you.''


    <You''re wee>


    [ +10 stat points added to Dexterity ]


    [ +10 stat points added to Strength ]


    ________ ________


    A couple of days went by and Thursday was finally here, Olympique Lyonnais were finally on the home turf of Unique FC to finish what they started at their home.


    The atmosphere in the Wondanimo stadium was bustling as the home team were confidently cheering their team on hoping for aeback while the away fans were nudging their team to finish the job.


    Both teams were lined up alongside each other in front of the stadium now, Unique FC in their custom orange home kit and Lyon in their blue away kit.


    Unique FC''s goalkeeper was in a lemon green kit and Lyon''s goalkeeper in a ck kit.


    "One of these teams will have to end their Europa Conference League campaign here, today and although everything is pointing toward Unique FC being the team to say goodbye, aeback is still very much possible, and if they end up getting knocked out, they''ll still be leaving in style with what they did during the group stage." Jim articted.


    "Well, if Norman tries something differently today, he might pull it off, he has the talent to do so, too bad Mateo''s starting on the bench," Stevemented.


    "Well, he was bound to start on the bench after what happened in theirst match against Junami, I think the fans and his teammates are just happy that he is able to be a part of the match at least, there''s a lot riding on this match so they need every help they can get."


    The captains of both teams had to make their way to the officials for the coin toss after they were done shaking hands with each other.


    Unique FC ended up winning the coin toss which was something good for them, starting for the ball though not that much of a big deal was enough to give them an early lead if they yed their cards correctly.


    "Just before the match kicks off, let''s take a quick look at the lineups and formation and formation from both sides."


    After an intense amount of studying and strategizing, Norman finally decided to use the four-four-two formation but instead of using one attacking midfielder or two attacking midfielder like he usually did, he decided to bnce things out.


    Ferran and Martinez were up front as the attacking midfielders and then, Martinez and Frankie were behind.


    Their role in this match wasn''t really that of defensive midfielders, Martinez was more of a central midfielder who didn''t have the liberty of moving that far in to join the attack freely and Frankie was going to be ying more like a box-to-box midfielder, putting him behind was the trick he was trying to y.


    All that said, Norman made sure to tell them to prioritize defending if it ever came to that.


    Fred and Merino were up front as the attackers and then in defense, he had Norman, Aima, Adolf, and Rnd.


    Dave was the one in between the sticks as expected.


    Lyon were starting with the same formation they usedst week and the same starting eleven except that Duncan wasn''t starting, the midfielder was being reced by a yer named Novich.


    Unique FC yers were quite relieved after finding out about this, Duncan was a menace against them in the first leg so having him sit out the first half of the second leg was a huge relief for them.


    With everything now sorted, the yers just had to get into their positions before the match kicked off.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Keep a clean sheet ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +200 exp ]


    [ +15 skill upgrade points ]


    [ +10 stat points ]


    [ +1 attribute point ]


    ''The fact that I''m getting all those rewards for just keeping a clean sheet tells me just how tough this match is going to be.''

 Chapter 507 A Taste Of His Own Medicine

    <h4>Chapter 507 A Taste Of His Own Medicine</h4>


    As soon as the high-pitched sound of the referee''s whistle pierced through the air, Fred sent the ball rolling to Ferran and Without hesitation, the midfielder pushed the ball back to Martinez.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    They yed it safe for now, passing the ball around in their own half and near the halfway line, they were doing well in keeping the ball away from Lyon, but so far they had been unable to move forward with it.


    Frankie received the ball from Ferran after managing to escape from almost losing it near the edge of the box.


    "Frankie."


    The midfielder moved a little forward with the ball before he turned and sent it rolling to Rnd down the left.


    "Rnd."


    "They''re not trying anything brash and I guess that''s the right move because if they concede a goal first, it might as well be over for them."


    Rnd tried to run forward with the ball, but he had Antoine in his way so he sent it rolling to Martinez who quickly linked it up to Minino.


    "Minino."


    Minino had two yers in front of him, Marcel and Novich. The midfielder was able to push past Novich with a body faint but before he could go any further with it, Marcel got his foot on it and sent it rolling out for a throw-in.


    "The first throw of the game against Lyon."


    Norman quickly rushed to the sidelines and picked up the ball, he threw it to Martinez as fast as he could, and without hesitation, the midfielder sent the ball flying over to Merino up ahead.


    The winger brought the ball down with his chest, and just before the yer close to him could do anything to put him in a tough spot, he sent the ball rolling to Fred who quickly pushed it back to Ferran with a backheel pass.


    As soon as the midfielder got his foot on the ball, he got past Novich with a nutmeg and quickly sent the ball flying down the left.


    "Ferran gets past Novich and finds Rnd down the left."


    The left-back brought the ball down with his chest before getting past the defender who raced toward him at that moment to change his course.


    "Nicely done by Rnd, they''re on the move now!"


    The left-back raced down the middle as his teammates and the opposing yers ahead quickly got into the box and the other opposing yersing in hot from behind.


    The wing-back slowed down a little as he got closer to the box, and with the opposing yers surrounding him now, he tried to find Fred inside the box with a lob.


    The striker wasn''t in a good position to go for the goalpost because of all the yers around but he managed to get his head on the ball somehow and ended up heading it back to him.


    By that time, all the yers around the left back had already pushed forward a little, and as soon as he brought the ball down with his chest, he pushed forward with it a little to the right before he pulled his right foot back and struck it.


    "Rnd!"


    The goalkeeper was glued to a spot as the ball flew toward the top right-hand side but it ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that was so close! Just missed the goalpost by a few inches and ended up hitting the crossbar."


    Rnd bit his lower lip before kicking the floor, but the fans were happy with that attempt and even apuded him.


    That was enough to lighten up his mood a bit as he quickly made his way back to his position on their side of the pitch.


    The match continued with Lyon now able to get proper possession of the ball.


    They still had their coordination and great teamwork but breaking through Unique FC''s defense was sort of tough for them now.


    Then tried piercing through from the middle but Adolf and Martinez were there to keep Mason, especially Adolf.


    They tried attacking from both nks after that, but the wingbacks got help from the midfield to thwart their advances.


    Twenty-five minutes had already passed and Dave was yet to make any contribution to the match because Lyon were yet to fire a single shot on goal.


    The match was moving at a snail''s pace so far, Unique FC had just one shot which wasn''t on target, while their opponents had none.


    None of the sides were really dominating the other in terms of possession but Unique FC had one more possession so that was something.


    It took until the thirty-second minute for Lyon to win something that had a very good chance of giving them their first shot on goal.


    A free kick from twenty-five yards out a little to the right.


    Rnd had to get a little rough to stop Antoine from causing serious trouble for them, and although he didn''t get booked, they had something serious to deal with now.


    "The first set piece of the game, can they do something with this?" Jimmented. "Their third goal in the first leg came from a free kick but it wasn''t directly."


    "Yeah, Dave Richards is yet to concede directly from a free kick this season, I wonder if Antoine can change that." Steve expressed.


    "He has a good free-kick record, so maybe."


    Antoine was standing over the ball with his gaze moving over the four-man wall near the edge of the box to Dave who was standing in the center of his goal line, adjusting his gloves.


    The away fans were getting really rowdy now and of course, the home fans weren''t going to leave all the noise making to them.


    The winger was standing a good distance away from the ball now with both of his hands on his waist, all he was waiting for was the referee''s whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he took a deep breath before he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the goalpost with his right foot.


    "Antoine!"


    The ball flew toward the top right-hand corner with a neat swerve but Dave dived toward the ball just at the right time and he ended up catching it with both of his gloves.


    "And Dave says no, that''s the second time I''ve seen him catch a free kick like that, how does he even do that?!"


    ''This is our chance.''


    The goalkeeper quickly sprang up from the floor and sent the ball flying forward in an attempt to find Merino and start a counterattack.


    There was a yer a little ahead of the winger but neither he nor Merino were the ones to get to the ball first, it was a yer dressed in ck, Lyon''s goalkeeper.


    "What''s going on here?"


    The goalkeeper quickly pushed past Merino as soon as he got possession of the ball and just after pushing forward with it one more time, he fired the ball straight toward the goalpost.


    "Huh?" Dave gasped.


    This was something he had failed to anticipate, and there was no way he was going to anticipate something like that.


    However, he was able to dive toward the right side of the goalpost just to get the tip of his gloves on the ball in the nick of time and send it over the bar for a corner kick.


    "Giovanni doing the unexpected! What was that?!"


    Dave was still lying on the floor after pulling off that save and his breathing had gotten a little fast-paced.


    "Well, it looks like Dave got a taste of his own medicine, he might be taking the whole dose next time," Stevemented.

 Chapter 508 Unmatched Accuracy

    <h4>Chapter 508 Unmatched uracy</h4>


    The first half was quite tough for both teams but their strengths were equally matched and the match ended in a draw.


    "This has been quite the first half, and while Lyon might be happy with the result so far, Unique FC aren''t getting anywhere here," Jimmented.


    "Yeah, they''ll need to step things up in the second half if they want to turn things around." Steve expressed. "But anyway, they''ve handled themselves well so far, they''ve gotten a couple of good chances and have been great defensively."


    "Yeah, but they need Mateo up front, the home fans will be hoping for Norman to bring him on in the second half."


    The yers were all in the locker room now and that included Unique FC yers.


    Norman was standing in front of them just like always and he was tapping his right foot on the floor.


    "You''ve all done pretty well so far." He uttered. "However, we need goals or this won''t end well for us. Fred, you know you could have scored from that cross."


    Fred didn''t reply to that and just slowly lowered his gaze.


    "The midfield has been the best so far, but I need you to push up front more Frankie, your presence up there will make things easier up there."


    ''Yeah, he is the all-rounder after all, I just hope he doesn''t get injured again running around too much.''


    "Mateo will being in sometime in the second half as expected but if we can end this without him, I would prefer that instead. We''re handling things well so far, two goals is all we need, and after that, we focus more on defense and win with the away goal rule, that''s the most efficient way to do things right now."


    <I wonder how you''re going to deal with the not conceding a goal part>


    ''And why are you saying that now?''


    <Nothing, I just have a feeling that things will get tougher in the second half just like it did in the first leg>


    ''Hmmm.''


    _______ ______


    A couple of minutester and the yers had to head back to the pitch for the second half.


    "Wee back everyone, the second half is about to kick off as we can see the yers from both teams making their way to the pitch," Jim announced as the yers made their way to the pitch alongside each other.


    "Unique FC will be looking to pull all their guns for thesest forty-five minutes to pull through this one and I know Olympique Lyonnais will be doing everything possible to make sure they keep them pinned them down, a draw is a win for them here today and if Unique FC somehow bes too much for them then losing by a goal won''t be any problem."


    Antoine was standing over the ball now with everyone else standing by in their positions and the fans from both sides cheering on their teams.


    It didn''t take long before that high-pitched sound pierced through the air and as soon as Antoine heard it, he pushed the ball to Novich.


    "There''s the whistle and we are on the way."


    Novich tried to y Marcel through but Frankie got in the way quickly so he ended up pushing it back to the midfielder behind him.


    The yer sent the ball rolling to Mason and without hesitation, the striker sent the ball rolling to Antoine.


    "Antoine."


    The winger tried to get past Rnd with a body feint but Ferran showed up from nowhere and ended up sweeping the ball off his feet just before he could get past the left back.


    "Ferran wins the ball for his team."


    The midfielder had a lot to deal with upfront so he decided to send the ball rolling back to Frankie who immediately sent it rolling to Martinez because of Mason who was quickly heading toward him.


    "Martinez."


    Martinez quickly pushed past Mason with the ball before he sent it rolling to Minino.


    "They''re making their move forward."


    Minino quickly pushed the ball to Merino who had to quickly trap back with it and find Ferran near the center of the pitch.


    "Sends it back to Ferran."


    Ferran got back the yer in front of him with a body feint but there was another one in his way so he had to quickly turn to the right and send the ball rolling to Merino.


    The winger quickly dragged the ball close to the sideline because of the yer marking him.


    He stalled for a while because he didn''t want to act carelessly and lose the ball, he waited until he found an opening in the yer''s legs and he swiftly put the ball through there before zooming past him.


    "He gets through skillfully and magnificently, maybe they can do something with this one."


    The winger raced down the wing with the ball with everyone else quickly covering up. He was just about to run into the left back in the area when he decided to send the ball flying into the box in an effort to find either Fred or Martinez who were in the same area.


    He managed to get the ball into the area but one of the opposing yers in the area rose higher than both of them to get his head on the ball and push it out.


    "It''s cleared."


    Luckily for Unique FC, the ball fell to the feet of Ferran near the edge of the box, and it looked like the winger was going to go for the shot there when Novich popped up from nowhere and brushed him down.


    "Oh, dear."


    That wasn''t a very good challenge and the referee was aware of that as he blew his whistle before quickly rushing to the area to show the midfielder a yellow card.


    "That''s a well-deserved yellow card, and now Unique FC have a free kick in a very good spot," Jimmented.


    "This could be their chance to move one step closer to their goal," Steve said. "The question now is, who''s going to take it?"


    Lyon were setting up their four-man wall inside the box now with Ferran standing over the ball with both of his hands on his waist.


    Most of the fans in the stands had already concluded that he was going to be the one taking it when he quickly turned to his side of the pitch and raised.


    <Looks like that''s cue>


    ''Yeah, I know.'' The goalkeeper sighed inwardly before he began to jog his way to the area.


    Unique FC fans started apuding and screaming as soon as they spotted the goalkeeper making his way to the area, they knew who they wanted to take the free kick.


    "Are you sure about this?" Dave asked as soon as he got to the midfielder.


    "Yeah, I don''t know who''s the better free-kick taker between you and Mateo, something tells me you''re slightly better which is sort of funny but there''s no doubt that you''re better than me. If we were already winning this match, I would have insisted on taking it but in a situation like this, you have to take it." He articted.


    "Looks like it''s going to be goalkeeper versus goalkeeper, Dave''s taking up another free kick, he''s the yer with the best conversion rate in the team at the moment and he has another chance to widen the gap." Jim expressed.


    "On the other hand, if this goes the wrong way then Lyon could do something and make this game way more difficult for them."


    The goalkeeper was standing over the ball now with his gaze prating the wall to get to the goalpost and Giovanni who was standing on his goal line with a calm expression on his face.


    ''Do I need to activate shot-stopper for this and get the strength boost?''


    <Not really you already have enough strength without that, your focus should be on your technique, you''ll have to find the angles to beat this one>


    ''Yeah, that applies to every good goalkeeper.''


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle, and as soon as Dave heard it, he slowly took two steps backward.


    "Alright." He muttered before taking a deep breath.


    He quickly closed up on the ball just after that, and with the tip of his left boot hitting the floor, he pulled his foot up front and struck the ball.


    When it came to free kicks, he always preferred adding as much shot power as possible but he tried his best to refrain from overdoing it and sending the ball over the bar.


    He sent the ball flying toward the top right-hand corner of the goalpost and although Giovanni managed to get the tip of his gloves on it, the shot power was just too much for him to handle as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before falling into the goalpost.


    "And he smashed it straight into the goalpost!"


    The goalkeeper quickly took off to the sidelines screaming at the top of his voice, and as soon as he got there, he jumped as high as he could and punched the air.


    "His uracy is unmatched, just got it right where he wanted it and Giovanni just couldn''t stop that."


    "Yeah, and now they''re a step closer, things are really starting to look up for them."

 Chapter 509 Pay Back

    <h4>Chapter 509 Pay Back</h4>


    That goal from Dave was just what the team needed to boost their confidence and the same could be said about the fans who were loudly chanting the name of the goalkeeper as he made his way back to his goalpost.


    "Another free-kick goal for Dave, when was thest time we witnessed a goalkeeper with so much precision, Unique FC have gems in their squad, they have everything it takes to win this game." Jim articted.


    "But anyway, that''s his fourth free kick goal out of seven tries, he has only really failed to score from a free kick twice, the other one was an assist." Steve expressed. "At the moment, he''s the best free-kick taker in this team, I think he''s taken enough free kicks to establish that."


    ''Looks like we need one more goal now to seal this, Cat.'' The goalkeeper said subconsciously after getting to his goalpost.


    <It''s not going to be that easy, remember you still have to stop yourself from conceding and considering you conceded three goalsst time>


    ''Hey, what''s wrong with you? Being pessimistic is my role, you''re supposed to be the optimistic one.''


    <Really?>


    ''Yeah, but anyway, I''m going to do everything I can to make sure we win this since I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now, just sit tight and watch, Cat.''


    <Hmph>


    The match resumed after the goal celebrations and Lyon got straight to work.


    They needed to score a goal to make sure something unfortunate didn''t happen to them today because if Unique FC scores a second goal and then decided to park the bus, then everything was over for them.


    They still had the advantage, and they had to make the most of that.


    Unique FC thought they were going to get more aggressive with their attacks like they did in the first leg but that wasn''t the case.


    ying things safe would be better for them because putting most of their attention into the attack was going to leave them open enough in the back for Unique FC to counterattack whenever they got the chance.


    They didn''t exactly park the bus but more of their effort was now in their defense, it was obvious that they were leaning toward ending the match this way, it was their safest option after all.


    Their y progression slowly began to slow down and Unique FC began to get more aggressive winning the balls in the toughest situations.


    The home team were starting to have more possession of the ball but every attacking attempt by them had failed so far.


    There was always someone there to block the attempt and the only shot they had managed to get off came from Merino.


    The winger got to the edge of the box after somehow managing to dribble past both of the yers in front of him, but he only managed to stagger his way through, and with no time topose himself properly, he just took the shot.


    The ball went straight toward the right side and ended up hitting the post before flying out for a goal kick.


    The match had just entered the sixtieth minute now and Unique FC were the ones with the ball.


    They were passing around on Lyon''s side of the pitch trying to get closer to their box but the away team were doing quite well in preventing their advancement so far.


    ''Hmmm, I see what they''re trying to do here.''


    <Oh, and what''s that?>


    ''It doesn''t make sense that they suddenly stopped trying to attack that much, they''re the better team offensively and they know that, but the way we''ve organized the defense and the midfield to help out everywhere, their direct approach hasn''t been that effective against us like it was in the first leg.''


    <So?>


    ''They''re trying a different approach, they want to make us feel like we''re overpowering them, and then when we make a mistake up front, they can quickly move the ball up front and create a counterattack, that way, their chances of turning this around will be higher.''


    <Wow, I''m impressed>


    ''Huh?''


    <That''s exactly what''s going on and you figured it out>


    ''Yeah, I wouldn''t tell you about it if I wasn''t sure about it and why do I feel like this is one of your ''I''m no longer dumb moments?''


    <Because it is. But anyway, you know what to do, right?>


    ''Yeah, just step further upfront and prevent the chance of a counterattack ever happening.''


    He was standing near the edge of his box before but now he was moving further up front, he made sure not to move too far away from his goalpost because they could just lob the ball over him from far away and that would make him look really bad.


    ''This could also work against them because of how close they''re letting us get to their side but let''s see how things y out.''


    Merino received the ball from Ferran and pushed a little down the right wing with it before he turned and quickly sent it rolling to Minino.


    "Minino," Jimmented. "Unique FC are starting to look like the better team here, that was uncertain before, looks like that goal really pushed their serious button further down."


    "Either that or it pulled Lyon''s serious button a little up."


    Minino quickly sent the ball flying over to Rnd down the left wing and without hesitation, the wing-back pushed the ball back to Ferran just before the yer heading toward could get to him.


    The yer quickly turned to the midfielder and he used that opportunity to send the ball rolling back to Rnd.


    The wing-back got his foot on the ball and quickly took off down the wing with it.


    He was just about to run into the right back there when he quickly pulled back with the ball to disorient both him and the yer right behind him.


    With those two out of the way, he quickly drilled the ball in low toward Fred who was moving into the box at that moment.


    The striker had two opposing yers tagging along with him so he did the only thing he could do in that situation.


    He skipped over the ball and that sent it off toward Frankie who was unmarked near the edge of the box.


    "Oh, this could be their chance!"


    The midfielder quickly struck the ball with his left foot just before any of the opposing yers could get to him.


    "Frankie!"


    Giovanni quickly dived toward the right side of the goalpost at that time and with the tip of his glove he was able to send the ball rolling out for a corner kick.


    "Oh, what a close save from Giovanni! He''s doing everything possible to make sure his team stays in this."


    "They have a corner kick to deal with, but before that, it looks like there''s going to be a substitution from Olympique Lyonnais," Stevemented.


    Lyon were making the first change of the game and it was Noviching out to be reced by Duncan.


    "Making the first substitution and it''s Duncan making his way to the pitch, Lyon just got some upgrade, or maybe not."


    With the attacking midfielder now on the pitch, the corner kick was set to be taken as Ferran could be seen standing over it with his gaze on the yers running around inside the box.


    Once everything was confirmed, the referee blew his whistle and as soon as Ferran heard it, he took a deep breath before taking two steps backward.


    He didn''t rush to kick the ball and studied the movements of the yers inside the box for a couple of seconds before he closed up on the ball and sent it flying in with his left foot.


    "He sends it flying in."


    He was trying to find Frankie in the middle near the edge of the box but one of the defenders in the area figured that out in time to close up on the area and head the ball toward the right back.


    "Uh oh."


    Rnd tried to close up and steal the ball but he had already sent it flying forward.


    "They''re trying to start a counterattack here!"


    Mason held Adolf down just to give Duncan the chance to push forward.


    The ball flew past the halfway line and bounced on the floor but just before the attacking midfielder could get his head to it, Dave swooshed in and stole it with his head.


    "Woah, that''s a dangerous move from Dave and he''s not clear yet!"


    Mason rushed in to sweep the ball off the goalkeeper''s feet because doing that would surely guarantee them a goal but Dave was fast enough to chip the ball over him before quickly jumping over him.


    After that, he proceeded to push the ball a little forward before he proceeded to fire it straight toward the goalpost.


    ''You''re always so quick to dive toward the right.''


    He sent the ball flying toward the top left-hand corner, that could have been the big moment for Unique FC but somehow Giovanni managed to get the tip of his gloves on it just enough for it to hit the crossbar and fly over.


    "Oh, that was so close! What a wonderful strike from Dave and what a magnificent save from Giovanni!"


    "That was risky though, any wrong move and things would have gotten worse for them," Stevemented. "But anyway, they just won another corner kick and it looks like there''s going to be another corner kick."


    "Oh, they''re bringing in their secret weapon, looks like Mateo Smith will be joining the match."


    <I guess he''s decided he can''t win this without him>

 Chapter 510 The Last Thirty Minutes

    <h4>Chapter 510 The Last Thirty Minutes</h4>


    With the match nearing the seventieth minute now, Fred had to make way for Mateo who Norman had finally decided to bring into the game.


    They had gotten a couple of chances to seal the game so far in this half but with Giovanni being the beast he was in between the sticks, those chances didn''t turn out quite well.


    He had just barely over thirty minutes left so he had to do something or risk losing this game.


    Mateo had gone through a lot of check ups before Norman made the decision to put him on the bench today.


    There wouldn''t have been any problem if he had decided to start him but he didn''t believe that the winger was all that well and tried to see what he could do without him.


    The winger was quickly making his way to the opposition box now as the home fans got up from their seats to apud him.


    It was a standing ovation, one that was very well expected.


    "Lyon pulled in Duncan and Mateo is now on the pitch for the home team, the match was already interesting but it''s about to take a whole new turn in the interesting route and I''m here for it." Jim sounded quite ecstatic as those words left his lips.


    With Mateo now on the pitch, it was time for Ferran to take the corner kick, another chance for them to see what they could do.


    Just as the clock hit the seventieth minute, the referee blew his whistle and as soon as Ferran heard it, he slowly took two steps backward before he closed up on the ball andunched it into the box from the top.


    He sent it flying a little closer to the edge of the box because that was exactly where Frankie was with just one yer marking him, but just before the ball could get to the midfielder, it curled a little deeper into the box.


    That caused it topletely evade Frankie and Merino couldn''t get his head on it either as one of the opposing defenders in the box got his head on the ball and sent it flying out a little to the right.


    "It''s cleared!"


    That was exactly where Mateo had been waiting but he wasn''t alone.


    Just as he brought the ball down and trapped it near the edge of the box, the left back quickly rushed to him but the winger quickly drifted off a little to the right with the ball before firing it straight toward the goalpost.


    "Mateo!"


    Because of how the defender closed up on him, he was only able to aim for the top right-hand corner.


    Giovanni was standing right there and even raised his left hand to try and stop it but there was no point as the ball ended up flying over the bar for a goal kick.


    "Oh, he just couldn''t get it on target, his first shot of the game just a few seconds aftering on but it was a wasted effort," Stevemented.


    "The fans would have jumped off the stands if he had managed to pull that off."


    ''With Mateo now on the pitch, we should be able to get a second goal with our teamwork and a little bit of individual brilliance from him.''


    <You''re not wrong to believe that but you should remember that a top yer''s individual brilliance doesn''t show in every match>


    The game had resumed now and just as expected, Lyon were back to trying to kill time on their side.


    Duncan sent the ball rolling to Antoine as soon as he received it from one of the central defenders, and just before both Rnd and Ferran could gang up on the winger near the halfway line, he sent it rolling back to Duncan.


    "Lyon are not making any real effort to attack, they''re just trying to keep hold of the ball and let time run out, Unique FC are obviously not happy with that," Jimmented.


    Duncan had to push the ball back to the midfield behind a little to the left and as soon as he sent the ball rolling that way, Martinez immediately began to move over there.


    That was the moment Unique FC began to get aggressive with the way they were chasing the ball and that forced Lyon to start moving further down on their side of the pitch.


    "Unique FC finally doing something about the situation Lyon are trying to force them into."


    With Marcel now forced back along with the rest of his teammates, he sent the ball rolling to the left back who had the name Levi above the number two on the back of his jersey.


    Levi pushed forward with the ball a little and just before both Mateo and Martinez could close up on him, he sent the ball flying forward toward the right in an attempt to find Antoine, getting the ball through to Antoine would give them a chance to quickly advance forward to do something.


    That turned out to be a mistake as Rnd managed to get his head on the ball first and he sent it flying to Ferran who quickly flicked it to Frankie before it could touch the floor and Frankie didn''t waste any time in taking off with it.


    "Unique FC finally have the ball and they''re quickly pushing forward with it!"


    Frankie''s shirt was drenched with sweat and his breathing had gotten quite fast-paced but he kept to cover the space he still had left before anyone would get in his way.


    Despite that, someone managed to get in his way before he could get close enough to the edge of the box but after drifting a little to the right, he sent the ball rolling to Mateo who quickly pierced through Levi with a neat nutmeg.


    The defender quickly got up from the floor and rushed to the winger to get the ball off his feet and Mateo, being aware of him, quickly moved closer to the sidelines before taking off further down the wing before his backup could get close enough to pose any problem to him.


    "Mateo dominates the right wing just as much as he dominates the left wing and he''s not done yet."


    Crossing the ball from the wing was an option but Mateo didn''t take that option, instead, he managed to force his way into the box with three Lyon yers right behind him and one in front of him.


    One of them tried to grab his arm with the other one pulling on his shirt and the one in front of him stretching his right leg to stop him.


    It was a moment of weariness for the Olympique Lyonnais fans and while they were worried, Unique FC fans were hanging on the edge of their seats.


    "Mateo''s still going, can he put it away!"


    The winger managed to evade the yer in front of him to get a clear shooting chance but getting past the yer came with the cost of getting knocked off bnce and just before he could hit the floor, he tried to get the ball to Merino.


    However, his pass was weak and Giovanni ended up grabbing the ball before things could go any further.


    "Oh, Giovanni steps up to kill the danger, the fans must be relieved now."


    Mateo who was still on the floor now raised both of his hands calling for a foul because he got pulled on a couple of times inside the box, but the referee didn''t consider it as Giovanni quickly sent the ball flying out.


    "That was such a great chance for the home team to take the lead and grab the advantage, he should have thought of passing that to someone else earlier."

 Chapter 511 Ray Of Hope

    Chapter 511 Ray Of Hope


    The time being disyed on the clock now was eighty-five minutes and at that moment, Marcel was quickly racing down the left wing with the ball.


    The winger was about to run into Norman when he sent the ball rolling back to Duncan.


    They were starting to attack seriously now after their manager saw just how dangerous Unique FC were starting to get with their attacks.


    He was aware that if he didn''t do something quickly then Unique FC might end up getting that second goal and that would leave them in the dust.


    What he wanted to do was get a goal in this match, a goal that would make their goal aggregate four goals to two andpletely shatter every ounce of hope Unique FC had of winning the match.


    There had been a couple of changes in the meantime, Norman made three changes which included recing Martinez with Minino, Merino with Fredinho, and finally, Aima was reced by Pirlo.


    That looked like thest changes he was going to be making the game as there were only five minutes of normal y time left.


    The only changes Lyon''s manager made was recing two of the midfielders backing Duncan up.


    They had not really done anything impactful in the game so far so he was hoping that their recements were going to change that.


    Duncan pushed the ball to the midfielder on his right who had the name Alex written below the number twenty-two on the back of his shirt, and just a second after getting his foot on the ball, Alex sent the ball rolling to Antoine down the right wing.


    "Antoine," Jim uttered. "Things are really heating up here, Unique FC have to avoid conceding a goal while trying to get that equalizer with just four minutes left in the game."


    "Yeah, they''re backed in the corner. Lyon have the advantage but it''s not a very strong one, everything they''ve built up coulde crumbling at any moment if they''re not careful." Steve articted.


    Antoine was in front of Rnd now trying to confuse the full-back with his leg overs, and after wasting the wing-back''s time for a while, he sent the ball to Mason.


    "Pushes it to Mason but there''s no way for him to break through."


    The striker was well aware that there was no way for him to break through and dribbling wasn''t an option in the position he was in but there was no need for him to do any of that.


    He quickly tried to force his way through the defense before he tried and sent the ball rolling back to Duncan.


    The midfielder quickly pushed forward with the ball before quickly pulling his right foot back just before both Ferran and Frankie could get to him.


    "Oh, he''s going to try his luck from here!"


    "Uh oh." Dave gasped.


    Everyone thought he was going to shoot and that was just what he wanted them to think as he suddenly turned to the right and lobbed the ball over to that side in an attempt to find Antoine.


    Rnd was still caught in the moment of thinking the midfielder took the shot so he didn''t exactly notice when the winger slipped past him.


    However, he was able to quickly realize what was going on and closed up on Antoine just as he brought the ball down with his head.


    He didn''t give the winger the space to move closer to the box with it and that left him with no other choice than crossing it in.


    Mason and Duncan were already inside the box as he quickly floated the ball in in an attempt to find them but just before anyone in the box could get their head on the ball, Dave quickly stepped forward and grabbed the ball with both of his gloves without bringing anyone but himself down.


    "Oh,e on!" Antoine bit his lower lip before kicking the floor.


    "I''m not taking that risk." The goalkeeper muttered before he quickly sprang up on his feet and sent the ball flying toward Mateo a little to the right.


    Mateo brought the ball down right near the halfway line but he couldn''t really start a counterattack because a couple of Lyon defenders had already zoomed past him.


    However, there were spaces that they were yet to cover and he was nning to take advantage of that.


    The winger quickly took off with the ball down the right wing with Duncan hot on his trail as he had a lot of space to cover on that side.


    "Mateo quickly taking off with the ball, can hee up with something with just a minute of normal time left?"


    The winger was about to run into Levi when he quickly sent the ball rolling to Frankie who was a little ahead of him and was just about to close up on the edge of the box.


    There was a yer right in front of him, but the midfielder used the momentum of the moving back to get the ball past him before slipping past him himself.


    The midfielder had a clear path to shoot from now but with yersing in from both sides in front of him and the other yersing from behind, it wasn''t going tost for long.


    "It''s a clear path for Frankie, could this be that moment?!"


    The midfielder didn''t hesitate in pulling his right foot back, and just as his boot connected with the ball once again, he sent it flying toward the top left bin.


    "Frankie!"


    He seemed to have aimed too high because, from that close-up, Giovanni didn''t really have the reaction speed.


    There wasn''t really anything he could do besides watch as the ball flew into the goalpost and pulled the back as if it was going to tear through it.


    The fans who were hanging on the edge of their seat before he took the shot quickly sprang up from their seats and began to scream as loud as they could as the midfielder took off his shirt and began to fling it as he raced to the sidelines.


    "Just as the time hit the nieth minute, Frankie took the shot in search of that goal of hope and he did note back empty-handed. While he has brought the ray of hope to his people with that goal, he has shattered the spirits of his opponents." Jim expressed with an enthusiastic voice.


    "A wonderful strike from Frankie to equalize the aggregate scoreline and give his team that advantage."


    The yers were still running wild in front of the fans who weren''t any different, and while they were doing that, Dave was busy punching the air inside his box with a broad smile on his face.


    <Looks like you guys might just escape this one>

 Chapter 512 Thats Football For You

    Chapter 512 That''s Football For You


    There were seven minutes of added time after the match hit the nieth minute and from the first to the fourth minute of that added time, Lyon had just been restless.


    They''ve been pressing high against Unique FC trying to find an opening to use to their advantage, they were starting to get quite desperate but so far, Unique FC has been holding them off just fine.


    However, the fact that their defense was starting to get a bit shaky was undeniable.


    Just as the clock hit the ny-fifth minute, Duncan quickly sent the ball rolling toward Antoine down the right nk.


    "Antoine."


    The winger had Rnd in front of him just like always, passing to someone else would be the best option since getting past the fullback had been a problem for him since the start of the game.


    However, the winger didn''t have any intention of passing the ball to someone else, at least not yet.


    He flew both of his legs over the ball simultaneously before quickly getting past the fullback courtesy of a very fast snake bite.


    "Oh, Antoine''s through here but he still has Rnd right behind him," Jimmented with a very enthusiastic ring to his voice.


    The winger was inside the box now but he needed to do something about Pirlo who was in front of him and Rnd who was right behind him, taking the center back in front of him was an option but he had nothing like that in mind.


    With everyone quickly moving closer to the boxer, the winger quickly pushed the ball down to Duncan who was right at the edge of the box in the middle.


    "It''s in the foot of Duncan near the edge of the box, is he going to try something from there?!"


    The midfielder had Adolf right in front of him but just as the center-back stretched his leg to stop him, he quickly pushed the ball toward the right before firing straight toward the goalpost with his right foot.


    "Duncan!"


    [ Ball ma activated ]


    The ball was heading toward the top right-hand corner and Dave was right onto it.


    However, there was really no need for him to go after it as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that was so close!"


    Seeing that ball go over like that, the midfielder couldn''t help but bite his lower lip before kicking the floor in frustration.


    That shot had Lyon fans on the edge of their seats but after seeing it go over the bar like that, they just sat back in their seats with sighs of disappointment.


    Unique FC fans on the other hand were just relentlessly cheering on their team, their team had the advantage now and they were going to make sure they gave them every form of motivation needed to keep it.


    "Duncan just needed to bring the ball down a bit, the elevation was just too much," Jimmented.


    "Yeah, but even if he had done that, something tells me that Dave would have stopped it somehow."


    With the ball going over the bar like that, Dave had to send it back in so that the game could continue, and for that, he ced the ball on the edge of the six-yard box.


    On a normal asion but he sure was taking his time this time around.


    There was only a minute of added time left in the game and looking at that, Lyon yers were starting to get irritated and they weren''t trying to hide it.


    <Hey, you better send the ball out or you''re going to get booked>


    ''Yeah, I''m aware of that.'' He replied subconsciously before rolling the ball to Adolf who immediately sent it rolling to Rnd.


    "With only a couple of seconds left in the game, Unique FC will want to hold onto the ball and see this through, they''re almost through to the quarterfinals of the Conference League."


    It was obvious to Lyon yers that their opponents just wanted to hug the ball and waste time on their side, and for that very reason, they got super aggressive.


    Alex quickly rushed to Rnd as soon as he moved a little forward with the ball, but just before he could get to the fullback, he sent the ball rolling to Adolf who quickly turned with it before finding Minino a little down the right on their side of the pitch.


    Marcel along with Duncan quickly tried to close down the midfielder from both sides and Minino not having any intention of taking any risks quickly sent the ball rolling to Frankie who quickly linked it up to Ferran near the halfway line.


    "Ferran."


    The midfielder was just about to turn with the ball when Alex rushed in from nowhere and swept the ball off his feet.


    The midfielder came crashing to the floor leaving the ball to roll forward and now there was a contest for it.


    A contest between Frankie and Alex who were just about equally the same distance away from the ball.


    However, Frankie had help, as payback for putting him on the floor like that, Ferran stretched his leg a little just to get it in his way.


    Alex ended up tripping on the leg, and wanting to keep himself standing by all means, he ended up staggering forward to the extent that his hands almost touched the floor.


    That gave Frankie the time he needed to get to the ball and quickly sent it flying forward.


    With the ball still in the air, the referee blew his whistle for the first time, the high-pitched sound resounded through the stadium for the second time just before the ball could hit the floor and by that time, Unique FC yers had already begun to raise their hands.


    The referee blew his whistle for the third and final time just after the ball hit the floor, and that right there was the end of everything.


    "Oh, the referee has decided that he has seen enough. It''s a marvelous two-goal victory, a victory that sees theme from behind to beat Olympique Lyonnais with the away goal advantage." Jim articted. "We thought it was over for them when they lost three goals to onest week but they''ve just shown us today what they''re really capable of, this team''s fire continues to burn passionately this season, it''s onto the quarterfinals for them, sad for Lyon but that''s football for you."


    Lyon yers had devastated looks on their faces and a few of them were even sitting on the floor with their gaze lowered, this was a very painful loss for them after everything they did in the first leg.


    Unique FC on the other hand were not taking it easy with the celebrations, all the yers on the bench rushed to the pitch as soon as the referee concluded the match, and even Norman got in on the fun.


    "This is a marvelous win for Unique FC, that Conference League dream is still alive for them, I wonder how they''ll do I''m the quarterfinals."


    Dave sure got crowded by his teammates on the pitch and that was understandable given the fact that he yed a key part in their victory today not just by stopping shots but by contributing to both goals.


    The goalkeeper was announced as the man of the match at the end of the game but that wasn''t the only thing he could smile about tonight.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ Rewards ]


    [ +200 exp received ]


    [ +15 upgrade points received ]


    [ +10 stat points received ]


    [ +1 attribute received ]


    ''Finally.''

 Chapter 513: Post-Match Interview

    Beating Lyon was something Unique FC needed to do to keep their treble dream alive, and now that they had seeded in aplishing that, they were going to move on to the next round.


    They could move on to the quarterfinals where things were going to keep getting difficult for them.


    They had Real Sociedad to face in the quarterfinals, the team that had been on fire this season in the Conference League. Their chance of getting knocked out against them was quite high but just like someone once said, nothing is impossible in football.


    With the match now over, Dave had to deal with a reporter who wanted to ask him some questions.


    He was expecting to see Amber since this was a match that happened in the Wondanimo stadium but she was nowhere to be found.


    He could tell that thedy in front of him was from the same newspany and that led him to ask himself a question.


    ''Did they get someone else in the department to fill in for Emma?''


    "So, Dave, you guys were two goals downing into this match in the Wondanimo stadium but somehow you guys managed to scrape through with a two-goal victory that saw you progress to the next round with the away goal rule. How exactly did you guys turn everything around? A lot of people were quite certain that you guys were out of thepetition after that first-leg defeat."


    "How did we turn it around? Well, if you watched the match you would know." He remarked, sarcastically. "But on a serious note, that loss had been on the back of our minds since that day. We''ve been thinking about it since that day, and not wanting to get knocked out, we trained hard, our coach came up with strategies to help us turn it around, and when we came on the pitch we tried to do our best.


    "Their defense was quite tough to crack and then that free kick happened and things began to look up for us, Mateo was finally allowed to join the match in thete minutes and he didn''t disappoint, we just worked hard for it, and it all worked out in the end."


    "Okay, next question. There are a good number of people talking about how you were the main man behind this victory and I think agree with that sentiment, but what do you have to say about that?"


    "Well, I think this victory was overall a team effort, everyone worked hard to make sure it happened but if they think I contributed more to the victory, then I don''t think I have anything to object that notion with.


    "I mean I faced a lot of shots that were quite hard to stop and then there was that free kick." He added.


    "Alright,st question. As you already know, your opponent in the quarterfinals is going to be Real Sociedad who, just like your team, has been quite impressive in thispetition so far. How do you feel about that, do you think you guys can get past them?"


    "Do I think we can get past them? Well, they''re tough, I know that quite well but just like every other team, they are not unbeatable, we are going to do everything we can to make sure we get past them, we have to." The goalkeeper replied with a hint of determination in his voice.


    That was thest question which meant that he was free to head down the tunnel now.


    Most of his teammates had already gone down, and knowing about that, he could tell what was going on in the locker room now.


    ''Can I see my post-match rewards now, Catherine?" He inquired as he slowly made his way down the stairs.


    <Sure, here you go>


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Goals conceded(0): +150 exp ]


    [ Scored a goal: +150 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 8.7 ]


    ''Looks like I yed a big part in this clean sheet.''


    <Yeah, you sure did, now try to replicate that performance against Real Sociedad>


    ''I''ll try.''


    He had gotten close enough to hear the noiseing from the locker room, and just like he expected, it was quite loud.


    He stopped beside the entrance and stood there for a while to listen to all the singing, chanting, and banging. He knew he had to go in there soon but just before that, he took a deep breath before bracing himself.


    He took a step forward expecting it to be like those times when he would just ignore them and go find a seat for himself, but just before he could take another step forward, someone grabbed him by his arm and dragged him into the center of the fun.


    This mischievous act was done by none other than Minino, and now that the goalkeeper was in the area, he made sure to keep a firm grip on him as all sorts of liquid went flying up and getting pushed down by the force of gravity.


    By the time the goalkeeper was able to escape, his jersey was somewhat wet and he didn''t like the smell of some of the stuff on it.


    He found Mateo sitting down beside his seat and let out a sigh before making his way to the area.


    "I see you had a brief moment of fun," Mateo remarked just as he sat down.


    He could tell the winger was trying hard to hold in hisughter.


    "If you want tough just go ahead and do it." The goalkeeper sighed before pulling off his shirt.


    "Well, I was doing that the whole time you were in there." He uttered with a little chuckle.


    "Yeah, I thought so."


    "But putting that aside, I just wanted to say, good job out there today, you were the main key to this victory."


    "Yeah, I know that but you also did quite well aftering, you know, providing that assist for Frankie to seal the game. I''m also sure things would have been a lot easier if you had started the game."


    "You can never be sure of that."


    "Yeah, I guess you have a point there."


    There was a little moment of silence between the two as Mateo slowly went through his phone, but at a moment he stopped and turned his gaze to the exit.


    "I guess it''s back to League football until next week." He uttered.


    "Yeah, and we have that match against Dynamo FC in the cup quarterfinals."

 Chapter 514: Tight Schedule

    Dave made his way straight home as soon as Norman told them everything he needed to tell them after the game.


    With his car, he was able to get home quickly, and just after opening the door to the house, she made her way to the couch and crashed down on it.


    "Oh, what a day." He let out a deep sigh before slowly closing his eyes.


    "Was that you?"


    Emma had to quickly rush out of the kitchen as soon as she heard the door move, and now she was sure that it was him.


    Seeing him lie down there with his hand on his face, she couldn''t help but smile proudly, she was aware of what he had been able to achieve today with his teammates and she was very proud of him.


    "It was that exhausting, huh?" She said before slowly lifting his head to sit down on the couch and put his head on herp.


    "Oh, darling, I didn''t even know when you entered." The goalkeeper uttered, clearly surprised.


    "I was in the kitchen."


    "Oh."


    "You guys did quite splendidly today, I was watching the¡­.."


    While she was talking about the match, he had his mind on another thing.


    During the earlier days of her pregnancy, her stomach didn''t get in the way whenever she used herps as pillows but the same couldn''t be said about now.


    While she was still talking about the match, he ced his hand on her stomach before turning his gaze to her.


    "Hey, did this get bigger recently?" He inquired with a straight face.


    That question cut Emma off from what she was saying and now she had her gaze on him.


    "Um, no, I don''t think so." She shook her head.


    "Oh, I see."


    "You weren''t even listening to anything I said just now, were you?"


    "Huh? You were saying something?"


    That question ticked her off the wrong way especially the way he asked it with a carefree voice, and she did the only thing she could do at that moment which was push his head off herp.


    "I''m going back to the kitchen."


    A few secondster, Dave watched her walk into the kitchen with a confused expression on his face.


    <You should pay more attention, Dave, stop spacing out>


    ''Noted.''


    _________ ________


    The next day came after a couple of hours, and that meant a brand new day for Dave to get up and do what he did best.


    They had a training session that morning but before that, he had his morning practice session to take care of.


    Training today was essential for the team''s recovery because their schedule was pretty tight now.


    After their match against Lyon on Thursday, they had a match against Rojo Sturm on Saturday which was just tomorrow so they had to be ready for it.


    They were at the top of the table in the league now, and keeping that top spot was something they had to focus on.


    ''Either way, I think beating Rojo Sturm should be easy.'' Dave said subconsciously as he joggled the ball in the middle of his practice pitch.


    He seemed to be having a discussion with Catherine regarding the match tomorrow.


    <I know, it should be easy for you guys if we go by team strength alone, but just having a strong team can''t win you games>


    ''If you''re going to talk about a good coach and management then we also have that.''


    <I know that better than you do, Dave, so there was no way that was the point I was about to make>


    ''Oh, so then what''s the point?''


    <I''m saying that ying a match with just a day of rest after that means that some of the yers won''t be back to full strength for the game against Rojo Sturm, anything can happen when yers aren''t ying the way they usually do>


    ''Oh, I see.''


    <I just hope Norman knows how to rotate his team properly>


    ''Don''t worry, he''ll know what to do.''


    __________ __________


    After having breakfast, Dave took his bath before making his way to the stadium for the training session.


    Everyone was there on time because none of them wanted to pay the fine for beingte, and with Norman already there, the training session kicked off.


    They started with indoor activities like yoga, stretches, and lunges to help their body recover from yesterday''s game, and after all that, they made their way to the pitch for a short training session.


    The outdoor training session started by running a couple ofps around the pitch just like always, and after that, they started to take on the drills Norman set out for them that day.


    While they were busy doing that, Norman was having a conversation with the assistant manager near the sidelines.


    A dark-haired man with sses that seemed to be too dark for anyone to see the color of his eyes through them.


    Compared to Norman, he had a huge body and his stomach was no exception.


    "This type of tight schedule really gets on my nerves." Norman voiced hisint with his gaze on the yers who were training on the pitch.


    "What are we going to do now? I mean about rotation, some of the yers won''t be able to keep up with tomorrow''s game because of fatigue." The assistant coach remarked.


    "I know, I''ve been thinking about that and I think the yer who would be most fatigued is Rnd, with Jonas being his only backup, he''s been ying a lot of full times for a while, and he might get injured if I keep using him this way."


    "Then we just have to start Jonas in the less intense matches and let Rnd rest, the match tomorrow is one of those matches." The assistant coach suggested.


    "Yeah, that''s my n but I was just wondering."


    "About what?"


    "What''s going to happen when Rnd gets injured? Jonas is good with technical y and has a passable defensive capability but he can''t really keep up with fast wingers, Rnd is the one who can do that, that''s why I start him most of the time." Norman disclosed.


    The assistant coach was quiet for a while as he scanned all the yers on the pitch with his eyes before turning his gaze back to Norman.


    "Then why don''t you just start Frankie in that position?"


    "Huh?"


    "I mean, he''s a midfielder but he also does well on the wings just like you''ve seen through all the practice matches, he''s also fast and has great defensive capabilities. Just like you said, he''s the yer who can y almost anywhere and perform well, I think the left-back is one of those positions for him."


    Hearing him say all that, Norman couldn''t help but agree with a nod as he slowly turned his gaze to Frankie on the pitch.


    "You''re absolutely right, why didn''t I think of this at first?"


    The coach was d that they were able toe up with something if Rnd should get injured one day but they still had other stuff to talk about.


    "Now let''s talk about the midfielders."

 Chapter 515: Higher Offensiveness

    Norman brought up talking about the midfielders but the truth was that there wasn''t really anything to talk about there.


    His most viable midfield trio was Ferran, Minino, and Martinez but sometimes recing Martinez with Frankie seemed to produce better results.


    In ranking, these four were the best midfielders in the team, but that didn''t mean that they were the only good midfielders in the team.


    Edward and Harry had been getting very little ytime since Martinez joined the team and Norman switched up his midfield to include a defensive midfielder, a very smart decision by him.


    That said, Edward and Harry were always on standby to join the game whenever they were needed.


    Having six good midfielders in the squad meant that rotating his midfield wasn''t something difficult although giving Edward or Harry ytime meant that he had topromise defensively or offensively because those two were natural central midfielders, there was nothing more and nothing less to that.


    Progressing y from the midfield with their passes was their niche but when it came to joining the attack or helping out defensively, they couldn''t do muchpared to the other four.


    Still, this wasn''t a problem Norman had to dwell on for too long because their next opponents weren''t that tough, all he needed was a goal or two to win the game and continue his reign at the top of the table.


    After discussing that and other topics rted to the squad and uing matches for a while, Norman decided to put some of the things they talked about to the test.


    It was a practice match and this time there was going to be a team of seven yers on both sides.


    The goalkeepers obviously filled in the first spot, and for the remaining six spots, he assigned four defenders.


    One of the main goals for this drill was to see how Frankie performed as a left back so ying with four yers at the back was necessary.


    However, this meant that there weren''t enough yers for both the midfield and attack but Norman had everything sorted out.


    He made sure both sides had a forward and a midfielder up front to deal with both the midfield and attacking duties. But still, it wasn''t like they were going to be the ones doing all the work, the defense were going to give them a hand, especially the left backs.


    Now that all that was settled, it was time to go through the selection process.


    Since the goalkeepers were the permanent members of both sides, Norman made them be the ones to choose their teammates to fit the assigned positions for the practice match.


    Being the senior goalkeeper, Dave was the first one to pick a teammate, and not wanting to waste this opportunity, the goalkeeper picked Mateo to be his forward.


    "Yeah, it was obvious he was going to pick him," Mininomented before inting both of his cheeks.


    Alexander also didn''t want to miss out on that front, since Mateo was already taken, he ended up picking Merino, the forward who was right behind Mateo when it came to pure football abilities.


    However, this was a dumb move from the young goalkeeper, let Catherine exin.


    <You already picked a forward so you can''t pick another one, he should have gone for the midfielders or defenders, and then picked Merinost, dumb move, kid>


    ''Maybe he didn''t clearly understand what the coach said.''


    <No, the coach was clear enough>


    Dave let out a sigh before proceeding to pick his other teammate.


    He needed a strong center back so he ended up picking up.


    For this round, Alexander seemed to have gotten a word of advice from Minino and decided to go for the midfielders.


    Minino was one of the midfielders in the team that he really looked up to and after that advice, he ended up picking him.


    Dave picked Rnd to be his left back after that and Alexander picked Aima to be his first center back.


    Norman was picked by Dave to be his right back and Alexander picked Pirlo to be his other center back.


    With that round of choices, the only options left for both goalkeepers were a second center-back and a midfielder for Dave, and two fullbacks for Alexander.


    Dave called upon Ferran to be his midfielder and Alexander, knowing that Frankie was already guaranteed to be his left back, picked Luis Roberto to be his center back.


    With that choice, Dave was left with Martinez to be his other center back and Frankie moved over to Alexander''s side to be his left back.


    To conclude everything it was Norman, Martinez, Adolf, Rnd, Ferran, and Mateo on Dave''s side.


    And on Alexander''s side was Luis Roberto, Pirlo, Aima, Frankie, Merino, and Minino.


    The coin toss was made, and it was determined that Alexander''s side were going to be the ones to kick things off.


    As soon as the high-pitched sound of the referee''s whistle resounded through the area, Merino sent the ball rolling to Minino who was right behind him.


    Ferran quickly rushed to the midfielder to take the ball off his feet at that moment but just before he could get to him, Minino moved the ball to Frankie who had already closed up down the wing.


    Frankie quickly took off with the ball down the left wing as Mateo tried to get in his way, but just before the forward could get to him, he returned the ball to Minino before quickly moving past Mateo to receive it back from him.


    Norman quickly rushed out and tried to tackle him, but the midfielder was fast enough to quickly shift toward the right with the ball.


    Mateo was still right behind him and Adolf was in front of him, but none of that really mattered because his target was the goalpost.


    He fired the ball straight toward the goalpost from twenty-five yards out aiming for the top right-hand corner.


    That was such a well-taken strike from the midfielder, a strike that Dave wasn''t really expecting but still, he was able to go after it.


    It was a close call but he was able to get to it just in time to get the tip of his gloves on it.


    That was the needed push for the ball to hit the crossbar before flying over.


    "Woooah, Frankie, those were some mad movements." Minino sounded quite amused as he walked up to him and ced his hand on his shoulder. "Too bad we''re up against Dave."


    While Alexander''s side were getting ready to take the corner kick, Norman seemed to be lost in his thoughts.


    ''I only thought about the defensive benefits but his offensive benefits as a fullback never crossed my mind, he might have a higher offensiveness than Rnd.''

 Chapter 516: Seven Matches Left

    This practice match seemed to have served its purpose quite well for Norman.


    The little doubt he had about putting Frankie in the left back position was gone now, the midfielder was known for being able to handle a couple of positions outside his natural position and after this match drill, that couldn''t have sounded truer to him.


    The midfielder had high Offensiveness for a yer who yed as a defensive midfielder most of the time and the best part was that he had the speed to put everything to good use.


    Now, Norman had a third option for that position if anything should happen.


    The practice match was over now with Dave''s side beating Alexander''s side six goals to four.


    It was inevitable that things were going to end up this way given the yers he had on his side but Alexander''s side put up quite a fight and gave them some serious trouble.


    Frankie was the left back but he instantly turned into the left winger whenever they were on the attack and he sure gave Norman a run for his money.


    The yers were taking a short break on the sidelines, and while they were doing that, Dave was busy on the pitch.


    Alexander wasn''t happy with his performance during the practice match so he asked the goalkeeper to try a couple of shots on him from twenty-five yards out and he was d to do that.


    "Are you ready, Alex?" The goalkeeper asked as he slowly took two steps backward.


    "Yeah." The young goalkeeper responded with a nod before touching the crossbar with his right hand.


    After getting that response, Dave quickly closed up on the ball and fired it straight toward the goalpost.


    He went for a low shot toward the right and although Alexander was able to go after it, he couldn''t get to it on time as the ball ended up zooming past him and straight into the goalpost.


    For the next shot, the goalkeeper aimed for the top left-hand corner and Alexander didn''t have any chance of stopping that one because he didn''t even try to.


    After that, he went on to score the third one, the fourth one, the fifth one, and the sixth one.


    Six shots from twenty-five yards out and he failed in stopping any of them.


    <I think you should take it easy on the boy, your shot power seems to be a bit powerful for him>


    ''I''m aware of that, but he was the one that told me not to hold back, and besides it''s not like opponents hold anything back against goalkeepers.'' He replied subconsciously. ''He has a very good instinct and his reflexes aren''t that bad, he just needs to react faster to shots and more speed.''


    <You mean something like eighty dexterity that makes it possible to get to almost every strike on time>


    ''If that was as true as you stated, I wouldn''t have conceded four goals in this practice match.''


    <No those goals stemmed from your mistakes>


    ''You''re missing a point, Catherine, but I guess you''re right in a sense.''


    <No, I am absolutely right>


    ''Keep quiet.''


    __________ _________


    The next day came by after a couple of hours and it was match day thirty of the Bilbeth Premier League and one of the matches for the day was United FC versus Rojo Sturm United at the Wondanimo stadium.


    Norman seemed to have over-prepared his team for this game because it ended up being a one-sided trashing.


    Their opponents never got the chance to cause any problem for them while they ended up scoring two against them in the first half and one in the second half.


    It was a three-goal victory for Norman''s side, a victory that had them maintain their spot at the top of the table.


    This was one of those matches where Dave had practically nothing to do because Rojo Sturm only managed to fire three shots at their goalpost and all of them ended up being off target.


    He wasn''t particrly happy about that but they won the match and since that was their goaling into the game, there was nothing toin about.


    Some people believed that Unique FC should have scored more than three goals looking at how weak Rojo Sturm looked throughout the match, but there was a reasonable expectation for why things ended this way.


    Their next match was against Dynamo FC in the quarterfinals of the Super Cup, and because of that, Norman decided to rest some of his key yers.


    He started Jonas ahead of Rnd, Pirlo had to fill in for Adolf, Carlos had a starting chance ahead of Merino and the two key midfielders were reced by Edward and Harry.


    However, just to be on the safe side, he started Mateo on the left wing just in case their opponents made it hard for them to get a goal.


    However, that seemed to be pointless because Mateo ended up not scoring or assisting in the match, it was another match without him scoring or assisting. But unlike thest match, he didn''t seemckluster.


    He seemed to have gotten his form back and caused quite a lot of trouble down the left nk, luck just wasn''t on his side with goals and assists today, he did manage to create a couple of good chances though but Fred ended up wasting most of them.


    Edward was announced as the man of the match at the end of the game because he was truly the key man today.


    All of their three goals came with assists and all of them came from him.


    He assisted Fred for the first goal, Carlos for the second one, and Norman for the third one.


    "Unique FC are really giving Supreme United a run for their money in the title race this season while Dynamo FC doesn''t seem to be that interested," Jimmented. "They''re still at the top of the table with seven matches left in the league, if they can get through this while retaining this form then they''re winning the league for sure."


    Unique FC yers made sure to greet the fans at the end of the game, and after that, they all proceeded to head down the tunnel, and this time, Dave didn''t have Amber or any reporter dropping him.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +100 exp ]


    [ +2 stat points ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points ]


    ''It just keeps getting smaller.''

 Chapter 517: Worrying Over Nothing

    <Congrattions, Dave, after a hundred and sixteen games you have finally reached the passable record of thirty clean sheets>


    ''Are you mocking me, Catherine?''


    The match was over now and the goalkeeper just wanted to make his way to the locker room and get some rest no matter how stupid that might sound with Minino already starting his after-match party but it looked like Catherine had a couple of things to say to him.


    <Did it sound like mockery to you?>


    ''Obviously, is that even supposed to be a question?''


    <Hmm, I guess I doe off like that sometimes but that wasn''t my intention this time>


    ''Huh?''


    <What I''m saying is that you''re doing okay that''s why I said passable, thirty clean sheets in a hundred and sixteen games is not great but that doesn''t mean it''s bad or terrible either, it''s in between good and okay>


    ''In between good and okay?''


    <Yeah>


    ''Can you exin this ranking scale of yours so that I can know what I''m dealing with?''


    <You want me to exin it? Okay, sure. The scale goes like this from highest to lowest, great, good, okay, bad, and terrible>


    ''Oh, I see, so I''m in between good and okay.''


    <Which is impressive if you think about it given the fact that only a select few goalkeepers make it into the great goalkeepers when ites to their games to clean sheets ratio>


    ''Yeah, I was about to say that.''


    <Still using your inner thought I see>


    ''Why wouldn''t I use it? I feel morefortable knowing that you don''t have ess to my thoughts.''


    <Hmph, don''t get toofortable, your thoughts will leak out every now and then, and I will make sure to catch them, little boy. You''re probably thinking dirty stuff now that I can''t hear you>


    ''Please, don''t call me that ever again.''


    The goalkeeper had gotten to the locker room and just as he expected, Minino was throwing a party in the room.


    It didn''t bother any of them anymore and since the coach haven''t bothered saying anything about it all this while they just let him do whatever he wanted.


    He ignored the party corner of the room just as always and made his way to his seat.


    Mateo was already in his seat going through his phone when he sat down beside him.


    "Good job today." He remarked.


    That was enough to get the winger''s attention as he turned to him with a smile on his face.


    "Thanks, I wish I could have done more but we still won so no problem." The winger remarked. "You also did well."


    "Eh, if you count their flimsy shots then I guess but other than that I was standing in between the sticks most of the time. Honestly, this game was boring for me."


    "Our next one certainly isn''t going to be boring?" Mateomented.


    "Yeah, we have Dynamo FC in the quarter-finals."


    "They''re the only team that we haven''t been able to beat this season, we''ve faced them twice and it was a loss and a draw."


    Mateo''s gaze turned to the floor as he muttered those words, the fact that he had been unable to beat Dynamo FC in six games was quite frustrating, four losses and two draws were the result of his matches against them and that was also the same for Dave.


    "Yeah, do you know the other four teams still in thepetition?" Dave inquired.


    "Yeah." The winger responded before raising his head. "Other than us and Dynamo FC, we have Litno FC vs Olona FC, Junami United vs second division side Norlin FC, and Supreme United vs second division side Zend United."


    "Hmm, I see, so two second-division sides made it to thest eight. Is there any chance of us meeting Supreme United in the semi-finals if we get past Dynamo FC?"


    "It''s possible but I doubt that''s going to happen if we somehow get past Dynamo." Mateo replied.


    "Huh, why''s¡­Oh, I see."


    <I thought you were about to ask that question>


    ''Keep quiet.''


    "Well, anyway, we''ll have to hear what coach has to say about how we''re going to approach that game since everything he''s tried against them so far has not worked." The goalkeeper remarked.


    "That''s not entirely through though, they sort of got lucky thest time we faced but it was our mistakes that caused it so I guess it was our fault at the end of the day."


    "If that''s the case then I hope we make fewer mistakes during the game."


    _________ _________


    After staying in the stadium for a while after the game, Dave decided to make his way home after Norman was done telling them a few things.


    It didn''t take him long to get to the house with his car, and once he opened the door with the house remote, he drove into the house, and just as always, he parked his car in a whatever manner.


    <You know, you should try to put a little more effort into parking your car well, it''s not that hard>


    Dave didn''t say anything in response to that as he opened the car and slowly stepped down from it, he closed the door afterward and locked the car before he began to make his way to the door.


    He got to the door in no time and unlocked it with his key, he expected to find her in the living but she didn''t seem to be there.


    "Maybe she''s in the kitchen."


    He made his way to the kitchen to check but it turned out she wasn''t there either.


    "She''s probably sleeping upstairs then."


    It made more sense to find her upstairs after not finding her in those other ces but surprisingly she wasn''t anywhere upstairs and Dave was starting to get worried and a bit confused.


    <You know you could try calling her or check around the house, this is a huge house after all>


    ''Yeah, I know.''


    He had his phone in his hand now and had already brought up her contact but the moment he pressed call something began to vibrate on the bed before the ringtone suddenly came into full bloom.


    "Oh,e on." He sighed before shaking.


    <That settles it>


    ''Settles what?''


    <Your wife is missing with your unborn child>


    ''If you don''t have anything helpful to say then just keep quiet.'' Dave said subconsciously before he began to make his way to the bed.


    When he got there, he sat down on the bed before picking up her phone.


    ''Hey, Cat.''


    <Huh?>


    ''You can hack into people''s phones, right?''


    <Obviously>


    ''Then aren''t you supposed to know where she is?''


    <That would be true if I was constantly monitoring her phone before she left or she took it to wherever she went but since none of those conditions were met here, I can''t possibly know where she went>


    After getting that response, the goalkeeper let out a sigh before slowly bringing his gaze down.


    <Yeah, on a serious note this is really worrying>


    "And I don''t want to be too quick to call¡­."


    He wasn''t able to finish that statement as he turned his gaze to the side at that moment to see that her wardrobe was open and that was when it clicked in his mind.


    "Oh¡­"


    _______ ________


    Just after helping his wife get the hang of swimming he bought her a swimsuit, he always saw the swimsuit anytime she opened her wardrobe but it wasn''t there when he looked at the wardrobe just now.


    That was the only hint he needed and just like he thought, she was in the pool.


    Well, technically not in the pool because she was sitting on the edge while kicking her feet in the water.


    The swimsuit he bought for her was a blue swimsuit that wasn''t that revealing but it still looked good on her.


    "Hmm, so she got in the water by herself today." He could tell from where he was standing that her hair was wet.


    ''She seems to be enjoying herself, that''s good.''


    <I''m worried about the fact that she didn''t hear you drive in>


    ''Well, I''m worried about the fact that you couldn''t make use of the cameras on the fence to find her, and besides she must have been in the pool at that time.''


    He didn''t want to disturb her peaceful alone moment so he turned and fled from the area before she could spot him.


    "Huh?" Emma turned her gaze to the right just after he had left and of course, there was no one there. "I thought I heard Dave''s voice for a second there. Is he finding it that hard to find me? It''s been a while since he returned."


    <Oh, Dave> Catherine sighed as he walked into the house.


    ''What now?''


    <Nothing, just felt like calling your name>


    ''If you just felt like calling my name then I would appreciate it if you didn''t sound disappointed.''


    <Oh, you want me to use a more seductive tone?>


    ''Nothing I said


    implied that.''


    <Oh, Dave>


    ''Please leave me alone, Catherine. Where is that button to turn you off anyway?''


    <As long as you don''t know where to find it, it doesn''t exist>

 Chapter 518: Preparing For Dynamo FC

    Dynamo FC was a very tough team and having them as their next opponents meant that they had to take things seriously.


    There was going to be no day off for them this time around as Norman instructed them after the match yesterday to appear at the stadium the next day for a recovery session and maybe after that, get some on-field practice in.


    They were all required to show up at the stadium before 9:45 AM and that meant that Dave was going to be leaving the house earlier than usual today.


    He got up as early as 5:30 AM to get his body warmed up for the day ahead of him and by 8:20 he was upstairs, getting ready to head out.


    Meanwhile, Emma was downstairs checking his backpack to make sure that everything he needed was in there.


    Once she was sure that everything was in there, she zipped up the bag and dropped it by her side on the couch before leaning back.


    She stayed like that for a while with her gaze on the ceiling way up there before slowly closing her eyes.


    She was just about to doze off when she heard footstepsing down the stairs.


    "Finally decided toe down, huh?" She muttered before slowly opening her eyes.


    Just like she thought, it was Daveing down the stairs and he was heading toward her now.


    "Are you done?"


    "Yeah." He responded before reaching for his bag but she blocked him off with her arm before he could get to it.


    ''What did I do now?''


    "Emma."


    "Yes." She replied, staring deep into his eyes.


    "Can you get your hand out of the way so that I can take my bag?" He asked, politely.


    "So you can head off leaving me in this state again?"


    He thought she was ying at first but she sounded quite serious.


    "To be honest, if I could carry some of it for you I would, although, I doubt that''s going to make my work any easier," Dave remarked before squatting down beside her.


    That response caught her by surprise and that was quite evident with the expression on her face now.


    "You would really do that?"


    "Of course, I mean I can imagine what you''re going through now so it would only be right if I try to help you but I guess that''s not physically possible." He expressed. "How about this? We''re definitely going to get a day off if we beat Dynamo FC. When that happens, I''ll help you with all the chores around the house, and after that, we''ll go somewhere nice and rx for the rest of the day."


    "Dave." She muttered as her face slowly lit up with a smile. "But you know there''s a high chance that you guys might end up not beating them."


    "Yeah, I''m aware of that, I''m counting on that not happening but even if it does I''ll just ask for a day off, I''m sure the coach will understand."


    "No, you guys better win that game, I know that''s the only way the both of us can be truly when we go out after that day." She shook her head.


    Hearing her say that, Dave let out a sigh and shifted his gaze to his bag before shifting it back to her.


    "I can''t make any promises of winning because football is a team sport and I don''t know how my teammates are going to perform but here''s a promise that I can make. I''ll try my best to make sure wee out on top." He promised.


    "Well, you are currently the best goalkeeper in the league so hearing that gives me a sense of hope." She smiled.


    That was the moment her arm slid down the bag.


    ''Since the very beginning, you just couldn''t see it.''


    "I''m d it does," Dave responded before leaning closer to kiss her.


    After that, he turned to her protrusion and kissed it.


    "I''ll see youter, Devon."


    He grabbed his bag after that and quickly made his way to the door to open it.


    "Bye Hun, I love you."


    "I love you too." She responded before he exited the room and shut the door.


    Now it was just her in the quiet house and she couldn''t help but let out a deep sigh.


    "I miss my job."


    ________ _______


    Just like Norman said, what the yers were going to be doing mainly today was a couple of indoor activities including yoga to help them recover from yesterday''s game and lessen the chances of someone getting injured.


    They were still in the process of doing that as all the yers were in the stadium''s gym but at the moment, they were all just doing whatever they wanted.


    The bench press, treadmill, weights, back extension machine, reverse fly machine, etc were all upied by the yers.


    Dave on the other hand was sitting on the blue Swiss ball bnce in the room.


    Ordinarily, he would have someone try to stretch him with balls by throwing it a few distances away from him but the club had just purchased a ball ster so he was making use of it.


    The ster wasn''t set to the lowest speed so he was able to catch all of them without falling off the ball.


    "Nice, how about we go all the way to the highest speed then?" Rnd inquired as he moved closer to the machine.


    "Sure, go ahead, I can take it." The goalkeeper shrugged.


    There was no need to refill this version of the ball ster as it had a pipe connected to a container with a lot of balls, the only thing the left back did was choose the highest speed which was number three before pressing the start button.


    The first ball quickly came flying out at that moment and this one was trying to take advantage of the fact that the goalkeeper was sitting to get the ball past him from above.


    However, Dave was fast enough to quickly stretch himself without getting off the ball, and with both of his hands, he was able to catch the ball.


    The second one quickly came flying out after that one but given the fact that it wasn''t as difficult as the first one, he didn''t have any problem catching it.


    This particr exercise was quite difficult given the fact that Dave had to catch the balls not just stop them from getting past him, but the goalkeeper was able to catch all ten balls fired at him by the ball ster at full speed and that was without using ball ma even once.


    "Impressive," Rndmented as he joined both of his hands together in apuse.


    "Thank you."


    "Hey, Dave, try catching this one!"


    The goalkeeper quickly turned his gaze to the area to see a ball heading toward him, it was right at his face before he could even do anything and not being that fast, the ball ended up smashing right into his face, knocking him off the Swiss ball in the process.


    That shot hade from none other than Minino who had the attention of the whole squad now.


    "I''m sorry." He apologized immediately but there was no way to tell if that was genuine as he also crashed to his knees at that moment and burst intoughter. "Honestly, I''m really sorry but I just can''t help it¡­"


    Dave was not amused because Minino wasn''t the only oneughing at him now.

 Chapter 519: Preparing For Dynamo FC

    The game against Dynamo FC was just three days so there was still a lot of time left for Norman toe up with a game n and while he was doing that, the yers were training hard to keep their bodies in top shape for the game.


    They didn''t get to do much yesterday because it was just after a match and they had to focus on the small stuff to help recover from the game but today, their bodies were almost back to top condition so they could go back to going through all the drillsid out for the day.


    The training session started with running a couple ofps around the pitch just as always and after that, they went through a series of stretches before diving into the other drills.


    There was a dribbling drill, shooting drill, and even a passing drill to show how well the yers could handle moving the ball around under pressure.


    Norman had to keep a close eye on this one because if there was one thing he had noticed this season despite how good they have been was that his team sort of broke whenever the opponents started pressing hard against them.


    They needed to learn how to stay calm enough under pressure to move the ball around swiftly without any mistakes.


    They spent quite a lot of time on this drill and each time it just kept expanding with four defenders working together to get the ball away from Merino, Mateo, and Ferran.


    The rule was that the ones moving the ball around were not allowed to touch the ball more than three times before passing it to someone else.


    This was a bit unfair but the coach wanted to emphasize the importance of passing especially when cornered.


    This particr drill didn''t really have anything to do with Dave but he still took part in it as one of the passers and one of the chasers.


    After forcing the yers to go through the same scenario over and over again, they were finally given the signal to take a break.


    "Ah, finally." Fred let out a sigh of relief before crashing down on the floor.


    "It was that tiring, huh?" Dave said before sitting down beside him.


    "Of course." The striker responded before sitting up on the floor. "I''m surprised you don''t even look that tired."


    "Well, I didn''t really do much, I joined in mostly for the form." The goalkeeper remarked with an awkward smile on his face.


    [ 65% stamina remaining ]


    ''I''m aware of that, you don''t have to state the obvious.''


    "Hm, I see." The striker muttered before slowly turning away from him. "You know, you''ve changed a lot in just this season, Dave."


    "You think?"


    "Mhm, I mean, you try harder than you used to now, you smile more and your overall outlook is way more positive. Of course, let''s not forget the fact that you''re suddenly a super goalkeeper who our opponents struggle to score against no matter how bad our defense may look." He articted before leaning closer to him. "Is your wife some sort of god?"


    "Oh, so you think this is my wife?" Dave smile.


    "Well, I tried toe up with a better reason but that was the best I could do. I can''t say it''s doping because you''ve been working harder than anybodytely so saying that would be insulting."


    "I see." The goalkeeper said before slowly lying down on the grass. "You''re not wrong though she is one of the main reasons, I guess you could say I wanted to be a better person, for her and for this team."


    ''No denying that.''


    Hearing him say, Fred couldn''t help but smile.


    "I guess I should thank her the next time I get to see her, knowing that you will be in between the sticks against Dynamo FC makes me believe that our chance of winning is more than fifty percent." He expressed before getting up on his feet. "Anyway, I''m going to dehydrate myself now before my insides dry up."


    Just after saying that, the striker began to make his way to the sidelines and Dave justy there with his gaze on the bright blue sky.


    ''Hey, Catherine.''


    ''I n to not hold back against Dynamo FC.''


    ''I know, I just hope the system doesn''t start misbehaving.''


    The break came to an end a few minutester and without further ado, the yers went straight back to training.


    They were d when Norman said they were going to continue the passing drill tomorrow because some of them were starting to get tired of it at that moment but they were still d they did it because some of them were able to pick up a few things from the exercise.


    This was that period where they were allowed to do whatever they wanted during the session, as long as any of them wasn''t sitting down, they didn''t have any problem with the coach during this period.


    Dave was putting this to good use with penalty kick practice to see how well he could save spot-kicks without focus.


    Mateo was also going to be using the opportunity to work on his penalty kick technique and practicing against Dave was honestly good for him so it was a win-win situation for the both of them.


    The first kick was sent over the bar by the winger so he was going to be taking the second one now with a moreposed look on his face.


    ''Shush.''


    The goalkeeper jumped on his goal line a bit as the winger slowly took three steps backward, and as soon as the winger stopped, he stopped jumping to spread out his arms.


    Mateo kept his gaze on the goalkeeper for a few seconds before he quickly closed up on the ball and fired it toward the left.


    The ball was elevated a bit but anybody looking at it wouldn''t know because it was so close to the ground.


    Dave quickly dived toward the ball just as it closed up toward the goalpost and it really looked like he was going to stop it for a moment there with the tip of his gloves just on but the shot was just too powerful so it ended up slipping away from him to make contact with the post before rolling past the line.


    ''And just how the heck was that a little elevated, it wasn''t even elevated at all.''


    ''Yeah, thanks a lot.''


    "That was quite close, huh?" Mateo uttered as he made his way to him.


    "Yeah, but you beat me to it," Dave responded before he picked up the ball and threw it to him. "The day we face each other in a match is going to be pretty insane."


    "Well, we''re both moving to different clubs at the end of the season so that might happen sooner than expected."

 Chapter 520: The Day

    A couple of hours passed and thest training session before the game against Dynamo FC was finally here.


    Norman didn''t tell them anything about their lineup, formation, and tactics in theirst training session so it was obvious that he was going to do it in this one.


    But before that, the yers had quite the long passing drill waiting for them. He added a couple of things to make it a bit fun but after repeating the same scenario over ten times, most of them got tired of it just likest time.


    Norman noticed this and moved them to the other important drills that they had to take care of for the rest of the day.


    After over two hours of training, the training session finally came to an end and now it was time to see what the coach had nned for the game.


    Now that the training session for the day was over, the yers were all sitting in the locker room with Norman standing over them.


    He nced through the yers about two times before clearing his throat.


    "Alright, listen up, after what happened against Dynamo on the two asions that we''ve faced them this season, it''s obvious that if we want to beat them we''ll have to switch things up a bit and that''s what we''re going to be doing in this game." He articted.


    "To start things off, we will be going into the game with the four-four-two formation, I say it''s the four-four-two formation but the formation is more like four-one-two-one-two. That''s right, we''ll be ying with a pivot, two central midfielders, and an attacking midfielder."


    ''I hope so.''


    "Now that you know what formation we''ll be using in the game, let''s move over to the starting lineup. To kick things off, Fred and Merino will be starting in the striking positions and supporting them as our attacking midfielder will be Mateo."


    Dave quickly turned his gaze to Mateo at the moment to see that the winger had his right hand on his chin but other than that, he had no reaction to that. Attacking midfield was one of the positions he could handle outside the left wing so there was no problem.


    "Our central midfielders will be Ferran and Minino and for our defensive midfielder, Martinez will be filling in that role."


    ''Yeah, I understand what you''re saying, Frankie shines when he''s brought in as ast resort.''


    Thest part was the defense and it was pretty much the same with Norman starting on the right wing and Rnd on the left. The center backs were Adolf and Aima, obviously.


    That was the starting lineup and now that it was known to the yers, the coach went on to start exining how he wanted them to approach the game.


    "I''ve noticed that that crafty coach of theirs has been relying a lot on counterattacks to win games recently so we''ll have to be careful on our side. I don''t want any dull movements when we''re on the attack so we''ll have to settle for setting offside traps for them.


    The only way to beat them is to press them as hard as we can from the get-go, if we go easy on them and try to break through slowly then things are going to be difficult.


    "That''s why I''ve adopted this offensive formation that doesn''t really look all that offensive. Whenever someone like, let''s say Martinez is on the move with the ball, I want the two central midfielders to move forward and spread out down the nks to create the wingers they thought we didn''t have.


    "During this moment, I want you, Merino to draw back and leave Fred in the box, if there''s a clearance or a chance for them to clear the ball, you can get to the ball and if you fail to get to it, I''m sure Mateo will be able to get to it and you can either go for goal from there or y someone who is in a good position through."


    ''After what happened in ourst two games, I expected this much.''


    "Remember, smart long passes to break their lines is the theme for this match and if you think you can try from distance then go ahead and do it, don''t be afraid to test your limits, we''re going into this game to win it."


    ''Oh, so that''s why most of today''s passing drill was long passes.''


    This was just the first part of what Norman had nned for the game, he still had a few more things to talk about especially how they were going to handle their threats and the yers just had to listen carefully.


    _________ ________


    A couple of hours passed and the day was finally here, the day the Dynamo FC squad were going to visit the Wondanimo stadium for the game to decide who was going to be moving on to the Semifinals of the Bilbeth Super Cup.


    Dave got up that morning to find out that his wife was not with him in bed but that was nothing to be worried about, she had been getting up before him recently so it was sort of bing a normal thing now.


    The goalkeeper got up from the bed and stretched his body a bit before making his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face before returning to the room to change into his sports outfit and running boots.


    ''When have I not been lively in the morning? I''m a bit excited though, if that''s what you''re talking about.''


    He made his way out of the room at that moment, and just as he got to the stairs, he stopped to look down.


    "Let''s do this baby!" He screamed before quickly making his way downstairs.


    Emma had to make her way out of the kitchen because of that and now she had her gaze on him.


    "Looks like someone''s excited this morning." She smiled.


    "You bet, today''s the day we beat Dynamo FC after all, I hope."

 Chapter 521: Unique FC Vs Dynamo FC: Third Clash

    The atmosphere at the Wondanimo stadium was quite thrilling currently despite the fact that the game today was still in the warm-up phase.


    To put it inly, this was a highly anticipated match among the Bilbeth Super League fans and a good number of other fans who liked to stick their nose into any league they found interesting at any moment.


    Yes, it was a cup match between the top teams in the league this season so it was expected that it would garner a lot of attention but there was actually more to it than just that.


    Their first meeting this season ended with Dynamo FC grabbing ate winner due to the Unique side''s ipetence at the back, however, most people would argue that their victory was mostly influenced by Dave''s absence in that match.


    Then there was the second match which Unique FC almost ended up losing mostly due to Dave''s absence through most of the match, and after making an appearance in thest minutes, the goalkeeper was able to grab an equaliser for his team just before the match came to an end.


    Well, today, Dave was going to be starting for his side and none of the teams seemed to be missing any key yers, so it was time to see how things were going to y out in what would be considered their fairest battle this season.


    They were in the warm-up phase so at the moment, the yers from both sides were busy on different sides of the pitch getting their bodies ready for the stress they were about to put them through.


    Ordinarily, Dave would be in the goalpost trying to save a few practice shots but at the moment he seemed to be involved in a three-way header pass between him, Mateo, and Minino.


    "So, who do you guys think is going to be the most threatening yer in their side today?" Minino inquired, nodding the ball sent to him by Mateo back to the winger.


    "Are you seriously asking that question?" Mateo retorted, heading the ball toward Dave. He made no effort to hide the exasperation written all over his face.


    "Yeah, after facing them twice this season, I think everyone should know the answer to that question without being asked," Dave remarked as he headed the ball back to Mateo.


    A huff escaped from Minino''s lips at that moment as he shook his head.


    "I know, I was obviously joking, you need to work on your sense of humor, Mateo."


    The winger sent the ball flying his way just as he said that, and instead of approaching it with his head, he caught the ball with his hands instead.


    "It''s that guy named Frank, right?"


    "I think that description is a bit insulting for one of the best yers in the league this season," Dave uttered.


    <Look at you, when did you be so noble?>


    ''Keep quiet, Catherine.''


    "Yeah, whatever, but what do you guys say¡­" The midfielder''s voice trailed off, a mischievous glint trailing through his eyes.


    "Say about what?" Mateo inquired, a confused expression on his face.


    "I take one for the team and kill the rat before he causes any trouble." He leaned closer to the two to whisper.


    "You want to get sent off?" Mateo responded, the disapproval in his voice evident.


    "Yeah, that''s the gist." The midfielder shrugged.


    "And what will happen when your attempt fails and you still end up getting sent off?" Dave inquired.


    "Nothing," Minino stated firmly. "Because I''m going to make sure I kill him, I know a very potent technique to use." He smiled confidently.


    He expected a bit of eptance from his teammates after that but what he heard next was the sound of Mateo face-palming himself.


    "Minino please." The winger drawled as he dragged his hand down his face. "I''m begging you, please don''t do anything stupid, we have a solid game n, just stick to it and we might win this. Getting yourself sent off will do us more harm than good even if it means eliminating Frank."


    At this point, the midfielder was poking his cheeks, his bright expression watered down a bit.


    "Fine." He sighed. "I guess it makes sense when you put it that way."


    <Trust me, when things get dire, he''ll do something stupid>


    ''I sure hope he doesn''t.''


    ________ ________


    The Wondanimo Stadium was almost filled up to the brim now with the voice of the fans lighting up the atmosphere as the match was just on the verge of kicking off.


    The yers were already on the pitch with the captains of both squads going through the process of deciding who was going to be kicking off the match at the moment.


    Unique FC were in their signature home kit, an orange kit with ck Polka dots while Dynamo FC were in their away kit, a white kit with ck designs that almost covered the entire of its lower part, the short was just white with ck outlines though.


    Just as the captains got through the coin toss process, the result of the dark cloud building up for a while now began to drop down.


    It started as little drops and before long it spread out across the pitch, providing everyone on the pitch with more than required moisture as their jerseys were beginning to soak up.


    "Well, looks like the stage is set, the rain surely adds a nice touch to things. It''s sure going to be intense and most certainly slippery here today." Jimmented.


    "And the ones who keep their feet upright in the end shall be victorious."


    "True, a few slips in the beginning won''t matter if they''re able to quickly get right back up but I think it will be best to avoid slipping entirely. Anyway, let''s take a look at the interesting lineups we have here."


    As expected, Norman was kicking things off with the four-four-one formation that consisted of a pivot and attacking midfielder with two central midfielders in between.


    "Well, that certainly is an interesting lineup right there, I guess Norman finally decided to try something different against Dynamo, I hope this doesn''t end up having the opposite effect though."


    Dynamo FC on the other hand were staying true to their standard four-five-one formation but unlike thest time they faced the Unique side, they were ying it normal with two defensive midfielders instead of three. Frank was going to be working alongside Matip in central attacking midfield.


    The match was just about to kick off now as the yers from both sides could be seen making their way to their sides of the pitch.


    Dynamo FC won the coin toss so they were going to be the ones to start the match from the kick-off spot.


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Help your team secure a victory ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +150 exp ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points ]


    [ +1 skill point ]


    ''Hmm, those are pretty low rewards for a highly demanding specific quest but there''s the skill point I''ve been looking for so I guess I can''t reallyin.'' Dave said inwardly as he made his way to his goalpost, his bodypletely drenched. ''I just hope we can live up to that expectation.''

 Chapter 522: First Strikes

    "Matip!"


    Aima''s slide right at the edge of the box resulted in nothing as the ball flew past him from the attacking midfielder''s foot, spraying the water on its surface on his face as it headed straight for the goalpost.


    In a desperate attempt to make sure Dave would have no chance to stop his strike, the midfielder aimed for the top right corner.


    He got everything right, because the way he fired that left the goalkeeper glued to a spot, however, there was no need for him to dive in the first ce as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, that should have been in the back of the." Jim bellowed.


    "Yeah, he even had Dave pinned to a spot, that would have been such a majestic goal but his finishing was just off by a tiny fraction."


    Watching his effort go to waste like that, the midfielder sighed in frustration to kick the floor, a ssh of water along with it.


    "Well, there''s still a lot of time in the game so they might get more chances like that. However, I have a feeling that one mighte back to haunt themter."


    Yeah, there was still a lot of time left in the game, it had only been seven minutes since the match kicked off.


    Unique FC had not even been able to do anything with the ball before their opponents pulled off what just happened, courtesy of Frank getting past Rnd to receive Connell''s through pass and whip it in for Matip near the edge of the box.


    That was a close call but Dave, his teammates, coach, and everyone else there to support Unique FC that evening were d that that one just flew over.


    ''That would have been a big problem.'' Dave said inwardly as he dropped the ball on the edge of the smaller box.


    <Yeah, given their defensive capabilities, I doubt they''ll let up easily after grabbing an early lead>


    ''Well, you can never tell with football but it''s better to be safe than sorry.''


    He slowly took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the pitch toward the right in an attempt to find Minino.


    The midfielder had to contest for the ball with the defensive midfielder behind him, however, he was able to get his head on it first, and without hesitation, he nodded it to Norman who pushed a little forward with it before he sent it rolling to Ferran before Frank could cut in from the side.


    Who wasn''t going to take his chance with someone as dangerous as him, especially not near his box?


    "Unique FC finally getting a proper feel of the ball, but they''re ying it safe for now."


    Connell charged straight toward Ferran as soon as he got his foot on the ball but the midfielder was fast enough to cut out of his path before sending the ball to Rnd who had covered up down the left nk with a flick.


    "Rnd."


    The fullback quickly took off with the ball, racing down the wing in an attempt to cover as much ground as possible.


    He had just crossed the halfway line with the ball when the other defensive midfielder tried to cut him off from the side but the fullback was quick to react, pushing the ball back with his back heel before the midfielder could engage with him.


    Ferran was right behind him to receive the ball, and as soon as he got his foot on the ball, he lobbed it forward, getting it over Connell and onto Mateo''s foot.


    "Mateo."


    Paying heed to the coach''s instruction, Ferran quickly stretched down the left nk, pushing forward with Rnd behind him while Minino stretched out toward the right, making sure not to stray too far as he had Connell on him.


    While they were doing this, Mateo quickly pushed forward with the ball, easily escaping the defensive midfielder who made a quick attempt to drag him down from behind.


    "Oh, Unique FC are pushing forward here with Mateo in the lead, can they make something out of this?"


    The center-backs were already strategizing ways to stop the attacking midfielder in their minds as he drew closer to them. They were aware of just how dangerous he was with the ball so being rash was not an option.


    However, just before Mateo could get to them, he cut to the left and yed Ferran in with a through ball from the top.


    The midfielder was able to swiftly get past the fullback to get his foot on the ball and although the defender raised his hand to call for an offside, there was no reaction from the referee or the linesman. It looked like he was kept just on side by the fullback''s left foot.


    Seeing that his plea yielded no result, the defender quickly charged toward the midfielder just as he trapped the ball.


    Speedily rushing the midfielder worked in the midfielder''s favor as he was able to quickly pull the ball back, allowing the defender to just slide by, and with him out of his way at the moment, he dinked it into the box in an attempt to get it to Fred who had dragged himself a little to the left away from the defenders.


    "Oh, it''s looking shaky for Dynamo here."


    Fred would have been able to get a clean header there but one of the defenders was able to get in on the action just in time to disrupt his flow, causing the blow to glide off the striker''s head, bouncing toward the edge of the box down the middle.


    "Oh, it''s a loose ball inside the box."


    The other center-back quickly closed up on the ball in an attempt to clear it, but before he could pull that off, Mateo broke free from Connell''s grip to get the ball off his shooting path with his left foot.


    "Just need to take the lead." The youngster breathed.


    "Nice intervention from Mateo, can he find the?!"


    Forcing his way through like that forced him to lose a bnce a bit and with both Connell and the center back already on him, he had no choice but to take his chance under that circumstance.


    "Mateo!"


    He pulled his left foot back and struck the ball just before he could hit the wet floor, aiming for the bottom right corner. However, his attempt didn''t look the least bit threatening as it ended up slowly rolling out for a goal kick not even getting close to hitting the woodwork.


    The reaction from the crowd was resounding gasps but some of them apuded the work the youngster put in to get in that position and create that chance for himself afterward.


    "Oh, that could have been so far but it looks like Mateo didn''t have the proper footing to take that shot."


    "Come on." Mateo sighed as he slowly sat up on the floor.


    He found a shadow looming over him, and when he looked up, he found Connell offering him a hand up.


    "Thank you." He uttered as he took the midfielder''s hand.


    "We''re only fifteen minutes into the game but both sides have already made their presence known with two off-target attempts at goal. It''s always nice to see two teams proving to each other that they''re no pushovers in a game." Jim articted.


    "True but pushover or not, one side will have to concede in the end."

 Chapter 523: Taking Proper Advantage

    The game was thirty minutes gone and although both sides had put in great efforts to deal a great blow to their opponents, the match was still goalless.


    If there was any match that didn''t fit the description of one-sided in any way, it would be this one.


    Both sides had been at each other''s neck not letting up even for a moment as they ran across the wet pitch, an aftermath of the already ceased rainfall. It was an intense match but Dynamo FC were definitely feeling the heat more with Dave providing cover fire from the goalpost whenever the ball got to him.


    However, the goalkeeper was yet to make a direct attempt from the goalpost, he wasn''t doubting his uracy or anything after all he had put in a lot of effort to improve over the past couple of months, the system didn''t really do anything to improve that for him. The reason why he was hesitating to take a direct shot was because of the opposing goalkeeper.


    Trying a direct shot while he was still on his goal line had a very low sess rate and that would mean his team losing possession, if he was going to try a direct shot, he needed the perfect chance.


    Moving on, there had been a shared total of twelve shots between both sides so far with Dynamo FC having to face seven of those shots, four of them were on target but Victor did really well to make sure his team didn''t go behind.


    Unique FC faced the remaining five of those shots with only two of them being on target.


    One of those shots was a wonderful overhead kick from Damian inside the box, that was going for the top right corner and it would have been such a wonderful goal but luckily for Unique FC Dave was able to get the tip of his glove on it just in time to send it over the bar.


    The second shot came from Frank just outside the box, a powerful low strike from the midfielder which he aimed to tuck into the box from the bottom left corner but once again, Dave was able to get to it in time and deny his effort.


    The match was in the thirty-second minute now and through most of the game, Frank had been having serious trouble shaking off Rnd, forcing him to switch toward the middle most of the time.


    Once again, the attacking midfielder was trying to get past the fullback who was matching his every move with a shared intensity.


    Afraid of losing the ball, the midfielder switched toward the middle with the ball before firing straight for the goalpost.


    As expected, his target was off as Dave and everyone else watched the ball fly over the bar.


    "Oh, wasted attempt from Frank."


    "Screw this." The midfielder scoffed as he turned around kicking the floor.


    The fans from both sides were still doing a great job at keeping the spirit of their teams alive with every other sound being made at the stadium being drowned out by their enthusiastic chanting.


    "We have Dave now, your chances are futile!"


    That was the prevalent chant on the Unique FC side of the stands and Dave couldn''t help but smile as those words resounded in his head.


    ''I''ll try my best to live up to your expectations today.'' He said inwardly as he dropped the ball on the edge six-yard box.


    <You better, else they''ll be hell to pay>


    He sent the ball rolling to Rnd after letting out a soft huff and as soon as the fullback got his foot on the ball, he sent it rolling to Ferran.


    "Ferran."


    Frank quickly rushed to the midfielder from behind in an attempt to dispossess him but before he could get to him, he flicked the ball to Mateo who was almost at the center of the pitch.


    Connell was already waiting up ahead, and as soon as Mateo got his foot on the ball, he charged straight toward him.


    There were a lot of yers that would work on but unfortunately for Connell, Mateo wasn''t one of them.


    Just as he got close enough to the midfielder to take the ball away from him, he pulled the ball back, causing him to miss the tackle by just a few inches.


    He didn''t stop there and tried once again, this time trying to read Mateo''s movement unaware of what he was in for.


    He feigned moving toward the left with the ball and impulsively, Connell followed only to find the midfielder quickly switching to the right.


    He had alreadypleted his movement but he managed to force his foot toward the ball only to find it switched toward the other side by Mateo.


    It was like he was stuck in some sort of trance as Mateo repeated the faint once again before faking a shot at the midfielder.


    He took the bait and the next thing he knew, the youngster had gotten past him with a neat nutmeg.


    The crowd erupted in cheers as the Dynamo FC midfielder absorbed the shame and turned around to chase Mateo who had already put a distance between them.


    "My goodness, Connell is definitely going to have a nightmare about that one."


    The other midfielder tried to quickly corner Mateo from the right but by switching further toward the left, he was able topletely avoid him, getting the ball away from Frank with neat footwork in the process.


    "Mateo''s still moving with the ball and he seems to be trying to cook up something dangerous here."


    Rnd moved in past the fullback further down the left nk at that moment and without hesitation, Mateo yed him through.


    "Oh, Rnd''s through and he has a lot of space to cause trouble."


    The fullback drove the ball toward the box with the opposing fullback right behind him trying to stop me and one of the center backs trying to cut him off from the right.


    Just as the fullback got to the edge of the box, he feigned firing at the center-back before flicking the ball to Ferran in the middle near the edge of the box.


    The midfielder had both Connell and Frank around him and to avoid losing the ball, he pushed it to Mateo who quickly pushed into the box with his first touch, skillfully getting past the defender in front of him.


    "Oh, Dynamo FC are in trouble, surely now!"


    He did not waste time pulling his foot back as soon as he got the opening to do so but he seemed to have gotten knocked off bnce at thest moment and his shot ended up going straight for the goalkeeper.


    "I can''t believe it, Victor stopped it."


    Mateo bit his lower lip in frustration at that missed opportunity as the fans let out a series of sighs of exasperation.


    Victor on the other hand quickly got up on his foot andunched the ball forward, a desperate attempt to start a counterattack.


    "Oh, Dynamo are trying to take advantage of the situation."


    He aimed for Damian who was near the center of the pitch, however, the striker seemed to be blocked by Adolf at that moment.


    That turned out to not be a problem though as Damian quickly sent the ball rolling to Frank who was quickly racing down the right nk with Rnd right behind him and everyone else rushing to cover up to either defend or help in taking advantage of the situation.


    Frank knew Rnd wouldn''t let up even after getting his foot on the ball so he quickly paused, allowing the fullback to slide past him before quickly cutting to the right with the ball to get past him once again.


    The midfielder continued racing toward the goalpost putting a little distance between Rnd but he still had Adolf right beside him, aiming to get to the goalpost first and stall him.


    "This is a wonderful chance for Dynamo to take the lead."


    As Frank got closer, Dave pulled further back toward his goal line, a worried expression on his face.


    ''This isn''t looking good.''


    <You can say that again>


    His worry didn''te from the midfielder with the ball at the moment but rather from the opposing yer right behind Adolf.


    The defender got into the box before Frank with Damian right behind him, and as soon as Frank got into the box, he pushed the ball to the striker from behind Adolf.


    "I''m not sure there''s anything Unique can do about this now. "


    It was an easy shot into the goalpost from the left so everybody expected Damian to shoot, even Dave who had already gotten ready to dive toward the area.


    However, what the striker chose to do left them all in awe.


    He feigned firing toward the goalpost, getting Dave to react before returning the ball to Frank who quickly slotted it into the goalpost while Dave was still on the other side.


    The midfielder got pushed down by a rushing Rnd at that moment but he quickly got up on his feet afterward and took off toward the sidelines screaming at the top of his voice.


    "A wonderfulbination from the striker and midfielder to make sure that ball got in, there was absolutely nothing Dave could do about that."


    The away fans were screaming and jubting now as Dave crashed down inside his goalpost with a heavy sigh.


    ''That was dirty.''


    <Looks like they understand the level of danger you pose to them. But it''s not like they''re going to get a chance to do that again>


    ''I hope not.''


    "With the break fast approaching, Dynamo FC have taken the lead, after taking advantage of a failed strike from the home team to start a counterattack." Jim articted.


    "Mateo must be thinking that he should have put that away now."


    The midfielder was standing near the center of the pitch at the moment with his hands on his waist and his gaze on the floor, a heavy feeling consuming his heart.

 Chapter 524: Wonderful Connection

    That goal from Frank was quite the blow to Unique FC so close to the fast-approaching break, however, the home team did not falter.


    On the contrary, they be more aggressive, desperate to find the equalizer before the halftime break.


    However, their efforts yielded no results as Mateo continued to get frustrated by Dynamo FC''s goalkeeper, Victor.


    After that goal by Frank, the winger who was filling in the role of a midfielder at the moment, got two very good chances to level the game, two chances which he ended up squandering.


    The first chance came from a through ball from Dave after Minino sent it back to the goalkeeper from the halfway line.


    Dave was able to drop the ball right in front of him just on the edge of the box but before the youngster could do anything with the ball, Victor was already upon him, and with his gloves, the goalkeeper knocked the ball away from him, putting an end to the threat.


    Mateo tried to argue that he touched the ball outside his line but after a quick VAR check, it was confirmed that the ball was just in the box when the goalkeeper touched it, the youngster wasn''t happy about that but he had to roll with it.


    The second chance wasn''t as clear as the first one but it was the more impressive one.


    A volley from Ferran''s corner just outside the box, he got a really good hit on the ball with his right foot aiming for the top right corner.


    That would have been a wonderful equalizer but unfortunately for the midfielder, Victor was able to get to the ball with the tip of his glove just in time, and with it, he was able to send the ball over the bar for a corner kick.


    That one caused Mateo to almost throw a tantrum on the pitch as he kicked the floor as hard as he could before squatting down, raising his hand to m it on the ground, and stopping just before he could actually hit it.


    Dynamo FC didn''t really get any other impressive chance after their goal but they were well satisfied to finish the first half of the game with the lead.


    "Well, there you have it folks, the first half of this heated battle hase to an end. Make sure to stick around for the second half because I have a feeling the heat is about to st through the roof." Jim articted as the yers made their way down the tunnel.


    While his teammates were quickly making their way down the tunnel, Mateo seemed to be dragging his feet, and noticing this, Dave decided to pull back.


    "Hey." He called to get the attention of the youngster who would have walked past him otherwise.


    ''His mind seems to be elsewhere.''


    <Well, considering the chances he blew, I understand how he must feel>


    "Oh, hey, Dave," Mateo responded, his voice sounding half-hearted as he stopped moving.


    "Are you okay?" The goalkeeper inquired.


    "Yeah, I''m fine, just got lost in my thoughts for a moment." He responded quite hastily before he continued moving forward, disappearing down the tunnel before Dave could say anything else to him.


    "He sure doesn''t sound fine to me."


    <Don''t worry, he''s okay. Victor seems to have left asting impression on him, I''m not sure he''ll ever forget the goalkeeper after the events of today>


    Listening to everything Catherine just said, Dave slowly turned to the opposition goalpost.


    ''Yeah, he''s really good.''


    _________ _________


    Every Unique FC were present in the locker room at the moment as Norman could be seen standing in front of them repeatedly tapping his right foot on the floor with his arms crossed behind him.


    "I''ll say, not bad." He said after taking a deep breath. "You''ve all yed well in this half but failing to capitalize on our chances is the reason why we are currently behind and that just won''t do." He snapped, stomping his right foot on the ground.


    Mateo felt like he was to me for that and that was the reason why he had his gaze on the floor at the moment.


    "We''ve clearly been the dominant side, we''ve created more chances and with those chances, we should have gotten at least two goals by now, I don''t want things to remain this way in the second half." The coach articted, his gaze slowly shifting to Mateo. "Mateo."


    Hearing his name, the youngster slowly lifted his head to meet Norman''s gaze.


    He stared at the coach expecting him to say at least one harsh word to him, however,


    "You''ve also done well so far but I know this isn''t the best you can give, you have to get your head into the game if we''re going toe out of this game on top." He said to the winger, almost yelling at him in thest part.


    "You seem to be too eager to score so you''re driving forward a bit too much and although that''s good since you almost got a couple of goals, we''ll have to stick more to the script for the second half.


    "We seem to be handling their offenses pretty decently but both fullbacks will have to take note not to stray too far from their positions, it''ll be best if we avoid another counterattack like that one."


    After that, Norman went ahead to hash out a couple more errors he noticed from his team in the first half while presenting solutions to counter them.


    ________ ________


    A few minutester¡­


    The break was over now as the yers from both sides could be seen on the pitch.


    Fred could be seen standing over the ball, waiting for the referee''s whistle while trying to decide which of his teammates to pass the ball to.


    "Unique FC will have to try and get that equalizer to get their team spirit back to full force and I''m sure Dynamo won''t make that any easier for them.


    The referee''s whistle resounded through the stadium at that moment, and as soon as Fred heard it, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Mateo who quickly pushed it toward Ferran.


    Frank quickly rushed toward the midfielder as soon as the ball got to his feet but before he could get to him, he sent the ball rolling back to Rnd.


    "Rnd."


    The fullback wasn''t too quick to move with the ball allowing Frank to close in before pushing it to Aima.


    Damian quickly rushed the center back as soon as he got his foot on the ball but he was fast enough to push the ball back to Dave with a backheel pass.


    The striker pushed further forward in a desperate attempt to get the ball off the goalkeeper and score an easy goal but Dave had already sent the ball rolling to Norman because he could get to him.


    Not even giving Connell the chance to get close to him, the fullback sent the ball flying to Minino.


    The midfielder brought the ball down with his chest, quickly pushing away from the midfielder behind him.


    He had a lot of space to either pass the ball to Martinez or find Ferran on the other side but he didn''t have any of that in mind.


    Before the midfielder behind him could get to him, he quickly pulled his right foot back and sent the ball flying back to Dave.


    "Oh, what are they trying to pull here?"


    The goalkeeper brought the ball down with his chest, and trying to take advantage of the current situation of him not being able to pick the ball up, Damian rushed straight toward him.


    However, Dave was fast enough to quickly cut toward the right before he could get to him, and without hesitation, he sent the ball flying down the right nk, an attempt to find Merino who had already stretched down there.


    "The moment of truth."


    The goalkeeper was sessful in getting the ball to Merino who had the fullback in the area right behind him but he wasn''t much trouble as the forward was able to get past him with a backheel nutmeg just after getting the ball down.


    "Oh, that was nasty."


    He quickly pushed forward with the ball after that as Mateo along with the other midfielders pushed forward also.


    Fred quickly made his way into the box, one of the center-backs sticking close to him and finding him at that moment, Merino sent the ball flying to him with a lob before the other center-back could double-cross him.


    "I wasn''t expecting this from Unique, surely they can find that equalizer now."


    The ball was able to get to Fred sessfully but desperate to prevent a goal, the center back forced him out of shooting position with a pull but the striker was able to keep hold of the ball, and just before the center back could drag him down inside the box, he pushed the ball away from the box toward Mateo who had just entered the area free of any markers, a grave mistake by Dynamo.


    "Mateo."


    The youngster quickly got his foot on the ball pushing past the center back who was upied by Fred at that moment to get into the box.


    "Surely now!"


    This time, Victor wasn''t able to rush out of his box as Mateo pulled his right foot back and fired the ball forward, aiming for the bottom right corner.


    The goalkeeper could only stand and watch as the ball flew past him and into the goalpost, dragging the back.


    "Oh, there you have it! They have their equalizer and who else but Mateo to put it in the box!"


    The fans erupted in cheers as the youngster took off to the sidelines screaming and jumping.


    "Trying stopping that one!" He screamed as he kicked the corner g.


    Minino got to him at that moment and putting his hand over his shoulder, he dragged him back, rubbing his head with a bright smile on his face.


    "I would have kicked you if you had missed that one."


    Back on the other side, Dave had a bright smile on his face with both of his hands up as the fans chanted in jubtion.


    "That was a wonderful connection between the yers but I think Dynamo was a littlex in defense there, letting Mateo run free like that," Stevemented. "I guess his missed chances in the first half gave them the impression that he wasn''t much of a threat, they''ll have to keep him locked if they want to at least drag this game out."


    "Definitely," Jim affirmed.


    <See, I told you he was okay>


    Dave looked far ahead at that moment to see the youngster enthusiastically urging the fans to keep cheering.


    "Yeah, he does look okay now."

 Chapter 525: Free-kick Invitation

    That equalizer was a massive hit to Dynamo FC who had nned to y it safe for the currently ongoing second half and just drag the game out.


    Unfortunately for them, Unique FC didn''t give them the chance to do that, striking fast to level the game as soon as the game resumed.


    Whatever bit of the home team''s morale that seemed to have dropped after conceding that goal in the first half seemed to have been restored now with increased intensity.


    The chants from the fans were louder now as Dynamo FC tried to keep the ball away from Unique FC yers.


    They looked pretty sharp in the first half but the second half was currently seven minutes gone and they seemed to becking that first-half intensity. Maybe their game n suddenly crashing in the first minute of the game was the cause of that.


    "Dynamo FC just don''t seem to be able to break through Unique FC''s line anymore and it doesn''t look like they want to take any risks, constantly ying back passes." Jim articted.


    "Well, they seem to be doing a good job of keeping hold of the ball at least," Steve remarked.


    In a desperate attempt to break through, Frank pushed forward down the right nk after receiving the ball from one of the defensive midfielders but just before he could kick his full speed into gear,  sprinting Rnd threw himself toward him, getting the ball off him with a not so neat sliding tackle.


    The attacking midfielder crashed down to the ground immediately after that, clutching onto his ankle with his hand up as he called for foul y.


    However, there was no response from the referee who allowed Rnd who was already up on his feet to carry on with y.


    "I guess he did make contact with the ball first but he did also make contact with Frank''s ankle."


    The fullback quickly pushed the ball a little forward before rolling it to Mateo who was already racing down the middle with one of the defensive midfielders right behind him.


    All the youngster needed was a single touch to skillfully drill the ball further forward down the right nk in an attempt to find Merino who had quickly pulled back at that moment to shake off the fullback on him and get his foot on the ball.


    As soon as he got his foot on the ball, Minino quickly pushed down further down the right nk, turning his gaze to Frank who was slowly getting up on his feet at that moment.


    "That could work." He muttered with a sinister smile on his face.


    Catching sight of the midfielder heading toward him, Merino pushed the ball back to him before pushing forward past the fullback marking him.


    "Merino to Minino, is he going to y him through?"


    That was precisely their n, and being well aware of that, Minino did not hesitate in drilling the ball in for Merino, skillfully getting it away from the defender who had made an admirable attempt to stop the ball.


    "Oh, this is a golden opportunity for Unique FC to take the lead."


    It was just as Jim said, Minino''s pass put Merino in a pretty good shooting position just inside the box but a little hesitance from the forward was all that was needed for one of the defenders to quickly block his path before stretching out his legs to take the ball from him.


    That was a bit of a clumsy mistake from the forward, not taking that shot on time, however, he did not falter.


    Trying to salvage what was left of the good chance he had been given, he faked a shot on the defender before quickly shifting the ball to his left foot, quickly lifting it up toward Fred who had just pushed into the box.


    "This could be the moment!"


    The striker was able to get to the ball ahead of the defender trying to stop him and the defensive midfielder right behind him.


    However, just before he could actually nod the ball forward, Victor dived to the target with his gloves, pushing the ball away while somehow avoiding making contact with the striker.


    "Oh, wonderful intervention from Victor to thwart that danger."


    That was a relief for the Dynamo yers and fans but that moment didn''tst long for them as the ball happened to have fallen to the foot of Mateo who was just dying to cause some trouble.


    "Uh oh, the ball has fallen to Mateo, Dynamo''s not clear of danger yet."


    Quickly cutting to the right, the youngster was able to get past the defensive midfielder in front of him but just before he could push further forward into the box, he felt someone pull on his shirt from behind before he was forcefully dragged down.


    "Oh,e on." He snapped before quickly springing up on his feet, turning to Connell who still had a tiny grip on his shirt. "Hey, what''s the big idea?"


    The referee blew his whistle to confirm that that was indeed foul y, but that wasn''t enough to stop themotion that had just been kicked up in front of Dynamo FC''s goalpost, and wherever there were mes, there was always Minino to add more fuel and wood.


    "Oh, dear, the home team are understandably not very pleased about that challenge," Jimmented.


    "Yeah, that was a very tant pull, deserves a card in my opinion."


    As expected, Minino took over from Mateo, almost getting into a fight with Connell but thanks to his teammates, he was restrained and just narrowly escaped a yellow card.


    The only person who ended up getting booked was Connell and aware of what he did, he made no attempt at protesting against it.


    "Well, that sure was something, but now that it''s over let''s talk about the free kick which could possibly turn into something to Unique FC being so close to the box."


    "I''m just wondering who''s going to take it."


    Back at the pitch, Ferran could be seen heading to Mateo on the spot the referee had marked out for the free kick with the ball in his hand.


    "So, are you going to take it?" He asked just after stopping in front of the youngster. "You''re clearly the better free-kick taker now."


    Mateo was a bit hesitant but he was able to take the bail from him.


    "Well, I guess that''s true, but¡­"


    "But what?"


    "I think Dave should take it." He responded before turning toward the goalkeeper.


    Seeing that reaction from the youngster, a smile appeared on Ferran''s face as he also turned toward the goalkeeper on the other side of the pitch.


    "I guess ording to statistics, he is the better free-kick specialist among the three of us.


    Mateo began to wave at the goalkeeper at that moment, and it didn''t take him long to notice.


    <Looks like you''re getting a free kick invitation>


    ''Seems that way.''


    <Try not to mess it up>


    ''I''ll do my best.''


    To avoid wasting any more time, the goalkeeper quickly began to make his way to the area, the home fans erupting in cheers of joy.


    "Looks like they''re leaving this one to their multi-talented goalkeeper," Stevemented.


    "Well, he is currently the best free-kick taker in the team, converting five out of seven attempts. He did also get the winning goal against Dynamo in theirst meeting, it wasn''t a free kick but there''s a good chance he can make something out of this." Jim articted.


    "If he''s not going to score then sending it over the bar might be the best option, anything else and they might be in trouble."


    "True."


    At the moment, Dave could be seen standing over the ball, his gaze fixated on Dynamo FC''s four-man wall inside the box.


    I guess it would be more urate to call it a five-man wall since they had someone below.


    The referee was still making sure that everything was in ce so in the meantime, he was wondering.


    ''Victor''s a phenomenal goalkeeper, but what the right cement and power, beating him won''t be a problem.''


    He heard the sound of the referee''s whistle resound in his ears at that moment, and in response to that, he slowly took two steps backward.


    "The moment of truth," Jim uttered.


    After carefully scanning the barricade blocking him from the goal from left to right, the goalkeeper quickly closed up on the ball.


    He got to it in no time and with his right foot, he lifted the the ball with tremendous power, kicking up the little droplets still hiding in the grass.


    The shot power was out of this world but what really had the fans gaping was the curve as the ball pushed toward the top right corner.


    Determined to stop the shot and keep the game level, Victor dived toward it, getting the tip of his gloves on it.


    However, that was the best he could do as the ball smashed past him, hitting the angle between the crossbar and post before dropping into the goalpost.


    "Oh my goodness! What a strike! Victor stood absolutely no chance against that!"


    "What is this guy even doing in between the sticks?"


    The home fans went crazy after witnessing that, screaming and jumping. Even some of the away fans couldn''t help but apud that goal.


    Dave seemed to have gone as crazy as the fans as he quickly took off to the side screaming at the top of his voice before Minino got to him and dragged him down allowing the rest of his teammates to crash down on him.


    Dynamo FC yers on the other hand had devastated looks on their faces, especially Victor who was sitting on his goal line shaking his head.


    "There you have it, a brilliant moment from Dave and Unique FC have the lead," Jimmented. "That''s the second time Victor has conceded against him, making him the goalkeeper he has scored most against."

 Chapter 526: Might Get Interesting

    That Free-kick from Dave left the fans and his teammates quite ted.


    Going in on the break one goal down sort of left a bad taste in their mouth but in less than fifteen minutes of the second half, they had been able to grab the equalizer and take the lead, masterfully capitalizing on the chances they got, unlike the first half.


    With that lead, it was starting to look like they could actually pull out a mildly stressful victory, at least that was how most of the fans felt.


    However, that feeling didn''tst for long, it took just five minutes after Dave''s goal for everything about that feeling toe crashing down.


    The reason for that being that at the moment on Unique FC''s side of the pitch, just outside the box, the referee could be seen holding up a red card in front of Minino, and just beside the official, Frank could be seen clutching onto his left leg, gritting his teeth.


    It wasn''t like they didn''t see iting after the way he brought Frank down but seeing that red card still left them shocked, while for the opposing team, it had the opposite effect as they stopped trying to w at Minino after the referee made his decision.


    The midfielder''s teammates tried to protest against the decision and while they were doing that, Mateo watched Minino walk out of the pitch with mixed expressions of annoyance and helplessness.


    He understood why his teammate did what he did but he wished he had handled it in a much better way that would not have resulted in him getting sent off.


    That was also exactly how Dave felt. The goalkeeper could be found standing in front of his goalpost with his left palm covering his face.


    ''Why is this happening?''


    <I told you he was going to do it>


    "Oh, this is definitely going to shake Unique FC''s momentum, this match might just get more interesting," Jimmented.


    "It might also turn to hell for them."


    Given what has already been exined, it would be fair to say that Minino got a straight card after messing Frank''s leg up with a wicked tackle but what exactly led the midfielder to pull off a nasty tackle like that?


    Well, everything started after Merino lost the ball while pushing forward with it.


    Dynamo kicked off a counterattack as soon as they got hold of the ball, and sessfully getting the ball to Frank on the other side, the midfielder dropped Rnd with a dummy quickly followed by a faint, and as soon as he was past him, he raced down straight toward the box.


    Martinez raced to the attacking midfielder, stretching out his leg in a desperate attempt to dispossess him but moving the ball a little to the right while jumping over the leg, Frank was able to avoid the challenge.


    Seeing the dangerous midfielder approaching with full force, Aima rushed out with a sweeping tackle which Frank used against him, neatly chipping the ball over him.


    This was the point where a desperate Minino got involved. Determined to not let Frank get his foot on the ball again and finish what he started, the midfielderunched himself with both feet facing forward.


    In situations like this, it was normal for the yer to go for the ball but Minino intentionally went for his leg, matching down on his joint just as he got his foot on the ball, forcing him to crash down to the floor screaming in pain.


    There was no need for a VAR change, everyone saw that wild and clear, a clear wicked tackle from Minino, one that was enough to end a yer''s career or render him unable to continue a game at least.


    It was fair to say that the midfielder was able to achieve his goal as Frank was currently being carried off the pitch on a stretcher, already deemed unable to continue the game.


    The worst part of the whole thing was that Minino didn''t have the tiniest bit of remorse on his face as he made his way out of the pitch rather he had a subtle smirk on his face.


    The away fans were understandably very furious with him and some of them were calling him a dirty cheater.


    "It''s called taking one for the team."


    With Dynamo FC getting ready to take their free kick just at the edge of the box, the official with the board raised it to make Frank''s substitution official.


    The board had the number ten in red and the number neen in green.


    The yer with the number neen on his kit was a youngster in Dynamo''s squad who went by the name, Noe and his kit number was a perfect representation of his age.


    "The youngster hasn''t had much ying time this season but he has proven to have great potential so far having two goals and three assists in eight matches which he didn''t start any." Jim articted as the youngster made his way to the point of action on the pitch.


    "True, but I''m not sure he can make up for the void Frank''s absence has just created in this team."


    "Well, however you look at it, Unique FC are the ones currently one man down and since he''s a forward they''ll probably be switching to two forwards and four midfielders so he''s obviously going to bring more offensiveness to the table. I''m just wondering how Unique FC is going to handle this problem."


    At the moment, Damian could be seen standing over the ball, his gaze fixated on Unique FC''s five-man wall inside the box.


    <At moments like this, keeping a calmposure is the best for everyone>


    ''Yeah, I know that.'' Dave responded as he adjusted his gloves.


    "Grabbing an equalizer from this free-kick might be the final nail in the coffin for Unique FC," Jimmented.


    "True, but can Damian pull it off, especially against a goalkeeper like Dave?"


    After making sure that everything was ready, the referee blew his whistle, and as soon as the striker heard it, he slowly took three steps backward before taking a deep breath.


    He stared at the ball for about three seconds before he quickly closed up on it and released the shot loaded on his right foot.


    The wall jumped up in unison to block the ball, however, the striker seemed to have chosen to go from below, somehow going past the yer below to drill the ball toward the left.


    That was an ecstatic strike going for the bottom left corner. However, just before the ball could even get close to crossing the line, Dave got to it with both of his gloves, grabbing it with a firm grip.


    "Oh, he''s been denied."


    Determined to not let the current opportunity go to waste, Dave quickly got up on his feet and sent the ball flying forward down the left nk toward Mateo who was already racing down there.


    "Uh oh, they''re trying to kick off a counterattack here."


    The goalkeeper seeded in getting the ball to Mateo who was able to push past the defensive midfielder in his way with minimum difficulty just as he brought the ball down.


    The defender in the way stretched out his leg to stop the youngster, leaving his legs open and giving him an easy way through as Mateo pushed the ball past him from in between his legs before connecting with it from the other end to continue his run.


    "Oh, just good is this kid?"


    "Massive trouble for Dynamo iing."


    Determined to not let the youngster get one in on them again, Connell took off right behind him, running with everything he had to prevent him from getting too far away.


    By the time the youngster got to the box, Connell was already onto him with Victor rushing out.


    He tried to maneuver the midfielder before chipping the ball in an attempt to get it past Victor and into the goalpost but the goalkeeper was already onto him, raising his arm just in time to derail the ball and send it rolling out for a corner kick.


    A series of gasps resounded in the stadium as they watched the ball roll out while Mateo crashed to the floor, breathing heavily.


    "Oh, he should have put that way."


    "Frank was awesome till he was taken out but for me, Victor has been Dynamo''s best man tonight. Mateo might have already gotten a goal against him, but he has been the youngster''s kryptonite for most of the game." Steve articted.


    "True, one wrong move from the goalkeeper there and ten-men Unique FC could have had a two-goal lead against them."


    Not given the privilege to waste any time, Ferran could be seen standing over the ball, his gaze on the mixed shirts running around inside and outside the box.


    "A corner kick for Dynamo to deal with here, if Unique ys their cards right with a bit of luck, they might be able to pull something off here."


    It didn''t take long before the referee blew his whistle, and as soon as he did, Ferran slowly took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent the ball flying in, stretching it toward the edge of the box.


    Connell could only watch as the ball glided past him but Mateo who was just beside him couldn''t do the same.


    Just before the ball could fly past him, the youngster threw himself up, horizontally, stretching his right foot to get it to the ball, and as soon as he did, he struck it backward.


    "Mateo!"


    With a neat acrobatic kick, the youngster sent the ball flying toward the top right corner, Victor diving straight for it.


    During the split second that the ball was in between the goalkeeper and the one who struck it, the opposing sides made their opposing wishes clear.


    "Oh, Victor, please stop it."


    "If this goes in, it will change everything."

 Chapter 527: Try Something Interesting

    "Mateo!"


    Victor tried his best, I mean that much was obvious, but getting the tip of his glove on the ball was not enough to stop it as the ball ended up smashing past his hand to fly straight into the goalpost.


    "That is just magisterial! This guy is unbelievable. Just when you thought Dynamo were about to make a possibleeback, he puts his team two goals ahead. Talk about defying the odds!"


    The home fans were off their seats screaming louder than they did for the first and second goals while jumping quite wildly.


    The away fans were obviously furious to see their team go two goals down but some of them couldn''t help but apud what the youngster managed to pull off.


    "That''s the first overhead kick Mateo Smith has scored in his career and he sure picked the right moment for it." Steve articted.


    Just like everyone else, Mateo was quite overjoyed with the way he was able to put the ball in as he could be seen in front of the stands, screaming with an expression of great joy written all over his face.


    His teammates were right behind him, sharing in the celebration. Minino, although now on the bench, was just as entric as always, almost rushing to the other side to celebrate with his teammates.


    "You would expect losing one yer to demoralize Unique FC and make things easier for Dynamo but all it took was a few minutes to show that that isn''t enough to shake them," Jimmented. "Dynamo FC will have to get their stuff together and figure out a way to use the hole currently in Unique''s team against them. Otherwise, they''ll have to ept a loss against a ten-man side."


    <Looks like you guys still have a clear edge on this one>


    ''Yeah, falling back to defend is probably the best thing to do at this stage.''


    <True, but that''s entirely up to your coach to decide>


    With the celebration now done, it was time to get back into the game as Damian could be seen standing over the ball in the kick-off spot waiting for the referee''s whistle.


    It didn''t take long for the official to blow his whistle and as soon as he did, the striker sent the ball rolling to Connell.


    "The game is back on the way here, Unique FC now have a clearer advantage against the away side but there''s still a lot of time for Dynamo to get back into the game so it''s too early to make any conclusions."


    Given the fact that almost all the counterattacks from Unique FC courtesy of Dave cost them something in this match, the away side decided not to be too assertive with the way they attack and just slowly progressed toward striking range.


    Unique FC were able to adaptfortably to their change, Ferran pulling back on the left nk to help with defense.


    Merino also had to pull back to help with defense, those were the instructions from Norman.


    Now that they had a good grasp on the game, the coach wanted them to focus more on defending but he wasn''t nning on parking the bus.


    Despite Unique FC''s extra efforts in defense, Dynamo FC were able to slip through a couple of times but they ultimately ended up getting stopped by Unique FC''sst line of defense, Dave Richards.


    This was the first time in a while that Unique FC werefortably holding onto a two-goal lead against the Dynamo side in a match and they were enjoying it.


    With the match almost at the seventieth minute, Noe raced down the right wing, an attempt to get past Rnd with a showing of speed and ball control.


    However, the fullback was the more experienced yer even though they were technically age mates.


    Handling Frank all day long was quite tiresome for him so dealing with this newbie was no problem for him.


    A neat tackle was all he needed to brush the ball off the forward''s feet and send it rolling out for a throw-in.


    With the ball now out for a throw, Norman decided that it was finally time to bring in some fresh legs.


    Frankie had been warming up on the sidelines alongside the other teammates so it wasn''t a surprise when he came in to rece Martinez who was somewhat quiet throughout his time on the pitch.


    What did surprise most of them was the coach bringing in Jonas to rece Rnd just after that.


    "It''s been a while since Jonas got any considerable y time."


    <Recing Rnd this early on might be a big mistake, he''s the only one with the speed to keep up with the stuff they throw down that nk>


    ''True, but we''ll have to believe in what the coach is doing and besides, having Frankie on the pitch now is going to change the tempo of our game.''


    With the changes nowplete, the game was to resume immediately with the throw-in that Connell was going to be handling.


    Throwing the ball to Noe who was the closest yer to him would have been easy if Jonas wasn''t sticking very close to him.


    Throwing the ball back to the free yers on their side of the pitch would have been an easy fix but ignoring that, the midfielder decided to gamble on a bigger target.


    Matip who was near the edge of the box had Frankie on him at the moment but he didn''t care as he sent the ball flying straight to the midfielder.


    Frankie tried to stop him, but being the taller yer, the midfielder was able to get his head on the ball first, and just after bringing it down, he pushed away from Frankie a little, away from the box, before flicking it in toward the right, an impressive attempt to y Noe through.


    The youngster was able to push past Jonas to get his foot on the ball but just as he brought it down, the fullback stretched his right leg to neatly get the ball off the youngster''s feet.


    He tripped on his leg afterward and was sent tumbling but there was no reaction from the referee as Jonas rushed to the ball before it could cross the line and sent it rolling to Frankie.


    "That''s wonderful defending from Jonas."


    Matip quickly rushed towards Frankie as soon as he got his foot on the ball but feigning moving to the left before cutting to the right was all it took to get past him, and now he was racing down the middle with the ball, cutting past Connell who tried to double cross him with a neat body feint.


    "Frankie''s looking to kick off a counterattack here."


    That was exactly what he had in mind, however, just before the midfielder could get to the halfway line, one of the defensive midfielders charged straight at him, pushing him down with his whole body to stop him from advancing forward.


    Frankie was left on the ground as the referee blew his whistle before quickly rushing to the area, reaching for his pocket.


    "Well, that was a desperate move."


    Frankie did not seem to be in any pain but the defensive midfielder was shown a yellow card nevertheless and now Unique FC had a free-kick which had very little chance to cause any problem for Dynamo since it happened on their side of the pitch.


    ''Hey, are you thinking what I''m thinking?''


    <Yeah, this is a good opportunity to try something interesting>

 Chapter 528: Football For You

    The free-kick was set to be taken now and the person standing over the ball at the moment was none other than Dave Richards.


    It was a free-kick on their side of the pitch so there was no need for a wall and that was a sort of advantage for the goalkeeper even though it didn''t really matter to him if there was a wall or not.


    "Seventy-eight minutes into the game and Unique FC are still leading three goals to one. Dynamo FC don''t have much time here and now they have to face another free-kick from Dave." Jim articted.


    "Ordinarily, a free kick from this far out wouldn''t prove to be much of a threat especially if the yer decides to go for a direct kick but Dave Richards is a goalkeeper who is known to have caused a couple of upsets from his side of the pitch a couple of times."


    "He''s done it enough times for the goalkeepers from the opposing sides to know what to expect when up against him," Steve added. "There''s a reason why Victor has made a conscious effort not to stray too far from his goal line since the start of the match."


    Since there was no wall, all of the yers were on the other end of the pitch with Dynamo FC yers trying to trick the eager Unique FC yers into falling into their offside trap by not getting too close to their box.


    <So, what are you going to do now? A direct kick has a fifty-fifty chance of going since Victor is standing firm on his goal line but it could be higher or lower than that depending on how you take the shot and how he moves>


    ''So, what are you saying?''


    <Trying to find someone with good enough positioning to not be offside is the best option but it''s your call, at this stage of the game, it doesn''t really matter what you choose to do>


    ''I see, so it''s my call.''


    The referee blew his whistle at that moment, and as soon as the goalkeeper heard it, he slowly took two steps backward before taking a deep breath.


    "Alright, here goes nothing." He muttered before rushing to the ball.


    He might have listened to everything Catherine just said, but before she even began speaking, he had already made up his mind.


    He decided, that he was going to take the option that was most likely to lead to a goal.


    Lifting the ball nicely with just enough power, the goalkeeper sent the ball flying toward the right, he was looking for Merino.


    The winger had Matip trying to keep him in check while also hoping that he would move into an offside position just before any ball woulde flying his way.


    The winger quickly pushed past the midfielder just in time to get his foot on the ball, and despite raising his hand to call for an offside, there was no response from the goalkeeper as Merino raced toward the goalpost, nobody standing in his way.


    "He''s onside, oh it''s another marvelous chance for Unique FC. Surely they''ll get that fourth goal!"


    Frustrated that the referee didn''t do anything, Matip desperately chased after the winger, his teammates closing in from the other sides alongside the opposing yers who were looking to give their teammate a hand if the need for that arose.


    Desperate to put an end to their current helpless situation, Victor rushed out just as Merino got to the edge of the box but that turned out to be a mistake as the winger was fast enough to chip the ball over him just before he could get to him.


    There was nothing the goalkeeper could do besides sit there as the ball bounced into the goalpost.


    "Goallllll!!!"


    "Goallll!!!" The voice of the fans resounded as the winger took off to the sidelines, a bright smile on his face.


    This was a grand moment for the home team, however, something seemed to be off, and that was the fact that the referee had yet to blow his whistle or point to the kick-off spot to confirm the goal.


    "What''s this? Looks like there are doubts about whether Merino was offside or not."


    The home team had to calm down their celebration as Dynamo FC yers gathered around the referee, trying to get him to rule in their favor.


    It wasn''t going to change much as they would still be behind, but going three goals behind would mean crushing thest bit of hope they were clinging on to, and they just couldn''t have that.


    Back at the other side of the pitch, Dave could be seen observing everything from the edge of his box, his arms crossed.


    ''What do you think, Cat?''


    <What do I think? Well, we''ll have to wait and see what VAR decides before I tell you>


    ''Fair enough.''


    As expected, the referee had to go to the VAR monitor to see what actually happened and make a decision, and while he was doing that, Dynamo FC yers and fans waited anxiously.


    The home team didn''t really have anything to worry about, whether it was ruled for or against them, they were still confident that they had this match in the bag.


    "I don''t think he was offside, what do you think, Steve?"


    "Yeah, he didn''t seem to be offside to me but let''s see what the officials decide."


    After a while, the referee came rushing back to the pitch, and as soon as he did, he blew his whistle before pointing to the kick-off spot.


    At that moment, the screens hanging above the decision disyed the agreed decision to everyone.


    [ Goal to Unique FC ]


    Merino quickly jumped up at that moment, his teammates quickly gathering around him as the fans screamed in jubtion.


    "And Unique FC have their fourth goal, a wonderful three goals advantage against Dynamo FC now." Jim articted.


    "Once again, it''s Dave being the bearer of trouble for Dynamo FC, an unbelievable goal and assist for the goalkeeper."


    "Yeah, this guy is just unbelievable, Unique FC are really lucky to have someone like him as a goalkeeper. Undeniably the goalkeeper of the tournament going into the Semi-finals."


    Seeing his teammates jumping and celebrating from his side of the pitch, Dave couldn''t help but smile, but he did also notice the Dynamo FC yers, sitting on the floor with devastated looks on their faces.


    ''That''s just football for you.''


    As you would expect, that goal was the final nail in the coffin for Dynamo FC.


    For the first time in years, they were brutally defeated by Unique FC and what made it more devastating was that they conceded two goals against them after they had lost one yer.

 Chapter 529: To The Semi-final

    When it came to the matter of who was supposed to be the man of the match for the game that had just been concluded, there were two clear contenders on Unique FC''s side.


    The goalkeeper who did really well to support his team more than any other goalkeeper could do in this modern day, finding the back of the once and providing an assist.


    Then there was the winger who has had way better gamespared to this one as he missed a lot of good chances early on but he did manage to find the back of the twice, scoring that wonderful overhead kick just after they lost Minino to keep their morale up.


    It was too close to call between the two but to anyone who clearly observed the match, one had a slight edge over the other.


    "The man of the match for the game is Dave Richards."


    That was announced just after the end of the game and it would be a huge offense to say that it was undeserved in any way, but there were still some people who thought Mateo deserved it.


    "Well, would you look at that folks, looks like this game has finally drawn to a close. Both teams seemed to be equally matched in the first half of the game, and that was why things had to change in the second half of the game." Jim articted. "Unique FC came with the heat and Dynamo just couldn''t keep up even after getting the advantage of ying with one more yer."


    "I think the problem lies with Frank leaving, their team started to look considerably inferior to Unique FC after the midfielder had to exit the game, he was like the glue that held the team together, creating chances for his teammates and himself but once he was taken off, the creativity on Dynamo''s side died and that was exactly what Unique needed.


    I guess Minino read that much into it and decided to do what he did." Stevemented.


    "Probably. Moving on, with this victory, Unique FC will be moving on to the semi-final where they will be facing second-division side, Norlin FC who managed to scrape through with a two goals to one victory against Junami United today.


    "And on the other side of things, Supreme United will be facing Litno FC to determine which of them will be making it to the finals."


    "With that setting, there''s a good chance we''ll be getting a Bilbeth Super Cup final between the top two teams of the league ording to the table currently, that sure will be exciting to see." Steve articted.


    After that, they went on to talk about a couple of other things before finally ending the broadcast.


    At the moment, the Unique FC squad could be seen standing in front of the fans, waving at them while they waved back and praised them with bright smiles overflowing with joy and ecstasy on their faces.


    It had been a while since they''d experienced this kind of season and they just couldn''t contain their joy.


    It has been a long journey of defeats, humiliation, and regrets but they were on the right track to a treble now.


    "You''re doing a great job, Norman!" A certain section of the crowd screamed.


    "We hope all of you stay forever! Especially Dave and Mateo!"


    Hearing that, Dave couldn''t help but bring his gaze down with a sigh.


    "I certainly can promise you that." He muttered.


    After a while of thanking the fans foring to cheer them on today, it was finally time for the yers to start heading down.


    The post-match interview had already been concluded so Dave didn''t have anything to worry about as he made his way toward the tunnel alongside Mateo.


    That said, Amber was still hanging around the area, she seemed to be talking to some of the staff on their team but without her mic, and when she caught sight of the two, she waved at them with a smile.


    "Well, she''s certainly looking bright these days." The goalkeeper muttered as he waved back at her, his gaze slowly shifting to Mateo who was also waving back at her.


    "I guess." The winger responded before slowly bringing his gaze down. "Anyway, this is your third man of the match award in this tournament, and the third one in a row. You have a pretty decent chance of winning the yer of the Tournament award."


    "No, I think you have it in the bag." Dave shrugged.


    "No, Dave, at this point, you have a better chance of winning the award than anyone currently. Think about it, three consecutive man of the match awards, three goals all of which came from free-kicks and four assists, the most tied with Frank who is now no longer in the tournament."


    <He has a very strong argument>


    "True, but you are the current top scorer, one goal ahead of Rnd with five goals, you also have two assists and one man of the match award." The goalkeeper remarked. "I might have a slight edge now but we still have the semi-final and final to decide things."


    "Well, at least you agree that you have the edge," Mateo said, walking ahead of him.


    Dave suddenly stopped walking at that moment after letting out a sigh, and just after getting to the entrance to the tunnels, the winger stopped to turn to him.


    "I''m rooting for you." He smiled.


    The two made their way to the locker room after that to find that there was no wild celebration going on, but Minino was still making a lot of noise talking to his teammates.


    At the moment, the midfielder was having a conversation with Adolf and Martinez, and looking at him, Mateo couldn''t help but furrow his eyebrows with a deep frown.


    "That idiot." He grumbled as he made his way to him.


    He got to the midfielder in no time, and with his right hand, he sent down a chop on his head.


    "Hey, what was that for?" Minino turned to him with a snap and a deep scowl on his face.


    "You said you weren''t going to do it and you still went ahead and did it." Mateo snapped back.


    "Hey,e on, chill, Mateo. It ended up working in our favor, did it not?"


    Getting that response, Mateo couldn''t help but shake his head before letting out a sigh.


    "It could have also worked against us, what if you didn''t deal enough damage to take him out?"


    "I''m sure you guys would have figured¡­."


    He wasn''t able to finish that statement as he suddenly found Mateo ring at him, his eyes piercing through him.


    "Uhhh, I''m just d we managed to pull through somehow." He rephrased his words, his voice calmer than usual.


    "Yeah, me too." Mateo sighed. "So, Dave¡­"


    He turned toward the goalkeeper''s locker at that moment to find out that he wasn''t in the room at the moment.


    "Oh, he left."


    The goalkeeper was in the bathroom at that moment, staring at the image of himself in the mirror but that wasn''t really what he was there to do.


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ You sessfully helped your team secure a victory ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +150 exp received ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points received ]


    [ +1 skill point received ]


    ''Now, the post-match rewards.''


    [ Victory rewards ]


    [ Goals conceded(1): 0exp ]


    [ Four crucial saves: +40 exp ]


    [ Goals scored(1): +150 exp ]


    [ Assists provided (1): +100 exp ]


    [ Match rating: 9.5 ]


    [ Congrattions ]


    [ Market value has increased by €200,000 ]


    [ Current market value: €1.5M~€1.7M ]


    ''Well, that''s something.''

 Chapter 530: Unfair Advantage

    <I''m surprised, you guys might actually pull this off>


    ''What do you mean you''re surprised?''


    <Well, at the start of the season, I wasn''t really sure that your team would get this close in allpetitions, especially not in the Europa Conference League, I was fairly confident that you would be able to grab at least one trophy though>


    ''I guess I can see why you would look at things that way, and I''m sure you''re not the only one who thought we wouldn''t amount to much this season.''


    <Yeah, that''s the thing but everything is this way because you''re not the only one who''s improved over the past couple of months, the whole team has and for a football team, that is essential for winning games>


    ''Mhm, we y more like a team now.''


    <True, but this team still has one unfair advantage>


    ''Huh?''


    <Take a look>


    [ Goals: 10 ]


    [ Assists: 11 ]


    <Those are your stats for just this season, for a goalkeeper, that''s crazy>


    ''Oh, so I''m the unfair advantage.''


    <Obviously>


    ''Well, I don''t think there''s anything wrong with that, teams aren''t supposed to be equal after all, if they were then upsets when super squads get beaten by nobody teams wouldn''t be a thing.''


    <I was trying topliment you, dummy>


    ''Huh?''


    <The system may have helped to improve your shot power but that was indirectly through improving your strength and the same could be said for dexterity, that was only to improve your reaction time but you''re not limiting yourself to just using them for that.


    <You''ve taken proper advantage of your attributes to score and assist whenever it was needed, that''s something you''re doing on your own with the indirect help of the system>


    ''Oh.''


    <You know, your predecessor, never could get this many goal stats in a season>


    ''Hmm, Grandpa''s stats do say he was only able to manage seven goals and two assists in his career.''


    <That''s because unlike you, he wasn''t really good with handling the ball with his foot, and you know,paring both of you has brought me to one interesting conclusion>


    ''What?''


    <You were never really cut out to be a goalkeeper>


    The door was pushed open at that moment, causing Dave to quickly turn around to find Jonas standing there.


    The two made eye contact for a brief moment before the fullback turned away with a subtle huff.


    "Oh, hey, Jonas."


    Dave made an attempt to converse with him but Jonas didn''t seem to be interested as he slowly walked past him without responding to him.


    "I guess he still doesn''t want to talk to me."


    <Are you trying to reconcile with him?>


    ''Well, I was able to reconcile with Ferran so I don''t think there''s anything wrong with making up with Jonas. Besides, I just think we both started off on the wrong foot and teammates are supposed to stick together after all.''


    <You make a good point, but still, I don''t trust that guy>


    ______ ______


    Dave had to return home a whileter after listening to everything Norman had to tell them about everything they had left for the season.


    They had a Bilbeth Premier League game against Lospeno FC in four days, and after that, they were going to travel to Spain to face Real Sociedad in the first leg of the Europa Conference League quarter-final, a match that had most of them on edge.


    Should they beat Socieaded, they would only be one step closer to the final and they were hungry to get there.


    <I know your main focus is on the Europeanpetition now since you''ve gotten Dynamo and Supreme out of the way in the league, but keep in mind that you guys are only two points ahead of Supreme United, any misstep and they''ll steal the league title right from under your noses> Catherine articted as he drove into the premises of his home, the gate slowly closing behind.


    ''I understand what you''re trying to say, and I''ll give it my all in bothpetitions.''


    He parked his car as he usually did in no proper style before slowly stepping down from it.


    He mmed the door shut afterward and made his way straight to the door, and just after getting there, he paused.


    "Should I knock or just open it?" He contemted as he reached for the key in his left pocket.


    <Do you want my opinion>


    ''No, please, that question has signs of your usual insults written all over it.''


    <Wow, you seem to know me too well at this point>


    ''Eh, I''ll just open it.'' He shrugged. ''I might get a chance to surprise her.''


    He pulled out the key from his pocket just after saying that and reached for the key lock, but just before he could insert it, the door was suddenly pulled open from the inside.


    As expected, he found Emma staring at him, a subtle smile on her face.


    "Wee back."


    "I guess you must have heard mee in, huh." He responded with an awkward smile on his face.


    "Yeah, the window was slightly open." She remarked, pointing to the window to the right.


    "But you know you shouldn''t have bothered, I have the key, you know."


    "Yeah, but¡­"


    She wasn''t able to finish her statement as Dave suddenly lifted her, holding her in a bridal manner as he made his way to the couch.


    "You shouldn''t be moving around too much in your condition."


    <Says the guy who was thinking about knocking just a minute ago>


    Hearing him say that, Emma couldn''t help but smile before putting her arms around his neck.


    "Congrattions on your victory today." She whispered into his ears.


    "Thank you." Dave smiled.


    It didn''t take long for him to get to the couch and once he did, he slowlyy her down there.


    "I smell chicken." He remarked as he pulled back from her. "Seems like you made something delicious for me once again."


    "Correct, but you''ll have to go get changed if you want it."


    "I¡­."


    He suddenly stopped mid-sentence as he felt his phone begin to vibrate in his pocket.


    "Give me a moment." He said before pulling his phone out of his pocket to find out that rk was the one calling him. "Oh, it''s rk."


    He proceeded to answer the call afterward before pressing the phone against his ear.


    "Hello."


    "Hey, dude, you guys really showed Dynamo FC who''s the boss today, huh," rk remarked enthusiastically from the other end.


    "I guess we did," Dave responded with a little chuckle as he turned towards the staircase.


    "My dear Unique FC is finally beginning to show those top teams that we''re great too, I never thought I would live long enough to see it."


    "Well, it looks like we all lived long enough to see it, and there''s still more toe."


    "True."


    "So, what''s up? I know you didn''t call me just to talk about the match." Dave inquired.


    "What? Are you saying I can''t call you for that reason alone?" He retorted.


    "No, I didn''t¡­"


    "Calm down, I''m just messing with you, and besides, you''re correct."


    "Okay, so what''s it about this time?"


    "Remember the furniturepany you signed a deal withst month?" rk inquired.


    "Yeah, the one that has one of their main branches here in Bilbeth."


    "Well, they''re starting a promo with the theme being familyfort and they want you to be in the promo video for it." He disclosed.


    "Okay, and when are we shooting the video?"


    "Two days from now."


    "Oh, I see."


    "Yeah, that''s why I contacted you immediately."


    There was a few seconds of silence between the two, and during that moment, something clicked in Dave''s mind.


    "Hey, you said the theme was familyfort, right?"


    "Well, that was what they told me."


    Getting that response, the goalkeeper slowly turned to his wife who was just sitting on the couch staring at him.


    "Is it possible for me to ask to include something in the video?"


    "Uhhh, why are you looking at me like that?" Emma asked with a confused expression on her face.


    Dave didn''t realize it, but he seemed to have a somewhat creepy smile on his face at that moment.

 Chapter 531: The Real Taste

    "Dreamspace furniture, furniture that feels like family."


    Two days had gone by and just like the goalkeeper said, he was in Dreamspace''s studio as they were shooting the promotional video with him being the model.


    He wasn''t sure that they would ept the suggestion he wanted to make but to his surprise, they epted his idea with open arms, even saying that it was better than what they had nned.


    Their initial n involved having Dave on stage with a woman and two kids to give a real sense of family to the people who would find the video.


    The goalkeeper''s suggestion was to have Emma be in it since she was visibly pregnant. The director of the video was quick to agree to that as he believed it would make the video more authentic.


    <I don''t understand, if he thought that would make it more authentic, couldn''t they have just used someone else and faked the pregnancy part? But of course, you just wanted your wife to be in the video>


    ''I don''t know why you bother asking questions you already know the answer to.''


    The time was currently half past two so the video shoot had already been wrapped up, that was the reason why Dave was in the reception room thepany used to receive special guests like him, and of course, Emma was there with him.


    At the moment, Dave was standing near the ss windows, staring outside with his arms crossed.


    Emma on the other hand was sitting on the couch in the room, her gaze fixated on the screen of the tablet she was holding.


    "Hey, honey." She called, turning to Dave with a worried expression on her face.


    That was about the twelfth time she had called him since they walked into the room and they were all for the same reason.


    "What is it?" He turned to her with a sigh.


    "Are you sure I did okay in this? My posture seems off in some of the scenes." She remarked, tilting the tablet to the left as she tilted her head toward the same direction.


    Watching and listening to her say that, Dave couldn''t help but shake his head.


    "I already told you." He uttered as he made his way to her. "You did just fine, the director even said so."


    "I know but¡­"


    "Stop worrying over nothing." He said before taking the tablet.


    He was about to y the video and see what exactly she was talking about but his hands suddenly stopped mid-air.


    The reason why he stopped was because of the particr scene where she paused the video.


    The image was one where Emma was sitting on the couch with her left hand on her hump.


    Dave was sitting beside her but he had the kids that were in the video around him, the little girl was on his shoulders while the boy was standing beside him.


    He stared at that image so much that he didn''t know when a smile appeared on his face.


    "And what are you smiling for now?"


    That was enough to snap him out of his daze as he turned to Emma to see that she had a subtle smile on her face.


    "I was just thinking how we might actually have a family like this one day." He responded as he handed the tablet back to her.


    "Oh."


    She suddenly paused at that moment with her gaze now fixated on the screen.


    "Is anything the matter?"


    "No." She shook her head. "It''s just funny because I had the same thought while we were shooting this scene." She disclosed, turning to him with a smile.


    _______ _______


    After finally meeting with the person who wanted to talk to him, the goalkeeper proceeded to head home with his wife.


    They were on the road at the moment with Dave obviously being the one on the steering wheel while she sat beside him, going through her tablet.


    Unable topletely focus on the road, Dave would constantly nce at her when she wasn''t looking his way unaware that she could see him still.


    "You know, I would appreciate it if you focused more on the road." She remarked, her gaze still fixated on her tablet.


    <Busted>


    "Are you sure you''refortable there?" He asked after letting out a sigh. "The backseat would be better for you."


    "Hey, I already told you not to worry, I''m perfectlyfortable and if it starts feeling ufortable, I''ll let you know."


    "I guess that''s fair enough."


    There was a little moment of silence between the two after that before Emma decided to say something.


    "Hey, have you seen?"


    "Seen what?" Dave asked.


    "There''s currently a fan poll going on about who has been Unique FC''s yer of the season so far." She disclosed.


    "Okay, but don''t people do that all the time?"


    "That''s true but this one is different, for some reason, it seems to have gotten a lot of attention and a lot of voters as well." She remarked, scrolling on the tablet.


    "How many voters?"


    "Currently, two point three million."


    "Yeah, that is a lot given the fact that the poption of Bilbeth is a little over three million."


    "Well, a good number of the voters are not from Bilbeth, I''m sure of that." She replied. "Do you want to know where you ce on the poll?"


    "Mhm, tell me."


    "Why don''t you take a guess." She responded with a smirk.


    "A guess. Well, I''ll say second or third." He shrugged as he took a turn to the left.


    "Second or third huh, I see you rate yourself quite highly now."


    "I''m just being logical, based on everything I''ve seen this season, I believe I should be around those two spots."


    "He says confidently." She chuckled.


    "Wait, is that not it?" He turned to her with a confused expression on his face.


    "You said you were being logical but clearly you don''t see the bigger picture." She said before taking a deep breath. "You''re currently ranked first, babe."


    "Oh." He responded.


    The tiniest bit of surprise wasn''t present in his expression.


    "Well, that wasn''t the reaction I was expecting."


    "A part of me felt that would be it but I just didn''t feel like saying it." He uttered. "I''m guessing Mateo''s in second ce then."


    "Yeah, you have four hundred and fifty thousand votes while he has four hundred and forty-eight thousand." She disclosed.


    "Not that far off, he might overtake me you know."


    "Yeah, that''s within the realms of possibility but it is still impressive how you managed to get this many votes."


    "Yeah, who''s in third ce?"


    "Merino, he has three hundred and ten thousand votes currently." She disclosed.


    "No surprise there."


    He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket at that moment, and with one hand now on the steering, he reached for his pocket.


    "Hey, you shouldn''t be doing that." Emma snapped with an annoyed expression on her face.


    She returned his hand to the steering wheel before helping him pull his phone out of his pocket.


    "It''s from rk." She said after unlocking the phone. "Can I check it?"


    "Sure, go ahead." He nodded.


    She clicked the message after that, and now she was just staring at the screen.


    "I just finished drafting the schedule, it''s going to be a busy week for you buddy." She read out loud. "Is this about the numerous sponsorship deals you''ve been gettingtely?"


    "Yes." The goalkeeper responded with a sigh.


    <Get ready, you''re about to get a real taste of what it''s like to be a widely famous footballer>


    ''You make it sound fun.''

 Chapter 532: A Friendly Bet

    Just like rk said, Dave''s super busy life began just after shooting the promo video with the furniturepany.


    He had to travel to two different countries between Tuesday and Wednesday to sign endorsement deals before heading to the Footy Wears headquarters for a photoshoot which they were obviously going to be using for PR in all sorts of ways.


    The team had a long session on Thursday to prepare for the game on Friday so rk made sure to push the little he had to handle for the day to the evening and there was no leaving the country involved since he had a match the next day.


    At the moment, Dave could be seen on the pitch with the rest of his teammates.


    They had been training for a while, and were currently on a twenty minute break.


    Most of the yers used the opportunity to rest up and hydrate themselves, Dave also made his way to the sidelines to grab a drink himself, but after that, he returned to the pitch for his usual shooting drill.


    While most of his teammates were sitting by the side, the goalkeeper could be seen standing in front of one of the goalposts with his gaze on the other goalpost and about seven balls right in front of him.


    "Looks like he''s about to start doing it," Minino said, bumping his shoulder against Mateo who was sitting beside him.


    "Yeah, I can see that." The winger responded, his gaze fixated on Dave.


    Minino stared at him for a while before slowly turning his gaze back to Dave.


    "You know, I just got a wonderful idea." He remarked with a smirk.


    "Huh? What¡­"


    "Hey, Dave!" He yelled before the youngster couldplete his statement.


    Hearing his name get yelled like that, Dave slowly turned to him.


    "What is it?" He asked.


    "Can you hold on for a second?!"


    "Why?" Dave asked in response.


    "You''ll see very soon."


    Just after saying that, the midfielder got up on his feet and quickly raced down the tunnel.


    Dave turned to Mateo after that, and the only thing the winger could do was shrug.


    About three minutester, Minino returned with about five cones in his arms and they didn''t exactly look like the ones they had on the pitch currently.


    "What in the world does he need those for?" Mateo pondered as he moved past him, heading straight towards Dave.


    As soon as he got to the goalkeeper, Minino allowed the cones to drop to the floor before letting out a deep sigh.


    "Okay, so what''s this all about?" Dave inquired, his faceced with confusion.


    "Let''s make a bet."


    "A bet?" The goalkeeper responded, still confused.


    "Mhm." Minino nodded. "I''m going to put five of these cones on top of the crossbar way over there. If you manage to knock three of them out in five tries, you get my lunch today and I''ll buy you a deluxe dinner after our game tomorrow or the next day, your choice."


    <This guy''s a very interesting one>


    ''I think that much is obvious to everyone who hangs around him.''


    "Okay, and if I fail to knock three down in five tries?" Dave inquired.


    "Then we''ll do the reverse, I''ll get your lunch and you get to buy me a deluxe dinner."


    "I see."


    "So, that''s what you were up to."


    Minino quickly turned around at that moment to find Rnd standing there alongside Mateo.


    "But you know, cones won''t be able to hold still on top of a crossbar, a little wind and they''ll be knocked down," Mateo remarked, his gaze slowly shifting to the cones on the ground.


    ''Unless¡­''


    "I''m aware of that," Minino uttered before picking up one of the cones. "That''s why I went to get these?"


    "Huh?" Rnd muttered with a confused expression on his face.


    "Suction cones," Minino uttered. "Unlike normal cones, they can stick to surfaces."


    He moved closer to the goalpost and stuck the one he was holding on the left post.


    "See."


    "Oh."


    "However, their suction isn''t that strong, so with enough shot power¡­."


    He picked up one of the balls on the ground with his right foot at that moment before firing it at the cone, knocking it off the surface.


    "You should be able to knock any of them down." He remarked, turning to Dave with a smile.


    <I see, he doesn''t only want to see if you can get to most of them with five tries but if you''ll be to get to them with enough shot power to knock them off>


    "Something tells me you''ve been looking for an opportunity to do this for a while now," Mateo remarked, his hand on his chin.


    "Maybe," Minino responded with a subtle smile.


    "Hey, I have one more question," Rnd said, raising his hand.


    "You''re not in a ss or lecture hall, Rnd?" Mateo sighed.


    "What''s your question?"


    "You''ve already established the rewards for the bet if Dave manages to hit three but what if he manages to knock all of them down?"


    Minino wasn''t too quick to respond to that as he slowly raised his left hand with a cheeky smile on his face.


    "Five thousand Euros." He dered. "If he manages to knock all five of them down in five tries, he gets five thousand Euros from me on top of everything else but only if he knocks down five, not four. On that note, he''ll have to give me five thousand Euros if he manages to knock down only one, or less than that."


    <Wow, now it sounds like a legit gambling game>


    "Well, that certainly sounds interesting, leave it to Minino to start a gambling game in the middle of a training session."


    Everyone turned to the right after hearing that voice to see Ferran closing up on the area.


    "Gambling? Who said anything about that? This is just a friendly bet between two teammates." Minino responded with an awkward smile as he turned to Dave. "So, Dave¡­"


    "I''ll do it, sounds like fun." The goalkeeper replied before he could finish his statement.


    "Good choice." Minino smiled before he squatted down to pick up all five cones. "Now, if you all will excuse me, I have to go set these up."


    With that said, he quickly hurried over to the other goalpost.


    "Well, he seems to be very excited about this." Mateo sighed before turning to Dave. "You also seem to be excited yourself." He added, pointing out the subtle grin on the goalkeeper''s face.


    "Well, as I said, this seems like it could be fun."


    ''Also.''


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Knock down most of the cones in five tries ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +20 exp ]


    [ +2 skill upgrade points ]


    [ Bonus ]


    [ Knock down all the cones ]


    [ Bonus rewards ]


    [ +80 exp ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade ]


    ''Does this thing even understand the concept of a bonus? Why are the bonus rewards greater than the one for the main quest?''


    <Don''t look at me>


    ______ ______


    About five minutester, the cones were all set up on top of the crossbar on the other side, and now it was time to see what Dave could do.


    Well, they''ve already seen what he''s truly capable of from his goalpost but still, this was a bit tricky.


    All of his teammates on the pitch were quite interested to see how this would go so it wasn''t a surprise that they all had their gaze on the goalkeeper at the moment.


    The rule of the game required Dave to have the balls on the edge of the eighteen-year-old box and he was standing over one there now, waiting for Ferran who had the whistle in his mouth to give the signal.


    It didn''t take long before that high-pitched sound resounded through the area and as soon as Dave heard that, he slowly took two steps backward before quickly closing up on the ball.


    He got to it in no time, and with his right foot, he lifted it,unching it towards his target with tremendous shot power.


    To make sure this was in the highest difficulty for him, Minino made sure to spread out the cones properly, but despite that, Dave was able to get to one of the balls, the one in the center specifically, and with a neat hit, he knocked the cone off the crossbar.


    <Nice hit>


    ''Thanks.''


    After that, Minino and everyone else watched as he knocked down the second, third, fourth, and fifth one.


    He left them all with their mouths wide open as they couldn''t believe what they had just witnessed.


    <Well, would you look at that>


    The precision from Dave wasn''t really all that great to be honest as he ended up hitting the crossbar on the spot directly under the cones to knock out two of them but since Minino didn''t say anything about that not counting, it was his win.

 Chapter 533: A Secretary

    "I can''t believe you actually pulled it off." Minino shook his head with an expression of amazement on his face as he made his way to the goalkeeper.


    "Well, I didn''t exactly hit all of them if we''re being honest," Dave responded, scratching the back of his head, an awkward smile on his face.


    "True but I didn''t say anything about that so it counts, I did say all you had to do was knock them down and that was all you did." The midfielder shrugged.


    "Hey, bro, are you sure you''re not taking anything?"


    Dave turned to his right after hearing that to find Ferran closely scanning him closely with his left hand on his chin.


    "Taking what?" Dave asked.


    "You can shoot consecutively while maintaining your precision, that''s not something just anyone can pull off, not even our Mateo." He articted, turning to Mateo who didn''t have anything to say. "Heck, I''m not even sure Ciro is that good with shooting, especially from such a great distance."


    After saying that, the midfielder squatted down to inspect his boots.


    "Is it in your boots?"


    "No, those are just normal boots," Dave uttered.


    "Then I guess you''re just one of those anomalies that appear in the world of football every once in a while." He sighed as he got up on his feet.


    "Anomalies?"


    "You know, exceptional yers who make things that aren''t supposed to be easy look easy. Two great examples would be Ciro and Hernandez, a few more seasons and you might perfectly fit into that category alongside Mateo¡­"


    "Alright, that''s enough of that, Ferran." Minino chimed in before pushing Ferran away.


    "Hey."


    "Anyway, Dave, it looks like I now owe you, my lunch, a deluxe dinner, and five thousand Euros."


    "You know you don''t¡­."


    "No, I gave you my word so you will be getting all of that, you don''t get to show me any pity because I don''t need it." He dered.


    "Alright, if you say so." Dave shrugged.


    "Good game, bro." He said before bumping the goalkeeper on the shoulder with his fist.


    "Good game, I guess."


    <And there he goes>


    [ Questpleted ]


    [ +20 exp received ]


    [ +2 skill upgrade points received ]


    [ Bonus rewards ]


    [ +80 exp received ]


    [ +5 skill upgrade points received ]


    ''And there they are, the wonderful rewards, I am a very lucky man.''


    <Your attempts to sound sarcastic alwayse out terrible>


    ''Leave me alone, Catherine.''


    ______ ______


    The yers went back to training just after that and after a while, it was finally time to call it a day.


    Calling it a day was only on the pitch as they had their normal bonding session outside the pitch, and after that, the goalkeeper made his way home.


    "Oh, I''m pretty wiped." He sighed just as he stopped in front of the door.


    [ 90/180 Energy ]


    <This says otherwise>


    ''Well, regardless of what that number says, I feel tired.''


    <I see, so it''s a mental state>


    ''I guess you could say that.'' He responded, reaching for the door with his key.


    <Well, this is certainly interesting>


    ''Huh?''


    <Nothing, just open the door>


    Getting that response, Dave stopped just short of inserting the key into the keyhole.


    "Hmmm." He mumbled before proceeding to insert the key before pressing his thumb against the knob.


    He heard the door unlock after that, and without hesitation, he slowly pushed it open.


    He expected to find Emma on the couch busy with something just as always and although she was there, it wasn''t just her.


    Just beside his wife on the couch was another person.


    A young woman dressed in a ck suit with a ck skirt and ck tights covering her legs.


    She saw him enter the house and just before he could even say anything, she got up on her feet.


    "Good day." She greeted with a little bow.


    Now that she was facing him, he could properly see what she looked like.


    Long dark hair flowing down her back, pale glowing skin, a pretty oval face with long eyshes, and charming brown eyes. To top things off, she had a slender but somewhat curvy build.


    She was an extremely beautifuldy, one that left Dave speechless for a few seconds.


    "Um, hello." He responded before quickly walking past her to get to Emma.


    <Wow, you''re ranked first on the ranking for all the shameless people I know>


    "Um, hey, babe, who''s that?" He asked in a whispering tone just after stopping in front of her.


    "Oh, that''s¡­." She slowly turned to thedy at that moment and paused. "You know what, I''ll leave the introductions to rk."


    "Wait, rk''s here?"


    "Yeah, he just went upstairs a few minutes ago to use the bathroom." She nodded before taking a fry from the te of fries sitting in front of her.


    "Oh." He muttered before turning to the staircase.


    ''If rk was the one that brought her here then I can think of a few reasons why.''


    "Hey." He called before leaning closer to Emma. "rk didn''t tell you anything about breaking up with Emilia, did he?"


    "No, he didn''t say anything of the sort and I don''t think he would do that."


    "You sound so sure."


    "I am." She responded with a smile before picking up another fry. "Because unless he has a good reason, I''ll¡­."


    She pressed hard on the fry at that moment, snapping it into two.


    <Yikes>


    "There you are."


    Dave turned around after hearing that voice to find rk making his way down the stairs.


    "You didn''t say anything abouting over."


    "Yeah, I forgot. Sorry."


    It didn''t take him long to get to Dave and now he had his right hand on his shoulder.


    "So, what''s this all about?" The goalkeeper asked, turning to thedy who was still on her feet.


    "I guess I don''t need to be psychic to tell that you''re asking about her."


    "Mhm."


    "This is Shinobu Anderson, she''s a good friend of mine and I suppose you could say we''re in a simr line of work." He disclosed. "You already know this but Shinobu, this is my best friend Dave Richards."


    "It''s a pleasure to meet you." She said with a little bow.


    "The pleasure is all mine," Dave responded before turning to rk. "What do you mean you share a simr line of work?" He asked, sounding a bit confused.


    "Well, let''s just say she wants to be an agent one day but now¡­."


    "What?"


    "Well, depending on what you want, she could be very useful to you. You know someone to help you handle your schedule and fix your appointments, taking the load off my shoulder."


    <He isn''t supposed to be doing all that for you to be honest>


    ''I know.''


    "Anyway, you should make time to talk to Shinobu, it can be now or anytime you want and if you like her, you can give her the job, I believe she''ll make a nice secretary."


    <She''ll make more than a nice secretary>


    ''I don''t like what you''re implying, Cat.''


    <Sorry, my bad>


    Dave let out a sigh after that before turning to Shinobu who was looking straight at him, her gaze unwavering.


    ''Well, rk did rmend her but I''ll still have to find out the kind of person she is.''


    <Well, it was only a matter of time before you needed staff to handle stuff for you, this is a step toward that>

 Chapter 534: Too Easy

    rk had to leave just after filling Dave in on everything they had to take care of after his match tomorrow and although Shinobu wanted to leave with him, Emma insisted that she stuck around for a little while, only if she wanted to of course.


    Shinobu didn''t seem to be in a hurry so she decided to oblige her.


    It seemed like Emma just wanted to have a friendly conversation with her, and while they were doing that, Dave headed upstairs to get changed.


    He was in his room at the moment, slowly pulling off his shirt.


    <So, what do you think of her?>


    ''Where''s that questioning from?''


    <Just answer>


    Getting that response, the goalkeeper let out a sigh before sitting down on the bed to pull off his pants.


    ''I can''t know what I think of her until I''ve actually spoken to her, so you''ll have to wait a bit longer to get an answer from me.''


    <I guess that''s fair>


    He slid into a pair of ck shorts and a white shirt afterward before making his way out of the room, heading for the staircase.


    ''Hey, Cat.'' He called just as he got to the staircase.


    <What is it?>


    ''What type of snack would you like?''


    There was no immediate response from Catherine as his mind wentpletely silent.


    ''Hey, are you still there?''


    What he heard next was the sound of a tongue clicking.


    <Very funny, Dave, I see you''ve learned how to make fun of me>


    ''Well, you''re always doing it to me.'' He responded as he began making his way down the staircase.


    <Yeah, because you deserve it, dummy goalkeeper>


    ''Wow, I did not expect asking you if you wanted a snack would get on your nerves this much.''


    The only response from her was a scoff before she went silent.


    ''Good, I prefer you silent anyway.'' He shrugged.


    He had gone halfway down the stairs when he caught the voices of Emma and Shinobuing from the living, and hearing what they were talking about, he suddenly paused.


    "So, Shinobu, you''re not from Bilbeth, right?" Emma asked before taking a sip from the cup of coffee in her hand.


    "Are you saying that because of my name?" Shinobu responded.


    "Yeah, it''s Japanese, right?"


    The response from Shinobu was a nod.


    "Yes, I''m technically not from here but as far as I know, I''ve been in this country for most of my life." She suddenly paused to put down the cup of tea she was holding on the saucer on the table. "My mom divorced my biological father when I was just two years old and moved here where he got married to my step-father."


    "Oh, I see. I guess that''s why yourst name is Anderson."


    "Yes." She nodded.


    There was a few seconds of silence between the two as Emma took another sip from her cup.


    "You''re going to be spending most of your time here if you get this job, right?" She asked, after putting the cup down.


    "Yes, that''s what the job entails." Shinobu nodded.


    "So, you''re going to be living here, then?"


    "No, there''s no need for that, I can¡­."


    "Why not?" Emma interjected. "We have plenty of rooms and things will be easier for you that way."


    That response wasn''t something Shinobu was expecting to hear as she was staring at Emma now with a baffled expression on her face.


    "Are you really okay with that?"


    "If you''re fine with it then, yeah." She responded.


    <She has too much faith in you and it''s just sad>


    ''Found your voice, huh.''


    <It wasn''t lost to begin with>


    Dave shook his head at that response before he continued making his way downstairs.


    Emma was only able to notice his steps just as he was about to step down from thest step and with a smile on her face, she turned to him.


    "Hey, babe."


    "Hey." He responded with a subtle smile. "Don''t mind me, I''m just going to grab something in the kitchen." He added before disappearing into the kitchen.


    He made his way to the fridge afterward and pulled it open, reaching for the carton of milk in there.


    <I wonder>


    ''Wonder what?''


    <What would have happened if she had dated someone other than you first>


    ''Are we talking about Emma?''


    <Who else would I be talking about?> She snapped.


    A chuckle escaped from Dave''s lips as he made his way to the shelf to grab a ss.


    ''I was just messing with you?'' He said inwardly. ''So, what were you trying to say.''


    She wasn''t too quick to respond to that and proceeded to let out a sigh first.


    <If she had met someone else first or rather if you two had never met, she would probably not be married now with all the heartbreak she''ll have to endure. It''s just an assumption but¡­>


    She wasn''t able to finish what she wanted to say as the carton of milk suddenly slipped off his hand, crashing to the floor. Fortunately, it was still sealed, so there was no spill.


    <What is wrong with you now?>


    ''Catherine.'' Dave called, a stunned look on his face.


    <Yes>


    ''Was that apliment off the pitch?''


    <No, I was just stating something>


    ''Ha, you''re just too proud to admit.''


    <You know what, I take back everything I just said>


    ''Doesn''t matter, the words have already been embedded into my memory.''


    ''I''ll rip that memory out of your head.''


    Dave suddenly went silent as the smile on his face slowly disappeared.


    ''Hey, you can''t actually do that, right?''


    <A little test is all it takes to find out>


    Her voice was quite threatening, burning every desire Dave had to continue the conversation and with that desire gone, he picked up the carton of milk and went on to silently pour himself a ss of milk.


    <So gullible>


    ______ ______


    A couple of hours passed and a new day was finally here, the day Unique FC was going to be taking on Lospeno City away from home.


    It was fair to say that was one of the easier games for Norman''s side so far in the season as they ended up thrashing their opponents four goals to nothing without facing that much throughout the game as Lospeno only had four shots with just one on target, an easy save for Dave.


    That was a nicely wrapped-up game by the Uniques to keep their ce on top and with that done, it was time to start getting ready for Real Sociedad.


    <That definitely won''t be as easy as this>

 Chapter 535: Getting Ready For Real Sociedad

    Soon after their match against Losepeno City, or rather the next day after the match, Dave finally got to talk to Shinobu just like he wanted to and after he was done with that, he decided that he didn''t have any problem with her being the first member of his staff.


    He also didn''t seem to have any problem with her moving as he believed that would be more efficient. So, with that decision made Shinobu moved in with them the next day.


    "Finally, I don''t have to take calls regarding your appointments and send you messages about them, before calling you to make sure you don''t forget." rk breathed a sigh of relief as he slowly dragged himself down from the couch to findfort on the floor.


    He was currently in Dave''s home with Dave sitting beside him, an awkward smile on his face.


    "I didn''t know it was draining you that much."


    Getting that response, rk slowly turned to him before quickly sitting up on the couch.


    "Well, I wouldn''t say it was draining me, I don''t mind helping you, even if it means doing things I''m not supposed to do." He disclosed. "I just thought it was about time you had some staff, and where else to start than the most essential."


    "Oh, I see."


    "Next you might need to hire a maid."


    "I spoke to Emma about that and she said she doesn''t need a maid." Dave retorted.


    "Oh, I guess just a cook will do then." He shrugged. "She''ll still need someone to help her around the house though."


    "I know but she just doesn''t like the idea of having a maid around the house."


    "I guess she enjoys suffering."


    "What was that?"


    rk instantly froze, there was no mistaking that voice, and just as the door was pushed open, Emma could be seen standing just outside.


    Feeling betrayed, rk turned to his friend, his right hand slightly folded as he wove it back and forth.


    "Why didn''t you tell me your wife was at home?"


    "I didn''t?" Dave responded, turning away from him to hide the amusement on his face.


    "No, you did not." rk retorted.


    "Well, I mean, look at her." The goalkeeper shrugged as he turned to his wife.


    rk followed his gaze to Emma, who was slowly dragging her feet toward them while trying not to appear as though she was having any trouble.


    "There''s no way she can go anywhere outside the house without me, so if I''m here, she''s most likely here."


    Feeling defeated, rk let out a sigh before crashing down on the couch.


    "I guess you make a good point."


    "I can''t go anywhere without you, huh."


    Emma had gotten to the two now and was staring at her husband, a subtle smile stered on her face.


    "But I guess it''s the truth." She smiled.


    "It''s really nice to see you." Dave smiled back.


    Looking at the two, rk had only one thing to say as he partly covered his face with his left hand.


    "Too bright."


    The smile on Emma''s face grew wilder as she let out a little chuckle.


    "You''re saying that like this is the first time we''re seeing each other today."


    "Yeah, that''s because I wasn''t talking to you." Dave retorted.


    "Huh?"


    The smile on her face suddenly vanished and confusion took over.


    "I was obviously talking about my boy."


    Ignoring her sudden change in expression, he reached for her stomach bump, softly caressing it with both of his hands.


    "How''s my w-ovely little boy doing today?" His voice was cheerful and yful as he brought his face closer to the bump. "Doing wonderful I see."


    He seemed to be enjoying the current situation a bit too much, as he would steal nces at Emma who was just standing there now, trying to force a smile on her face.


    "It won''t be long before we start having our bonding training sessions which mummy won''t be invited to, obviously."


    <Wouldn''t want him bingcent like a certain someone>


    Ignoring Catherine''sment, he ced a kiss on his unborn child before resting back on the couch, looking up at Emma.


    "What were you saying, Emma?" He asked, sounding quite nonchnt.


    The forced smile came crashing down soon afterwards as she turned away from him with a scoff.


    "Dickhead."


    She was nning to rest beside him on the couch but now she was storming toward the stairs.


    "I love you too."


    Even that wasn''t enough to stop her, and so Dave watched her as she dragged her feet upstairs, a warm smile on his face.


    "You seem like you enjoyed that a bit too much."


    "Maybe." The goalkeeper responded as he turned to his friend.


    "You should try not to give her a hard time in her current condition."


    "I know but it''s funny when the smallest things trip her off these days. On a normal day, she would justugh that off."


    "Yeah, right, dude." rk shook his head with a sigh as he slowly got up on his feet. "You should try carrying what she''s carrying and see if the smallest things won''t get under your skin."


    "If only that was possible." Dave shrugged.


    "Trust me, if it was possible, you wouldn''t want it." He said turning toward the exit. "Anyway, I have to be on my way now, I have a lot of stuff to take care of tomorrow."


    "Alright then, I''ll see youter."


    rk waved him goodbye afterwards before exiting the room through the door.


    <You know I can make it possible>


    ''Huh? What are you talking about?''


    <Well, you were talking about carrying what she was carrying, I can make it possible>


    ''You can huh.''


    He sat there for a couple of seconds staring at the ceiling before springing up on his feet.


    ''I''m not interested.''


    <I thought as much>


    ''Go back to sleep.''


    _________ _________


    There were just two days left now before Unique FC would have to travel to Spain to face Real Sociedad in the first leg of the Europa Conference League quarter-finals.


    That meant that they had about two training sessions left before their trip and Norman was making sure to put those to good use.


    Today he was introducing something he had never tried with his team before, well, not to this degree.


    There were about twenty cones spread out for a dribbling drill, and just ahead of those was a monkey bar with fifteen bars.


    There wouldn''t be anything wrong with ending things there, but after the bars, the cones continued, adding to a total of forty cones used in the whole set-up.


    Staring at the set-up, Dave already had a good idea of how this was going to y out.


    <This is going to be so fun to watch>

 Chapter 536: Is This A Joke?

    For today''s training session, Norman wanted to see how his team could handle their ball control under intense situations.


    A professional footballer wouldn''t really have much trouble going through everything he set up, but the point of the exercise wasn''t just getting through the set-up without messing up. His goal was to nitpick certain things, namely; how well the yers handled the ball before and after going through the monkey bars.


    The second thing he was looking for was to see how fast the yers would get through the whole thing.


    The training session immediately kicked off as soon as the yers were done warming up, and as expected, they were going to start with the advanced dribbling drill as the coach described it.


    "All right, listen up," Norman called to everyone''s attention as he took a step toward Ferran who was standing right in front of him.


    The murmuring among the yers suddenly came to a halt as the coach slowly scanned the area with his eyes as if to make sure no one was missing. His gaze ended up returning to gaze, this time with a subtle smile on his lips.


    "The fastest person to make it across without any blunder can take an early break today." He remarked.


    "Is that it?" Minino retorted from the back before quickly making his way up front.


    Now staring at the midfielder, a sigh escaped from Norman''s lips as he shook his head, the sight of Minino sometimes was enough to cause him headaches.


    "What? What do you want, Minino?"


    "Well, if you intend to turn this into apetition then I don''t think an early break alone is a good enough reward." He stated, his hungry eyes smiling with mischief.


    "And what do you want as a reward?" The coach sighed.


    "Well, I don''t know for the others but I want a day off after our match against Real Sociedad when I win this." Minino shrugged, a cheeky smile now stered on his face.


    "You say when like it''s certain you''re going to win." Ferran chimed in.


    "It couldn''t be more certain."


    "And why do you want a day off?" Norman asked.


    That question wasn''t necessary but he was curious to hear his answer.


    "Umm¡­I don''t think the answer to that question will do you any good, coach. Besides, I knew you wouldn''t approve it if I asked either way which is why I''m going to earn it this way." He articted.


    Hearing his answer, Norman couldn''t help but let out a sigh.


    "Fine, a day off it is for whoever can make it across the fastest." The coach said before quickly turning his gaze to Minino. "Just make sure you stay away from clubs."


    "You wouldn''t know even if I go¡­" The midfielder muttered with a muffled chuckle.


    The coach seemed to have caught wind of his words, but the only thing he could do was roll his eyes before he turned around and began to make his way to the other end of the drill set-up, a stopwatch in his right hand.


    "I guess I might be able to put a day off to good use," Dave uttered with his hand on his chin. "But Minino looks like he desperately needs it."


    "Desperately needs it, my foot," Mateo interjected. "It''s obvious he just wants to run off somewhere and squander his time while we train our butts off."


    "Mmm, I''m aware of that." The goalkeeper nodded in agreement.


    "I, on the other hand, might need it for something important in the future, so I''m going to make sure he doesn''t get it; you might also need it." The winger remarked before quickly making his way up front.


    "Yeah¡­"


    [ Quest received ]


    [ Complete the drill in just one minute ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ +100 exp ]


    [ +2 stat points ]


    "Hmm, looks like I have to fight for it now."


    <You weren''t nning to fight for it earlier?>


    ''Well, that reward doesn''t really motivate me to fight for anything.''


    <With your current skill level,ining about rewards should be a thing of the past>


    ''A thing of the past? Maybe.''


    While Dave was busy chatting with Catherine, his teammates seemed to have started taking their shot at the drill with three alreadypleting it.


    The current standing had Rnd up front with a time record of a minute and five seconds; the other two were Fredinho and Henry, whopleted it in a minute and ten seconds and a minute and eleven seconds, respectively.


    The current highest record was quite impressive and so was going to be difficult to beat.


    However, Minino desperately wanted that day off, and for that reason, he was determined to break the record.


    The midfielder started off pretty strong, getting past the cones as swiftly as he could while keeping the ball very close to his feet.


    That in itself was impressive but the monkey bars was where he really shone.


    Grabbing hold of the ball with his feet, hetched onto the first bar, immediately reaching for the second bar as soon as he touched it.


    His movement on the bar was swifter than when he was on the ground with the ball, and before long, he was past the bar and back on the ground with the ball.


    He proceeded past the next set of cones with the same intensity, and before long, he got past thest cone, prompting the coach to pause his stopwatch.


    "Coach," Minino uttered in between his soft pants as he made his way to Norman.


    He would usually announce the time as soon as the yer was done but now he was stuck staring at his watch, an exasperated look on his face.


    It didn''t take long before that exasperated look turned into a smile as he raised his gaze to look at Minino.


    "I guess if you want something, you have to work for it. That''s a minute and two seconds for Minino." The coach dered.


    "Seriously?" Rnd sighed as he shook his head.


    Minino surprisingly didn''t look that surprised or excited but there was something he had to do.


    With a smug look on his face, he turned to Mateo who was on the other end getting ready to run the course.


    "It''s best to just give up because nobody''s beating that!" He proimed, quite arrogantly.


    Well, it didn''t take long for that smug look to drop off his face just to be reced by shock.


    "That''s a minute and one second for Mateo." The coach dered.


    The yers were all smiles now as they turned to Minino who let out a sigh of defeat before crashing to the floor.


    Mateo couldn''t hide the cheeky smile on his face as he made his way to the midfielder and sat beside him.


    "Looks like you won''t be getting that day off; I want to say I''m sorry, but I''m not." He shrugged.


    "You didn''t have to try that hard, bro." Minino sighed.


    "Well, you were the one who said your record was unbeatable, I had to pull out a chunk of reserved strength to prove a point."


    Minino''s response to that was another sigh before he slowly brought his head down.


    "Anyway, congrats on your day off award."


    "Umm¡­don''t be so sure about that." Mateo retorted.


    "Huh?"


    Minino quickly raised his head and looked ahead toward the drill set up to see that Dave was currently the one running the course and was currently on the bars.


    The goalkeeper swiftly made his way past the bars in no time before proceeding to quickly get through the cone setups.


    Just after getting past thest cone, he sent the ball flying straight toward the goalpost up ahead.


    The ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over.


    He quickly turned to Norman to find him gaping at his watch for a split second before quickly turning to him.


    "The surprise today has been endless; that''s fifty-nine seconds for Dave."


    "Fifty nine¡­wha¡­."


    Trying to find his words, Minino quickly flipped around to face Dave who currently had a proud smile on his face.


    Minino wasn''t the only one who was in awe, his teammates were just as stunned.


    However, while they were impressed by that incredible feat from the goalkeeper, someone or something thought differently.


    [ Quest failed ]


    [ Completed drill in less than a minute ]


    ''Huh? Is this a joke or something?''

 Chapter 537: The Lineup

    It had been over ten minutes since the statem notified Dave of his failure toplete the quest, and the goalkeeper had been unable to ept that as a fact since then.


    His teammates didn''t hold back in expressing their admiration because of what he was able to pull off, but none of that seemed to matter to him at the moment.


    He was in the goalpost at the moment to practice his goalkeeping against his teammates who were trying out shots from twenty-five yards out.


    Well, that was what he was there to do, but so far, he had just been standing there without paying any attention to the balls continuously flying past him. One of the balls even got close to hitting him, but even with the quick gush of wind dashing past his face, he didn''t react.


    ''I mean it doesn''t make any sense.'' He said inwardly. ''How did that result in a quest failure?''


    He had beenining in his thoughts for a while now, and the whole time, Catherine had been surprisingly quiet.


    ''You''re seriously not going to say anything about this?'' He asked, obviously referring to Catherine. ''Say something or I''m just going to assume that this was your doing.''


    <Uhhh¡­what do you want me to say?> She sighed.


    ''Huh? You might think I''m just whining, and the rewards are indeed nothing to me now but if I don''t get to the bottom of this now, it''s going to happen again.''


    <There''s nothing to get to the bottom of, Dave>


    ''And what is that supposed to mean?''


    <The reason why you failed the quest is clearly written there. It said toplete the drill in exactly one minute, but youpleted it in fifty-nine seconds>


    ''And I''m saying that doesn''t make any sense; you don''t fail for finishing an hour exam a few minutes earlier.''


    <I understand what you mean, but it''s not my fault, and there''s nothing I can do about it>


    In response to that, Dave couldn''t help but let out a deep sigh.


    ''I honestly feel like this system has been pulling pranks on metely, and for some strange reason, it all feels like your handiwork.''


    <Well, too bad I don''t have anything to do with it>


    "Hey, Dave, I''m sending this one to the top right!" Rnd yelled before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying toward the goalpost.


    There was no reaction from Dave once again as the ball freely glided toward the top right corner and ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over.


    At this point, the fullback seemed to have had enough, and with a sigh, he turned to Minino and Mateo who were standing beside him.


    "Are you guys sure he''s okay?" He inquired.


    "Well, something''s clearly bothering him," Mateo said.


    "Hmmm, I guess I have no choice but to give him a wake-up call then."


    With a mischievous glint on his face, Minino pushed the ball he was holding down under his foot forward.


    There was no hesitation in his steps as he quickly closed up on the ball afterwards and sent it flying straight toward Dave.


    "Minino?"


    He thought a good smack from the ball would be enough to call the goalkeeper back into the real world.


    However, just before the ball could make contact with the goalkeeper, he stretched both of his arms and caught it.


    "What are you trying to do?" He asked, shooting Minino a sharp gaze.


    "Oh, looks like you''re back now." The midfielder uttered with an awkward smile.


    "Seems so," Dave responded with a forced smile.


    Wanting to give Minino a taste of his own medicine, he threw the ball into the air before firing it straight toward the midfielder.


    He had to quickly duck to avoid the ball which was carrying quite the force.


    "Calm down bro." Minino quickly surrendered, both of his hands in the air.


    Seeing that, Dave couldn''t help but smile before slowly sitting down on the floor.


    "I think I''m perfectly calm."


    ''I''ve been standing for quite a while now.''


    <Without doing anything>


    __________ __________


    The Unique FC squad didn''t get to train for too long today, and that was because Norman wanted them to get sufficient rest before their game on Thursday.


    However, before that, he wanted to talk about their game n for the match.


    At the moment, the yers were sitting on the floor, forming some sort of curve while staring at their coach who was standing in front of them with a tablet in his hand.


    "I took out my time to study how the Real Sociedad squad ys, and that is why I have concluded that we will be going into the game with the four-five-one formation.


    <Hmm, I don''t think he or his squad, in fact, has any experience with this. It can be tricky unless he''s nning to do what I''m thinking>


    ''And what are you thinking?''


    <Decoy midfield>


    "I know you aren''t used to this formation and we haven''t had any notable practice for it beforehand. However, you''ll have to let me exin, and by the time I''m done you''ll see that it isn''t much different from what you''re used to."


    "Hey, if we''re going to y with five midfielders, does that mean you''re getting benched?" Minino leaned closer to Mateo to whisper.


    "You don''t know this, but I started as a midfielder at the Academy; I did well in midfield before my coach decided it would be better to use me more offensively," Mateo responded.


    "Not to mention, coach has yed him in midfield a couple of times. Good results were obtained out of those." Ferran chimed in.


    "Uhh¡­looks like you''re the one in most danger of getting benched, Minino," Rnd remarked.


    "Seriously? I just asked a question and you all turn against me like this." The midfielder sighed in defeat before slowly bringing his head down.


    While the yers were chatting quietly amongst themselves, Norman was busy adjusting certain things in his strategy, and now that he was done, it was time to move on to the next part, the starting lineup.


    "Fred will be starting upfront as usual and Ferran will be backing him up from behind as the attacking midfielder. As for the central midfielders, Mateo will be starting on the left and Merino on the right."


    Hearing thatst part, Mateo turned to Minino with a smile, and the only thing the midfielder could do was roll his eyes.


    "We''ll have to keep defense tightly sealed for this match, so we''ll have Frankie and Minino helping out the defense at the back."


    A smile suddenly lit up on the face of Minino just after hearing that, a smile that quickly turned into a smug expression as he turned to Mateo.


    "Looks like I was worried for nothing."


    "Yeah, did you really think you weren''t going to start in a match like this?" The youngster retorted.


    "Oh¡­" Minino muttered in realization as he slowly turned away from him. "That makes sense."


    For defense, there wasn''t much to talk about, Aima was starting alongside Adolf as always, and Rnd was on the left wing of defense.


    The only chance was Luis Roberto starting in ce of Norman.


    Lastly, Dave was the only one for the man in between the sticks.


    That was it for the lineup, and the only thing left now was for Norman to exin how he was going to make the most of it in every aspect of the uing match.

 Chapter 538: Arrived At San Sebastian

    For the first leg of the match against Real Sociedad, the Unique FC squad flew over to San Sebastian, Spain on the afternoon of the day before the match day to get themselves properly situated.


    They headed to the hotel they had booked ahead of their flight as soon as their nended on Spanish soil two hours after their departure.


    As always, Dave was sharing a room with his brother-inw and at the moment, the two were busy settling down and unpacking their luggage.


    Getting that done didn''t take long for the two, and as soon as they were done, Dave let out a sigh before crashing down on the bed.


    "We''re finally here." He uttered, a smile of satisfaction on his face.


    "Yes, we are." Mateo nodded.


    "You know, thinking back to the first day of thispetition, I never thought we would be able to make it this far."


    "Well, we did almost lose that yoff against FC Basel," Mateo remarked as he picked up a book he had dropped on his bed earlier. "But after that, we surprisingly ended up cruising through the group stage."


    "Yeah, and we were supposed to be the weakest in that group."


    "Mhm."


    Mateo was about to open the book in his hand when his phone suddenly began to vibrate in his pocket.


    "Who could be¡­."


    He wasn''t able to finish that statement as he pulled out his phone from his pocket to find out that it wasn''t exactly someone within the realm of his expectations but the subtle smile on his face was enough to tell that he was happy to see that name.


    "Who is it?" Dave asked before sitting up on the bed.


    "Oh, it''s Sofia, I suppose she knew we wereing to Spain." He responded. "I forgot to tell her." He whispered before sliding up to ept the call.


    "Oh," Dave muttered with a nod.


    He was left alone in the room soon afterwards as Mateo shifted to the restroom to have his phone conversation.


    The goalkeeper stared at the bathroom door for a few seconds before crashing down on the bed once again.


    "She''s definitely one of the reasons he''s going to Atletico next season." He muttered.


    <They''ll still be cities apart though, Madrid and Barcelona aren''t exactly close>


    ''Yeah, but I know Mateo, he probably has things figured out.''


    The winger made his way out of the bathroom soon after that, heading straight for the door.


    "Where are you going?" Dave rose to ask just as he pulled the door open.


    "To buy something." He answered abruptly before exiting the room, shutting the door quickly.


    "I guess someone is around the block." The goalkeeper mumbled before getting up on his feet.


    ''Then exin why he''s rushed out like that?''


    <Uhhh¡­.>


    ''See, there''s nothing else to exin it.''


    <Did she really make the trip toe see him?>


    ''I mean, lots of fans are going to make the trip toe watch the match tomorrow. You could also say she''s here to watch the match so there''s nothing weird about it.'' Dave replied. ''But then again, it''s all spection from our end, we don''t know if he actually left to see anyone.''


    <How can you say that after sounding so certain she was here earlier?>


    ''Don''t me me, you''re the one who couldn''te up with another usible reason.''


    _________ __________


    The Unique FC squad were in Spain during their pre-season training in preparation for the currently ongoing season and during that period, they faced off against Real Sociedad at the Reale Arena.


    Since they had been there before, they had already gotten a good look at the stadium.


    That said, Dave still took his time to pay a visit to the stadium during the evening to look around.


    Well, it was mostly because he was bored and wanted to walk around without being disturbed by anyone.


    The goalkeeper was currently in the empty stadium walking around on the sidelines with both of his hands in his pockets.


    ''Real Sociedad are currently fourth in the league this season and have only lost four games this season. Theyfortably beat Real Madrid and managed to force out a draw from Barcelona.''


    <Well, this is the quarter-final, so it''s expected to be tough>


    ''I know.'' He nodded.


    <Are you scared?>


    ''It''s toote to get scared now.''


    "Hey."


    That was the voice of someone from behind, and hearing it, the goalkeeper quickly turned around to see someone walking toward him.


    It didn''t take him long to realize who it was, though, just like it wouldn''t take anyone familiar with Real Sociedad long to recognize Real Sociedad''s talisman and captain, Merino Lopez.


    With twenty-five goals and sixteen assists across allpetitions so far this season, Dave had already marked the attacking midfielder as a primary threat against his goalpost.


    The Spanish midfielder wasn''t especially tall, and that had its perks for him in a match, as a low center of gravity made it easier for him to find his way around opposing yers.


    The midfielder got acquainted with Dave during theirst face-off, and that was mostly because he was one of the few yers in their squad who could properly speak English.


    "Oh, it''s you, Dave." The midfielder said as soon as he got close enough to see his face.


    "It''s good to see you too." Dave smiled.


    "Mhm." Merino nodded. "Your teammates didn''te with you?"


    "No, I snuck out to take a walk."


    "We''re here for the same reason then."


    "Oh, you''re also out for a walk?"


    "Yes." The midfielder nodded. "Whenever I need to clear my head at night, Ie here to take a walk."


    "Oh."


    "Something on your mind?" Dave asked before continuing his walk with the midfielder sticking close behind.


    "Yes, but it''s not anything I can''t take care of, so don''t worry."


    "Oh, that''s good to know."


    "On the other hand, though, we have a game against one of the most in-form teams this season tomorrow." The midfielder remarked.


    "Looks like we''re in a simr situation." Dave retorted sarcastically.


    The two burst into a feat ofughter afterwards but they couldn''t hold theirugh for more than thirty seconds.


    "I hope you go easy on me tomorrow," Dave uttered yfully.


    "We''ll see." Merino shrugged. "Thest time, I was only able to get an assist; I''ll try to go for a goal this time."


    "And I was hoping¡­."


    [ Match quest received ]


    [ Prevent Merino Lopez from scoring ]


    [ Quest rewards ]


    [ 1000 exp ]


    [ 10 stat points ]


    [ 50 skill upgrade points ]


    ''Why do I feel like someone or something got hurt by those words?''

 Chapter 539: Second Strike

    The day everyone had been waiting for was finally here, a sh between two teams that were good enough to make it to thest eight.


    Now, it was going to be one or the other; only one of them could advance to thest four.


    That said, this was only the first leg, so there was a chance that today''s result wasn''t going to determine how everything would end up in the end.


    The match was set to kick off by 3:00 PM and by 2:30 PM, the stadium, although notpletely filled, was filled with a lot of people.


    The atmosphere was pretty nice with a bright sky and the gleaming sun illuminating the beautiful greenery that was the pitch.


    The yers were already done with the pre-match warm-up and were getting ready in the locker room now.


    This was an away match for Unique FC so they were going into the match with their second kit.


    The ck kit with orange polka dots and Dave as the goalkeeper was wearing a lemon kit.


    By the time they were done dressing up, it was time to head out.


    The yers met at the tunnel entrance to line up alongside Real Sociedad, who were in their home kit and were looking quite hyper for the match.


    ''It''s almost time.'' Dave said inwardly.


    Almost as soon as that thought passed through his mind, the yers were giving the signal to start making their way to the pitch, and without hesitation, they did as they were told.


    The stands were mostly filled with Real Sociedad fans, but there were still a good number of Unique FC fans who made the trip to support their team.


    "You can''t really tell the oue of this match just by looking at the strength of the teams on paper, right, Steve?" Jim inquired.


    "Yeah, while a team''s strength on paper can give us a bit of perspective on what their performance level will look like, Unique FC were able tofortably make it out of a group with really tough opponents so you can''t really say." Steve articted.


    With the usual formalities between the yers and the match officials done, the captains met in front of the officials for the coin toss.


    Real Sociedad ended up winning the coin toss, so they had the first choice and were going to be starting the match from the kickoff spot.


    [ Ongoing quest ]


    [ Prevent Merino from scoring against you ]


    Dave kept staring at that quest message as he made his way to his goalposts.


    ''Catherine.''


    <Yes>


    ''A part of me feels like I got this quest because the system was hurt by Merino''s words but¡­''


    <What?>


    ''A part of me also feels like getting this message means that he will be especially dangerous on the attack today.''


    <Merino is known to be a very dangerous midfielder and arguably the best midfielder in Laliga this season so I would very much expect him to be a threat to you today>


    ''I have to brace myself then.'' Dave responded inwardly before taking a deep breath.


    Unlike Unique FC, Real Sociedad were going into the match with the four-four-two formation and as expected, Merino was ying as the sole attacking midfielder with everyone else backing him up from behind.


    Other than Merino, the rest of the midfield was quite decent, and their attacking duo was nothing to joke about. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have made it this far in allpetitions this season.


    The match was set to kick off now as Real Sociedad''s main striker, Larick, with a number nine below, could be seen standing over the ball alongside a midfielder, their number seventeen, Nunez.


    With everything ready, it didn''t take long before the referee gave the signal for the kick-off, and as soon as he did, Larick quickly sent the ball rolling to Nunez.


    "There''s the kickoff, and we are on the way."


    Real Sociedad were not quick to make a move and just passed the ball among themselves as Unique FC pushed them deeper into their own half.


    It wasn''t until they started getting a bit too close to their box that Merino decided to do something about the opposing side''s aggressive pressing.


    Receiving the ball from the midfielder toward his right, the midfielder pushed a little forward with it.


    Ferran charged toward him at that moment in an attempt to get his team their first possession of the ball.


    However, that didn''t seem to have turned out so well for him as all it took to get past him was a fake shot and a quick cut toward the left.


    "Oh, that was clean, Ferran won''t be forgetting that anytime soon."


    Getting past Ferran, the midfielder pulled his foot forward and sent the ball flying up ahead in an attempt to get it to Nunez, who was pushing up ahead.


    Unfortunately, Minino caught the gist of the whole thing and quickly closed up on the midfielder before the ball could get to him.


    Using his airborne powress, the midfielder was able to get to the ball ahead of the opposing yer, and he headed it toward the left in an attempt to get it to Mateo.


    However, his header turned out to be a bit sloppy, giving Larick the chance to steal the ball away before it could get to the winger.


    "Larick!" Another Real Sociedad midfielder called to the forward as soon as he got his foot on the ball.


    The yer had the name Emerson above the number twenty on his shirt.


    Larick didn''t hesitate in sending the ball to Emerson, who was in the middle near the kickoff spot.


    "Larick." Explore stories on m,v l''e-NovelBin


    However, just before he could do anything with the ball, he was held up by Unique FC''s Merino who suddenly jumped in from the side.


    "It''s a struggle between Emerson and Merino for the ball."


    Having the bigger build, Emerson was able to force himself away from Merino with the way, and being aware that he wasn''t exactly clear of the midfielder yet, he quickly flicked it forward to Nunez, who had Minino on him.


    This time the Real Sociedad yer was the one to win the aerial.


    The midfielder had seen Merino run past him a moment before the ball got to him, so he decided to head it forward in an attempt to y the attacking midfielder through.


    That ended up working better than he anticipated as the ball ended up sloping past Adolf just as Merino got past him.


    The defender raised his hand to call for an offside, but there was no response from the referee or linesman as Merino brought the ball down with his chest and kept moving.


    "Lovely pass from Nunez, surely Merino can make something of this!"


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t, as Frankie, who had been hot on his trail from the right, closed up on him before he could reach the D box.


    Frankie was well known for his clean tackles, and this time there was no mistake from the midfielder as he pulled in front of Merino with his right foot and neatly swept the ball off his possession.


    Everything didn''t end there, though, as Larick quickly dashed forward to grab hold of the loose ball. However, he wasn''t able toplete that goal as Rnd got to the ball just a second before him, and just to ensure safety, he sent it flying out for a throw-in on his first touch.


    "Marvelous reaction from Unique FC to nip that in the bud," Jimmented.


    "Yeah, it''s always nice to have someone like Frankie who can run back and make that save with minimized risk," Steve added.


    "Good job," Adolf said, patting Frankie on the head.


    The midfielder responded with a nod and a smile before moving toward Merino to make sure he didn''t get the ball from the throw-in.


    "That was a close one," Dave muttered before taking a deep breath.


    <Where did all your confidence go?>


    ''I''m confident I can save normal shots within my saving capacity, not one-on-ones, especially not against someone like him who rarely shoots carelessly.''


    The game was still in motion but the ball wasn''t back on the pitch yet as Nunez was finding it difficult to throw it to anybody in a decent position as they were all tightly marked at the moment.


    In the end, he gave up and threw the ball to their right back, who decided to do something interesting the moment the ball dropped on his feet.


    A single touch was all he needed to send the ball flying to Larick who had Minino behind him at the moment.


    "A quick long ball to find Larick."


    Utilizing his quick thinking, the striker left Minino helpless as he quickly brought the ball down with his chest before using his back heel to nutmeg the midfielder.


    "Oh my goodness."


    Giving the ball a little push just before Frankie could close up on him from the side and Adolf from the front, the striker decided to try something from thirty yards out.


    Pulling his right foot back, heunched the ball forward, aiming for the top left corner.


    "Larick!"


    There was quite a lot of force behind that shot but thankfully for Unique FC, Dave was able to get to the ball just in the nick of time with the tip of his gloves.


    That was enough to derail the ball toward hitting the crossbar.


    "Oh, that''s wonderful from Dave!" Jim screamed. "You can always rest assured when you have this man in between the sticks!"


    The rebound flew toward Luis Roberto who wasted no time heading it away.


    However, his attempted clearance ended up dropping on the chest of Merino on the edge of the D box.


    "Oh, they might still have a chance!"


    Quickly drifting away from Aima toward the right and leaving him to kick nothing but air, Merino fired toward the goalpost, aiming for the furthest point of the bottom right corner.


    "Merino with the second shot!"


    This time there was nothing Dave could do because no matter how fast he was, he just couldn''t get to a shot that fast after making that first save.


    He could only watch the ball fly into the goalpost in the middle of his dive.


    "Goooaalllll!!!" Jim screamed. "You don''t make a clearance mistake like that with Merino around."


    The midfielder couldn''t even move from his spot as his teammates gathered around him screaming in jubtion.


    The fans were also jumping and screaming, most of them chanting the name of the attacking midfielder.


    [ Quest failed ]


    That message popped up for Dave as soon as that ball went in, and he had been staring at it for a while now.


    ''Why do I feel like this was inevitable?''

 Chapter 540: Two Strikes

    It had been a while since Real Sociedad scored the opening goal as the match was currently in the twenty-eight minute.


    Despite being the only team to find the back of the so far, Real Sociedad didn''t exactly know how to deal with Unique FC on the team, or to be precise, they were struggling against the Bilbeth Premier League side.


    That goal from Merino acted like a trigger, unleashing what Norman''s side was capable of on the pitch.


    However, no matter how much they were terrorizing their Spanish opponents, getting an equaliser was no easy ordeal for them.


    Compared to Real Sociedad, which had just four shots, with two of them being on target, Unique FC had nine shots so far, seven of which were on target.


    The Spanish side''s defence was no pushovers, and the epitome of that defence was their goalkeeper, Arnold Seth.


    The biggest frustration Unique FC yers were facing in the ongoing match was that man in between the sticks, but as long as there was still time, they were determined to get that ball past him no matter what.


    The match was nearing the thirtieth minute now as Unique FC were swiftly moving the ball around on their side of the pitch to prevent it from falling into the possession of the Real Sociedad yers pressing them with full pressure.


    In an attempt to set off an attack, Luis Roberto sent a long low pass to Ferran, who was near the centre of the pitch.


    Emerson quickly dashed toward the midfielder as soon as the ball got to him, but Ferran was fast enough to shift a little to the side, barely avoiding his challenge.


    After that, he feigned moving forward with the ball before he sent it rolling back to Frankie to avoid engaging with Nunez.


    "Sent back to Frankie."


    Merino tried to cut the ball off the midfielder from the side, but before he could get to him, he sent the ball rolling further back to Rnd.


    "Rnd."


    The fullback gave it a little push toward the right, and for a moment there, it looked like he was going to send it flying toward the other nk to find Merino.


    However, only half of that was true; he did send the ball flying, but it was further ahead on his nk.


    Lifting the ball over the midfielder in front of him, he was able to get the ball to Mateo, ego had just crossed into the opposing team''s side of the pitch.


    "Mateo."


    Real Socieadad''s right back was a bit close to the youngster before the ball came flying to him, and as soon as he got his foot on the ball, he quickly began to pull back while calling on his teammates to retreat.


    Taking advantage of the situation, Mateo quickly switched toward the right with the ball before quickly dashing past the fullback.


    Emerson quickly rushed toward the youngster from behind and, out of desperation, pulled his legs up front to tackle him.


    As expected, he ended up missing the ball and hitting Mateo''s legs.


    Normally, that would be a foul but after staggering a few steps forward with the ball, the youngster was able to regain his bnce.


    One of the centre-backs tried to take advantage of the situation, quickly dashing out to dispossess Mateo of the ball.


    Acting calmly, the winger feigned moving toward the left with the ball before quickly switching to the left, leaving the defender with nothing but air to tackle.


    The other centre-back tried to make the most of the situation while the youngster still had the ball on his right foot.


    However, things didn''t pan out the way he wanted it as Mateo was able to quickly switch the ball back to his left foot, instantly cutting past him with style.


    Each dribble came with a scream of tion from the crowd, and all they were waiting for now was his shot, which would get the final scream.


    "Mateo Smith, what is that?!" Jim eximed. "Is he going to go all the way?"


    With both centre backs out of the way, the winger quickly pushed into the box while getting his right foot ready to take the shot.


    The fans were waiting in great anticipation, while the opposition fans were wondering how their goalkeeper would be able to stop a shot from inside the box.


    Unfortunately, neither side ended up getting anything as Mateo was rendered unable to take the shot by one of the centre-backs, who aggressively brushed him down before he could take the shot.


    "Oh, he''s been brought down inside the box."


    The referee didn''t need to look twice to see what had happened there, and he didn''t need VAR to decide on the matter.


    Blowing his whistle, the referee rushed to the area, pulling out a yellow card to show the offender.


    That was a fair call, but some Unique FC yers, namely Minino, were not exactly happy with that decision as they felt the centre-back deserved to get sent off instead.


    Good thing Adolf was there to stop him from getting into trouble with the referee.


    "That was quite the reckless challenge but that didn''t seem to have done anything to Mateo, fortunate for Unique FC." Jim articted.


    "To be honest, I think Mateo was going to score that, but I guess a penalty kick also works," Steve said. "The only problem now is a penalty never guarantees a goal."


    <Surely they won''t mess up with this clear-cut chance to get an equaliser>


    ''Why do I feel like you''re cursing us to miss it?'' Dave responded.


    <Cursing? That''s up to the person taking the penalty>


    After much deliberation, Unique decided to let Ferran take the penalty kick, that was the reason why he could be standing over the ball now.


    Jumping sideways on his goal line, Arnold threw a couple of jeers at Ferran to try and throw him off his game but despite that, the midfielder remained calm, or he appeared to be so at least.


    With everything now in ce, the referee blew his whistle, and now it was time to see what Ferran could make of this.


    "With the best chance any team can get in the game of football, can Unique FC finally pull one back?"


    Taking two steps back, Ferran quickly closed up on the ball, and with his right foot back, he sent the ball flying forward.


    With just a little bit of elevation, he tried to slot the ball in from the right side of the goalpost.


    Unfortunately for him, Arnold made the right guess. The goalkeeper dived toward the ball, and with his right glove, he was able to block the ball.


    "My goodness, Arnold is not having it!"


    The penalty save was not the end of everything as Merino tried totch onto the loose ball, but before he could get to it, Nunez got to it first and fired it out for a corner kick.


    "Guarding his goalpost firmly, Arnold makes sure that penalty bears no fruit for Unique FC, devastating for the away team but they still have a corner kick to try and make something off."


    Seeing how the penalty kick ended up, Dave couldn''t help but let out a sigh.


    <Hmm, my curse seems to be quite effective>


    Not dwelling on the already missed penalty kick, Ferran quickly made his way to the corner spot to take the corner kick.


    Taking advantage of the fact that he just missed a penalty kick, the home fans began whistling at him. That was a deliberate attempt to distract him while his mental strength was already shaky after the penalty.


    However, the midfielder remained calm in sending the ball in.


    He was trying to find Fred, who happened to be in a good spot. Unfortunately, an opposing yer got to the ball first and wasted no time in heading it back in an attempt to clear it.


    That turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the ball was sent flying to Mateo who was unmarked on the edge of the box.


    Trapping the ball with his chest, the youngster pulled his right foot back and fired toward the goalpost before the ball could touch the ground.


    "Mateo!"


    Arnold was glued to a spot, and could only watch as the ball flew past him.


    Fortunately, it turned out he didn''t need to move at all as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over for a goal kick.


    "Oh, it''s hit the crossbar!"


    A series of gasps swept through the stadium as Mateo crashed to the ground after letting out a sigh.


    "Unbelievable." Dave sighed as he crashed to the ground.


    "Two good strikes and nothing to write home about them, Unique FC have been quite unlucky so far in this match."


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