From Arsenal, Forge the Path to Football God

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The first half of the match ended with a 1-1 tie.

After coming off the field, Maël sat down with Gilbert to rehydrate, stretch, and recover their energy.

"Very tired."

Gilbert looked bitter and sighed, "The pace was too fast. Not only did we have to keep running, but we also had to stay focused all the time. The physical and mental pressure was immense."

"You could write a research paper on it."

Maël felt the same way but teased him first, "On the physical and mental toll of fast-paced competition."

Gilbert rolled his eyes, and neither of them said anything more. After about ten minutes, they returned to the field.

"Beep!"

The whistle blew, signaling the start of the second half.

Maël was fully focused, running tirelessly once again.

He was well aware that if he kept running like this, he would likely cramp up after 75 minutes, but he still didn't manage his physical condition.

As always, the first impression is crucial.

He wanted to make a brief moment of brilliance, not to conserve his energy to finish the game.

After running for a while, he noticed that the second half began with the players becoming more familiar with each other, leading to increased teamwork.

The match pace accelerated again, with rapid ball rotation.

Each player had to constantly switch roles, sometimes sprinting into open spaces, and other times suddenly turning back to help their teammates defend.

"Bang!"

At the 64th minute, Janu Hans from the Yellow Team suddenly passed a long ball. He accurately found Ward on the right flank, who controlled the ball and charged into the penalty area, facing the defense.

Before the defenders could surround him, he noticed the position of striker Evans and passed the ball.

"Bang!" Evans's right foot flicked the ball into the corner with a crisp and clean motion, "Swish!"

2-1 lead!

With their stronger overall strength and higher possession rate, the Yellow Team rightfully took the lead again!

"Great!"

Maël joined in the celebration, not sparing his praise as he ran over to Evans and the others.

After the restart, the Red Team launched a counterattack.

However, after several failed attempts to break through, they fell back into a disadvantageous position.

Head Coach Kevin also made substitutions at this time, replacing the Yellow Team's striker Evans with a new player and removing a center back from the Red Team.

Maël felt a surge of confidence when he saw the two new players on the field.

Kevin had made a substitution that was both positive and negative, but both favored the Yellow Team's wing crosses.

He replaced the striker Evans, who was not good at headers, with a tall striker over 1.9 meters tall; and replaced the Red Team's center back, who was better at headers, with a center back just over 1.8 meters tall.

Was he giving the tall striker a chance to showcase his strengths?

"I can meet that need and show off my own strengths at the same time."

Maël smiled, running even more actively, his desire for crossing from the wing reaching its peak.

With such a tall striker in the center, his crosses became much easier.

As long as the ball was fast enough to avoid being intercepted by the goalkeeper and high enough, opportunities would naturally arise!

He took a deep breath, the frustration of several failed crosses dissipated, and he regained hope.

"Bang!"

His next crossing opportunity came at the 71st minute. It didn't result in a goal but did create a successful aerial duel.

The tall striker, due to insufficient preparation, jumped a bit late, resulting in a weak header that was easily caught.

However, the threat of the Yellow Team's crosses increased significantly after the substitutions!

"Good job, buddy, do it again!"

The tall striker gave Maël a thumbs up, valuing the young man's passes.

Maël waved at him and turned to see that he seemed to be marked by the opposing wing midfielder, who was following him closely.

In a 3-4-3 formation, the wing defense usually relies on the two wing midfielders to drop back.

If one of the three center backs had to engage in one-on-one defense, it would indicate that the defense was in a very dangerous situation.

Maël had been matched against this wing midfielder from the start, and fortunately, the opponent's offensive attributes were stronger, so he didn't feel much pressure.

But now, things seemed different.

"Lorton, you'll remember my name."

Lorton had already noticed Maël's threat to their defense and no longer underestimated him.

This was a physically strong young midfielder, clearly of the type with impressive core strength. He had also tackled Maël at the start of the game.

Maël introduced himself to him as well, not overly worried. As long as he didn't give Lorton a one-on-one opportunity, he still had a chance to pass the ball.

The opportunity came at the 78th minute when the Red Team's midfield intercepted the ball and launched a counterattack, charging towards the Yellow Team's backline in a spectacular manner.

However, during the lateral pass, the ball was too weak and was intercepted by Janu Hans from the Yellow Team.

The situation changed instantly!

"Receive the ball!"

Janu Hans passed the ball to Maël, who was in an open position on the wing. Maël then took the ball and charged towards the baseline.

"Thud, thud, thud!"

The sound of cleats pounding the grass field echoed as Lorton rapidly pursued, trying to use his speed advantage to tackle Maël from behind.

"Bang!" But he didn't expect that, after noticing Lorton's pursuit, Maël slowed down, observed for a moment, and then casually passed a crossing ball.

Without the intention to go to the baseline, he directly crossed from a 45-degree angle behind the penalty line!

The ball curved into the penalty area, and the Yellow Team's tall striker's eyes lit up. He lowered his center of gravity, then jumped high and headed the ball with the back of his head, sending it towards the goal.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the ball spun towards the goal and finally 'swished' into the net.

Here it comes again!

3-1 lead!

"Yeah!!"

The Yellow Team's tall striker roared excitedly after landing, then ran over to Maël, who had passed the ball, "Nice! Buddy! Nice!"

Maël was also very happy, having scored 1 goal and 1 assist. This time, he couldn't even pretend to be calm.

The two of them, like two brilliant stars, excitedly praised each other. Maël patted his shoulder, somewhat mature for his age, "We need each other. Congratulations."

Lorton, on the other hand, looked dejected, not expecting Maël to play so unpredictably.

Don't most wingers like to dribble towards the baseline?

After this play, Maël gradually ran out of energy. The coaching staff noticed this and brought Evans back on to play as a winger.

Maël came off the field, lying on the ground with a towel, stretching his leg muscles to avoid soreness the next day.

Johansson approached at some point, a smile on his face, not bothering to hide his thoughts, "You really gave me a big surprise, kid. 1 goal and 1 assist, great performance and data!"

"If only it were in the Championship League."

Maël looked relaxed, joking about the training match data, "Wouldn't that boost my market value by 100,000?"

"At 17, if you got 1 goal and 1 assist in the Championship League."

Johansson thought for a moment and shook his head, "Transfermarkt would immediately set your market value at 3 million euros."

3 million euros market value?

Maël raised an eyebrow and smiled. It sounded good, but unfortunately, this wasn't the Championship League.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Mr. Gary Speed approaching.

"Maël."

Gary Speed smiled, and for someone of his level, this simple expression said a lot.

He must have greatly appreciated Maël's abilities and the talent he displayed at this age.

"I believe you will get your chance this season."

Gary Speed left with these words, glancing at Johansson and saying, "Keep an eye on them, don't let the team's bad boys corrupt them."

"Of course."

Johansson nodded in agreement and watched Gary Speed leave.

Once he was far enough away, Johansson excitedly came over to Maël, patting his shoulder heavily, "Did you hear that? Did you hear that?"

He felt that he had finally made a contribution to the team.

"Is that all I want?"

Maël waved his hand, joking again with his poor sense of humor, "What I want are goals and assists in the professional league, a 3 million euro market value."

For some reason, when he was happy, he loved to joke around.

[Skill: Observation Level 1]

[Proficiency: 36/300]

Maël checked his new skill progress after the match and was very satisfied. The improvement speed was beyond his expectations.

Please give me all kinds of recommendations and monthly votes! Let's push this new book up the charts! Thanks everyone!