The first half ended with a score of one to one.
After coming off, Ma'el sat with Gilbert, both replenishing water and stretching to ease their strength.
"Very tiring."
Gilbert wore a bitter expression and sighed, "The pace is too fast, not only do we need constant movement, but we also need to stay focused all the time, the physical and mental pressure is immense."
"You could write a thesis on this."
Ma'el felt the same but teased him first, "On how fast-paced confrontation consumes both the body and mind."
Gilbert rolled his eyes, and neither said anything further. After more than ten minutes, they returned to the field.
"Beep!"
The whistle sounded, and the second half officially began.
Ma'el focused intensely, once again running tirelessly.
He knew very well that if he kept running like this, he would likely cramp after the 75-minute mark, but he still didn't manage his physical ability.
As the saying goes, first impressions are very important.
He wanted to fight for brief moments of brilliance, rather than allocate his energy to finish the match.
After a while of running, he found that after the second half started, since the players got familiar with each other, their tacit understanding increased.
The pace of the game quickened again, with rapid ball possession changes.
Every player had to continually switch roles, sometimes quickly running to open spaces, sometimes suddenly turning back to help teammates defend.
"Bang!"
In the 64th minute of the game, Janu Hans from the Yellow Team suddenly sent out a long pass, accurately finding Ward on the right wing, who stopped the ball and drove into the penalty area, facing the defense line.
Before being surrounded by the defenders, he observed the position of center forward Evans and passed the ball.
"Bang!" Decisively, Evans' right foot flicked and pushed the ball into the corner, "Swish!"
Two to one!
The Yellow Team, with overall stronger strength and better ball possession, understandably took the lead again!
"Beautiful!"
Ma'el celebrated with his teammates without sparing any praise, running towards Evans and joining the celebration group.
......
After the restart, the Red Team launched a wave of counterattacks.
But after several offensive attempts with no result, they fell into a disadvantageous position again.
Coach Kevin substituted two players from the bench, pulling Evans from the Yellow Team's center forward and removing a center-back from the Red Team.
Seeing the new players, Ma'el felt a surge of confidence to make more contributions.
Kevin made a substitution favoring Yellow Team's flanking crosses, removing Evans who was not good at headers, replacing him with a tall center forward over 1.9 meters, and also swapped out Red Team's better header defender with a roughly 1.8-meter center back.
Is he providing the tall center forward a chance to show his skills?
"I can meet that demand, and simultaneously showcase my strengths,"
Ma'el smiled, ran more vigorously, and reached peak craving for crossing to the baseline.
With such a tall center forward in the middle, his crosses became much easier.
As long as the ball's speed is fast enough not to be snatched by the goalkeeper, and the height is sufficient, the opportunity will naturally arise!
He let out a long breath, no longer frustrated over the cleared crosses, feeling hopeful again.
"Bang!"
His next crossing opportunity came in the 71st minute. It didn't result in a goal but did lead to a successful aerial challenge.
The tall center forward, due to being unprepared, jumped slightly late, resulting in a weak header easily caught.
However, the heightened threat of Yellow Team's crosses after the substitution was immediately apparent!
"That's great, bro, keep them coming!"
The tall center forward gave Ma'el a thumbs up, appreciating the young man's passing skills.
Ma'el gestured back, then noticed he seemed to be marked by the opposing side midfielder, intentionally shadowing him.
In a 3-4-3 formation, flank defense usually relies on the retreat of two side midfielders.
If the flank defender among the three center-backs engaged in one-on-one defense, it signaled a perilous moment for the defense line.
From the beginning, Ma'el had been matching up against this side midfielder, but his stronger offensive traits didn't put much pressure on Ma'el.
But now, things seemed different.
"Luton, you'll remember my name."
Luton had realized the threat Ma'el posed to their defense, no longer taking him lightly.
This is a physically imposing young midfielder, exuding strong core strength, also the one who tackled Ma'el at the start.
Ma'el introduced himself to Luton too, not overly concerned as long as he avoided one-on-one duels; he still had hope of getting the ball out.
The opportunity came in the 78th minute. The Red Team's midfield intercepted the ball and launched a counterattack, charging fully towards the Yellow Team's backfield, creating a dramatic scene.
But in a lateral transfer, due to a weak pass, it was intercepted by the Yellow Team's midfield Janu Hans.
The situation reversed instantly!
"Receive the ball!"
Janu Hans sent the ball to Ma'el in an open position on the flank, and Ma'el immediately carried the ball towards the baseline.
"Thump, thump, thump!"
The sound of studs heavily pounding on the grass erupted as Luton chased back swiftly, intending to use speed to tackle Ma'el from behind.
"Bang!" But he didn't anticipate that, upon noticing the chase, Ma'el slowed down, took a glance, and boldly launched a cross.
Without the baseline intent, he launched a direct 45-degree bomb from behind the penalty line!
The ball curled into the penalty area with an arc, the Yellow Team's tall center forward's eyes sparkled, lowering his center first, then leaping high to unleash a header like 'a look back at the moon.'
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the ball spun toward the goal and eventually hit the net with a 'swish.'
There it was again!
Three to one!
"Yeah...!!"
Upon landing, the Yellow Team's center forward roared excitedly, then sprinted towards Ma'el, who assisted him, "Nice! Bro! Nice!"
Ma'el was thrilled too, achieving a 1 goal, 1 assist stat. This time, he couldn't even pretend to be calm.
They bonded quickly, leaping high and bumping chests.
"Indispensable to each other."
Like the fabled duo Wolong Fengchu, the excited pair praised each other, Ma'el patting his shoulder, sounding a bit mature for his age, "Congratulations."
Luton was left feeling frustrated at the back, not expecting Ma'el to break the norm.
Aren't most wingers fond of running towards the baseline?
After this play, Ma'el gradually ran out of physical stamina, and the training staff noticed, substituting him with Evans to play as a temporary winger.
After coming off, Ma'el lay down on the ground with a towel, stretching his leg muscles to prevent soreness the next day.
Jorson, who came up at some point, wore a smile, showing no intention of hiding his thoughts, "You truly gave me a big surprise, kid, with your 1 goal and 1 assist, an excellent performance and stats!"
"If only it was in the Championship League."
Ma'el joked, feeling content with his training match stats, "Wouldn't that directly boost my value by 100,000?"
"At 17 years old, if you scored 1 goal and 1 assist in the Championship."
Jorson thought for a moment, shaking his head, "Transfermarkt would immediately mark your value at 3 million Euros."
3 million Euro valuation?
Ma'el raised an eyebrow with a smile, it sounded nice, too bad this wasn't the Championship.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps from behind; he turned around to see Mr. Garrispeed approaching.
"Ma'el."
Garrispeed smiled, and at his level, even a simple expression conveyed a lot.
He must really appreciate Ma'el's ability and the talent displayed at this age.
"I believe, you will definitely get the chance this season."
Garrispeed left those words, glanced at Jorson, and said, "Keep an eye on them, don't let those bad boys in the team lead them astray."
"Of course."
Jorson nodded in agreement and then watched Garrispeed leave.
Once he was distant, he excitedly came to Ma'el's side, giving his shoulder a strong pat, "Did you hear that? Did you hear it?"
He felt like he had finally contributed something to the team.
"Is that all I want, just a chance?"
Ma'el waved it off, joking in his slightly awkward style, "What I want are goals and assists in professional leagues, a 3 million Euro value."
Somehow, when delighted, he loved joking with people.
[Skill: Observation Level 1]
[Skill Level: (36/300)]
He glanced at the new skill progress after the match, feeling very satisfied; this rate of improvement was beyond expectations.