"Why are they not playing football?,"
"Hey why are you taking so long? Start the match already. We have lives hurry up and start the match."
"Yeah, we've been here for hours now—why haven't they started playing the match? Some of us placed bets."
"Shit fuck, now I will lose money by default."
One spectator, out of breath from running, said, "I heard one of the player, what's his name again, Wis… oh yeah, his name is Winston. Apparently he has been missing since last week,"
"What? Did that little shit, ran away, fuck I put money on him," said one man who was reeking of alcohol.
Everyone around held their noses, one spectator, who couldn't hold it anymore, said, "Old man, why are you drunk this early in the morning? You smell—go take a bath. Jesus Christ."
The old man turn scanning the group with a malicious look and said, "Who the fuck said, Mind your own business." He continued yelling
On the other side of the field, murmurs continued, some even shouted, "Coach, what's taking so long? I bet a lot of money on this match."
From below the ground, the head coach was busy asking people and teammates whether they had seen Winston, Winston has been missing for a week now.
Most people last saw him wandering the hotel's ground floor. The stadium erupted in boos as some individuals hurled insults at the coach. Maximilian leaned against the wall, closing his eyes. He had a smirk on his face, the striker coach was sitting on the bench, leaning back in his seat. He remained unconcerned by the unfolding events, as he was not the one missing.
Winston jogged past Maximilian a few minutes later; Maximilian, who was smirking, watched Winston walking toward the head coach. Winston was surprised to see the stadium packed with people, and some were even watching from beyond a large training ground fence. Upon returning from the simulation, his body was covered in sweat, yet his energy was restored to its maximum. "I am sorry, coach, I was running around the block"
Shaking his head, the head coach looked at Winston and said, "It's okay, I will let this one pass, but next time I would have to punish you." Noticing Maximilian approaching, the head coach said, "You two play nice, this match is a training, not a death match don't injure each other, and don't forget the match stake,"
Maximilian bumped Winston's shoulder, under his breath, he said, "Mmm, I'll show you what a best player looks like," Maximilian chuckled and he looked over his shoulder, "I hope you don't embarrass yourself, tsk."
As Maximilian was about to walk away, Winston chuckled, "Make sure you bring your all too, I don't want you to embarrass yourself. I hope you enjoy your time on the bench," Maximilian sneered and walked away, the entire team witnessed the exchange, the air turned thick and oppressive.. Some teammates knew about Winston and Maximilian beef, some only found out right now—murmured amongst the teammates. Despite the spectators cheers, Winston remained unfazed. "Glad you're back, you can go change your clothes, we will start with warm-ups," said Oswin, high-fiving Winston,
A few minutes passed, Winston came out of the changing room and jogged toward the head coach, who advised them that it was a friendly match. Not a match for them to injure each other, he instructed both Winston and Maximilian that whoever loses will only be benched for three matches, not a death or career-ending bet. Both Winston and Maximilian nodded, but still looked at each with a malicious look.
Since Winston's side started the previous match, the head coach told Maximilian to start the match. Stretching himself, Winston looked at Oswin, who nodded back to him. Scanning the crowd who were eagerly watching the field, Winston only saw Annalise in the crowd, but there was no Dumi amongst the crowd. Oswin tapped Winston's shoulder, "I am sure Dumi is here somewhere, I can even see Zabalini too. Maybe they don't want to make us nervous,"
"I hope so. Come on—let's see who can score more goals.,"
"Now you are speaking my language. Lets see who got the best mentor, and make sure you enjoy yourself," Oswin said, running to his position.
Fweet! Fweet! Fweet!
Maximilian grinned at Winston and passed the ball to the youth beside him, and then passed the ball among each other. Winston and Oswin looked at each other and pursued the ball, Maximilian called the ball over. Dragging the ball with his feet, he ran straight toward Winston and Oswin, he stepped over the ball and twisted his body, and heel-flicked the ball flying over Oswin's head. Using Oswin's body as a propeller, Maximilian ran straight toward Winston—Maximilian dribbled the ball past Winston and burst out sprinting toward the other youths, he easily dribbled them out—and he flinched the goalkeeper. Who dived in the other direction and with flair, Maximilian scored the goal.
Thwack!
Maximilian's speed and precision astonished the cheering crowd, who were certain their chosen competitor was superior to Winston. Of course they didn't care about the stake the game had, the only stake they were after was the money they put on both of them.
"Damn it, this kid's actually serious… fuck, I wish I'd bet on this kid."
"It's too late now, I am about to be rich. Finally, my wife won't know, I bet with our entire savings,"
As the commotion of mixed reactions from the crowd built up, Winston was still calm—he was not really bothered by this crowd. His only focus was to keep calm and give the game his all. Winston jogged toward Oswin and he said, "you're good he made a fool out of you," both laughed at each other, and Oswin replied, "Look whose talking, he made a fool out of you too, he is pumped you better take it seriously."
[User Daily Challenge]
[Score: 00/04]
[Goal heading: 00/01]
[Cripple Maximilian]
Winston pondered and glanced and narrowed his eyes, for a moment Winston sensed something when Maximilian was dribbling past Winston. He shrugged his shoulders, and he thought maybe it was part of the residuals of the simulation match. Turning back to Oswin, "I guess I have to," with a low high five, both ran to their respective positions.
When Winston restarted the game, he passed the ball to Oswin, who passed it back to the midfielders. The entire process was a back and forth of the ball passing. When the ball returned to Winston, he flicked the ball at the oncoming player who was rushing to mark him. With an outside foot, he through-ball to Oswin on the left of the field, with great smooth precision Oswin body feint with the ball between his legs. Making the youth who was marking slip, in a straight line. Oswin dashed along the left field, dribbling this time around. His dribbling was so agile that he was like the wind passing through the forest. Winston darted inside the field and kept his pace normally, preparing to jump for a header. Still dribbling on the edge of the box, Oswin darted inside and crossed the ball. Winston sprinted and leaped, mirroring their practice, but just as he was about to strike the ball, Maximilian unexpectedly appeared and headed it centrally.
As the land of their feet Maximilian burst into a full sprint and trigger run the ball. Behind Maximilian was Winston, hot on his heels, for a second, Winston felt his speed increase. When arrived at the ball, he nutmegged the ball past Maximilian's legs and pivoted his body and trigger run. Preparing to blast the ball from the edge of the box, two youths were sliding toward the ball, Winston passed the ball to Oswin, who was darting into a straight line behind the two youths who were trying to intercept Winston. He passed the ball in an arc toward Oswin, who curved the ball ninety degrees to the bottom right corner, the opposite goalkeeper stretched, the ball was too great for him to stop.
Thwack!
As the spectators cheered enthusiastically, both players added excitement to the game, which was now a close contest. Even the head coach was excited and surprised, normally Winston was a ball hogger, and what he displayed was a team player. Both Oswin and Winston celebrated with their teammate—Maximilian glanced over at the striker coach who stared back at him with indifference. With a grin, Maximilian turned his gaze to Winston and Oswin, and he said, "Interesting, time to be serious now. At least I took that pill before entering the field," looking at his hand and flexed his hand, he thought, "I can now feel it, time to show this loser who is the best in this club,"