The squad dispersed while Team A gathered near one touchline and Team B moved to the opposite side, so players pulled on yellow bibs over their training shirts and organized themselves into formation.
Text appeared in his vision before the match started.
|NEW QUEST: SCRIMMAGE PERFORMANCE|
|- Score 1+ goals|
|- Provide 1+ assists|
|- Complete 80%+ pass accuracy|
|- Win 5+ duels|
|Reward: +10 SP|
|TIME LIMIT: 40 MINUTES|
The quest requirements were clear while his brain processed what needed to happen, so he positioned himself at the center circle as Team B's striker while Coach Dubois stood at midfield with a whistle.
Antoine stood across from him in white while wearing that same smirk from earlier, then other players took their positions in a 4-3-3 formation on both sides.
"Standard rules," Dubois called out while holding up the whistle. "Twenty minutes each half, water break at halftime, then we switch sides. Play clean but play hard. This matters for Friday."
The whistle blew sharp and loud.
Team A kicked off while the ball moved back to their midfielder, so Heldrix pressed forward immediately because that's what strikers did in the opening seconds.
The midfielder passed wide to avoid pressure, then Team A began building from the back with patient possession while their defenders passed between themselves.
His positioning was good because his brain understood pressing triggers, but when the ball came near him and he tried to intercept, his body felt wrong.
His first touch was heavy.
The ball bounced off his foot awkwardly when he tried to control a pass from his midfielder, so it rolled out of bounds and Team A got the throw-in while frustration flared briefly.
It had been thirty-one years since he'd actually played football.
Thirty-one years of watching without touching a ball in match conditions, so his muscle memory was gone and his timing was off and everything felt different from how his brain remembered it should feel.
Team A's throw-in came quickly while their winger accelerated down the line, then crossed early before the defense could set.
Antoine attacked the ball at the near post but headed wide, so Team B got the goal kick.
The match continued while both teams probed for openings, then in the eighth minute everything changed.
Team B won the ball in midfield when Karim tackled cleanly, so the ball broke loose to Sofiane who immediately looked up field.
Matthieu was wide on the left while his defender had pushed too high, so Sofiane passed out wide with pace behind the defensive line.
Matthieu controlled smoothly before driving toward the byline, then Heldrix read the play developing because his thirty-nine-year-old brain had seen this pattern ten thousand times.
He sprinted between Team A's center backs toward the back post.
The run was perfectly timed because the defenders were watching the ball instead of tracking his movement, so when Matthieu's cross came low and hard across the six-yard box, he arrived completely unmarked.
Side-foot finish into empty net.
The ball hit the back of the mesh while his teammates celebrated, then the system registered the goal immediately.
|QUEST PROGRESS: GOALS 1/1 ✓|
Team B jogged back to their half while Heldrix caught his breath, so the score was 1-0 and his confidence lifted slightly because at least his positioning still worked even if his touch was rusty.
Team A kicked off again while their players looked more focused, then the ball moved quickly through their midfield with sharp passing that bypassed Team B's press.
Antoine dropped deep to receive near the halfway line with his back to goal.
Thomas was marking him tight but Antoine's first touch was perfect, so he spun away from the defender with a quick shoulder drop that created separation.
His acceleration was explosive.
Three touches later he was at the edge of the penalty area while Pierre slid in desperately, but Antoine shifted the ball right and struck from twenty yards.
The shot flew into the top corner past the keeper's outstretched hand, so the net rippled and Team A celebrated while Antoine jogged back with that same confident expression.
1-1.
The match restarted while both teams settled into a rhythm, so the next fifteen minutes flowed with Team A controlling more possession while Team B looked dangerous on the counter.
Heldrix's touch improved as his body adjusted to the pace, then his teammates started trusting him with passes because his movement off the ball was intelligent even when his technique wasn't perfect.
In the twenty-eighth minute, Team B built patiently from their goalkeeper.
The ball moved through their defensive line before reaching Sofiane in midfield, so he turned forward and played a pass into Heldrix's feet at the edge of the penalty area.
His back was to goal while Alexandre pressed from behind, then he laid the ball off first-time to Sofiane who was supporting ten yards away.
Heldrix spun immediately.
His defender was caught flat-footed because the movement was too quick, so when Sofiane returned the pass behind the defensive line with perfect weight, he was through on goal.
One-on-one with Malik.
His brain told him to slot it low to the keeper's right because keepers usually went left, so he struck cleanly with his right foot and watched the ball roll into the bottom corner.
2-1.
|QUEST PROGRESS: GOALS 2/2|
Team A kicked off quickly while their intensity increased, then in the thirty-second minute they won a corner after sustained pressure.
The ball was whipped into the near post area where bodies clustered, so Antoine attacked the space with timing that showed why Lyon would sign him eventually.
Powerful header across goal into the far corner.
2-2.
Three minutes later Team A scored again when their midfielder intercepted a sloppy pass in Team B's half, then drove forward before unleashing a strike from twenty-five yards that flew past the keeper.
3-2 to Team A.
The halftime whistle blew.
"Water break," Coach Dubois called out while players walked toward the touchlines. "Five minutes, then we switch sides."
Heldrix grabbed his water bottle while catching his breath, so his chest heaved and sweat soaked through his training shirt because forty minutes at this intensity was different from jogging laps.
Text appeared in his vision.
|FIRST HALF STATISTICS|
|- Goals: 2|
|- Assists: 0|
|- Pass Accuracy: 82% (14/17)|
|- Duels Won: 4|
|- Distance Covered: 3.2km|