My Goalkeeping System

"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 players, the match quickly resumed.

"Norman is a genius, bringing on Minino and quickly switching up his play 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 their last 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 articulated.

"We won't know until he tries it, but I don't think he'll do that well there," Steve said.

Roland 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 net, 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, come on," Dave said before slapping both of his palms on his face.

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 replace 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 clash with Roland, 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 articulated.

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 player 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 exclaimed. "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 players gathered around the referee who couldn't blow his whistle yet as the linesman's flag 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 explained.

Unique FC players were infuriated by that decision but there was nothing they could do about it besides trying again.

The match was coming to an end and there was no winner yet.

***

Mass release goals.

A magic castle= one extra chapter.

Two magic castles= two extra chapters.