"It's a deserved win for Unique FC, they fought hard for it, there were certain scenarios where Wolfsburg could have equalized but they hung on and saw the match through to the end." Jim expressed. "Wolfsburg were also solid and it would have been fair to see them get that equalizer but their chances were spoiled and Unique FC did well to prevent them from getting too much space."
"Yeah, but I don't think they're saddened by that loss at all, they did well in this match but they weren't at their best, they weren't totally outclassed by the Bilbeth side but they know they were better than them." Steve articulated.
As soon as that final whistle was heard, Michael met up with Dave to collect the shirt that he asked for during the warm-up session.
Both of the players were putting on their team jackets with their shirts in their hands.
"You see I did get the ball past you," Michael said after collecting the goalkeeper's shirt and handing his own to him.
"Yeah, that was a tricky kick," Dave said.
"Yeah, I guess you're right because it wasn't exactly my intention to kick it to the middle but I'm glad it worked out for me." Michael expressed. "But I have to say, you're one of the toughest goalkeepers that I have ever faced, definitely in the list of the top five toughest goalkeepers I have ever faced."
"Really?" Dave said.
"Yeah, but I'll have to face you more to solidify your name on that list." The forward said.
"I'm not sure we will meet again for quite a while but we'll meet again someday."
"I'll look forward to that day then," Michael said before shaking hands with him. "I'll have to head down now, it was nice playing against you, Dave."
"You too."
The goalkeeper watched him make his way down the tunnel and as soon as he was out of sight, he turned his gaze to his right side to see Minino standing there.
"A formidable goalkeeper is always respected by strikers and forwards generally," Minino said. "Looks like you earned his respect."
"No, he's just a nice guy." The goalkeeper said before he began to make his way toward the tunnel.
Mateo was announced as the man of the match a few minutes after the final whistle and that was pretty obvious, he wasn't that good in the match, he seemed lackluster a few of the times when he got the ball but he was the one that scored both goals for his team, those goals coupled with the good moments he had in the game were enough to win him the man of the match award.
After spending some time in the locker room, talking to each other and listening to what Norman had to say about the match, the players were now on the bus, heading back to the hotel in Barcelona.
"I've gotten three important shirts so far in this pre-season tour," Dave said to Mateo who wasn't going through his phone today, surprisingly.
"I've gotten eight but the only one I really asked for was Lelemar's, I got Kendra's shirt today." The winger said.
"And you could possibly make it nine tomorrow, looks like you've already become a popular name in the world of football," Dave said.
"Maybe, but I haven't really won any trophies yet, I have to win something to start climbing up that ladder of G.O.A.T.S., I haven't started yet." The winger said.
"Ladder of Goats huh?" Dave said. "With the standards, the current goats of the game have set, that's going to take quite a while, you certainly have the talent but it's going to take quite a while."
"Yeah, I know that but I know I can do it, I may not be able to reach Ciro's or Fernandez's level but I'll be comfortable to go down as one of the goats of the game." The winger expressed.
"You'll surely go down as one of the goats of the game, I know that. You could possibly surpass those two but given the fact that none of them is retiring soon, it looks like an impossible quest." The goalkeeper said.
"Yeah."
<He has great talent and if he doesn't pick up a bad habit and get distracted, he'll have a great career>
'I don't think Mateo will let anything get in the way of him having a great career.'
"I think you can get up there too, Dave." The winger said.
"Goalkeepers aren't really given as much recognition as the other players on the pitch." The goalkeeper replied.
"Yeah, but a goalkeeper has won the Ballon d'Or before," Mateo said.
"That was a very long time ago."
"It can still happen again." The winger said. "Besides, you're no ordinary, you do things other goalkeepers find difficult to do, your passes are accurate and so are your shots from the goalpost, I've never seen a goalkeeper pack so much shot power from the goalpost. You even have a career goal and it came from the middle of the pitch, we'll be playing the UEFA Conference League qualifiers soon, imagine doing that in one of our matches, it will surely be the goal of the tournament."
"I get what you're saying but it's not going to be easy." The goalkeeper said.
"Nothing good is ever gotten easily in this world but you have the talent, skill and you've recently developed the habit of working hard, that's all you need to get there."
<He's right, Dave, with the help of the system, you've become a rare kind of goalkeeper, getting to that level is possible, it's going to happen, if you don't suddenly start slacking off that is>
'You don't have to always add that last part, you know, as long as you're in my head, I don't think I'm ever going to start slacking off again and besides, working out is something I just do compared to before when it was something that I decide before doing.'
<And you didn't have to give me that long response>
"Alright, Mateo, I think I've made up my mind." The goalkeeper said.
"Glad to hear that."
"I'm going to become the second goalkeeper to win the Ballon d'Or and maybe the FIFA best men's player award." He affirmed.
"I'll be glad to see that happen," Mateo said.
"Me too," Minino said before raising his head from behind so that the two could see him.
"What does he think the Ballon d'Or award is?" Jonas muttered from where he was sitting on the other side of the pitch.
[ Quest received ]
[ Complete ten kilometers tomorrow before 7:30 AM ]
[ Quest rewards ]
[ +2 skill points ]
[ +50 exp ]
[ +2 stat points ]
After reading the contents of the quest, the goalkeeper let out a sigh of relief.
'Oh, thank goodness, I thought it was a punishment quest because of what I just said.'
<If I could laugh, I would be laughing at you now, just know that>
'Well, then it's a good thing you can't, I don't think I will be able to stand you laughing in my head all the time.' The goalkeeper replied. 'What's up with a quest randomly popping up like this?'
<Like you said, it's just a random quest, now that your daily quests have been canceled, you'll be getting random quests sometimes, you should also bear in mind that some of them will have absolutely nothing to do with football or working out>
'Okay, I guess I'll have to get up early to complete this one.'
****
Mass release goals.
A magic castle= one extra chapter.
Two magic castles= two extra chapters.
Mass release for goals met last month will still be rewarded on the due dates.
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