The players were all sitting down inside the locker room with Norman standing in front of them.
They were ready to head out to the pitch for the pre-match warm-up but before that, Norman had something to tell them.
"It has come to my notice that somebody's trying to play mind games with us, no he's targeting Mateo specifically but I'm glad he knows how to deal with things like that but I'm going to say this because he may decide to come after you guys too.
"No matter what any of them tells you guys, do not fret because once you do that, you lose focus in the game and start making mistakes and that is exactly what they want, don't let them get the better of you."
"Don't worry, coach, you can count on us," Adolf said.
"I'm sure I can," Norman said with a nod.
After that, the players made their way to the pitch where Spree City players were already warming up.
There were a couple of fans in the stands and they were cheering for the players as they warmed up.
They started with running a few laps just like always before switching to the stretches and now, they were practicing with the ball.
Dave did a couple more stretches before he kicked up the ball beside him and began to joggle it.
He joggled it for a couple of seconds before he did a leg with his right foot and use that same right foot to catch the ball before it could hit the floor.
He stayed like that with the ball for a while before he suddenly kicked the ball up and allowed it to come down within foot range before he pulled back his right foot and sent the volley flying toward the goalpost with a powerful shot.
The ball flew toward the right side and curved a little to the right in the process to hit the angle between the crossbar and right post before falling into the goalpost.
"When did you learn how to do that?"
The goalkeeper quickly turned to the side to see Merino approaching him.
"Oh, that, I've seen Mateo do it a couple of times and I've been trying to do it during training sessions, did I get it right?"
"Yeah, that was neat, your shot power and accuracy are always superb, how do you even do that?" Merino asked.
"Huh?"
"I mean you're a goalkeeper, you're not supposed to be this good at shooting." The winger said.
"Well, I've been doing a lot of shooting drills so it's only fair that my shots are good." The goalkeeper said.
"I have also been doing a lot of shooting drills but my shot power and accuracy aren't up to your level although it's not that bad."
"I think your shots are great," Dave said.
"Yeah, they look wonderful whenever they fly over the bar."
"No, I meant when they fly into the goalpost." The goalkeeper said with an awkward expression on his face.
<You shouldn't have said that>
"I guess some players are gifted naturally in one aspect and just need a little practice to reveal that talent, with what you have, you would have been great upfront as a striker, winger, or attacking midfielder, but I guess staying in between the sticks is what you love." Merino expressed.
"Yeah, and I use my foot skills to help up front as much as I can." The goalkeeper said.
"Yeah, that helps a lot, I'll be expecting those long balls of yours on the right."
"I'll do what I can when I find the right space." The goalkeeper said.
Their pre-match warm-up continued and just as soon as the time hit 3:30 PM, the players were told to head down the tunnel and get ready for the match.
Dave was heading down the tunnel with Mateo walking alongside him when Felix suddenly pulled up beside them.
"Hey, Dave, Mateo." The striker said with a little wave.
"What do you want?" Dave asked, trying as hard as possible to keep a straight look on his face.
"Nothing much really, I just wanted to remind you about giving me the honor to be the first player to score a goal against you in all competitions this season." The striker said.
"Why would I do that?" Dave asked.
"Because we're buddies."
"Buddies?" The goalkeeper said with a confused expression on his face.
"Oh, never mind," Felix said before letting out a sigh. "I'll just find a way through like I always do, I am the player who has scored the most goals against you after all so I sort of know the formula."
The goalkeeper watched him walk ahead of them and disappear downstairs before he turned his gaze to Mateo.
"I'm going to say some things about him if we end up winning this match." He said.
"If you say it after we win the match, then there's nothing wrong with it as long as you don't go too far," Mateo said. "I wonder what will happen if he tries this with Minino."
"No, no, don't imagine that, that wouldn't end in a good way, Minino's not that tolerant of nonsense," Dave said, shaking his head.
"Yeah, it wouldn't," Mateo said.
For this match, Unique FC players were going to be putting on their first away jersey with orange polka dots and for Dave, it was just the lemon kit.
Spree City on the other hand had on their light blue kit while their goalkeeper was putting on a red kit.
Both teams met up in front of the exit to the pitch and stayed there for a while before they were given the signal to start making their way to the pitch.
"Welcome everyone, is your regular commentator Jim Waterson and with me here in the studio is Mr. Steve Jefferson," Jim said as the players made their way to the pitch.
"Hello everyone, it's nice to be back here to watch and share my opinions on this match alongside Jim."
"Yeah, it's always nice to talk about things with me," Jim said. "That aside, we have a very entertaining match here today, the last time these teams faced each other, it ended in a draw, Spree City almost ran away with it just like they always did but a last-minute equalizer from Roland Ryle was enough to secure a point for the Uniques."
"Unique FC suffered in the hands of Spree City in the last two seasons, Unique FC have not been able to beat them in their last four matches and despite not scoring against him in their last match, Felix Nunez still holds the record for the most goals scored against Dave Richards, nine goals in four matches." Steve expressed.
After going around to shake each other's hands, the captains made their way to the officials for the coin toss.
Adolf ended up winning the coin toss and just like always, he chose the goalpost on the left.
"Unique FC may have had a bad record against Spree City recently but head to head Unique FC has won more matches, they've faced each other fifty-four times since the start of the Bilbeth Premier League. Unique FC had beaten them thirty-one times while Spree City has beaten them sixteen times only, the remaining seven matches were all draws and today, they face each other for the fifty fifth time, who's going to come out on top?" Jim articulated.
"If we're talking about form, then Unique FC has the edge but sometimes that's not all that matters," Steve said.
Just as Dave made his way to his goalpost, he made slight eye contact with Felix who was heading toward the center of the pitch at that time.
[ Quest received ]
'I was wondering when you were going to show up.'
[ Show Felix Nunez that he does not know the formula to scoring against you, prevent him from scoring against you ]
[ Quest rewards ]
[ +120 exp ]
[ +10 skill upgrade points ]
[ Instant skill upgrade to any skill of your choice ]
'I'll show him alright, I'll show him that he doesn't know any formula.' He said subconsciously as he confidently walked to his goalpost.
***
Mass release goals.
A magic castle= one extra chapter.
Two magic castles= two extra chapters.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶