22 Pre-Match Training

There were a lot of players in Spree United's stadium Mateo and Dave made their way there.

The pitch was divided into two parts with Spree United players training on one side and Unique FC players training on the other side.

Some of the players were conversing with players from the other teams while the others were training on their side of the pitch.

"Hey, do you want to try out a free-kick shoot-out on me?" Dave asked, turning his gaze to Mateo.

"Sure," Mateo said with a nod.

Dave quickly walked to the goalpost as Mateo walked to one of the balls in on the pitch and picked it up.

Mateo's strong foot was his left foot so he placed the ball in the best spot for him not too far from the eighteen-yard box.

"Are you ready?" He asked, raising his hand.

"Yeah," Dave replied raising his hand.

"Okay."

He took a few steps back before aiming the ball at the top left-hand corner.

Dave was pinned to the spot as the ball fell into the back of the net.

"And I was beginning to wonder if your free-kick skills were getting rusty."

Mateo quickly turned to see Ferran standing behind him with a ball trapped under his boot.

"Says the person who takes most of the freekicks," Mateo said.

"Yeah, but you should start taking them," Ferran said.

Ferran Phil was a twenty-four years old Spanish Midfielder who played the role of an attacking midfielder for Unique FC.

You could say he was one of the top three midfielders in Bilbeth Premier League so far this season.

His gameplay had been neat and smooth and he was currently the top assist provider with fifteen assists so far in the season.

Ferran had blonde hair, curvy but slightly long lips, a nice nose that fitted properly with his face, and a pair of brown eyes.

He was slightly taller than Mateo and was quite muscular when compared to the nineteen-year-old Mateo Smith.

"Do you mind if I take a shot?" He asked rolling the ball under his boot to the middle.

"Sure," Mateo said.

"Okay," Ferran said before turning his gaze to Dave. "Are you ready Dave?" He asked raising his hand.

"Yeah," Dave said, tossing the ball he was holding to Mateo.

Ferran took a few steps back before running to the ball to take with his right foot what was known as a power shot.

Dave was pinned to the spot again as the ball flew right past him toward the top left corner and banged on the crossbar before going over.

"Waooh, I've never seen you use that technique before," Mateo said with a surprised expression on his face.

"Well taking a free kick like that is complicated for me, I'm even surprised I managed to hit the bar," Ferran said scratching the back of his head.

"Really?" Mateo said.

"Yeah, why don't you give it a try?" Ferran said.

Dave was still trying to get over the power behind that shot and how he was even supposed to keep out a shot with that much power aimed at his weak side.

'How come I didn't get a quest for this?' Dave complained subconsciously.

<Maybe the system doesn't deem it worthy of a quest>

'Really?'

"Power shot coming in hot Dave," Mateo said as he slowly began to step back.

"Another power shot?" Dave muttered.

Mateo quickly ran towards the ball and took the shot with his left leg as the ball was sent flying toward Dave.

Unlike Ferran's shot, Mateo's shot wasn't elevated and it was heading to the right side of the post.

Dave quickly dived toward the ball and he was able to get a hand to it.

The ball deflected on his hand and smashed on the bottom right-hand corner bar before rolling off to the side.

Mateo stared at Dave with a dumbfounded look on his face as he didn't know how to explain that save.

"Well, you certainly did it better than me," Ferran said. "But that was a neat save from Dave, nice save Dave!"

"Yeah, that was a super save," Mateo said.

"We hope you'll be able to make a save like that during the match," Ferran said.

Even Dave was surprised by how he had made that save, he didn't think he would be able to do it.

"I hope so too." The goalkeeper said as he walked to the ball picked it up and threw it to Ferran.

"I'm going to try something different this time," Ferran said as he caught the ball and dropped it on the floor.

"Bring it on," Dave said as he walked to the middle of his line.

<That's the confidence I'm talking about>

Ferran placed the ball on the spot most convenient to him and this time he wasn't going to step back.

He draw his foot back and took the shot, this time it wasn't a power shot.

The ball quickly flew to the top right-hand corner as Dave quickly dived towards it and with the tip of his glove he was able to knock it over the bar.

"Waooh!" Mateo exclaimed with a stunned look on his face.

Even some of the players who were watching them from behind were surprised to see that save come from Dave.

"If you can bring saves like this into the match then we are going to win this match for sure," Ferran said.

<For one save yeah, but it's going to be a problem for the rest of the match if this team is one that loves to attack too often>

[ 60% stamina remaining ]

____ ____

The stadium was filled up with fans from both teams now as the players from both teams were making their way into the locker room to get ready for the match.

For today's match, Unique FC players were going to be putting on a black jersey with three orange stripes running down the front and their shorts was just plain black with their numbers displayed on them and the name of their sponsor placed on them.

The goalkeeper's kit was always different from the rest of the team's so Dave was putting on a plain green jersey.

Spree United players on the other hand were putting on blue jerseys with black dotted designs while their goalkeeper was putting on a black jersey with blue dotted designs.

The atmosphere was filled with loud applause from all the fans as the players from both teams made their way into the pitch.

"Their players are making their way into the pitch now for what could be described as a heated match," Jim said.

"Yeah Spree United is currently above Unique FC with one point and winning this match will have them steer clear of them but losing it will have them drop to eleventh place," Steve said.

"A draw will also keep them on top for the meantime," Jim said.

After lining up and shaking hands with each other, both captains made their way to the referee to choose sides.

After that, Unique FC had made their way to the left side of the pitch as Spree United made their way to the right side.

Two Spree United players were now on the kickoff spot with the ball and all they were waiting for now was the referee's whistle.

"Here we go, we are set for another ninety minutes of entertaining football," Jim said as soon as the referee's whistle was heard.

****

Hope you enjoyed the chapter?

A few powerstones and golden tickets would really be appreciated.