17 Chapter 17: Bologna vs Roma
Bologna started the match.
Bologna was on the pitch because of the 4-4-2 formation.
As it is known in Roma, he was playing with the 3-4-3 tactic.
And the goalkeeper was Helder.
The Bologna team was a little relaxed.
Because before the match, they thought that Roma's goalkeeper would be Curci and they were prepared accordingly.
But they thought Helder was inexperienced and wanted to find a goal in the first minutes of the match.
And Bologna's manager, Stefano Pioli, had told his players to take lots of long-distance shots.
Bologna players wanted to attack in the first minutes of the game, but Roma footballers wouldn't allow it.
De Rossi was pointing forward to his teammates.
They were trying to press.
But their press had failed!
Because Bologna had passed the press calmly and quickly.
The ball was at the foot of Bologna's midfielder Gaston Ramirez.
He passed to the right-wing.
That side of Roma was empty!
Totti was warning his teammates.
"Heinze, be careful! Do not foul, we are very early on, you should not see a yellow card. " yell.
Diamanti, Bologna's striker, was where the ball came from.
Although Diamanti plays a forward, he often goes right or left-wing, he was a player who liked to cross.
Diamanti looked up.
Inside was Marco Di Vaio, another striker of Bologna.
And a few midfielders had also entered the penalty area.
Diamanti cross-ball.
Marco Di Vaio jumped.
Juan, Roma's defender, was next to him.
Juan also jumped.
But the ball had passed Juan.
It was a great opportunity for Di Vaio.
It was just going to hit the head ...
What is this?
Helder understood where the ball would come from. He had trusted his goalkeeping instincts and controlled the ball with his hand.
"Good job, Helder." Heinze shouted.
Helder was overly concentrated.
He quickly sent the ball to De Rossi with his hand.
Totti raised his hand and asked to pass the racetrack.
De Rossi suddenly made a pass of about 30 meters.
It was a great pass.
But Bologna's defender Raggi intervened at the last minute.
If he hadn't intervened, Totti would have faced the goalkeeper…
***
7 minutes…
Bologna's midfielder Diego Perez took a shot from afar!
But this shot was coming on Helder.
Helder easily controlled the ball with both hands.
And he threw a long ball with his foot.
Osvaldo, one of the strikers of Roma, was there.
Osvaldo was good at airball fights.
He jumped towards the ball.
His goal was to head the ball to Lamela.
But the referee blew the whistle.
The referee came to Osvaldo and showed him a yellow card.
Osvaldo didn't even understand what was happening.
Osvaldo inadvertently elbowed Bologna's defender in the face.
He was objecting to the referee.
Captain Totti came and drove Osvaldo away ...
"You saw a card at the beginning of the match, you should be calmer." captain Totti said.
"And don't object to the referee, if you get a red card, things won't go well for us. he continued.
***
15 minutes ...
The Bologna team had shot from distance several times so far, but they could not pass Helder.
When Roma's supporters saw Helder's performance, they began to trust him.
Another advantage of Helder was that he could pass wherever he wanted with his feet like a playmaker player.
Because he knew that football would change in the 2010s.
The first feature that was sought in the goalkeeper was to be able to put the game well on the ball.
That's why Helder had improved his reflexes and made a lot of progress in his game-making skills in the youth team within 4 years.
Its talents have already been worldwide ...
Helder passed the ball to the defender Juan.
Manager Luis Enrique had it worked out.
They were going to strike on the set.
Juan quickly passed on Heinze next to him.
Bologna's striker Diamanti was pressing Heinze.
De Rossi wasted and asked to pass.
He passed on De Rossi at Heinze.
The ball had come to De Rossi.
Would he make the long pass again?
But no, the next midfielder passed the ball to Pjanic.
Lamela started running suddenly.
This is a studied set play.
Pjanic waited, waited, and suddenly passed.
An amazing pass.
The ball had come to Lamela on the left.
Lamela cross-ball.
"You have the captain." yell.
The ball had come to Totti.
There were 2 defenders with Bologna in front of Totti.
He pretended to shoot but didn't!
Bologna's defenders slipped in front of him to block, as they thought Totti was going to shoot.
But Totti understood this.
"I'm with the captain, I'm empty. Pass me. " shouted midfielder Ricardo Taddei.
It was really empty.
Bologna's defense was caught very incomplete.
He passed the pass to Taddei at Totti.
Taddei took a shot as soon as he took the pass.
Bologna's goalkeeper, Jean Gillet, jumped with all his might but unfortunately could not save ...
Goooooool…
Goooooooooooool…
Gooooooooooooooooolllll…
Roma was ahead with Taddei's goal in the 17th minute!
This set attack, which Luis Enrique was constantly training in training, ended with a goal.
Roma footballers were delighted.
"We have to score more goals!" Totti said to his friends in joy.
"I feel captain, I will score a goal today." Osvaldo said.
And he was right in his feelings.
The minutes were running and Bologna could not surpass the defenders of Roma, despite the pressure.
They were trying his luck with long shots, but this time Helder wouldn't let them score.
At that time, Bologna's midfielder Diego Perez had taken a terrible shot from afar, but the ball hit Roma's defender Juan and changed direction.
Helder did not expect this ...
The ball was heading towards the corner.
Helder took 3 quick steps to the right and jumped with his strength.
He saved the ball at the last moment.
If he was late for a few seconds, he could really score…
He went to Juan Helder.
"Dude, you got me out of big trouble. I almost scored my own goal. " said.
"I will do my best and I don't want to score today." Helder said.
***
Time was passing quickly.
And yes, Osvaldo was right in his feelings he said during the joy of goals.
He had put his team 2-0 ahead with a great header in the middle of Lamela in the 40th minute.
"What did I say, captain? I told you I felt I was going to score a goal .. "Osvaldo said with a laugh.
After Osvaldo's goal, the first half was over.
Luis Enrique was congratulating them all in the locker room, but he was very calm and was telling them this.
"Don't relax, if you lose your concentration even for a moment, we may score goals in an instant. So be careful. "
"Yes, boss." the team said.
Luis Enrique said a few more tactics. First of all, his goal was not to score goals and to score goals with counter attacks.
The second half had begun ...
After the start of the second half, Bologna was attacking more but could not find the goal he wanted.
The minutes were ticking.
Bologna could not find a goal, but could not get the counter-attack chances he wanted in Roma.
"We have to score more goals." Captain Totti was a warning.
But unfortunately, he wouldn't have what he wanted. With the comfort of being ahead, Roma footballers accepted the game behind them psychologically.
They started to spend time ...
Manager Luis Enrique could not stand it.
"Don't do this anymore, I want a goal from you." yell.
But the expected goal did not come.
And the match ended with the final whistle of the referee.
Roma won the match 2-0 with goals scored in the first half.
They had 3 points.
***
Many players, especially Captain Totti, in the locker room congratulated Helder.
Helder was happy too.
"You did a great job for your first game, Helder." said Totti.
"Thanks to you, you have made me feel very comfortable." Helder said respectfully.
At that time, Totti whispered in Helder's ear.
"You know what a voice inside me says you're going to be a world-class goalkeeper…" he said seriously.
Helder was delighted to hear this from Totti. But in his past life, he was already a world-famous goalkeeper. Of course, how could Totti have known that?
After the match, there was a press conference.
Sports announcers were asking a lot of questions.
And the main agenda was Helder.
"How do you find Helder's performance?"
"Will you give Helder more chances?"
There were many questions like.
Questions from Luis Enrique said.
"Helder didn't disappoint my confidence. But what time will show is unknown… We will wait for it to develop more… "
And Helder's first professional match in his later life was thus over ...
Would fate continue to stand by him, or would fate betray him?
