Debut

David collected the ball from the referee and placed it where he had gone down. He looked up and saw Michael in a favorable position, and Trey was also free. If he wanted to, he could've passed to either one of them. He then looked up and saw the goalkeeper arranging his wall. The way he arranged it, he wanted to bait David into shooting, having his wall cover one side of the post while he shifted himself toward the other side. It was as if he was telling David, "Shoot if you dare."

If it had been someone else, they might have shied away, but this was David. He was a midfielder and didn't get to score many goals, so now that he had the chance, he naturally wasn't going to give it away.

Alexis was watching everything unfold from the bench. He saw what the goalkeeper was trying to do and decided internally that David wouldn't fall for the trap. Watching from an outsider's perspective, Alexis noticed some passes and plays that David might have overlooked.

James was also completely unmarked. Although the angle for a header from where he was standing wasn't favorable, it was still worth the risk. It was better than shooting and having the wall deflect your shot. At least, that's what Alexis thought.

David took three giant steps back from the ball and took a deep breath. He focused on his target—the section of the goal that the goalkeeper had neglected. He ran toward the ball and kicked it with all the strength he could muster.

As soon as he struck the ball, it flew through the air and curled around the wall of defenders. The goalkeeper wanted to dive for it, but the ball was too fast. He could only watch as it dipped and found the top left corner of the net.

"What the fuck?" Alexis's mind went blank. He couldn't process what had just happened. Even the commentators were silent for a few seconds.

[What the fu—what a goal! What a free kick from David Archer. From where he stood, it seemed like the most sensible thing to do was cross the ball into the box, but he actually shot from there!]

[And what a shot it was. It had everything you'd want in a shot—power, flair, and precision. I don't think even professional goalkeepers could have kept that out. What a hit, and what a goal.]

Alexis and everyone on the bench were still in shock. Xavier was the only one who reacted normally; he had already sat down and started writing tactics for the second half.

"He bent that shot like he was fucking Roberto Carlos!"

"Fucking hell!"

"Nobody got it on video... Fuck!"

Everyone had mixed reactions to the goal. David, who scored it, celebrated casually, only managing to pump his fist in the air before being rushed by his teammates. The midfielder who had fouled him could only turn away sourly. He had caused the goal.

The referee restored order on the field, and soon the game restarted. However, the rest of the first half was quite boring, with Charles Patterson mostly defending against Woodbridge International. After six minutes, the referee blew his whistle, signaling the end of the first half.

***

"I think it's pretty obvious that you played some shitty fucking football," Xavier said to everyone as they sat inside the locker room. It was safe to say he wasn't impressed by the first half. "I mean, those guys were fucking shit. They couldn't even get a shot in, and somehow you wankers are only one goal up."

"If it weren't for the fact that Dave scored an absolute cracker of a goal, I might've handed in my resignation letter, because what the fuck was I seeing out there?" Xavier continued. "You lads are out there playing like you've never fucking seen a football in your fucking lives. You even made me think I was a shit coach for a second."

Xavier made a few more complaints, then started explaining the tactics for the second half.

"For this half, Alexis and Dennis, you're coming in. Liam and Michael, you're out," Xavier said. "Michael, nothing personal. Liam, you've been fucking shit."

"Alexis, I know you're supposed to be an attacking midfielder, but you're playing on the right wing. Dennis, you're playing a supporting striker role. Trey, you're moving to the left."

Alexis turned and looked at Dennis, who was also staring at him. He couldn't help but remember when they had played on the same team during tryouts; now they were about to make their first appearance for the school team. He remembered how Dennis played and felt that he was well-suited to the role of a supporting striker.

|Ding! Host has received a new mission|

|Mission: Register a goal involvement in school team debut|

|Ding! Reward: New skill unlock/skill upgrade|

Alexis almost couldn't stop himself from crying out loud when he heard the system's notification. It had been dormant for the past week. Thinking about it, he realized it was never really active unless it wanted to give him a mission.

After hearing the mission, Alexis became even more determined to make an impact on the match. The reward was just too enticing to pass up.

"So now that everyone understands everything, let's go," Xavier said.

A few minutes later, everyone was on the pitch. Alexis stood on the field, sizing up the opposing players. His heart pounded steadily, and he only started fully concentrating when he heard the referee blow his whistle.

[And we're back underway for the second half. Charles Patterson has made two changes. Michael Uche, their star striker, has come off for new addition Joshua Dennis. Liam Walker, a newcomer, has been replaced by another newcomer, Alexis Butcher.]

[I'm sure the coach saw the first half and felt he had to change something about his team. The only question now is, what will his changes amount to? Will they make things better or worse?]

[I think that's the basic question on the mind of any coach before making a change. He's not going to sub someone in if he doesn't think they can make a difference, is he?]

[Unfortunately, what he thinks and what actually happens are two completely different things. It'll be interesting to see how things play out.]