First touch

The crowd cheered for their respective teams, the commentators talked about the lineups as well as the more popular players which the public followed from middle school up to this point.

It was shaping up to be a good game and all Paul could do was watch, somehow at first when Joseph asked him to take the job. He felt like it was an easy task. A no-brainer. But he's not the one on the field, his job is to make the people going onto the field ready for the task they were about to take on and that was harder than anyone could imagine.

The camera flashes were new to some, Byron for one had seen them before most noticeably in the preliminary match against Horace. Though the camera flashes were for the other team's ace. "So big."

"I know what you mean." Arthur tried loosening him up. Which didn't work by the way.

Byron stared at the pitch as both teams got into formation, he was about to walk toward the kick-off line but he remembered he wasn't picked for this match as a striker. He looked at Nagisa who seemed to be in what came off like another world. "Was he always that focused?"

The team lineups for both teams are as stated:

Marion

Formation: 4-4-2

Coach: Paul Siegfried.

***********************

Goalkeeper (1) Yuri Petrov.

*****************************

Left back (3) Mark Birch.

Center back(6) Everest Wallflower.

Center Back(4) Kyle Fitzgerald.

Right back(2) Silvestre Perkins.

*******************************

Left MF(54) Nagisa Aoto.

Center MF(43) Byron Whitaker.

Attacking MF(23) Liam Briar

Right MF(17) Arthur Posey

*******************************

Center forward(19) Xiao Haoyu.

Center forward(31) Max Basil.

*******************************

Subs. GK(1) Jeremiah Clinton, CB(8) Trevor Garrison, CB(65) Gregory West, CMF(10) Xavier Leon Frederick, CF(84) Benjamin Parker, CF(27) Afeez Afolabi.

********************************

Reserves. Danny Friedman, Shin Ha-jun.

The team lineup for Luthervale is as stated:

Luthervale

Coach: Joe Tristan

Formation: 4-3-3

***************

Goalkeeper(1): Gilbert Sidesaddle.

****************

Left back(3): Harrison Camber

Center(6): Samson N'gull

Center(4): Brian Alessi

Right(2): Jonah Campbell

*****************

Left MF(23): Tony Harper

Defensive MF(51) Cody Stillen

Right MF(98): Ivanovic Tehran

*****************

Left winger(29): Hal Jimstone.

Centre forward(56): Zack Young.

Right Winger(14): Roy Walker.

Subs. Cory Gillingham, GK(1), Randy Reeves, CB(7) Harry Eldan, RB(13) Umar Bennett, DMF(68)Felix Edmund, CMF(79)King Palfrey Jr. CF(45)

Reserves: Connor Dickinson and James Budds.

"Two very stacked lineups so far, with one team being more stacked than the other don't you think Joe?" The first commentator said to his partner who sat by him.

"Yes Terry, Marion's squad has players that the media called 'The next legends' and I can't wait to see if they can live up to the claims," Joe responded.

"It's only a matter of time at this point, the match would soon begin and from then on it'll be a battle of perspectives. Luthervale has always agreed that teamwork is dreamwork and while Marion agrees with that as well, I doubt that they would have been able to make a team with the caliber of players on board." Terry looked at some papers.

"Especially after their friendly loss to Tenzin, their confidence might be low but this is the best chance for revenge they could have."

"Let's see as they do," Terry dropped his papers and looked at the players.

Byron stretched as everyone assumed their positions, for some reason he had never seen this view before. The pitch was so much wider and it stunned him. He didn't like that he wasn't playing up front but right now. He wouldn't trade this view for the world.

Luthervale won the coin toss so their strikers started the match, Ivanovic passed to Zack before going back to his own position.

Paul and the others had made Luthervale seem like this singular organism that performs using the same brain and he wanted to see it in action. Their so-called perfected 'teamwork'.

Zack ran with the ball and once Max came up he passed it over to Roy who ran down the wing, a 4-3-3 formation put a lot more bodies into the fray than other formations did, it's well-balanced and accepts the kind of play that Luthervale wanted to create.

Arthur pressed Roy on the wing and managed to snatch the ball from him, a careless mistake by Roy gave Marion the chance to attack and they were going to take it. Xiao ran in alongside Max and some midfielders trying to link up for a pass or a lob into the box.

Arthur was about to be pressed by Luthervale's midfield so he looked into the box and spotted Max. "Take it forward," Arthur said as he crossed the ball to Max who was still outside the box.

"Unrealistic expectations to be honest." Max looked behind him trying to make sure he covered the ball from any poachers. The ball dropped down and Max ran with it, but immediately Max saw a defender he passed it to Xiao.

"Too fast," Byron said as he ran trying to catch up to Liam who already cemented himself in a nice position where he could receive a pass and start a play.

"Liam," Xiao passed the ball to Liam and ran toward the defender, he was trying to stay behind him for a quick run inside but the defenders counteracted and went up a little bit more.

"Crap." Liam was about to lob the ball so Xiao could score a volley but it would seem Luthervale knew that was the case. "Byron." Liam passed to Byron and backed away trying to create space between Byron and him.

The Luthervale defense came up, standing a few meters away from the box and that was where they stood their ground. An offside trap was best used while the ball was in play but with the way Luthervale used it. It was almost like a wall that had a hole in the middle, a big hole anyone could pass through but if your timing wasn't spot on. The hole would close and swallow you up.

Byron received the ball and it was the first time he touched the ball during the match, he wasn't skilled enough to hit the pass just well enough that it would pass the defense and allow Xiao to score. So what would he do?

Cody came and tackled Byron but he didn't lose the ball this time, Byron passed the ball back to Liam and examined the defense of Luthervale.

Liam didn't want to waste the attack with a bad ball in so he passed to Silvestre who already came up, he knew Nagisa was on the left and could possibly run down to create a chance via cross-in but Luthervale guarded him tighter than they did Arthur.

"Complete shut down." Cory looked at his papers and then ticked something off on them. "Ha-Jun might've been a good pick for this match, no?"

"Regardless of severity, they are still recovering from

injury. The only reason they were put in the main lineup was due to the fact their skills would become needed in the second and third stages." Paul said looking at the state of the match.

"We have to win this stage first." Cory sighed.

"Don't worry, it might take him some time but I believe he'll show up."

"Who?" Cory asked and Paul didn't respond. "Watch the match I guess."

Arthur passed the ball to Liam and Liam passed to Silvestre and Silvestre passed to Byron. They were in Luthervale's half but due to the offside trap they put up, they couldn't go any further. "I'll just go for it!" Liam prepped himself for a pass but right before he passed he saw Byron running toward the defense.

"What's he doing?" Xiao looked at Byron as he was coming forward and for some reason, the defender behind him went backward.

"Oh...Now I see what you're planning." Liam crossed the ball into the box and with Byron already making a beeline for it, the defenders were conflicted.

"Crap, Brian get the ball!" Harrison said and immediately Brian moved out of his position to get the ball, Byron stopped and both Xiao and Max pressed on forward.

"They got us!" Samson and the other defenders chased the strikers who got in behind but there was no way they could stop them.

Brian tried making a clearance without turning back but just before his boot made contact with the ball, Max jostled him off it and hit the ball toward Xiao who made sure he blasted it into the top corner.

"Goooooallllll!!!!" Terry shouted. "Marion has the first laugh! And they're leading by 1. We expected this but for it to come within the first 20 minutes of the game,"

"It's just brilliant Terry, the midfielder made a dummy run in and once the defenders backed off the two strikers in front pounced and created a spectacular goal. Hopefully, this is just one of the many that will come into this match."

Cory and Annabel celebrated and although Paul didn't let his emotions show, he was happy on the inside. "Now I see why Joseph was so adamant."

"You cheeky boy." Liam jumped on Byron. "Timing it perfectly with my cross so it would seem like a planned move."

Byron laughed as he returned to his position, he had never made a dummy run with the intentions he just had before. As a striker whenever he made a dummy run, he was always upfront and kept himself in a position where he could still put the ball back in if the player missed but that wasn't what he did just now. He stopped after making the run and he let the strikers do their job.

"I'm not making my case any easier, if you want to be a striker you have to score. Assisting will only prove Joseph's point." Byron spoke to himself but not even he could deny the amount of joy he felt right now. The amount of freedom he felt.

Golden patterned feathers sprouted from his back and it was as if he could go anywhere on the pitch, he had never felt this before, he had never felt anything like this before. Is this what a midfielder feels like?

Luthervale came up with the ball and Marion attacked with confidence and the confidence wasn't just on the pitch, Paul, Cory and the bench players could also feel the confidence with them being one up but the spirits of Luthervale weren't down.

It seemed like this was what they wanted as if they were testing Marion so they could grasp how they played and that was when it began. Gilbert passed to Samson and from there. They passed and passed until it reached Zack who scored to equalize the game.

Marion started their attack but once they got in deep, Cody nicked the ball and from there. They passed and passed again until they managed to make Yuri come out and another goal was scored by Zack. It wasn't halftime yet and the scores had already turned on their head. With the team that started the match hot, being the team that was down 2 goals to 1.

"This is unbelievable," Joe said as he watched the match unfold in front of him.

In the span of ten minutes Luthervale took the lead over Marion using passing that no midfielder or defender could interrupt, even when a pass went awry there was always a player there to receive it.

"Crud...." Byron said panting as the referee restarted the match. "It's not so much their passing but,"

"Their coordination." Nagisa came close to Byron. "The reason their so coordinated is Cody Stillen, his work rate is just absurd. He doesn't stick to his position, he drops in low and comes up high. That's why we couldn't pick the ball off them, it's because he was always there. He's an exceptional all-round player just like Danny."

"So should the coach have put Danny in the subs then?" Byron wiped the sweat on his forehead.

"It doesn't matter who we sub in, if we don't find a way to take care of Cody we'll lose." Nagisa walked back to his wing as the game restarted.

"Works like a horse, is a jack of all trades and he's as flexible as spandex. Never knew Tristan was hiding such a player." Cory said as he and Annabel prepped the water bottles.

Paul didn't need to look at his bench, he already knew who he needed to sub in for the match but he wasn't going to sub him in unless he asked for it. "You know this is what your skillset entails so what's it gonna be? Are you gonna watch and wait till another goal is added to their tally or are you gonna speak up and show me what the team was missing out on, Xavier."

Xavier sat on the bench amidst the chatter from the subs but he heard nothing, he focused on Cody's play style like it was a test. He was enchanted at first because the Luthervale player was everything he wanted to be and more. "What do you lack," Xavier asked himself as he watched Cody run back and front on the pitch. Covering distance, providing support and picking up loose balls. "This is gonna be a hard one."