My Goalkeeping System

The clock was showing 6:40 PM on the large screens all over the stadium as the players from both teams were still training on the pitch with the stands slowly getting filled up with fans.

"Hope you're not still worrying about what you told me earlier today?" Mateo asked as he nodded the ball way up and Luis jumped up and caught it with both of his hands before it could fly past him.

"No, I don't think there's anything to be worried about," Dave said before throwing the ball to him from the top.

"Yeah."

The winger got his head ready for the ball and as soon as it got in range, he sent it back to the goalkeeper, and this time he had to dive to the right before he could catch it with both of his hands.

"Nice catch."

Dave didn't say anything as he slowly got up from the floor before throwing the ball back to him.

The Pre-Match warm-up continued until 6:55 PM when the players were given the signal to head back to the dressing room and get ready for the match.

The players quickly made their way down the tunnel to go get ready for the match.

In Unique FC's dressing room, they were currently putting on their black jersey with orange polka dots while Dave was putting on a plain lemon-colored jersey.

Adolf had talked to his teammates like he always did to try and give them a sense of motivation and bring out the spirit of determination in them. It wasn't as intense as the one before the match against Lave City but it was still good.

After giving his speech, Norman had something to say to them before they started heading toward the tunnel.

"Alright boys, we all know that this is a very important match for all of us and we have to win it to make sure that Lesica United doesn't give us a three points gap again." He said. "The best we can do for ourselves is to secure a win and hope that they draw or lose against Terrevile United, but if we win and they win them that means we'll have to play our last fixture which will be against them like a final.

"The only way that we can be sure of having a last fighting chance is by winning this match and I know we haven't been able to beat them in seven matches but this time is different, I believe we have a better team and I believe you guys can deliver a good result just like you have been doing recently."

Those were some nice words to give the players a little morale boost before they made their way to the pitch.

The players lined up in the tunnel alongside Frono FC players who were putting on a jersey diagonally divided through the middle as a mix of red and black, their shorts also had the same design.

It didn't take long before the players matched into the pitch each of them accompanied by a child mascot.

"Welcome to our viewers from all around the world, my name is Jim Waterson, and joining me to provide expert analysis and opinion as always is Mr. Steve Jefferson," Jim said as the players lined up in front of the pitch.

"Thank you, Jim, it's an honor to be here once again to deliver my opinions alongside you," Steve said.

"This is a decisive match for Unique FC who are currently leveled on points with Lesica United who lost two goals to one against Lesica United, they need to win this match to create an advantage for themselves in their race for the UEFA conference league spot," Jim said.

"Unique FC have failed to beat Frono FC in their last seven encounters losing five of them and drawing just two," Steve said.

"Maybe this could be the night that they break Frono FC's unbeaten record on them given the fact that they are in better form at the moment," Jim said.

"Yeah, but Frono FC have surprised us a lot of times. I won't be surprised if they manage to pull something up," Steve said.

The players were standing all over the pitch now as both captains walked to the referee.

"Unique FC are switching to the four four two formations with Norman, Aima, Adolf, and Roland," Jim said.

"Seems like Roland Ryle is slowly beginning to become Norman's first choice," Steve said.

"The youngster has been phenomenal in the few matches he has played for the club this season and he always turns up any time he starts, I don't think it's surprising to see Norman starting him ahead of Jonas," Jim said.

"Yeah."

"We have four midfielders occupying the midfield position now, Minino, Ferran, Edward, and Harry," Jim said. "I expected to see either Mateo Smith or Christian Merino in that front two but it turns out Norman is going for both of his strikers, Fred and Fredinho."

"This formation worked for them against Ronino FC, let's see if we'll see the same against Frono FC," Steve said.

"As always, Frono FC are playing the four three one two formation."

"That's four four two B," Steve said.

With the match about to kick off, Unique FC moved to the right side of the pitch while Frono FC moved to the left side, the hosts were going to be the ones to start the match."

'Can I use my shot-stopper attribute in this match?' Dave asked subconsciously as he walked toward his goalpost.

<No>

'And you won't tell me why, just like you refused to say anything during the last match.'

<This match isn't worth the trouble>

'Trouble?' Dave replied. 'Does using it have a drawback like the double stamina skill.'

<You could put it that way but not exactly>

'If I can't use the attribute in every match then what's the point of it being an attribute to me?'

<Your attributes require strategy, you need to have a strategy when using them and you need to be smart when using them or else they will backfire, if you activate that attribute in this match, this would not be an enjoyable first half for you> Catherine said. <You'll do well with just your physical abilities and skills in this match>

'If I can't use it in this match then in which match can I use it?'

<I'll tell you but you can go ahead and use it if you want to, I'm not stopping you>

Darwin Shaw was standing over the ball waiting for the referee's whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly rolled the ball to the midfielder close to him.

"We are on the way."

Frono FC were keeping the ball in their own half in the meantime while looking for a way to break through Unique FC.

"Tom Richards, Unique FC's president was involved in a car accident but fortunately for him, he was rushed to the central Hospital on time and is currently recovering as per multiple sources," Jim said.

"I'm glad he's okay, who knows how the team would have been affected if something worse had happened to him, especially Dave Richards," Steve said.

"Oh, that's a sloppy pass from Ahmed," Jim said.

Frono FC had managed to make their way into Unique FC's half and Ahmed had tried to play a pass to Darwin but the pressure put on him by Ferran had made his pass sloppy and easy for Roland to intercept.

Roland didn't waste time in sending the ball to Edward who pushed forward with it a little before sending it back to Roland who was speeding down the left wing and there was no one close enough to stop him.

"Unique FC are trying to build up something here," Jim said.

Roland cut into the middle to avoid a player that was moving toward him at full speed and had almost stopped his movement with a tackle.

"That's nice from Roland."

The left-back found Fredinho in the box and sent the ball to him with a neat pass.

"Fredinho."

Fredinho received the ball inside the box at the left area of the goalpost and did a quick leg over to try and deceive the defender marking him before pushing the ball a little to the left with his left foot before he sent it flying toward the goalpost with his left foot.

"Fredinho!" Jim exclaimed.

The goalkeeper tried to hit the ball out but the shot was quite a tricky one as it hit the crossbar and bounced on his arm before falling into the back of the net.

"Fredinho! Goalllllll!!!!" Jim exclaimed as the striker raced to the sidelines and did a sliding celebration with his teammates running after him. "Just five minutes into the game and they've gotten the first goal of the night."

The fans burst into screams of joy as the number one appeared beside Unique FC's crest on the scoreboard.

****

Hope you enjoyed the chapter?

If we can hit 1000+ privilege unlocks before the end of this month, I'll do five chapters mass release on any day between the 20-25th of January.