My Goalkeeping System-Chapter 554: Mateo Is Here

That equaliser dealt massive damage to the Unique FC players on the pitch as most of them could no longer hide the expression of disbelief and frustration on their faces.

"You know, Jim, when I saw that Unique FC were leading by three goals during the first half, I thought they already had everything settled. That is based on everything they have been able to achieve this season. I knew Norlin FC were going to surprise me but I didn’t expect this level of surprise." Steve articulated.

Jim hummed in response before proceeding to speak.

"You’ve said it all, Steve. If Unique FC don’t step up soon they might just be throwing this one away. If that happens, it will be the first time in years that a second division has made it to the finals." Jim expressed in a clear voice. "No matter how you look at it, it won’t look good on Unique FC if they are to be made the stepping stones for that."

While Unique FC were getting ready to resume the match from the kick-off spot, the Norlin FC fans, who had been taunted earlier, turned around to mock the Unique FC fans who had mocked them earlier.

From an objective point of view, there wasn’t really anything to be proud of here as both teams were still level on goals.

However, their second division team being able to come back from three goals against a team that had statistically been the best team in the first division was reason enough for them to boast.

Just before the kick-off to resume the game, Norman seemed to have suddenly awakened as he quickly made two of the most anticipated changes tonight.

A completely worn-out Martinez was replaced by Minino, who had been bouncing around on the sidelines for a while now, and Henry, who had been out of touch in the game for a while now, was replaced by Mateo Smith.

Minino was the first to go on the pitch, and although he received a strong reaction from the fans who were glad he was finally making an appearance, the reaction he got was nothing compared to Mateo, who got a full-on standing ovation.

The fans were clapping, cheering and screaming.

It was like they had finally seen their saviour. It didn’t matter that Mateo was only joining the match now in the eighty-first minute. In their opinion, as long as Mateo was here everything would be fine.

That was the level of trust they had in the young winger, and it was a trust well earned, given all he had done this season.

Emma, who was currently sitting in the living room watching the match on the big screen, couldn’t help but smile the moment she saw Mateo appear on the screen.

"Look, little one, it’s your uncle." She said as she rubbed her bulging belly. "With your uncle here, everything will be fine."

She didn’t know if the baby understood her, but she did feel a slight movement after saying that, just a slight movement, nothing strong enough to cause her any real pain.

She was rubbing her belly with a loving smile when the camera suddenly panned to Dave who was standing away from the goalpost just near the D box. He was adjusting his gloves with a serious expression on his face.

Emma felt her mouth twitch when she saw this.

’Doesn’t he think it’s too dangerous to stand that far out in the current situation?’ She couldn’t help but think.

Dave had really considered what she was thinking, as he was only planning on standing there until the whistle for the kickoff was blown.

It didn’t take long for that to happen, and the moment it did, Merino quickly sent the ball rolling to Mateo.

"Mateo, getting his first touch on the ball right away."

Lopez charged toward Mateo the moment he got his foot on the ball, but unlike most of his teammates on the pitch who would subconsciously be shaken by the sight of the young midfielder, he wasn’t afraid.

His composure was calm as he dragged Lopez to the left with the ball before quickly shifting to the right.

"Although Mateo is traditionally a forward, no one would deny that he has had a lot of involvement in Unique FC’s midfield this season. With him around, Norlin FC’s midfield dominance is about to take a hit. That said, Lopez isn’t easy to deal with either as he has shown for quite a while now." Jim commented, his voice filled with anticipation.

Mateo didn’t dribble past Lopez or even try to, not because he wasn’t confident that he wouldn’t be able to do so but because he knew that dribbling past Lopez wouldn’t achieve anything at the moment.

He dragged the young midfielder around with the ball, completing half spins without actually going anywhere.

Lopez would be lying if he said he didn’t feel a little dizzy.

He gritted his teeth and was about to go in for a hard tackle when Mateo, as if he had suddenly sensed what he wanted to do, quickly moved away from him with the ball.

He moved deeper into their half of the pitch before he sent the ball flying back to Dave.

"Mateo sends the ball rolling all the way back to Dave."

The goalkeeper neatly trapped the ball under his right foot just as it got to him, and his lips couldn’t help but curl into a smile.

It was really nice to have Mateo on the team, nobody in this team understood him as much as the winger.

Norlin FC at this time had no idea that imminent danger was already lurking near their goalpost.

Just after sending the ball up to Dave, Mateo broke away from Lopez, moving further down from the left flank.

Seeing his move, Dave didn’t need to be informed what to do.

He didn’t even give Sai Ahmed a chance to try to take the ball, as he gave the ball a little push before he sent it flying toward Mateo.

"Dave sends the ball flying back into the pitch. It looks like he’s trying to find Mateo."

Mateo had an opposing player right in front of him just as the ball flew to him, but he didn’t care.

Just as the ball got to him, he quickly turned around, and just before the ball could touch the ground, he connected his heels with it, masterfully putting it through the player’s legs before swiftly getting past him to meet the ball at the other end.

"My goodness that was nasty!" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The fans couldn’t agree more as they were screaming in ecstasy from the stands after witnessing that.

At this point, the Norton FC players were quickly rushing back toward their goalpost but Mateo wasn’t going to give them the chance to stop him.

He found Gregory pushing ahead with a player trying to catch up to him from the left.

The winger wasted no time sending the ball to the younger striker.

The opposing player tried to intercept the ball as it would get to him first. But no matter how high he jumped, he couldn’t reach it allowing the ball to fall to the striker who now had a free path to the goal post.

"Norlin FC has been caught lacking and Gregory is one-on-one with the goalkeeper!" Jim screamed.