Becoming a football god from Arsenal

Chapter 104: Sheffield United wins the championship! Maher's first title!

"Mael! He is facing the defense of Clint Hill! This is a defender who is 1.86 meters tall and has excellent confrontation ability!
"He may have to think of other ways. Using speed and strength to fight with the defender may not give him an advantage!"

On the court, Maher rushed towards Clint Hill with the ball, marking the first confrontation between the two of them.

When he was two meters close to the opponent, he performed a bicycle motion. The opponent was not fooled at all and retreated in an orderly manner, blocking the inside line and leaving the outside line to him.

"Bang!" Maher saw this, cut inside, and dribbled the ball violently to the bottom.

Clint Hill quickly followed, but was still wary of him suddenly cutting inside, as he obviously knew Maher's usual tactics.

"Bang!" But this time it seemed different. After Maher went down the wing, he seized the opportunity and kicked the ball in an arc towards the middle.

Left foot?!
Clint Hill's eyes froze, he turned around and saw that it was a cross of pretty good quality.

Not bad at it?
His heart skipped a beat, knowing that he might be hard to defend in this match, and the best he could do was get stuck on one side.

"Bang!!" In the middle position, Borodanovic collided with the opponent's high school defender Hall. In the end, he had a slight advantage and grabbed the ball first.

Unfortunately, due to the defender's header, the football failed to hit the target and flew diagonally out of the baseline.

"Ah!" A cry of regret was heard from the stands of Sheffield United, but it was followed by applause. The fans adjusted their emotions and threw themselves into cheering.

In the VIP area, the eleven-member cheering group of relatives and friends returned to their seats and clapped their hands.

“He’s in good shape!”

Safina, who was sitting next to Harry, exclaimed: "He created a certain threat with his first touch of the ball."

"Yeah." Harry nodded and was about to speak when his eyes suddenly became nervous.

Queens Park Rangers goalkeeper made a long pass, their striker Herguson headed the ball to the team's core player Taarabt.

The latter took the ball and quickly launched an attack. Facing Gilbert's defense, he changed direction twice in a row and finally dribbled past the opponent.

Immediately afterwards, he broke through Januhans and Bertrand who came out to defend and reached the top of the penalty area.

"Bang!!" A volley shot went straight into the goal.

Goalkeeper Robert immediately dove to the side, got to the ground as fast as he could, and finally managed to drag the ball out of the baseline: "Snap!"

The old shop of Coddle in Sheffield.

"Tarabut! He fought back!! This season he has scored 21 goals, made 24 assists, and has 45+ stats!"

"Oh!" The bar was full of fans of the team. Seeing Tarabut almost score a goal, they held their heads in shock.

"it's okay no problem!"

"Come again!"

"do not worry!"

"Who just grabbed my butt?"

Ke Daoer sat with his family. He seemed to be old and could not stand such a tense atmosphere. He walked out of the bar with a cane to get some fresh air.

Not far away, there was a large fan plaza. He saw that there were at least thousands of fans standing densely there, so he walked towards that direction with a staggering gait.

It’s better to watch the game in an open space. It’s too depressing to watch it in a bar.

“Queens Park Rangers’ attack was very fierce, Sheffield United retreated and they were waiting for the opportunity to counterattack!
"Quinn! He pulled down Tarabut and got a yellow card! Warnock on the sidelines pointed at him, as if instructing the players to intensify the attack on this side!"

The commentary was played on a large speaker and could be heard clearly in the surrounding streets.

Ke Daoer stood behind the crowd, supporting himself with a crutch, looking at the big screen in front of the square.

He also found many fireworks arranged around him, ready to explode at the last moment.

"We must win." He clenched his crutches, hoping that the team would end the game with a goal and a victory. If they insisted on maintaining a draw, they felt that they would not be able to stop the Queens Park Rangers' fierce bombardment.

Even he knows that offense is the best defense!

Outside Loftus Road, Sheffield United fans hanging on the fence were whispering to each other. They had been lying here for a long time, but they didn't seem to feel tired at all.

Without tickets, the nearby bars were packed, and the Fan Square was either full of Queens Park Rangers fans or already packed with Sheffield United's expeditionary force, they had no choice but to take a risk.

"That's good too."

Someone remained optimistic and said with a smile: "Being able to see it in real time is no different from sitting in the stadium."

"Yes."

Someone was chatting with him while paying attention to the field, "This is the real VIP ticket, haha, from 30 meters away, Maher is going to shoot, long shot!"

"Hiss!" After seeing the goalkeeper drag the ball out of the net with one hand, he took a breath and felt something was wrong: "The opponent's goalkeeper is in good shape. He can save this."

There was a commotion around. Some people who were lying near the door couldn't see the situation inside and asked anxiously, "What happened? What happened in there?!"

"I didn't get in." Someone on the guardrail explained to him regretfully, shaking his head.

"Ah!" At this time, a voice of regret came from the fan square in the distance, with some delay.

Someone lying on the fence suddenly felt that he had chosen a good location and snickered, "Too slow, that's why we chose this place!"

"Haha." His words made the people around him laugh. In fact, he was just trying to have fun in misery. If they hadn't been so excited to watch the game in real time and had no money to buy scalped tickets, they would have gone in long ago.

so what!

You are lucky to be able to see it!
On the field, the game was in the 41st minute.

"Dengdengdeng!!"

Maher saw Gilbert get the ball and get rid of the opponent in the midfield, so he quickly pushed off the ground and ran towards the empty space in front.

Clint Hill reacted a little slowly. Fearing that Maher would surpass him, he subconsciously stretched out his right hand to push him down.

Maher rolled to the side, and the moment he fell to the ground, he heard a very dissatisfied complaint from the south stand of the stadium: "Hit!!"

The referee turned around and saw Clint Hill stop playing, then spread his hands out innocently, indicating that he had done nothing.

"Beep!"

He still believed in his instincts, ran forward and pulled out the yellow card.

The home fans were silent, while the visiting team burst into cheers: "Oh! Good job! Good job!!"

After Maher stood up and walked to the football, Sheffield United's header players all entered the center of the penalty area and stuck to the opponent's defensive players.

"Oh!"

He used his right foot to create a beautiful arc, and the football spun and hit the back point.

"Bang!!" Maguire, who was outflanking, grabbed the ball. The ball rushed towards the goal but was blocked by the opponent's defender Hall. He blocked the ball with the junction of his waist and arm.

Everything happened so quickly that no one saw whether it hit the waist or the hand.

"Hi!" Sheffield United players quickly raised their hands and looked towards the referee, hoping to get a penalty.

"Ouch!" This caused dissatisfaction and panic among the home team fans. They began to put pressure on the referee by booing and scolded the Sheffield United players.

"Fake news!!"

"Show some face!"

"Ignore them, kick them!"

After Hall blocked the football, he kicked the ball towards the front court. The ball was headed down by Hergusson again. Now it was Queens Park Rangers' turn to counterattack!

The referee did not blow the whistle, but ran in the direction of the football.

The Sheffield United players had no choice but to chase back desperately, hoping that their defense would not be easily penetrated by their opponents.

Everyone's emotions are at a critical point, and any small change on the field at this time may ignite their emotions!

"Beep--!"

Not long after, the referee blew the whistle to end the game and players from both sides returned to the locker room to rest.

Neither team scored a goal, the score is currently zero to zero!

Everything seems calm, but in fact there are undercurrents. Any player may lose the championship trophy if he is not careful.

In the VIP area, Wenger adjusted his sitting position and touched his hair at the temples.

“It’s really nerve-wracking.”

Mendes, who was on his right, turned around and asked with a smile: "Mr. Wenger, what do you think of the first half? Who played better?"

“The home team is better.”

Wenger coughed twice and said truthfully: "Whether in attack or defense, they almost did the best level at this level, creating many opportunities, as if there were no loopholes.

"As for Sheffield United, Maher and Januhans, I think that's their name, they are the only bright spots, the rest of the team can only wait for them to attack.

"However, on the field, nothing can be said. It is common to score more goals with fewer opportunities."

Mendes nodded slightly. This was the first time he sat down with Wenger to watch a game, and it felt quite novel.

He noticed Hans next to Wenger, whose legs were twitching and closing from time to time, then slowly opening, and he looked extremely excited.

"Why don't you speak?"

He greeted Hans before the game started and knew that he was the coach of Maher's youth team. He was grateful to Maher for his help and asked with a smile: "You haven't said a word for such a long time since the start of the game. It's like your soul has been sucked away."

Hans' lips trembled slightly, and his voice shook: "Worried. Nervous."

Mendes leaned back and smiled, counted the number of people sitting here, ordered ten beers, gave one to everyone except Ava, stood up and raised his glass, saying, "Don't be nervous, let's cheer for them!"

"come on!"

"Come on, Mahel!"

Everyone raised their beer glasses, some took a big sip, some took a slight sip, all just to show their appreciation.

However, it is obviously impossible to use this method to alleviate everyone's worries.

“I’m sweating.”

Clement held his wife Betty's hand. This was a rare romantic moment for this middle-aged couple, but the reason was because of their nervousness.

"Me too."

Betty put her other hand on her chest, trying to calm herself down, but it was no use.

Norwich City's home ground, Carrow Road.

A tense game is going on, Norwich, ranked third in the league, against Cardiff City, ranked fifth!
The game has entered the injury time of the first half and neither side has scored a goal.

The team's coach Neil stood on the sidelines, constantly looking at his watch and pacing back and forth.

He knew that they had to win this game, otherwise they would have to enter the complicated play-offs.

But even if they win, they still have to look at Sheffield United's attitude and hope they can beat Queen's Park.

This feeling is not pleasant, as if you are insisting on something illusory and hopeless, but you have no choice but to do it.

"Bang!!"

In the first minute of injury time, the team's midfielder Hoolahan broke into the penalty area when the chance was not good, and stabbed the ball before falling to the ground.

The football passed through the goalkeeper's crotch and slipped into the net!

The ball went in! !

One to zero!!
"Yeah!!" Norwich players raised their hands and cheered, they saw hope of reaching 100 points in this round!

"Ah!" Neil jumped up, punched the sky, and roared through gritted teeth: "Beautiful! Beautiful!!"

He quickly walked back to the bench and asked the assistant coach to take out his cell phone to check the game situation over there.

"Zero to zero. Both sides fired 11 shots in the first half, but no goal." The assistant coach glanced at his phone and his face changed.

The joy on Neil's face faded a little. It seemed that there was a possibility of tacit cooperation. He angrily shouted, "These actors!"

"It's okay." The assistant coach stood up, walked over to him and patted him on the back to comfort him: "There's still a half game left, the chance is not small. If it doesn't work out, go play in the play-offs. This game is just for getting back in shape."

Neil refocused his attention on the field, walked back to the command area and said to the assistant coach, "Call me anytime if you have any news!"

At Loftus Road Stadium, after a 15-minute break, the second half of the game resumed.

After Sheffield United sent the ball from the center circle, Januhans kicked a long pass towards Bolodanovic's head, but unfortunately the latter failed to compete for the header and the ball was taken away by Queens Park Rangers.

"Folin! Folin!"

On the sidelines, Warnock was excited and gesticulated as he directed the players on the field: "Go ahead, it was there just now, why not go ahead?!"

Follin waved towards the sidelines, indicating that the ball was his mistake.

Warnock put his hands behind his back, turned around and looked at the fans on the sidelines, and saw the eager expectations in their eyes.

Can't lose!
Must win!
One step forward is heaven, one step back is hell!
Warnock turned his head and glanced at Gary Speed ​​next to him, and saw that the other party had been sitting in front of the coaching seat and seemed not to want to stand on the sidelines.

"Herguson!"

Focusing on the court again, he immediately pulled his hand out from behind and pointed at a spot: "Stop the ball, why do you have to kick it out? The defender is still three or four meters away from you!"

He waved his hands in disappointment, turned around and walked towards the coach's seat. After sitting down for a while to drink some water, he still felt a little restless, so he stood up and returned to the command area.

Time passed by minute by minute, and the rhythm of the confrontation on the field did not slow down at all, but was even getting stronger.

With every passing minute, Warnock became more nervous. He didn't even want to accept a win-win situation of a draw. He just wanted the championship.

"suffer!!"

He sometimes stood up to express his dissatisfaction to the referee and the fourth official, and looked around for his supporters to put pressure on the team together.

"Good! Beautiful!" He would clap his hands from time to time and encourage his players with his most enthusiastic voice, "Just play like this, no problem at all!"

"Fuck!" He would spread his hands and leave, and during the break he would return to the bench, pick up his thermos and take a big gulp of water to moisten his hoarse throat.

Between the 70th and 75th minutes of the game, Warnock and Gary Speed ​​made substitutions respectively, using two substitutions each.

He replaced two midfielders with a forward and a midfielder, one to strengthen the attack and the other to adjust the position.

Gary Speed ​​made two positional adjustments, replacing Bertrand and Gilbert, both of whom were already unable to run.

When the game passed the 85th minute, Warnock finally saw that Gary Speed ​​could no longer sit still. He came to the side of the field and stood still, never returning to the coaching seat.

The end of the game is very close.

The tense game made everyone feel very depressed. The cheers in the stadium became much quieter. Most people could not make any sound and just wanted to focus all their attention on the game.

6 minutes later, Carrow Road.

"Beep! Beep! Beep--!"

The game ended with only one minute of injury time, and Norwich defeated Cardiff City at home with a score of 1-.

Points exceeded 100!

Just arrived a little late.

"how's it going?"

Neil on the sidelines breathed a sigh of relief and had no intention of celebrating anymore. He came to the coach's seat and surrounded the assistant coach who was watching the opponent's live game.

"Three minutes of added time."

The assistant coach felt a chill in his heart as he watched the game time enter the last 2 minutes, knowing that there was little hope. They had to prepare for the play-offs quickly.

"Wait a little longer." Neil was unwilling to give up at this point. He stood aside, staring at the screen with his fists clenched.

The Norwich players who had just left the field also rushed to the locker room, took out their mobile phones and returned to the field, where they gathered in groups of three or five, nervously waiting for the game to end.

None of the Norwich fans left the stadium. Each of them was holding a mobile phone and watching the game.

This was more like the second scene of Sheffield United, with everyone praying to God devoutly, hoping that Sheffield United could win.

"grandfather!"

At the player tunnel, a middle-aged man and woman walked out with a little girl. The man in front said, "She was too noisy and insisted on looking for you. We asked her to wait and she started crying."

Neil's face changed, and he came to the little girl and held her in his arms. Although the pressure increased dramatically, he forced a smile: "Why did you come down? Didn't I tell you to wait upstairs?"

"Grandpa told me that today is the celebration."

The little girl had red eyes and looked like she had just cried. She lay in Neil's arms.

Neil felt his heart melt instantly. He tiptoed around with the girl and sighed, "Then wait with grandpa."

"it is good."

The girl raised her head and looked at the densely packed crowd of people waiting around her, feeling very curious.

"Free kick!"

The assistant coach suddenly rushed over and held the phone in front of Neil. "Mael's breakthrough created a free kick. This is an opportunity!"

"Buzz." There was an uproar in the venue. Due to different mobile phone signals and different delays in watching the game, they gradually saw the news that Sheffield United had won a free kick.

Everyone knows what this means, this may be their last chance!
Neil's chest rose and fell, he swallowed and closed his eyes, and said, "God bless Maher."

At Loftus Road, at the edge of the penalty area, the referee was surrounded by Queens Park Rangers players.

"Back off! Back off!"

He showed two yellow cards to stop the players from changing the decision, and left cursing.

"stop fighting!"

Warnock stood at the side of the field, shouting to the players anxiously: "It's extra time, don't waste time, let him take the penalty!"

His assistant coaches also rushed out, all excitedly shouting: "Are you crazy?!"

"What are you thinking? Form a human wall!"

"Do you want the referee to blow the whistle to end the game once the ball is kicked out?"

"Xu~Xu.!!" Whistles and various sounds rang out from the stands, and the scene suddenly became chaotic.

Several tall players stood helplessly on the line drawn by the referee, covering their crotch with one hand and their face with the other, which is a common protective action.

In front of the penalty spot, Maher and Januhans stood there, both staring at the goal with eagerness on their faces.

"No fake running."

Maher gave up his previous free kick routine, covered his mouth and said firmly: "I'll do it directly this time."

"it is good."

Januhans agreed and did not leave. He stood there and threw smoke bombs to try to confuse the Queens Park Rangers players.

"Beep!"

When the referee blew the whistle, the scene became quiet in an instant.

People walked out of the chaos, staring at the figure in front of the penalty spot with bated breath, and were extremely nervous.

It was not until then that people clearly realized that this was a goal that could determine the direction of the game!
At Maher's feet hangs the hope of Sheffield United winning the Championship title, and also hangs the knife that will kill Queens Park Rangers' hopes.

"call"

He stood in front of the ball and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his eyes, as if he was blind.

After turning his head and blinking a few times, he saw that there were two laser lights emitted from the fan area, shining on his face.

There were extreme fans disturbing his vision.

Maher took a final look at the position of the football and the goal, took a step and started to run. As long as he started running, the opponent would not be able to see him.

When he came to the ball, he stretched out his left arm and swung his right leg, just like he had practiced for countless days and nights. The moment he jumped out, his ankle suddenly shook and he scooped the ball out.

"Bang!!"

In the silence of the stadium, the sound of the shot seemed very loud, and the football turned towards the goal with a violent spin.

Five Queens Park players who formed a human wall jumped high, stretched their necks and tried their best to stop the ball, but they missed it by a hair's breadth!

"Oh!" A faint cheer came from the south stand. Some people couldn't hold back and raised their arms in advance.

Maher and his family stood up. Some of them covered their faces and dared not to look, some lowered their heads with their hands in their hands and looked with their peripheral vision, and some, like other fans, raised their hands openly.

"elder brother!"

Ava in Isabella's arms opened her mouth, looking forward to the goal.

"Mael" Mendes spoke in a low voice, praying constantly in his heart, and he was also waiting for the moment to explode.

In the coaching booth on the sidelines, Gary Speed ​​and assistant coaches including Jolson huddled together, holding their breath and waiting.

Next to them, there were Gilbert and other players who had been substituted early, ready to charge towards their goal scorer at any time.

Just like that, under countless gazes, the football kicked out by Maher passed through the human wall and fell into the near corner of the goal.

The goalkeeper flew out, using all his strength, hoping to keep a glimmer of hope for the team, but his right hand still couldn't touch the ball, and the ball hit the net he was guarding in an instant: "Swish!!"

The ball went in! !

One to zero!

In the second minute of injury time, Maher scored a golden goal to end the game!!

"Yeah!" All the Sheffield people in the venue reached an emotional climax in an instant, as if they had been wandering outside the gate of heaven, and now they finally took a step inside and closed the door to go out!

"Mael!!"

All the emotions and love finally turned into a scream because they were too lazy to organize their words: "Mael!! Ahhhh!!"

In the coaching seats beside the court, Gary Speed, Jolson and others quickly took their hands off others, and they quickly dispersed and went to different places to celebrate.

"champion!!"

Gary Speed ​​ran quickly towards the expedition fan area. He ignored the obstruction of the fourth official and others and ran all the way as if he was back on the court.

When he arrived at the fan area, he raised his hands high and shouted: "We did it, the championship belongs to Sheffield United!!"

"Oh! Haha!" Jolson spread his hands towards the Queen Park coaching bench and laughed arrogantly. He had just had a conflict with an assistant coach on the opposing team.

The other teaching assistants either shouted to the sky, hugged each other, or jumped high as if they were going to ascend to heaven.

They were still relatively restrained, because the substitutes and the players who had just left the field rushed directly along the sidelines into the field and ran towards Maher.

“You are God!”

"Damn! That's a great fight!"

"I just had a hunch, I knew this ball would go in!"

"Mael!"

The most emotional player was Gilbert, who had never thought that he could win the professional league championship at the age of 17, and under the watchful eyes of Mr. Wenger. He was so happy that he cried: "Mael! We did it!"

Focusing on the situation, Maher's brain was congested, his ears were vibrating and he had some tinnitus, but the fire in his body still pushed him to the edge of the court.

He could hear faint shouts, someone calling him, but he was too busy to respond.

When he reached the edge of the court, he had forgotten all the celebration moves and just threw himself out, sliding out with his chest touching the ground.

Lore!

Secure the victory, secure the championship!
He used a perfect crescent-shaped free kick to perfectly summarize his career in the Championship!

40 goals!
This is his goal record for the Championship League, which is 10 goals higher than before!
"We are the champions!" Someone rushed over, imitated his movements, slid and crawled out, and finally squeezed together with Maher.

"Ahahaha!" Their laughter at this moment was not just unbridled, it was even a little wanton.

(End of this chapter)