Becoming a football god from Arsenal

Chapter 185: Final ranking of the Golden Ball! Remaining undefeated! Celebrating with the six sign with both hands!

"The results are out! Congratulations to him! The Puskas Award, the best goal of the year, belongs to Maher!"

In the CCTV 5 broadcasting studio, host He Wei's voice contained a bit of poetry, "One and a half years ago, in the capital of Wales, in the port city on the border of England, at the Cardiff City Stadium!

"The young boy at that time wore the No. 31 jersey of Sheffield United and made his professional debut!

"He assisted and scored twice in that game. It seems that he has been known as a genius since he came out of nowhere!
“But I think no one, including himself, could have expected that he would move up so steadily and so quickly!”

"Under the spotlight in the Zurich stadium, Messi, the Barcelona star who had just won five championships, was applauding him, and Xavi was also celebrating for him!
"These are some of the best players in the world of football. Together with me and you in front of the TV, they witnessed Maher's brilliance at the age of 18 and accompanied him to a small climax in his career!

"What is Messi thinking? What is Xavi thinking? We don't know, but we know how excited we are at this moment. This is our hidden happiness!
"Let's think about it, right now, in London, in Paris, in the pubs along the Thames, there must be Arsenal fans cheering for him, there must be his fans, screaming for him!

"He will be the future leader of the French team! The representative figure of Arsenal! The beacon of the younger generation and the hope of world football!

"People who like him will regard him as the holy grail, because he rarely disappoints people and he always brings joy to people!"

"We saw the complexity and greed in Ferguson's eyes, and we saw Guardiola's amazement at this goal, the award-winning goal, which was being played on the big screen at the scene!

"We are lucky to have him, just like Manchester United and Real Madrid had Ronaldo, and Barcelona has Messi and Xavi!

"He may bring Arsenal back to the top and give Wenger hope of winning the championship again at the end of his career!

"He can only become a legend! Developing step by step and winning honors step by step is never what geniuses aspire to. They always want to do something special and get everything at an earlier time!
"Finally, congratulations to Leon Maher! After this ceremony, he will take a crucial step towards superstardom!
"From any angle, he is the perfect match. He has the football skills that amaze all football fans, the looks that make girls crazy, and the legs and figure that make boys extremely envious!"

"The phenomenon of 41 out of 40 advertising covers featuring the same player may return to world football one day!

"Let me end with the players! If he could look back now, he might be able to see himself practicing in the muddy grass, remembering the confusion and pain at that time, and the sourness of sweat falling into his mouth!

"But when he turned around and looked forward, everything was already in full bloom, and the red carpet of success was crisscrossed all the way to his doorstep!"

After finishing this long commentary, He Wei picked up the water cup and took two sips of Pu'er tea. He smiled and felt his throat getting dry.

But he has no regrets. Look at the spirited young man in the camera, look at his flawless face and the vigor in his temperament, he deserves all the praise.

Maybe many people don’t have the same opportunity as Maher, but just sitting or lying somewhere and watching him can make them feel the beauty.

"Clap clap clap!"

At the Colney training base, in the first-team meeting room, everyone present witnessed the first moment Maher won the Puskas Award.

"Ness!"

"He did it!"

"It's his!"

In terms of value, the Puskas Award is far less valuable than the Ballon d'Or, but it depends on who wins it.

If it is a player from a third or fourth rate league in Asia or America, who is not particularly outstanding himself, and just wins this award by occasionally scoring a magical goal, it may not cause much of a stir.

At most, it will bring some attention to him and make his name permanently engraved in the history of world football.

But it would be different if he was taken by someone who was already in exceptional form at Arsenal and ranked first in the Premier League scorer list with 23 Premier League goals this season.

Maher's current statistical performance is already that of a super star. The player is in urgent need of some valuable awards and championships to stabilize his superstar status and urgently needs these honors to settle!

By winning this award, he will enter a new stage, both in terms of personal influence, commercial value and the experience he brings to the fans.

All different!

"I want a Puskas Award, too." As a professional in scoring goals, Van Persie looked at Maher holding the trophy with envy in his eyes, "I hope to get my wish once in my career."

"Who wouldn't want it?" Alexander Song stared blankly at Maher who was giving his acceptance speech. Looking at his glamorous appearance, he couldn't help but spasm all over.

People always envy things that seem very close to them but are out of reach.

For Alexander Song, his playing style almost doomed him to not win this award. He can't make a super long shot like Ronaldo, nor can he make a one-stop shot like Maher.

"Hahaha!"

In the front row, Hans seemed to be talking about something happy with Wenger, or he seemed to be in a very good mood at the moment, and he kept laughing.

Wenger's smile was restrained, but he also felt proud. "I heard that you have a pair of his sneakers in your collection?"

"Yeah." Hans nodded, his face lit up. "There's a very meaningful sentence on it. It's very worth collecting."

"of course."

Wenger had heard about this before, but mentioned it to Hans today, "If it was just a pair of sneakers before, now it is a pair of collectible sneakers that can be auctioned.

"Everything associated with Maher will increase in value along with him.

"Fortunately, as his partners at different times in his growth, we all got something related to him and can enjoy the blessing of his increased value.

"For you, it's this pair of shoes; for Sheffield United, it's the championship and the Premier League; for Arsenal and me, it's value, competitiveness and the hope of winning the championship."

He is very talkative today, as people always are when they are in a good mood. At this time, there will be no introverted or reserved people.

"You are right, Mr. Wenger." Hans nodded. In his heart, Wenger has always been a very cultured person. He admires this coach with a gentlemanly temperament.

Wenger looked at the big screen, hesitated for a while and then said: "Once the U19 year is over and we enter the U20, the influence of the coach on a team will not be great. It's time for you to leave this team.

"This team produced Maher, Gilbert who is now playing in the Premier League, and Ian who is in the Championship. This is a very successful class and you can retire now."

"Ah?" Hans was a little stunned, not understanding what this meant.

Should I leave this team and coach younger players or leave Arsenal?
He didn't do anything wrong, did he?
He doesn't want to retire now.

"Your current coaching license is UEFA A level, right?" Wenger saw his panic and quickly explained: "I have been in this position for quite some time, it's time to take the next step.

"I will recommend you to go to the English Football Association to study the UEFA pro course. After completing it, you can join the Arsenal first team coaching staff and become my assistant."

Hans' heart was shocked, and ecstasy suddenly appeared on his face. 'Pro' is the highest level of coaching. This certificate is qualified to coach a Premier League team.

Could it be that after Mahel and Gilbert became famous, he would have a second turning point in his life?
If he can get the pro certificate and join Arsenal's first team, he will have a higher salary, more attention and social status.

There is still much more to learn and to share all the honors with this great team!
In the future, if his outstanding disciples Maher and Gilbert help this team win the championship, this championship trophy will also be added to his resume!

Not only that, if he had greater ambitions, after achieving success at Arsenal, he could have chosen a Championship team or even a mid- or lower-level Premier League team to start his head coaching career.

He is finally reaching the peak of his coaching career and is approaching the end!
"Okay!" Hans' voice trembled slightly when he answered. Although he didn't fully understand why Wenger made this decision, he thought it must be related to Maher.

Are they afraid that Mahel will be lonely in the first team and want me to be a sparring partner?

Then take it!

He knew very well that as long as he got close to his former disciple, his life would definitely turn around.

At the Zurich Congress Center, the award ceremony continued backwards.

"It's 72 degrees zero chance of rain!"

In order to cool down the heavy and tense award ceremony, James Blunt, a famous British pop singer nicknamed Captain Poet, took the stage with a guitar and performed for this award ceremony.

There was a brief moment of joy at the scene, with everyone clapping their hands and dancing to the music.

"Ha ha.!"

Maher and Neymar danced together on the seats, causing Roberto Baggio next to them to laugh from time to time.

One of them was in a very good mood, and the other had the samba dance gene in his blood.

After the cheerful segment ended, this year's award ceremony finally reached its final moment, with another round of highlights of the Golden Globe Award candidates played on the big screen.

The first award was the Golden Ball Award for female football players, also known as the World Footballer of the Year!
Shakira and Blatter, as award presenters, exchanged greetings with the host and then picked up the cards in their hands, "Eki Sawa!"

"Clap clap clap!"

Japanese female football player Eki Sawa, wearing a kimono, stood up amid applause, walked to the stage to receive the Golden Ball Award, and began to give her acceptance speech.

She and her national team coach won all the awards for women's football at this awards ceremony.

The current women's football league is still immature. In the competition year, the World Cup champion team generally takes over all major events.

After that, as the host invited Ronaldo, the most exciting moment came. The men's football Golden Ball Award was about to be presented!

"Papa.!"

Maher clapped his hands with everyone else, but he wasn't too excited. It was mainly because he knew the result of the award in advance.

Others may also be looking forward to whether this award will be given to Xavi, giving this player who continues to maintain a core position in the Spanish national team and Barcelona and has won numerous honors a big award that summarizes his career.

But in fact, that is not the case. In the end, Xavi never won a Golden Globe Award.

Since 08, world football has entered into a battle between two superstars. After Messi won three titles in a row this year, he will get the fourth next year.

In the next five years, Ronaldo will win four Golden Balls, and the two will dominate this award for 5 consecutive years!
But with his joining, this situation may change soon. He will definitely complete the goals that Neymar, Hazard and others have not completed.

"Lionel Messi!"

Seeing Javier’s somewhat lost expression, Messi smiled. He won the Golden Ball for three consecutive years with the achievement of scoring over 80 goals a year and winning five championships!

As a club teammate, the disappointment on Xavi's face did not last long, and it turned into a smile. He stood up and saw Messi off.

"Pa, pa, pa!" Amidst even more intense applause, Messi walked up to the stage triumphantly and first went to the microphone to give his acceptance speech.

He was wearing a dark purple and dark red suit today, which showed his elegance and grace. The Argentine striker has been in great form recently, and many people said that he has the potential to score three-digit goals this year.

"I want to thank my team, my teammates, my coaches, and my family for always being there for me."

There was always a smile on his lips. He was only 24 years old at that time. There was no other controversy about him. He was just shining like a star. He was the best player last year.

"."

After a speech of thanks, he came to a Football Association official and received his 11th Ballon d'Or trophy, which is the most valuable individual honor award!
Maher could clearly see the shape of the trophy from below, as well as the golden light it reflected under the light. He seemed to be able to feel the weight and feel of the Golden Globe.

His eyes were salivating and he secretly swallowed his saliva. This was a trophy that was somewhat similar to his Golden Boy Trophy, but the overall color was brighter and it was made of gold-plated material and was made by the best craftsmen.

He has also been selected into the candidate list for his outstanding performance this year, and the ranking will be released later.

But when will his first Ballon d'Or come?
"Huff. Huff." His breathing became a little faster. He came here not only with the expectation of winning the Puskas Award, but also with the expectation of seeing the Golden Globe Award with his own eyes.

Now that he has seen it, he has a clearer idea of ​​what his goal is.

To be honest, in the next 10-15 years, competing with Ronaldo and Messi for the Ballon d'Or will be absolutely hellish.

This is different from the battle of the gods between 92 and 08. These two superstars not only maintain a super high state year after year, but also continuously accumulate foundation for themselves through continuous and efficient performance.

This kind of foundation will become a moat they build for themselves, and at certain times become a blessing for awards, making it more difficult for challengers.

Some people say that it was more difficult to win awards in the era when the gods were fighting, while others say that it was more difficult to win awards in the era of Messi and Ronaldo.

Maher thinks they are similar, each with its own difficulty. He has to consider the problem from the perspective of the era he is in.

"I don't want to think about it that much."

He cleared his mind of distracting thoughts and stared at the podium. Seeing Messi receiving the Golden Ball Award at the place where he had just stood, he felt a desire to take his place.

He must put in a better performance, win more championships, and strive for the highest honor!
At this moment, he suddenly noticed that many people were looking at him, and many people turned to look at him.

He subconsciously glanced at the broadcast screen and saw that the camera was always on him. Maybe it just noticed his eyes and kept taking pictures.

This time he didn't feel embarrassed. There was no need to hide his desires. Since others already knew about it, he would just raise his chin and admit it.

"Ha ha.!"

Many people laughed, some found it interesting, some were looking forward to it, and some thought it was still too early.

But they will not change Maher, he has made up his mind to step up his efforts to challenge the highest honor!
"Ding ding ding!" After Messi stepped down from the stage holding the Golden Ball, a burst of cheerful singing rang out, and the voting results and final ranking of the Golden Ball were announced and displayed on the big screen.

Each candidate can see his or her name and ranking.

Maher was instantly excited. He looked down, searching for his name.

First: Messi - Second: Ronaldo - Third: Xavi - Fourth: Iniesta

Fifth: Rooney - Sixth: Suarez - Seventh: Diego Forlan - Eighth: Eto'o
Ninth: Casillas - Tenth: Maher - Eleventh: Neymar - Twelfth: Alonso

tenth!

Maher's brain suddenly felt a little congested. Even though tenth place was still a long way from the top three, being in the top ten of the 18-year-old Ballon d'Or in the Melo era was also a great honor.

This means that with his performance in the second half of the season at Sheffield United and the first half of the 11-12 season at Arsenal, he has entered the ranks of the world's best!
Even his ranking with Neymar among the superstars still seems a bit empty and lacks foundation.

But they have plenty of time to consolidate this ranking and move up.

Moreover, their rankings are false only because of the lack of honors and long-term and efficient data performance, not because their abilities and current status are questioned!
As long as he wins honors at Arsenal this year and performs well and ranks well in the European Cup.

He will definitely be able to continue to move up, overthrowing Casillas, Eto'o, Diego Forlan, Suarez, Rooney, Iniesta and others, and get into the top three!

Don't forget that he is currently the top scorer in the Premier League. Rooney and Suarez are only ranked above him because of their long-term accumulation and their performance in their respective national teams.

He will soon have these!
He will definitely follow Deschamps to participate in this year's European Cup and make up for this gap!

"Congratulations." Neymar came over to hug him with a smile on his face. After that, the two exchanged contact information and couldn't help dancing on their seats again.

Roberto Baggio next to him kept wanting to come up and express his congratulations, but he couldn't find a good opportunity and could only stand aside and watch.

"Come on, young man."

By the time he finally hugged Maher, there were already quite a few people standing around Maher and Neymar, including Mendes, Florentino, Guardiola and others.

"I will take you as an example and make an effort to win the Golden Globe Award." Maher exchanged a few polite words with him, then turned around and looked at his agent.

"child."

Mendes smiled brightly and spread his arms: "At the age of 18, is there anything you can't do in the top ten in the world?
"Didn't I say before that we would start accepting endorsements from £160 million? Now I've changed my mind, we're going to start from £180 million!

“Of course, it’s impossible for every endorsement and advertisement to exceed this price, but try to keep it around this price.

"Congratulations! You are really not far from the best. Let's take some time to visit Puma headquarters in January."

"Okay." Maher nodded to Mendes and then hugged him. "At this level, I still have to rely on Mr. Mendes' resources to help me."

"You're welcome."

Mendes separated from Maher and said with a smile: "Football Record is developing very well and it will also be your right-hand man.

"By the way, the show will most likely go ahead and be filmed directly. Wenger has talked to me about it and he will give us all kinds of image rights."

"Haha." Maher laughed twice. This was really a series of good things happening.

Next, Mendes introduced him to Florentino, the legendary president of Real Madrid, while Guardiola was talking to Neymar.

"I have long admired my name."

Karl Lagerfeld walked forward with a smile on his face, but he gave people a sense of oppression, which was the temperament that came from holding power for a long time. With the help of the overhead light on the scene, he even looked a bit like the Godfather played by Marlon Brando.

Maher had an illusion for a moment, thinking that he would come up and say, "You don't even want to call me Godfather."

Of course, reality is sometimes not so magical, Florentino's opening remarks were still normal, "Congratulations on winning Puskas and the top ten of the Ballon d'Or, don't worry that I will talk about the club here.

"Just wanted to get acquainted with you. This is my business card. I hope we can have each other's contact information."

Maher took the business card, thought about it for a moment, nodded, and exchanged contact information with him.

He certainly has no intention of going to Real Madrid, but it would be nice to get to know such a legendary president. It is not the right thing to do to reject him.

After that, Florentino didn't say much and quickly turned and left.

Maher and Mendes went out and, after doing some customary interviews in the press area, they came to the outside and joined the four members of the team.

The moment he walked out of the venue and felt the air and noise outside, Mael suddenly felt dazed, as if he was in another world and had just walked through a dream.

But how could that be a dream? That was his experience today, he had already entered the center of world football!
"Yes!"

Outside the venue, Safina maintained her enthusiasm. Not only did she raise her hands high to congratulate Mahel, she even raised one leg backwards and really danced with joy, "Great! We watched the live broadcast outside!"

"Top ten! Top ten!"

"Puskas! Puskas!"

Jose, Harry and others laughed and shouted. The strong lights outside the stadium shone on their faces, showing their excitement very clearly.

This expression of extreme joy did not seem out of place in this atmosphere at the moment, and the reporters and fans nearby could understand it.

If they knew Maher, they would have wanted to throw out a handful of flowers, fire a few salutes, and throw some cakes in his face the moment he left the venue.

"Ha ha."

Maher laughed and hugged the four people one by one. Mendes also high-fived them. Everyone was in a celebratory atmosphere.

"I'm going back today."

After the celebration, he prepared to say goodbye to Mendes, "The game on the 16th is against Swansea, the team has a lot of injuries. If we want to remain unbeaten, I must play."

Mendes had wanted to invite Maher to relax in Switzerland for a day, but after hearing what he said, he had no choice but to nod: "You should put your career first."

"I need a personal doctor." Maher then put the long-pending plan back on the agenda. "The situation in the second half of the season is urgent. Many players on the team are injured. I can't get injured again."

"I'll get in touch before January." Mendes patted Maher's shoulder and agreed to it, then smiled and said, "I won't see you off. I can predict that the agency's phone will be flooded with calls tonight.

“Your endorsements and advertising companies will come in like a flood, and I will select the best ones for you.

"Be prepared. Next year, you may be able to earn tens of millions of pounds a year just from advertising endorsements."

"Okay." Maher smiled and waved, "Bye, we'll talk later."

"bye!"

"Messi won the Ballon d'Or for the second time in a row! Maher won the Puskas Award and was ranked tenth in the Ballon d'Or! This is the youngest top ten in the history of world football!" - Spain's Marca

"The Arsenal youngster scored a goal on December 12st after dribbling past several players and defeated Puskas. The player's performance of scoring 31+ goals and creating 20+ goals in the first half also put him in the top ten of the Golden Ball!" - The Guardian

"A strong challenger to Melo? Maher stole the show at this year's Ballon d'Or ceremony and once again vowed to win all the awards!" - Italy's Tuttosport

"The first after Henry! Maher is the first Arsenal player to be selected in the top ten of the Ballon d'Or after Henry left Arsenal!" - British "Football Record" "Compared with Melo, he is still too young. The player must first win a league championship and the Golden Boot, and show competitiveness in the Champions League, before he can hope to become a competitor. Otherwise, he is far behind Xavi and Iniesta." - Spanish star Camacho

"Maher's sharp eyes (with pictures), the player's desire for the Ballon d'Or, will he have a chance to get his wish in five years?" - China's "Live Bar"

"I was first selected into the top 00 of the Ballon d'Or in 10, when I was 23 years old. After that, I was in the top 7 for 10 consecutive years, but I never won the award. Maher will help me and Arsenal realize our dream and win this honor." - Henry's social media message
After the Golden Globe Awards ceremony ended, or in other words, from the moment the Golden Globe Awards ceremony began, messages on major social media outlets continued to emerge.

Many times, when fans see a report that interests them and plan to come back to it later, it has been pushed to the bottom by other reports and can no longer be found.

This is the heat of the moment!

Most of the heat and attention on this day were focused on the battle between Messi and Ronaldo for the top three in the Ballon d'Or. Needless to say, this is always a hot topic, especially during the annual awards ceremony.

As for Xavi, who won the third place in the Ballon d'Or, he attracts people more with his tragic temperament.

The Spanish star’s career doesn’t last long. If he fails to win this time, there will be almost no hope for him in the future. This will be a big regret in his career.

In addition to the heated discussion about the top three of the Ballon d'Or, the next one to come is Maher, who won the Puskas Award and was in the top ten of the Ballon d'Or.

This move of his broke many records one after another, and he took the title of "youngest" in many awards.

"Mahel's Twitter followers surged by 300 million overnight! His Facebook and Twitter followers are about to reach the 2000 million mark, and his Instagram has also exceeded 200 million!" - London Evening News

"It is rumored that Maher, who is only 18 years old this year, is one of the major shareholders of Instagram. This media has developed rapidly after it went online. Later, it cooperated with Maher many times and achieved extremely fast growth." - British Daily Mail

"Instagram is going to be acquired by Facebook? The price of the deal could reach $15 billion. If Maher is really an Instagram shareholder, he will become the youngest billionaire among athletes!" - The Wall Street Journal

"Rumors! There were rumors that the recently emerging Football Record also owns shares in Maher. An 18-year-old young man, an athlete, should not have such investment vision. Reject rumors and slander." - French L'Equipe

"Suspected romance exposed? It is said that Maher went into a suit shop with two women on a date the day before the Golden Globe Awards and stayed there for about half an hour before coming out." - Picture from The Sun

"I've been having some bad times lately, so Sheffield United's charity event has come to a halt." - McCabe's social media
"Damn it." - Maher Social Media
While news from outside was flying around and the heat was not coming down, Maher began to concentrate on preparing for the rest of the January schedule.

How public opinion ferments is all external to him. Only by maintaining long-term and efficient performance on the court and working hard to improve his abilities off the court can he achieve his goal.

"I underestimated other stars before. If we evaluate them based on proficiency, historical players like Melo must have several level 4 skills, or even one or two level 5 skills, or abilities close to level 5."

This is Maher's guess after attending the award ceremony and evaluating the performance and data of these two people.

Maybe it's not accurate enough, or maybe there's a certain team support factor, but no matter what, some of the abilities they sometimes demonstrate are definitely close to the human limit of lv5.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be the feat of scoring 60+ or ​​even 70+ goals a year for a long time, and 91 goals a year at the peak of his powers.

Of course, Maher would not underestimate himself. His current overall ability is definitely close to that of the two.

As long as he slowly makes up for some of his weaknesses, acquires a few more level 4 skills, and has two or so level 5 skills, he believes that his performance will be able to surpass the two at their peak!
This can also be reflected in the data. His performance during the same period must be better than the performance of the other two during the same period.

In fact, in the history of football, among players under the age of 21, he has almost no rivals except Ronaldo and the ancient football king Pele.

But he will definitely not be a glass man and will definitely not stop here, so it is only a matter of time before he completely crushes Ronaldo and Pele.

Nowadays, few people compare him with Ronaldo, which is a good illustration.

"Spray! Spray!"

On January 1, when Maher returned to the Colney training base for the last day of preparation for the away game against Swansea, he was hit by two salutes as soon as he entered the locker room.

"suffer?!"

He was not expecting this and was startled. When he came to his senses, he saw everyone was looking at him with laughter.

"Hahaha!"

"surprise!"

Maher was both happy and helpless. He really wanted to catch one or two typical examples to show them what a real surprise was.

However, he was able to reintegrate into the team well, which is very important after attending a large-scale award ceremony. He needs to adjust his own mentality and help his teammates adjust their mentality.

"Ding ding ding ding. I have a friend!"

When the familiar Maher song sounded again, the locker room was in chaos and all the players danced in celebration.

Mahel danced with Henry and received some criticism from the Great Emperor.

"Brother, your ball protection is very similar to mine, but your dancing moves are far from mine." Henry clasped his arms and began to dance with a reckless step and arrogant expression.

Maer almost laughed himself to death, and said with his hands spread out, "I'm not going to sign up for a dance training class. That doesn't fit with everything about me. It's hard for you to imagine me practicing dance."

Football is inseparable from happiness, and happiness is inseparable from dancing. This means that players are destined to dance after winning a game or when they are happy.

Samba is one of the representatives, and Brazilian players are representatives of this type of dance.

"Ha ha.!"

Henry looked at Maher's body shape, thought about it in his mind, and found that he really couldn't think of it. "It's better not to learn it. Be more serious when celebrating next time."

“No, no, no.” Mahel wiggled his index finger at him, placed his hands on both sides of his cheeks in the shape of a six, then kept turning his hands and moving his head left and right.

"Next time I score a goal, I will celebrate with this! Ronaldinho used it before, and I will become the spokesperson for both elegance and violent aesthetics."

On January 1, the 16st round of the Premier League kicked off at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea, Wales.

It was a sunny day and the Liberty Stadium, which can accommodate just over 20,000 people, gave people a fresh feeling, which was very similar to their team name, 'Swansea' means 'where swans gather'.

Maher was fortunate to be able to return to Wales in his first game after winning Puskas, as commentators everywhere introduced that Wales was where he made his professional debut.

After winning the award and returning to his hometown, it was easy for him to recall those days and clearly see his growth over the past year.

Even though Swansea was not the team he faced in his debut, it is also a newly promoted team and they played against them twice last season, which can aggravate his feelings.

However, apart from this, there is nothing else that is good for him and the team.

The main right back Sagna felt unwell during the pre-match warm-up. To be on the safe side, Wenger had to replace him with young player Mikel and face Swansea with a weakened team.

January was such an unpredictable month, with bad news and surprises coming one after another.

I hope he and the Arsenal players on the offensive line can carry the banner together and keep the team moving forward.

"Beep!"

The match started at 3:30 p.m. that day. The wind was biting cold, so some people wore loose tights and leggings to keep warm.

Swansea played with a 4-3-3 formation today, seemingly knowing that Arsenal had encountered some changes recently and they had a chance to win.

The situation after the start of the game was consistent with what they expected. Through the impact of Maher and Walcott, and Van Persie's ghostly running, Arsenal was often able to create threats.

But Swansea was not bad either. Their several waves of attack were very threatening and tested Szczesny twice.

"Bang bang bang!"

In the 26th minute of the game, Maher, wearing black gloves, attacked the opponent's full-back Caulker. After a few quick changes of direction, he passed the opponent and came to the baseline position.

But Swansea certainly would not send out only one player to look at the 'top ten of the Ballon d'Or', their midfielder Joe Allen and centre-back Neil Taylor quickly came over to make up for the deficit.

"Bang bang!"

Maher cleverly used a speed-changing sprint to briefly shake off two people, and then sent a curved cross to the middle.

After passing the ball, he stood there watching the situation in the middle. The ball landed in a good spot, and Van Persie competed with the opponent's central defender for a header.

"Bang!!"

Robin van Persie, the pride of the Dutch forwards, immediately won the fight. In Maher's first game after his return, he firmly grasped the pass from his good brother and headed the ball out.

"Swish!" The football passed through Worm's defense and rolled into the net.

"Oh!!" Arsenal's traveling fans roared excitedly, and they felt relieved.

"What's up?!" Van Persie came to Maher and said with great joy, "I didn't waste your breakthrough pass!"

"of course."

Maher clapped his hands excitedly, and with just one pass and assist, he earned 1.5 pounds.

More importantly, the team has a lot of room for error and is not particularly afraid of being caught by the opponent taking advantage of the gap in the back line to widen the score gap.

"Beep!"

In the 45th minute of the game, Arsenal gave their opponents another penalty kick. This time, Mikel pulled down Nathan Dyer who was breaking through on the wing.

Good defenders are important to a team, and Maher has a deep understanding of this, not only from the defenders he has played against, but also from Mertesacker and others.

They are very strong in one-on-one situations, and have a certain chance of stealing the ball when facing a striker like him.

More importantly, they rarely make mistakes. Even if they are often passed by, they can narrow the gap with the attacking side through assisting defense and other means, and it is even less likely that they will often concede penalties.

But it is difficult for young defenders to do this. They cannot maintain stability and are prone to problems when they panic.

"Oh!"

Scott Sinclair then scored a penalty kick to equalize the score before the end of the first half, and the two sides entered the halftime break with a score of 1-1.

After the second half started, both sides experienced a period of calm, during which time everyone did a good job on defense.

But the third goal finally came, and it was somewhat fatal.

In the 76th minute of the game, Swansea midfielder Joe Allen passed the ball to Nathan Dyer. The black winger once again broke through Mikel's defense with his strong breakthrough ability and cut into the middle.

"Oh!"

He then passed Djokovic and scored a world-class goal.

"Wow!" The Swansea fans at the scene stood up ecstatically and burst into cheers. Nathan Dyer became their hero of the game.

Wenger rolled his eyes on the sidelines. He just hoped that the team could escape from Swansea's away game unscathed.

Maher ran back to the center circle breathing in the cold wind, waiting for the next kick-off. The situation of the game was already very unfavorable to Arsenal.

"Oh!"

Surprisingly, just four minutes into the game, the long-criticized central defender Djordjevic suddenly made a precise long pass and found Walcott who was left open on the right.

The little tiger then broke into the penalty area and hit the goalkeeper with a small goal, helping Arsenal equalize the score.

A golden goal!

In the 80th minute of the game, Arsenal equalized the score, -!

"Aahh!" Everything seemed to be back on Arsenal's side, and Maher, Van Persie and others rushed towards Walcott to celebrate together.

As long as we remain unbeaten and take away one point away from home, we will win!

However, Swansea seemed to have not given up the pursuit of goals. Watford striker Graham, who was surpassed by Maher in the scorer list last season, then came on the field as a substitute.

Sigurdsson, who was later known as the Icelandic sniper, also came on the field, and the two joined the battle as new forces.

"Bang!!"

This substitution was very effective. In the 86th minute of the game, Sigurdsson's powerful shot from outside the penalty area caused Szczesny to lose the ball.

"Bang!" Graham bypassed Koscielny's defense and poked the ball into the net.

Three to two!
There are variables!

Chase battle!

"Yeah!!" The Liberty Stadium completely let go. For Swansea fans, it was naturally extremely enjoyable to watch such a resilient home game.

On the sidelines, Wenger, with a slightly confused look on his face, immediately replaced Henry and Rosicky, removed Mikel and Arteta, and began a strong attack.

Maher came to the middle position, running up and down, using his physical advantage to create opportunities.

He couldn't believe that his first game back to the team after the award ceremony would be the one that would cost them their hopes of winning the championship without losing.

That day can be any day, but not today!

In this game, his performance was not very good except for that pass, probably because he has not really focused yet.

No one can concentrate all their attention and focus on everything immediately after returning to the team after such a grand event. What he had thought before might have been an idealized situation.

But these three goals should have woken him up. He was unwilling to give up the hope of achieving the immortal miracle of 0304- in his first top league season.

"Bang!!"

In the 88th minute of the game, Maher passed two players outside the penalty area, then shot with the outside of his foot to bypass the defender and headed straight for the far corner of the goal.

After Henry came on the pitch, he came to the middle, and when the angle was not too big, the outside of his foot shot could be used.

"Snap!" The Swansea goalkeeper stretched out his right hand and tried to drag the ball out of the net, preventing him from scoring easily.

Rosicky then went to take the free kick, and Henry, whose header was not good, followed him, thinking of making some tactical moves and looking for a cross closer to the penalty area.

“Bang, bang, bang!”

They successfully played a one-two combination, and finally Henry sent a cross.

"Bang!!" This time it was the central defender Koscielny who headed the ball. He also joined in the attack. No one wanted to give up the game.

"Snap!" But then, Swansea goalkeeper Worm used another extremely quick reaction to drag the ball out of the net.

It’s still a corner kick!

"Oh!"

The second corner kick was headed by the Swansea defender. After the ball flew out of the penalty area, Maher stretched his body to meet the ball and fired a very violent volley.

"Cha!" Unfortunately, due to the dense crowds in the penalty area, the ball hit the opponent's midfielder Joe Allen and flew out of the baseline.

Corner kick!

The third!
Joe Allen could have lay down for a while after being hit, but he got up while rubbing his chest, which won the favor of many Arsenal players.

"Oh!"

Rosicky and Henry had no intention of cooperating on the third corner kick. The former kicked the ball out directly, but the quality of the penalty was average. It was blocked by the opponent's defender at the front point and the ball flew to the bottom line again.

Big Horn is ecstatic!

The fourth in a row!
The fourth official on the sidelines was adjusting the extra time card at this time. The regular time had passed, and the next step was the extra time.

"Bang!!"

Seeing Rosicky take another corner kick, Maher rushed to the front position to seek an opportunity, but this time he failed to get past his opponent Ashley Williams, and the opponent cleared the ball out of the penalty area first.

Now he felt a little frustrated, and always felt that he was getting closer and closer to his first defeat. Is it really like what He Wei said, that success is only temporary and failure is the main theme?
For him who has a proficiency panel, failure cannot be the main theme, but it seems that he has encountered a lot of it.

"One minute of extra time!" At this time, the extra time card was raised on the sidelines and the DJ on the scene announced the news to everyone.

Maher gritted his teeth and told himself not to give up, and continued to stay in the penalty area waiting for opportunities. He believed that his teammates would find a way to pass the ball in.

"Oh!"

Outside the penalty area, Ramsey got the second penalty and passed it to Henry on the wing.

Carrying everyone's hopes, Henry broke through the opponent's full-back. Maybe he couldn't score a goal from the spot, but it shouldn't be difficult for him to create an angle and pass the ball.

"Bang!" He quickly dribbled past Caulker, flicked the ball to his right foot and sent a cross towards the middle.

Maher ran quickly to the front position, but saw the football fly over his head and to the back position.

He did not give up hope. He turned his head and saw Koscielny standing at the back post. However, he jumped too late. Even if he could head the ball, it would not pose a threat to the goal.

Wait, this header angle may need to be sent back!

Maher turned around first and waited for the opportunity. Koscielny really headed the ball back into the penalty area, back to him!

"coming!"

He rushed forward, facing the ball thrown back by Koscielny, and his core strength instantly exploded to head the ball towards the goal.

"Swish!" The football broke through the net, extinguishing Swansea's hopes and clearing away all the pressure from Arsenal players.

The ball went in!
Tenaciously equalized the score!

Stay undefeated!

"Yeah!"

The moment he landed, Maher ran towards the corner flag area with his right hand raised high. His shouts mixed with those of the Arsenal fans, shaking the entire Liberty Stadium.

In the world of football, scoring goals at the last minute is a common occurrence, because this is the moment when players must be most eager to score!

But if we calculate the probabilities, it must be a low-probability event. No one can get what they want every time at this moment. More often than not, it is the pain of dashed hopes and the discomfort of digestion failure.

But today, relying on the header he had just practiced, Maher gave everyone an unexpected blow!
"Come on!"

He roared, unable to control his emotions. After seeing Henry's excited face, he remembered the celebration action he had mentioned.

He suppressed his emotions, raised his hands to make the sign of "six", and danced up and down in a rhythm, shaking his head from side to side.

After such a goal, he chose to sum up the game with an elegant and ostentatious celebration!

"You did it again!"

After Henry came up, he hugged Maher excitedly, "It's always you! It's always you!"

“Maher!” Van Persie also rushed over and jumped onto Maher’s back in one step, saying in a hoarse voice: “Everything is saved! This month is difficult, but we will get through it!”

On the sidelines, Wenger let out a long sigh of relief after seeing Maher's goal, clenching his upper and lower teeth together to try to appear calm.

He just turned around and walked back to the bench without saying a word, but just drank a bottle and a half of water in a row.

(End of this chapter)