Becoming a football god from Arsenal

Chapter 228: A butterfly cannot fly across the ocean! Hurry to the end! Bell's phone call! It's right there!

"At this time, the referee Zaluwa from Italy blew the whistle to end the game!"

In the broadcast studio, CCTV commentator Liu Jiayuan passionately gave a post-match comment: "In regular time, the French team defeated the German team 3-1 with three goals from Maher, one goal each from Nasri and Giroud!
“This was a wonderful match! A match with rich tactical changes! A match that will be written into the classic events of football history along with Maher’s name!

"And the German team's 15-game winning streak in the main draw of international tournaments in this tournament has come to an end!"

"This result is cruel for Loew, but touching for the French team.

“The football of these two countries has tasted the pinnacle of modern football, and has also encountered setbacks and difficulties on its way forward!
"German football is changing from the seriousness of the German Forest philosophy to sophistication and agility; the French team is trying to get out of the wrong and ineffective attempts of the past few years and strive to restore their innate French romanticism!

"Loew and Deschamps are brave reformers of their respective traditions, but they failed on the road to reform, just like a butterfly cannot fly across the ocean, no one has the heart to blame them!!

"Of course, we should also give the most wonderful flowers and applause to those who have achieved success!"

"Another group of core players and absolute superstars from Europe's top football clubs are leaving the stadium. Before they leave, we see them looking into the distance with reluctance on their faces, and their backs can't help but look a little lonely!
"Maybe they didn't look at anything, they just didn't want to leave here! Maybe they were looking in the direction of the French team, in the direction of Maher!

“Many people, including young Muller, may want to ask the world a question!
"They have become well-known geniuses since they were young! They stand out in this cruel and competitive sport!

"Defeat millions or even tens of millions of young people with dreams! Walk across the single-plank bridge and step on countless corpses to get to where I am today!

“But when such a group of top talents came together to form an extremely strong team, why did they feel so insignificant in front of another top genius?!
"Could it be that their countless years of hard work away from home, and the honor of being crowned as geniuses by countless people, only helped them to cross the threshold of seeing the truly outstanding geniuses?

"They won't accept it, because in the Bundesliga, La Liga and other arenas, there are countless youngsters who grew up with the praise of 'genius' and fell at their feet!
"But they have to accept it, because only by putting themselves in the shoes of the players from the mid-table teams when facing them, can they understand why they lost so badly this time!
“Why did they score 3 goals as a team, but Maher scored 3 goals alone!
"They are not only facing the best player of this tournament so far, the third best player after Messi and Ronaldo, but also the best and third best player who is in superb form and is about to enter a period of explosive growth!

"I don't know if Maher can keep up this form, but looking at this moment, I want to say that if Maher hadn't been born, the football world would have been in darkness forever!!"

"."

"That's it for the European Cup semi-finals! Dear viewers, let's meet on July 7rd for the European Cup final at the Warsaw National Stadium!

"At that time, the French team, which is strong and powerful and led by a superstar, will face the Spanish team, the champion of the 08 European Cup and the 10 World Cup, which is also composed of a group of super talents!

"It will be a collision of ice and fire! A collision like Mars hitting the Earth! It will be the war of the century!

"I'm Liu Jiayuan, goodbye! The commentary of the next game will be provided by He Wei!"

"."

"Ooooooh. Oooooh!"

The lights were on at the Lief Stadium, and one of the most familiar melodies in the entire football world sounded throughout the stadium, making every French fan feel as if they were in the peak fever of the European Cup.

Of course they would have this feeling because they are really standing at the top!
Countless blue smoke bombs were ignited in multiple locations of the stands, making the place smoky. If it weren't for the guards watching them all the time, they would have jumped off the court and rushed into the center of the venue to celebrate.

The hot summer is finally coming to an end, and they are now very glad that they were not left behind halfway, but are about to go to the final summary moment and gathering moment together!
Otherwise, this heat will just be hot, and the prefix "盛" cannot be added to this summer.

"Ooooooh. Oooooh!"

Maher and the French players were also shouting and jumping on the field, arm in arm. They had already gathered together to savor the purest and most sincere joy of the moment.

Before participating in the European Cup, most of them did not expect that on June 6th, they could be sure that they would enter the final of this European Cup!
Looking back, most of them were worried about changing coaches, replacing new core players, changing captains, and their performance in the first few international A-level friendly matches.

After that, they worried about the opening match of the European Cup, the departure storm caused by losing the last round of the group stage, and also worried about the two traditional strong teams, Italy and Germany.

But look at it now, the boat has passed through thousands of mountains, and each of them can experience the intercontinental finals, which is an experience that many people will never have in their lifetime!

"There will be pressure in early July. That's a matter for then."

Maher saw that many people were happy for a while and then looked worried. He smiled and reminded them: "Now, put everything aside and celebrate!"

"Yes!"

"Come on! Dream first! We will be the champions!!"

"Oh my! What about the Spanish team? The German team? I've never heard of any of them. I only know that there is an amazing guy in Aix! He grew up naked in a garden in Provence!"

"Hahaha!"

The French players shouted at once, creating a cheerful atmosphere.

Maher celebrated with them for a while and was invited by the staff to the press conference room on site for post-match interviews.

"Congratulations!" A hostess came over and handed him the commemorative ball of the game and a small trophy for the best player of the game.

"Thank you."

Maher nodded to her, and when he took the trophy from her, he suddenly felt his palm being gently scratched.

He was unsure at first, until he saw this award presenter, whose figure was so voluptuous, deliberately lean forward to show off her voluptuous body, and then flirtatiously wink at him with her right eye before leaving.

He smiled slightly. After becoming a superstar, he had seen a lot of these things.

He knew that after the interview, he just had to stand there and wait for a while, and someone would immediately and considerately deliver the address to him.

Maher ignored him and admired the prize in his hand. These two things were something that many top players would never get in their lifetime, but getting them at the age of 18 made him feel a little elated.

"Now is a time of high spirits. What do you want to say in response to the doubts from the past?" a reporter asked with a smile.

"Question?"

Maher frowned slightly, then laughed heartily, "I haven't heard any doubts, maybe I seldom read reviews, or maybe there are really too few?
"Haha. I must say my career has been pretty smooth.

"As I've said before, I may encounter brief periods of Mercury retrograde many times, but each time, I will immediately adjust back to the right course and continue moving forward.

"If you look at the whole picture, every step I took was meaningful and rewarding, whether it was the first season, the second season, or the experience of participating in the European Cup.

“It doesn’t even have to be that big, every month or even every week I get something new.”

A reporter nodded and said with appreciation: "Isn't this an optimistic view? In fact, people who like you often see negative comments about you and get angry because of them."

“Optimistic?” Maher touched the back of his head, smiled and shook his head: “I am optimistic, but this has nothing to do with optimism.

“Have I actually seen some negative things, but I am forgetful and have forgotten them?
"Haha, this may be one of my abilities. I won't think too much about the bad things in the past. I will only recall the good things and keep looking forward.

“I think people need to be like this, otherwise it’s easy to be knocked down or slowed down.”

He nodded towards the reporter and continued, “As for people who like me, well, I can understand their feelings because I have also used others as strength.

“I think they don’t need to pay attention to these things, and just laugh it off, because I can prove it with my performance, and I have crushed all the doubts every time.

"If I don't care about it, then they don't have to care about it, let alone get angry about it. It doesn't matter at all.

"Once I take over everything, all the negative voices will stop."

"Wow." The reporter raised his eyebrows and took the microphone to Maher, curiously asking, "That's a very domineering reply. You've been talking about taking over everything. Do you think you're on the right track?"

Without any hesitation, Maher said truthfully: “Of course, I must be on the right path and I can overcome all challenges within my power.

“I think I’ve accomplished the initial goal of taking everything and even the middle goal, and am always on a fast track to the final finish line.

"I rarely have any irreparable regrets during the process, I guess?"

“I agree.” The reporter, who was obviously a fan of Maher, smiled. “The public opinion seems to be changing. Some people think you can accomplish your goal.”

Maher leaned back and smiled, and as he was about to leave, he replied, "I am honored to be the first of this group, and the one who will never quit, thank you."

"France beat Germany 9-! Advance to the European Cup final! Maher broke the fastest goal in the European Cup, set a record for hat tricks, and tied Platini's goals!" - Global headlines

"Mael's Twitter and Facebook followers have exceeded 5000 million at an extremely fast speed! The number of fans on all platforms has officially exceeded 120 million! The price of a single post exceeds million pounds!" - French "L'Equipe"

"A supermodel with 2.47 Twitter followers took the initiative to reveal that she had tried to seduce Maher to spend a pleasant night as an award presenter, but was rejected. The number of fans of this supermodel has now exceeded 20." - The Times, UK

"The supermodel revealed that it was more than one night. She is not a person with a family or children. If Maher is willing to go out with her, she is willing to keep asking for it until Maher can't stand up anymore." - The Sun, UK

"Fuck!" - McCabe's social media
After getting off the plane from Poland late at night, the French players dragged their tired bodies onto the bus bound for the base. Many of them were so sleepy that they fell asleep as soon as they got on the bus.

Maher looked at the missed calls on his phone and found that there were calls from Isabella, Mendes, Bell, Safina and others.

He didn't reply for the time being, until he returned to the base, lay on his back in the quiet room to rest for a while, and then picked up the phone.

"It's already the 30th. Tomorrow is the 1st, the day after tomorrow is the 2nd, and then the finals."

He called Safina first to discuss the next physical therapy arrangements, "Your work intensity may increase in the next few days, you and Harry need to prepare.

"Two to three times of rehabilitation massage a day is the minimum, and there should be 2 to 3 low-intensity muscle recovery training, the time is completely random."

"Okay." A firm response came from the other end of the phone, making people feel relieved.

After hanging up the phone, he thought about it and tried to call Isabella, thinking that he would hang up if there was no answer in a few seconds so as not to disturb the other party.

Unexpectedly, the other party picked up the phone in seconds, and asked him in an energetic tone: "Just returned to the base? Don't you have a day off today? I'm still waiting for you. I know you would call me even if you didn't come."

"Haha." Maher gradually developed some family feelings towards the other party, and replied in a gentle tone: "No vacation, only three days of preparation time, I have to stay at the base the whole time, and we will see each other after the European Cup."

"What after the European Cup?"

Isabella's voice was very confident, and a little arrogant. The conversations between lovers are always a little corny. "It's during the European Cup championship celebration. We will meet at the National Stadium in Warsaw."

"I hope so." Maher's smile deepened. He could already imagine Isabella's expression, with her chin up and a little bit arrogant. "Well then." There was a little disappointment in her voice, but not towards Maher. "It's so late, you should go to bed quickly. You must be very tired. I won't disturb you.

"See you in a few days, hopefully we can spice up that night with some alcohol. Not the depressing kind."

"Okay." Maher agreed, hung up the phone, smiled, lay on the bed for a while, and imagined something.

Before he knew it, he fell asleep in this position. He must have been too tired.

When he woke up the next morning, it was already past 9:20 in the morning. Mael dazedly crawled into the cold quilt to gather some yang energy. He did not get out of bed until he felt his body had recovered to its best condition.

He took out his cell phone and was about to call Mendes and Bell when he suddenly felt extremely hungry. He quickly put on his shoes and ran to the cafeteria on the second floor.

After finishing his meal leisurely, he prepared to go back to the room to talk to the two of them.

When he passed by the calendar at the entrance of the cafeteria and saw the final day marked in red, he could feel the sense of urgency from the entire team.

"Buzz. Buzz!"

The phone rang at this time, he walked out of the cafeteria quickly and found that it was Bell calling.

After the call was connected, he put the phone to his ear, expecting to hear good news about next season.

"Very nice, bro."

Bell came up and first praised him while holding back his laughter, then paused for a long time and said solemnly: "I have thought about what you said to me last time for a long time.

"To be honest, I thought joining Arsenal was impossible at first. From every angle, joining Real Madrid seemed better than joining this team. I hope you don't mind saying this.

"But you have to know that your temptation is not only effective for European giants, but also for players, especially when you take the initiative to call and invite them.

"Ha ha."

Bell laughed, as if he thought he had made a very humorous joke.

Maher curled his lips helplessly, not knowing whether to tell the other party that with this level of joking, he was indeed suitable to join Arsenal and be his teammate.

"But the biggest obstacle is the rivalry between Tottenham and Arsenal. I think that's the point. Really, how much I can get from Real Madrid and how much exposure I get are not the key points for me."

Bale expressed his true thoughts on the phone, "You are very rich now, and remaining undefeated also gives you a lot of exposure.

"More importantly, with you and Van Persie, no one thinks this team lacks the competitiveness to win the Champions League.

"You led France to the European Championship final, which is the best example. If you can perform a hat trick in the European Championship semi-final, then you must have the ability to repeat it in the Champions League semi-final."

"The final is fine too," Maher added, his confidence in himself always at its peak.

Bell was silent again, but it was obviously not because he was speechless. He should be thinking about something, "Ah, you know, I can communicate with you about joining, which means that I actually have a way to overcome this problem.

"But once I make this choice, I will inevitably face great pressure and pay a great price. If I join Real Madrid, none of this will happen."

Maher understood, he wanted to ask what he would get if he joined Arsenal.

He had already explained this to Bell, but perhaps he felt that it was not enough.

"First of all, your Welsh teammates basically all play in the UK. You will feel at home here. There is no need to change the environment rashly."

He opened his mouth, trying to tempt Bale from the side, but was quickly interrupted by the other party: "I know all this, and I also understand that my move to Real Madrid may not be smooth sailing, otherwise I would have made a decisive decision.

"I actually want to know what your ambition is. Winning everything is just your personal goal. What's more important is what do you want to bring to this club?
"You have a certain level of credibility, and people believe to a certain extent that you will do everything for what you say, and hopefully you can do it."

Maher was pushed back, and he knew he had to tell Bale, "I have a very clear answer, which is seven championships in a single season or year.

"You know, only English clubs can hope to achieve this and if a club like Arsenal does it... I can't imagine what a spectacle it would be.

“I just knew that that would be what I would pursue my whole life.”

"." Bale was silent again, this time for a different reason. After a long time, he asked again: "Is this realistic? Is there really such a team? I can't think of it."

"Reality."

Maher explained to Bell, "We need to take one step at a time. Nothing is unrealistic. As long as we can see hope next year, we will have a chance to complete it the year after next and the year after next."

Bale's reply this time was quick, but it had a strong impact on Maher, "If you win the European Cup, I will believe in you."

"Beep." After hearing the phone being hung up, Maher was stunned for a long time. Unknowingly, he had become one of the main influences on whether Bale could join the team.

He felt the sense of responsibility rising up in his heart again, not knowing whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

So, if Bale can join, can Arsenal give him the position of captain?
Walking in the front row every week and being the first to lift the trophy after winning the championship is undoubtedly very glorious just thinking about it!
He didn't fantasize for too long, and he spoke to Mendes again. The other party asked him to meet before the European Cup final, and he agreed.

This time when he hung up the phone, a very empty feeling arose in his heart, as if everything had disappeared. No one and nothing else would occupy his mind. All that was left was the final in front of him.

He walked forward aimlessly, trying several times to find positivity in the game, but found that this emptiness seemed to block his feelings and made his mood gradually decline.

Maher was unable to use psychology or philosophy to explain this sudden change. Could it be what the media often calls the big competition syndrome?
He doesn't think he has this disease, and if there was a semi-final he wouldn't have performed so well.

Just treat it as a normal feeling. He continued walking forward, but he was still obsessed with it and couldn't really calm down.

The next two days passed in a daze. Every day, Maher practiced with the team and disassembled the opponent's tactics. He also practiced extra and had physical therapy and massage. His life was regular and numb.

He often flipped through past schedules, not knowing what he wanted to see in them. He just flipped through them mechanically, as if he was just killing time and relieving the pressure on his brain.

On the morning of July 7, Maher could feel that everything was different. People began to become serious, and every action seemed to have meaning. They would high-five and hug each other before and after the start and end of the event.

"Clap!"

First, when he entered the cafeteria for the last meal before the game, he clapped and hugged everyone until his hands were numb.

Later, when leaving the restaurant, these procedures were repeated. Then, they were repeated before boarding the bus to the finals, again when getting off the bus with the surrounding personnel, again when entering the locker room, and again when going out for warm-up.

"Clap!"

He was completely overwhelmed with the filming. He felt that everyone from all directions were placing their expectations on him in this way, which made his pressure increase day by day.

Maher sometimes even forgets that the European Cup will start soon and hundreds of millions of viewers around the world will focus on them.

But he couldn't tell what he was thinking.

While sitting in the locker room making final preparations and replenishing water, he vaguely heard someone calling him. He raised his lifeless eyes and glanced at the door. He saw Mendes in a suit smiling and waving at him.

In fact, after looking at it, he realized that he didn't look into Mendes' eyes just now, but just glanced at his outline. After knowing what he was doing, he was too lazy to move his eyes up.

Something is wrong!
Something is definitely wrong!
"Huh!" Maher stood up and walked towards Mendes, trying the old method to regulate his emotions, but found that it didn't work.

This made him anxious, even more anxious than ever before, to the point where he felt a little sore around his eyes. He tried to look calm so as not to affect the rest of the team.

"Mael? Mael?"

Mendes shouted several times, and he turned his head, looking at the other person's shoulder.

He noticed Mendez shrink back slightly, as if he knew what was wrong with him, but chose not to talk to him about it just yet.

"Come with me."

Mendes led him forward, through several dark corridors, and to a corner.

"AahahAahah!"

At this time, he could vaguely hear the cheers from outside the stadium. He had to admit that this was a bit stimulating and made him a little more sober.

"Mael."

Stopping at the corner, Mendes turned around and smiled, which was very impactful, "Do you feel numb these days, as if you have lost your sense of everything and just came here in a daze.

"Do you know why? Because you want it too much. Wanting it too much will create an illusion that you are always far away from it, even if it is right next to you.

"I wanted to talk to you about something else to relieve your stress, but now I realize that what you need more is to feel that you are close to him, the sooner the better."

Mendes turned around the corner first, walked towards a place with a smile on his face, and pointed to the end of the road, "Look, it's right there."

Maher then turned around and stood beside him, and saw a trophy shining with bright golden light placed on the glass display stand at the end.

That is the Delaunay Cup, with a net height of 42 cm and a base of 50 cm. It is made of pure silver and weighs about 8 kg. It is the meaning it represents that has made it the object of pursuit of generations of superstars in European football!

Now, it is actually there!

Maher's heart suddenly calmed down a bit, and the surging fire of desire rekindled in his eyes. He looked at the trophy as if he wanted to penetrate it and burn it into a pile of silver paste.

The European Cup final is the most important game he has ever participated in in his career. He must be clear about his goals and know what to do.

Fabregas, with whom he has a close relationship, and the Spanish team aiming to defend their title are waiting for him ahead. If he wants to achieve his goal of becoming a football god, he'd better defeat them fairly today, at their peak!

"Beep!" The assembly whistle sounded, and the starting players of both teams were about to gather at the Warsaw National Stadium.

ps: It’s late but it’s here. I have kept my promise. I have written until June 6.15th. Next, I will try my best to increase the number of words in each chapter for the two updates per day.

(End of this chapter)