My Goalkeeping System

It took a few hours, but as expected, Sunday was upon us and so was a match that a good number of people were looking forward to.

Norman had already discussed his plan for the game with his squad, but whether or not things were going to work out his way was going to be decided on the pitch.

At the moment, both teams were in the tunnel just waiting for the signal to start making their way to the pitch.

Unique FC were in their signature home kit, orange with black polka dots and Dave was in the lemon green kit.

Norlin FC, on the other hand, were in a purple kit with a black diagonal curve that added a bit of style to the kit; their goalkeeper, on the other hand, was in a black kit.

The Wondanimo stadium was bustling with fans from both sides filling up the stands.

It didn't take long before the players were given the signal to start making their way to the pitch, and without further ado, they began matching onto the pitch.

"Hello, everyone and welcome to the Wondanimo stadium where we will be witnessing a match that might turn out to be just interesting." Jim articulated.

"A lot of new faces in Unique FC's starting eleven," Steve commented.

"Yeah, it's very rare that we see Norman leaving this many key players on the bench. I suppose we know where his priority lies." Jim said. "That said, this will definitely not be an easy match for Norlin FC."

"To be honest, it's good enough that they've managed to make it this far; it's been a while since a second-division side has made it this far in the tournament. It'll be interesting to see if they can make it to the final and maybe even go all the way."

The players were done with the formalities now, and as for the coin toss, it was won by Norlin FC.

The players were currently assuming their positions as the match was getting ready to kick off.

On his way to the goalpost, Dave kept on waiting to hear that familiar ding sound but it never came, which was quite strange.

"No quest?" The goalkeeper muttered just after assuming his position in between the sticks.

<Don't ask me, I don't get to decide that>

It was strange indeed, this was the first time he was not receiving a quest for a match.

Sometimes, it came a bit too early, sometimes late, but it always came.

Not receiving a quest this time felt a bit weird, but it wasn't like that was a major crisis, so he had no problem adjusting to that.

It didn't take long for everything to be in place, and once the referee was sure that there was nothing out of place, he blew his whistle to signal the start of the match.

"There's the whistle and we are underway."

Henry charged toward the Norlin FC player in front of him the moment the ball was passed to him but the player reacted quickly, passing the ball to the player in front of him, who proceeded to push it further down into their own half.

In the first two minutes of the game, the second division just passed the ball around on their side of the pitch.

They would occasionally push it forward just to push it back the next moment.

It was obvious what they were trying to do: drawing out Unique FC players in numbers was their goal, which would, in turn, make it easier for them to attack.

Unique FC were playing with caution against them but the second division side did get their side.

After swiftly getting past Edward with a great show of skill, the midfielder sent the ball rolling to the midfielder racing down the middle away from Martinez who was right behind him.

The midfielder pushed forward with the ball a little before trying to dink it in for their striker who was already inside the box.

It was a simple lob to the player who managed to get his head to it, but under the influence of Adolf, who was right behind, his attempt ended up being a weak one, which was quite easy for Dave to catch.

"Weak attempt from Sai Ahmed and an easy catch for Dave."

A lot of Norlin FC players seemed to have rushed forward for that moment off attack which meant that they were currently a little light at the back.

"Perfect." Dave curled his lips into a smile before he quickly sent the ball flying forward straight at Henry, who was near the kickoff spot at the moment.

"Oh, Unique FC's trying to spark up a counterattack."

Henry had a player behind the moment the ball got to him, but he had no problem flicking the ball to Edward, who had already taken off down the left.

"Edward."

An opposing midfielder tried to sweep the ball off his feet just as he got his foot on the ball but the midfielder reacted quickly, tipping the ball over the opposing player before jumping over him simultaneously.

"That's excellent from Edward."

The midfielder was now racing toward the box with a Norlin FC player rushing to block his path into the box from the side.

It didn't take long before Edward was locked in a confrontation with the player.

The midfielder tried to find a way around him, or rather, he was trying to find a way to get the ball past him.

Gregory rushed into the box at that moment and without much hesitation, the midfielder flicked the ball to him with the tip of his right boot.

"Edward, trying to create something here."

The youngster had two defenders right behind him but he didn't falter.

Using his left foot, he quickly flicked the ball over both defenders before quickly turning around to fire the volley at the goalpost.

"Gregory!"

The youngster aimed for the top right corner with that shot.

Unfortunately, Norlin FC's goalkeeper reacted in time to get the tip of his glove on the ball. The ball ended up making contact with the crossbar before flying over the post for a corner kick.

"What a shot and what a save!" Jim exclaimed. "Didn't know he had that in him, that wouldn't have been such a great goal."

"Great save from Sentes to keep the score leveled but the danger is still lingering as they now have a corner kick to deal with."

<Unfortunate>

"Yeah." Dave nodded.

The goalkeeper thought that would have made for a top contender for the goal of the tournament.

Unique FC were getting ready to send the ball flying as a lot of players could be seen moving around inside and near the edge of the box.

Once he got the signal from the referee, Merino quickly sent the ball flying into the box.

"Can Unique FC conjure something from this one?"

Gregory rose high in the air at that moment, getting ahead of the Norlin FC defender In Front of him to get his head on the ball.

The youngster sent the ball flying a little toward the top right corner with a powerful header. This time, there wasn't much the goalkeeper could do as the ball zoomed past him straight into the net.

"Yes, they can!" Jim screamed. "And it's the man once again! You denied his first chance but can you deny the second?!"

Unique fans were up on their feet now screaming in jubilation as Gregory took off to the side, a bright smile on his face.

"Looks like Unique FC had an aerial master on their hands, that was mighty impressive."

<That kid has potential>

'Mm.' Dave hummed in agreement.